“Oh, I don’t ... we’re not married,” I fumbled.
Mr. Yeo translated, and his mother smiled and made a comment.
“Mother apologizes but says you two look very well-matched.”
I didn’t know what to say, but Eli jumped in. A rush of Mandarin ensued, and the mother paused and smiled and placed her wrinkled hand on his cheek. She turned to me and gave me the same wordless gesture. With a bow, she exited the area and returned with a small, battered red tin. She urged it on me.
“What is this?” I was confused.
“That is Plum Blossom Tea, the traditional tea of five virtues,” explained her son.
“Longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and the desire to die a natural death in old age,” whispered Eli, his eyes glistening, and I remembered that his mother was named for the Plum Blossom.
“My mother is very wise, young miss. She says that this tea will be special to you.”
All eyes were upon me. Not wanting to cause a scene, I opened the tin and took a deep breath. I encountered a fruity-floral scent, with a strong whiff of jasmine.
“Tell your mother I thank her very much.”
She took my hands into her gnarled ones, bowed, and exited the room.
“How delightful!” exclaimed Georgiann. “What a nice souvenir.”
I turned the tin over and over. Somehow I knew this was more than just a trinket that I was just given. I looked at Eli, but he just shook his head and smiled, speechless.
“I think that is very special, Annalise,” Auntie Lil said, patting my hand. “What a charming story to add to your blog.”
My blog. I had a lot to add to it today, but the most exciting thing that happened to me was something I certainly was not going to put out there for the whole world. I looked over at Eli and resisted the impulse to trace my finger on those delicious lips that were so recently planted on mine!
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Our meal concluded simply with slices of fruit. Mr. Yeo and his wife escorted us out to our waiting pedicabs and, along with the remainder of our group leaving their host families, we prepared to depart the tiny neighborhood. There were many good-byes and photos.
I leaned back in our pedicab and propped my green hat forward on my head.
“I am ready for a nap!” I said to Eli.
“Would you rather walk off some of the meal?” he asked. I wondered if he was commenting on my less-than-model-perfect figure. I sat up, suddenly self-conscious.
He patted my ample thigh. Great. The widest part of a pear-shaped gal.
“I think Lee would be upset if we changed plans, don’t you?” My tone was probably a bit sharper than I intended.
“Oh, I’m sure he’d cut us some slack,” he grinned, missing the tone. “But I have to admit, I like being cozy in here, don’t you?”
Cozy? Or wedged in? I tried to make myself as small as possible.
“Annalise, what is up with you?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m just wondering what’s up with you. Is your sense of perception off or something?”
“What?”
“Has it escaped you that I’m not exactly the thinnest girl on the planet?”
“Is that what’s bothering you?”
“Well. Yes.”
He grabbed my shoulders.
“You amaze me. You are so gorgeous, and you don’t even know it. The first thing I noticed about you was your curves! You look like a real woman, Annalise. Don’t you get that?”
I couldn’t look him in the eye, and turned away. He took my chin and turned me toward him.
“No, don’t turn those exquisite eyes away.”
He kissed me and held me tightly.
“Do you know how difficult it was to not do that when we were standing in that tree in the Forbidden City? Or to do this?”
He ran his hands down my sides, and my body shivered. For a few moments, nothing existed but the interior of that pedicab.
Wait! We were in that pedicab! Anyone could see us. I broke away from him.
“Eli! The entire group can see us!”
He grinned and attempted to pull me back.
“I doubt it. I asked our driver to make sure we were the first cab in line on the way back. Our colleagues are behind us. If I’m not mistaken, pretty FAR behind us.”
I peeked around the side of the cab. He was right. We were alone. When I was certain of that, I settled my back against his chest with a tentative amount of confidence.
“Eli?” I asked with his arms around me and his fingers entwined in mine.
“Mm,” he kissed my temple, attempting to get back to where we were.
Though our tour group was not near us, I was not confident enough to resume where we left off.
“Eli ...”
“Yes,” he continued, maddeningly moving his hands.
I could see that unless I took control, this situation was going to escalate.
“Hey!” I pushed him away, gently.
He got the message, straightened up, and sat with his hands folded in his lap and an innocent look on his face.
“You are impossible!”
“But irresistible, right?”
He smiled that gorgeous smile of his that had the infuriating way of stretching all the way up to his eyes. Darn it, yes, irresistible. Handsome, funny, and he always smelled so nice!
I leaned back and took his hand in mine.
“Eli, answer me this. How on earth did jet-setter you end up tagging along on this senior citizen bus tour?”
“Well, I could ask you the same thing, couldn’t I?” He kissed my fingertips.
“That’s not fair. You know that I’m here with my aunt. You’re here by yourself. Who does that?”
His demeanor changed as a shadow passed over his face. Flirty Eli disappeared. After a few moments, he started speaking quietly.
“I told you that my father married when he was stationed here and brought his Chinese bride home, right?”
I nodded.
“Well, because my mother left, she renounced her rights and ability to return home. She knew what she was doing, but it always weighed heavily on her heart.”
I sensed that he needed to complete the story without my interruption, so I remained quiet, my hand in his.
