Of course it wasn’t out of the question. And there was no way that Ma could know about Auntie Lil’s recent activities. But this was Ma, and she has this extraordinary sixth sense about things.
“She’s great, Ma. We’re both great.” Maybe I was a bit too cheerful.
“Let me talk to her.”
“NOOO.” Auntie Lil had gone for an early morning walk and breakfast at the nearby coffee shop with Genio.
“No? Annalise, why would I not be able to talk to your aunt?”
“Shower. She’s in the shower.”
“Hmm. Okay. But you have her call me as soon as she’s out.” Ma was determined. I had to deter her. Well, nothing to do but throw myself under the bus.
“Ma, do you not trust me? Why do you think that you need to check in with her yourself? If you think that I’m not doing a good job, well, then—” I tried to muster an indignant rather than panicked tone.
“Calm down,” Ma interrupted, with a tinge of hurt in her own voice. “I trust you. I just wanted to check in with her, that’s all. I would never think that you aren’t a capable person.”
“Oh, Ma. I’m sorry. Look, I’ll have her call you.” I was sure I could dash down to the cafe.
“No, dear. I guess I’ll just leave you gals alone. Have a nice day. We’ll see you at the airport.”
Guilt, guilt, guilt!
“I’ll have her call you.”
“Whatever works for you. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I knew I’d better have Auntie Lil call her, no matter what the time difference was when she returned from breakfast. I hadn’t wanted to hurt my mother, but she’d understand once the news was all out.
I sat that way for a moment and was startled when it rang again. I glanced to see the number and breathed a sigh of relief to see it was Rory.
“I’m so glad it’s you,” I said.
“Well, you always should be.” I pictured her cheeky grin.
“So much is going on.”
“Considering you didn’t let me know what happened with Auntie Lil and the handsome Genio, you do owe me some information, so—”
“Oh! Right! Well ...”
I brought her up to speed, including my conversation with my mother.
“Wowsers!” she said, regressing to one of our junior high terms. “Just like that! They are getting married?”
“Yep.”
“Well, relax. I think I would have done the same thing with your mom on that conversation.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yes. Would you really have wanted to tell her the news? You’d be throwing a grenade and coming back to the rubble in a day. Nope. I say let Auntie Lil drop that little bomb.”
I ignored her metaphors.
“Rory, when are you coming home to Denver?”
“I can be there when you get home, if you want. Do you need something?”
“Just thought it would be nice to visit.”
This trip with Auntie Lil was a nice break from reality, but once I got home, I had to get back to making decisions about things like my career. When I left, we had paused the discussion of my moving in with Rory. We needed to open that discussion again.
“Sure, sweetie, I think that would be great. Besides, I would want to get there as quickly as possible to pick up the souvenir that I know you carefully chose for me.” That’s what I loved about Rory. She always knew how to brighten my mood.
We finished our conversation quickly when I realized how much time I had spent on the phone. I was still in my pajamas and needed to get dressed and meet the rest of the group downstairs in just moments.
As I strolled into the breakfast room, Georgiann Perini yoo-hooed me over to her table. I was happy to join her, her husband, and the Willems. Bear and I then walked over to the buffet.
“Well, Annalise, are you ready for our final day?” Bear asked.
“I can’t believe how much we’ve seen and done in the time we’ve been here,” I replied. “Have you and Frida had a good time?”
“Wonderful!” He put his arm around my shoulders in a hug worthy of his name. “And we’re so glad you joined us to give this group a little bit of young blood.”
“What are you talking about? It was a challenge keeping up with you!”
“Well, gal, Frida and I have been on several of these group tours, but this surely has been our favorite. You are a breath of fresh air.”
“That’s so nice of you.” I was glad that he didn’t bring up the subject of Eli. Maybe Auntie or Genio had warned him against it.
“I think what is the best is your reporting in your blog. You writing to let everyone back home know what we’re doing has made it easy for us.”
“Oh, it was just some fun scribbling, Bear.”
“What was fun?” Frida asked as we returned to the table.
“I was telling Annalise how good her reporting is on her blog about our journey.”
“Indeed,” said Frida. “Our family said that they really appreciated it and liked hearing about it as we go rather than waiting until we get back.”
“I’m glad they like it, but seriously, I just thought it would be something fun for my own family.”
“Do you not know how many followers you have?” Frida asked.
“Not really,” I shrugged.
“Dear, if you look at the bottom of your blog, you can see how many visits you have. You have reached the thousands.”
“What!” I stared at her. Breck told me there was a counter, but I hadn’t paid attention to it.
“Oh, definitely. We didn’t have just our family read it. Our children sent out the link to everyone in our parish. That’s about 3,000 people.”
“Our son did the same thing with his parish. That’s about 4,000,” added Tom Perini.
“You’re kidding me! I just thought I was writing for a couple dozen people in our families!” Suddenly I felt very exposed.
“Hardly,” chuckled Bear. “You have quite the audience. People like your reporting. Have you ever thought about writing as a career?”
“Well, I always wrote a lot in my marketing job, but I never thought about concentrating on it.” Who does? Actually, everyone thinks they can be a writer, but very few people can do it.