“After my father died, she wanted to return even more. Most of her family had died, but she still wanted to visit. I was just a boy, but I promised her that someday I would bring her here. I didn’t know the implications of world politics at the time.
“Eventually, when I started my company, life became too busy. She kept up with news from China. When she learned more about the discovery of the terra-cotta soldiers, she dreamed of seeing them. Then, a distant cousin asked if his daughter, Yan Mei, could come visit. My mother welcomed her with open arms—anything to keep contact with her home country.
“She saw that China’s borders were starting to open up, allowing for more people to visit. Even though it became possible for her to travel here, she became too ill to travel alone. I promised her that as soon as business slowed down we’d come together. She kept notes on everything she wanted to see.”
His face clouded over as he reached in his pocket and pulled out the small, battered notebook I had seen him studying intently on the bus.
“I booked this trip on this tour line so that she would travel with Yan Mei, but she never wanted to come without me, and we kept canceling because business never slowed down. Eventually she was fighting cancer. I got her the best doctors I could afford, but ... she lost the fight very quickly. On her deathbed, she made me promise to take the trip she couldn’t take.”
He clutched the notebook and put it back in his pocket.
“So, sure, I could go wherever and whenever I want. But this is the exact trip she wanted, so I felt I had to honor her, you know? Does it seem silly?”
He looked up at me. His eyebrows formed a deep V.
“I totally get it, Eli. Family is family.”
“I
just regret that she didn’t get to come with me.”
I sighed.
“But she is with you, don’t you think?”
“That’s a nice sentiment, Annalise, but you know as well as I do that I should have made the time to do it.” He shook his head and slumped backward.
There wasn’t anything to say. He needed to process his feelings.
“And the worst part ... is you.” He pulled his bright-green hat from his head and crumpled it between his fingers.
My heart fell.
“No, I don’t mean that the way it sounded,” he looked up suddenly and put his hand gently on my cheek. I saw you in Denver at the airport and thought I would never meet you again.”
My heart jumped. He remembered! And more than that, I wasn’t the only one that felt that “zing!” back in Denver.
He continued, “Then, we were random tablemates at a dinner in Singapore of all places. I missed my opportunity to talk with you because I was concentrating on a presentation I had to give the next day. After the crab incident, I felt silly for my reaction.
“Imagine my delight and surprise to find you on this trip. But imagine how hard it was to try and erase my earlier behavior. Yan Mei spent all of lunch at the terra-cotta warrior factory trying to help me build up my nerve.”
I smiled inwardly. And here I’d thought they’d been engrossed in a lovers’ discussion!
“Now, here we are. I’m on the trip that I wanted for my mother and I’m not thinking about her. I’m thinking about you. When I’m with you, I’m happy. I don’t have the right to be happy.”
How twisted is that logic? I wondered if this guy was actually Italian—his guilt was pitch-perfect.
“Eli, don’t you think your mother would want you to be happy? I think she wanted you to take this trip because it would make YOU happy. I mean, take me out of the equation if you need to.” I looked at his face and thought, Great, I bet he will take me out of the equation.
We rode in silence and reached the meeting point at the bus. We were the first cab there, and we alighted solemnly. Our driver looked from one to the other of us with a worried look on his face. Even though I didn’t understand the language, I could tell that Eli was assuring him that the ride and tour were delightful as he gave him a handsome tip. We stood awkwardly waiting for the others, when a sleek black car pulled up beside us, and a tall man leapt out.
“Mr. Chamberlain, the office has been trying to reach you,” he said.
Eli pulled his phone from his pocket.
“I had my phone off while I was eating. What was so important, Roger?”
The imposing man pulled him aside and whispered to him.
Eli punched numbers into his phone. Fun, relaxed Eli melted away, and I saw a glimmer of the man from Singapore.
“Daniel, it’s me. Get Stephens now!” He strode over to me while he waited, shook his head from side to side grimly, and locked eyes. I backed away.
“Annalise ... it’s ...” He grabbed my hand as he spoke, but apparently Stephens came on the line. “Stephens ... talk to me.”
And in a moment, he dropped my hand, was in the car, and whooshed down the road.
Dumbstruck, I looked around. The other pedicabs were rolling in, filled with laughing, green-hatted group members.
“Annalise, darling, wasn’t that divine!” Georgiann Perini made a beeline toward me. “Where’s that delightful Eli? Now don’t tell me there isn’t a bit of a spark there?”
Her knowing wink was almost too much to bear. I looked around for my aunt.
“More bird-watching?” Auntie Lil began teasing when I approached, then saw my face and stopped. “Annalise, dear, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Auntie, nothing.” I breathed heavily.
She knew better.
“Genio,” my auntie said, “Annalise and I are going to get on the bus a bit early.”
We climbed aboard and moved to the seat that had been mine and Eli’s.
“Tell me what’s going on, dear,”
I leaned my head on her shoulder and filled her in on the delicious high and devastating low of my trek across town. I finished with a long sigh.
Auntie Lil put her arm around me and squeezed me tight.
“Why do I have such bad luck, Auntie Lil?”
“I know everything seems bleak, sweetheart, but it’s not.”