“Hmm. You might consider it. If you need a reference, you can use me,” said Frida.
“Thank you very much.” Were references from random travel groups held in high value?
“Oh and us as well!” Georgiann agreed.
“Thank you all!”
We finished our breakfasts in enough time to don our sprightly green caps and join Lee at the bus to begin our day of touring. Auntie Lil and Genio walked up from their morning stroll just in time to hop on the bus. She scanned the seats to find me comfortably next to Father John and blew me a kiss. I smiled back at her as Genio gently ushered her into their seat and joined her. If there was ever any doubt that this was a match, just a few minutes of watching them together would dash it.
I walked up to her to tell her to check in with Ma.
“She said not to worry about it, but—” I began.
“She’s probably sitting by the phone. I know, I know.” Auntie Lil drew her phone out of her bag and gave Ma a quick call.
“Good morning, friends!” said Lee in his upbeat manner. “Are we ready for our exciting day?”
I moved back to my seat as the group gave a resounding “Hurrah!” and we were off.
“So, Annalise, I see that I have the pleasure of being your seatmate once again, now that our friend Mr. Chamberlain has departed,” Father John smiled.
“Oh, Father, you know I would choose you as my escort any day.”
I hoped he wouldn’t push the conversation further. Unfortunately, he did.
“Has he contacted you?”
My silence answered his question, and he took my hand in both of his.
“Well, dear, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. It’s not exactly like he ju
st went to the next town and was easily available, or—”
“I appreciate that you are trying to make me feel better, but I think I just need to chalk this up to experience, Father.”
Yep. Just one more experience. I kept my head down, hoping not to cry.
“Annalise, look at me,” Father John said, and I turned to him. He continued in his pastorly way, “You are a beautiful, intelligent young woman. Not only that, you are kind and compassionate. I know it’s difficult, but don’t dwell on this. Remember that our prayers are not answered in our time or in the way we expect.”
His words were consoling. I blinked and nodded—then giggled when I realized his cap was askew, making him look decidedly goofy in contrast to the wise words that had come from his mouth. I reached up and straightened his hat, and we laughed together.
“My friends, we are at the zoo!” exclaimed Lee. He gave us directions for the first stop that day.
“I kind of think we’ve been a traveling zoo all along, don’t you?” Father John whispered.
“Indeed!” I laughed.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“What was I thinking when I bought all of this?”
It was morning, and I looked at my purchases from the trip that were spread out on the bed, and wondered how I was going to squish them into my luggage.
“Hmm.” Auntie Lil reviewed her own stash. “It seems that we both have accumulated a bit of loot. Although, I’d say the, ahem, ‘small’ stuffed panda you bought at the zoo yesterday wins the prize for largest.”
“What?” I grabbed the fluffy toy and hugged it. “It’s for Nicky and Amanda’s baby. You know how much Amanda loves pandas.”
“Yes, but did you have to get a life-sized one?” she teased.
“Exaggeration is not a good look on you.” I threw the panda at her.
“Stop it! You don’t want to wear the toy out before it gets home.” She tossed it back.
I flopped into the cozy armchair near the bed, clinging the panda to me.
“I can’t believe we’re getting on a plane in a little while to go home! Didn’t we just get here?”
“Time has flown by, I’ll admit,” Auntie Lil nodded.
The previous day had been a whirlwind of activity, from the zoo visit, the walk through the Botanical Gardens, and a breathtaking martial arts exhibition at the “Legends of Kung Fu” show that night. This morning, we would be driving past some of the buildings constructed for the Olympics, then straight to the airport.
“Auntie Lil,” I shot straight up. “We’re flying to Denver today, and everyone else is flying to Chicago.”
“Yes, dear,” she continued arranging and rearranging items in her suitcase.
“Well, that means we say good-bye to ... everyone ... as soon as we go to the airport.”
“What are you getting at? Oh. I see.” She stopped packing and came over to sit on the edge of the bed facing me. “Annalise, darling, Genio and I have already made plans.”
“And?”
“And, we’ll execute those plans when we return.”
“Execute? Wow, that sounds romantic.” I pulled a face and leaned back.
“Annalise, what do you want me to say? That I’ve changed my ticket? That’s not practical, is it? He can’t change his either. No. We’ll go to our own homes, and we’ll move along from there.”
“But what if—” I started, but she hushed me.
“There isn’t a what-if. We’ve planned to get married, and we will. Goodness, Annalise, what gives you the idea that things change so quickly?” She stood to go back to her packing, then returned and sat. “I get it. You’re worried because you’ve seen changes in your life and you think that will happen to me, right?”
“Well ... yes.” I wasn’t exactly the most optimistic person after my own recent life changes.
“Don’t worry, dear. Everything will be fine.”
“But, what if—”
“No what-ifs, Annalise,” she emphasized as she took my face in her hands. “We will remain positive. Deal?”
I looked at her and realized that anything I said was only going to be mean to her. I swallowed my doubts.
“Deal.”
We resumed packing and reminiscing, and my nagging worries were pushed to the back of my head.
“What are you doing under there?” Auntie Lil’s voice called out as I was scouting beneath the bed.
“I can’t find the little red tin of tea that the grandmother gave me at lunch in the hutong,” I said.
“Are you sure you didn’t already pack it?”
“Positive.”
I reemerged, unpacked my bag, and searched through it again.
“Gone.” I sat mournfully.
“Maybe it’s in your backpack?”
“I already dumped that out. Oh no! I think I left it in the pedicab.”
Great. That was one of the only memories I had of Eli, and I lost it. I sat for a few minutes.
Then I remembered the giant bag of memorabilia that Rory had scoured from my room when we did the Dylan purge. No. Better that I didn’t clutter up my luggage with physical memories. It was bad enough that I had to try and scour my mind.
“Annalise? Are you okay?” Auntie Lil emerged from the bathroom with her toiletries.
“I’m just fine.” I hopped up and said with more enthusiasm than I felt.
Eventually, the luggage was packed and zipped, and we were dressed and ready to join our friends.
The mood on the bus was less festive than in the past days since everyone was not only tired from the journey but also anticipating long plane rides home. Lee and our bus driver tried to make our remaining time meaningful, and we snapped many final photos. More photos were taken at the airport, including with Lee, and I was certain that the young man would look forward to going home to relax before taking on a new group of travelers.
“Here we go again,” I commented to Auntie Lil as we began the long process of checking in and the trudge through TSA on the way to our gate. Since our flight was boarding at a gate near the rest of the group, we were spared having to say any good-byes until we were closer to boarding.
Auntie Lil and I moved along with Genio, Tom, and Georgiann. I smiled and thought about the fact that we were gaining not only the wonderful Genio when he and Auntie Lil got married, but also these two as well as an entire clan in Chicago. Life was going to get interesting. I couldn’t wait for Ma and Georgiann to meet and compare meatball recipes.
Once we navigated TSA and check-in, we took our time walking to our gates, clustering together for last-minute chatter and trading addresses. The Chicago crew boarded first, and Auntie Lil and I stood to wave them onto the plane.
“Come along Vivienne,” Katherine hustled her sister toward the gate, not looking back. In a rare burst of independence, Vivienne dashed toward us for two quick hugs.
The Willems embraced us and collected their belongings. Bear towered over his doll-like wife as they made their way toward the plane.
“Thank you for adding so much sparkle to this trip,” Father John kissed each of us on the cheek and made his way.
The Perinis gave many hugs and kisses and admonishments to visit and call before Georgiann directed Tom on exactly how to carry their belongings. He rolled his eyes but secretly winked toward us.
Colette counted each as they boarded and stopped short before admonishing Genio. She just smiled and left him with us.
He was the last to board, of course, leaving Auntie Lil with a swoon-worthy kiss. I was close enough to hear their good-byes.
“Until then, my love,” he whispered.
“Until then,” she acknowledged.
My heart beat quickly as she turned to me, eyes glistening. It occurred to me that she had said good-bye one other time to the love of her life and never saw him again. What must be going through her mind now? She walked to the window, leaned her head on it, and waited for the plane to take off.
Once the jet had gone, I needed to
distract my aunt until it was time for us to board.
“Hey, let’s go to duty-free. What do you think?” I said brightly.
She wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Seriously, Annalise? Do you think you have room to pack one more thing to take home?”
“Probably not, but let’s just go in and pretend we’re high rollers looking for lavish goods. What do you think?”
“Why not? Maybe we’ll run into someone famous.”
As she said that, my heart dropped. The last time I ran into someone at an airport, it was a handsome stranger with jet-black hair and a smile that went all the way up to his ebony eyes. No. Shake it off. I couldn’t keep Auntie’s spirits up if I started wallowing in my own pity!
“Doubt it, Auntie. They have people who shop for them.”
“Well, I’ll be your people and you be my people,” she smiled as we moved arm in arm to the duty-free shop.
We oohed over the high-end products at the shop, then separated to peruse the more commonplace items such as the candies. I rambled and soon reached the back of the shop, and was jolted when I caught a whiff of a very familiar scent. I whirled around to see a young woman with a sampler bottle.
“Do you like this?” she asked. “It’s MAN by Jimmy Choo. Very distinctive.”
“Um, yes. Very nice.” I was shaken. My mind fell back to a pleasant ride in a pedicab with someone who was distinctive.
“Perhaps you have a special young man you would like to give a gift to?”
I stared at the marketing card accompanying the scent. Kit Harington of Game of Thrones fame was the spokesman, and his piercing gaze connected with me from the card.
“You know nothing, Jon Snow.” I whispered the phrase most associated with the striking actor’s character.
“Pardon me?” the sales clerk asked, smiling.
“I ... um ... yes, it’s very nice, but I don’t have anyone to bring it to as a surprise.”
No one. And now when I watch Kit Harington in the drama, will I only think of that other nice-smelling man? Life can be so random. I spun to abandon the sales clerk and seek Auntie Lil. She was near the checkout.
Passports and Plum Blossoms Page 22