We sat in silence for a moment, listening to the chattering voices outside the bus as our group took last-minute photos with the pedicab drivers. Finally, Auntie Lil lifted my chin toward her and looked me in the eye.
“Annalise, I know you are hurting, but you have a decision to make, don’t you?”
I nodded numbly. There was no time for me to wallow in pity and bring the tone of this trip down. I needed to pull myself up and put my game face on.
Smoothing back my hair, I placed my green cap back on my head. The cap that had so recently seemed jaunty and bright now just felt garish and heavy. I rearranged myself and looked to Auntie Lil, who nodded to assure me that I was presentable. Just in time, too, because boisterous Bear Willems and his wife had boarded the bus and were laughing their way down the aisle.
“Nee high, ladies,” he said. “Isn’t my Chinese improving?”
“Bear, if you are trying to say ‘hello,’ it’s ni hao. I think you should leave the speaking to me and keep us out of trouble.” Frida shook her head and pushed him toward their seat. “Earlier he tried to say ‘thank you’ and said something that translated to ‘eat a lion.’”
Others boarded, raising the energy level.
“Lilliana! Yoo-hoo! Are you coming up here?” Georgiann motioned toward Auntie Lil while kneeling backward on her seat like a preteen on a cheerleading trip.
“I’m staying with Annalise for the trip to the hotel,” Auntie Lil smiled.
“But isn’t her friend—” Georgiann began, before Tom pulled her down to sit. She turned in the aisle to give a curious look.
“But, Tom—”
“For once, just sit without questions, Georgie!” we heard an exasperated Tom whisper loudly.
“Great.” I shook my head.
“Keep your head up, Annalise.” Auntie Lil patted my knee.
The Flynn sisters slowed down as they passed us wordlessly.
“Ladies,” Auntie Lil nodded. “So nice to see you survived the cab ride. Did you mean to leave your top button undone, Katherine?”
I turned to the window and suppressed a giggle. Leave it to Auntie Lil to quash any comment before it began.
“Can I be of any assistance?” I turned to see Genio crouching in the aisle beside us. His kind face was a pleasant sight, and seeing Auntie Lil’s eyes sparkle with him nearby brought a tug to my heart.
“No, Gen, we’re just taking a little girl time between here and the hotel.”
He looked from one to the other of us and nodded, understanding. He stood and said, “Father John and I will share the front seat, then. I’ll check in with you before we leave for dinner?”
“Of course.” Auntie Lil brushed his hand before he made his way back to the front.
“He really likes you,” I said, forgetting my own emotional roller coaster for just a moment.
“Nonsense, we’re just having a nice visit,” she said, but her cheeks colored slightly.
Hmm. If that’s her definition of a “nice visit,” I’d hate to see how she defined “madly in love”!
Chapter Thirty
“It’s dinnertime, dear, are you ready?” Auntie Lil called to me from the bathroom of our hotel room as she finished fluffing her hair and touching up her makeup.
The remainder of our journey back from the hutong had included a visit to a jade emporium where much bargain shopping was done. After we returned to the hotel, everyone had some downtime before meeting for dinner.
Seated on my bed in my cozy pajamas, I continued typing on my iPad and shook my head wordlessly.
“Don’t tell me you aren’t going to eat!” She cam
e out and sat next to me.
I leaned back against the headboard of my bed and sighed.
“Auntie Lil, I don’t feel much like venturing very far this evening. Besides, you know I have to finish this blog entry.”
“You’re nearly done. And you need to eat.”
“I just don’t feel very social, that’s all.”
“You don’t need to be social, you just need to come and eat. Besides, you are my companion, remember? You’d be falling down on the job.” She poked my shoulder.
“Oh, really? I think we both know that someone else has taken my job as your companion.”
She smiled a girlish smile.
“Let’s get serious for a minute, Auntie. I know you say that you and Genio are just having a ‘pleasant visit,’ but anyone around you can see that it is more than that. What’s going to happen at the end of this trip?”
It was her turn to sigh and lean back.
“I don’t know, Annalise. Does anything have to happen?”
“Well, no, I guess not. But shouldn’t it? Don’t you want it to?” I was confused.
“Can’t this be just a pleasant vacation interlude? A ... fling?”
I burst out laughing.
“I don’t think this qualifies as a ‘fling,’ Auntie Lil. If so, it’s the most chaste fling on record.”
“Don’t be impertinent.” She shook her head. “Why do you young people have to equate romance with the bedroom?”
“Why? Have you found other places to ... you know ...?” I waggled my eyebrows at her and was greeted with a smack of a pillow.
“Annalise. I refuse to continue this conversation with you if you drag it down that path.”
“I know, I know. I just wanted to wind you up a little,” I grinned.
“Your generation thinks it invented sex,” she sniffed.
“Obviously not, or there wouldn’t BE anyone in my generation.” I was greeted with another smack with the pillow.
“Truce! Truce!” I cried.
She put the pillow on her lap and crossed her hands on it thoughtfully.
“Annalise, can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
“At first, I was attracted to Genio because he looked so much like Antonio.”
Passports and Plum Blossoms Page 19