ROMANCE: Holiday Romance: Her Christmas Surprise (Sweet Clean Holiday Romance) (Holiday Bride Book 1)

by Mercy Levy

  The patch of sunlight slanted through a slit in the roof and fell onto Moon Lai’s lap, illuminating the inside of the carriage. Incessant chatter immediately followed indicating that the carriage had now arrived in the city. As soon as her mind registered this information, the bittersweet words she had been feeding her mind all lost value. The dream she desperately wanted to hold on to had just turned into reality.

  The door opened from the outside and Madam Mi Ra exchanged pleasantries with a man who stood outside to greet them. Moon Lai shielded her eyes against the glare of the harsh sun as she slipped out of the carriage.

  The man was short with a neatly trimmed mustache. He wore black trousers and a black fur coat. Moon Lai had never seen a fur coat before but she knew enough what it signified. Under his spectacles, his beady eyes roamed over probably scrutinizing whether she would bring in money or not. She quenched the urge to cringe.

  The party moved across the street to a brick house sandwiched between two narrow ones. Madam Mi Ra kept an around Moon Lai’s shoulders, in case I do not attempt to flee, she thought bitterly.

  A banner outside hung flapping in the air, with the phrase “Madam Mi Ra’s Bride Service” spelled in red paint. Moon Lai looked at it. She spoke only a little English and had a limited vocabulary. She read the words but she could not comprehend them.

  Inside another lady greeted the Madam and her guests. Madam turned her head to the lady. Without any word passing between them, the lady understood the command. She gently led Moon Lai inside the door that led to the hallway.

  “What is your name dear child?”

  “Moon Lai.”

  “What a sweet name. You go in here and rest” she opened a door to her right. “I’ll bring you something to eat. You must be quite hungry.”

  Moon Lai peeked inside. A few girls, by the looks of it, of her age sat on beds inside. Two were standing in front of a mirror in various stages of making their hair. One was walking across the room with a book on her head. When the book started to slip from her head, the girl released high pitched sounds.

  The kind lady came back with bread and some tea. Moon Lai took it and sat down on the nearest bed.

  The next few hours passed with the girls crowding her and questioning her. It felt like she was the new coin who was shiny and everyone wanted to have a look.

  The next few days passed in a rush. Madam apparently took it very seriously that the girls be educated in manners and etiquettes. She spent hours teaching them how to pour tea, how to walk, how to sit, how to dress, how to talk, how to flutter their eyes. She might as well teach us a new method to breathe too, thought a scowling Moon Lai.

  …………

  One by one, in a span of two weeks each of the girls she had come to like left. New girls were brought in too. Moon Lai could not help but wonder about what the girls who had left would be feeling finding themselves heading towards new lands, and what the girls who had arrived would have left behind.

  Then one day, when, if she willed herself enough to believe, Moon Lai had started to feel at peace living in the house, it was her time to go.

  ……………………..

  Her travel was arranged through sea. She would leave at night from the seaport and board the ship. The ship would sail through several nights and several days then finally she will have reached the continent that was oceans away.

  Madam Mi Ra exchanged her for a suitcase of money and then Moon Lai was someone else’s property again. The mustached man was the one to accompany her. She had only brought along a small trunk from home which the man handed to the porter to be put on the deck.

  To her surprise, the mustached man informed her that he would be traveling with her as he had to receive payment as well as other matters that he had to deal.

  After the meal was served and everyone on the ship had eaten, Moon Lai stepped outside onto the deck. The wind that swept through her hair was moist and tasted of salt. It felt cool against her skin and goosebumps covered her arms in a matter of minutes. She stared up at the cloudless sky, with the full moon hanging high. She remembered the night her father had broken the news. That was the night of the new moon. So much had changed since then. She feared what the future intended to throw at her now.

  …………….

  Just before the ship was to arrive at the dock, an anxious ambience settled upon everything. Everyone chattered excitedly that they would be finally be arriving. It was the opposite of what Moon Lai was feeling. A girl sitting next to her tapped her on the shoulder, “Where are you going? I am traveling to Atlanta. My father lives there.” She said in one breath, then looked expectantly at Moon Lai.

  “Uhh… I-I a-am…” Moon Lai stuttered. Her mind went blank with nervousness and words escaped her. She could not remember how to talk in English.

  “She’s traveling with me. We are going to find my niece here a nice husband in America,” interrupted the mustached man. Even though the man had shortly introduced himself to Moon Lai after arriving on the ship, she had never bothered to remember his name. She had tried her best to avoid him all through the journey.

  “Wow!” said the girl a little too enthusiastically. “That is so romantic,” she lilted.

  When Moon Lai looked still too uncomfortable to answer, the girl smiled “I hope you find a handsome and loving husband.”

  After a minute’s pause she poked her head in Moon Lai’s personal space, “and have lots and lots of babies,” she added.

  Moon Lai’s cheeks flamed at the words and her mouth fell open in shock, to which the girl guffawed.

  ………….

  Moon Lai looked down at beige green dress that she wore. It was among the nicest she had but the more she looked around herself, the more her dress looked inadequate. At the last minute she had pulled out the white head scarf from her luggage. It had belonged to her mother once. She wanted to think some part of her mother was here with her.

  She stood fidgeting, with the white head scarf tied around her head, on the seaport.

  The mustached man, she still refused to call him anything else, kept swiveling his head this way and that, searching the incoming crowd.

  She turned to face the sea, so that she had her back to the crowd. She wanted to burn the serene landscape into her head.

  Moon Lai was so engrossed in her thoughts that she missed the arrival of the new person. She heard a deep voice behind her say, “I am good as well.”

  Her heart raised its palpitations and she lowered the head scarf to cover her face.

  “How was your journey? Smooth I dare hope.”

  “Oh you know monsieur; the sea is not a tame beast. Fortunately, the girl…” he broke off, when he noticed “the girl” wasn’t standing next to him. He forcefully turned her back to face them. With a pinched smile, he restarted. “The girl,” he repeated with emphasis, “and I have arrived safely. Shall we be on our way then?” He said releasing her. She rubbed her hands where his forceful grip now stung. On an instinct she glanced up into the eyes of the “monsieur”. He had eyes the most brilliant shade of blue, that for a moment she forgot to breathe. Where she lived people only ever had dark eyes; brown, black.

  The monsieur motioned to a man who grabbed her luggage and led them to a carriage. No this was not a carriage. This carriage had no horses. She must have been making a rather funny face for the monsieur chuckled and opened the door for her.

  Next to her the mustached men and the man carrying her luggage slid inside the front of this strange carriage. The monsieur stood waiting for her. “Do not worry. It’s perfectly safe, even if it does not have any horses,” he laughed again. “We all use it for transport here.” Moon Lai slid in and he after her.

  ………….

  The car, as she had come to know it was called, stopped in front of a beautiful house with wood painted white. The houses lining the street were spaced apart. It looked like not more than five houses were occupying the entire mile of the street.

  The men op
ened their doors and got out. Moon Lai nervously looked at the door of the car. She felt utterly embarrassed when she was the only one left sitting inside. From the window, she saw the monsieur come to her side and open the door for her. He extended his hand towards her but she climbed out without taking it. She hoped it didn’t seem too rude of her; she was feeling uncomfortable as it was.

  The tall and quiet man who had accompanied the monsieur at the harbor, extracted Moon Lai’s and the mustached man’s luggage from the trunk of the car and started walking towards the entrance. Before the door closed on his entrance, a young woman walked out of the house.

  The woman had golden ringlets tied back with ribbons in her hair. The sun shining on the gold of her hair cast a halo around her head, making her look glow with a lively pulse.

  A young boy, an older woman, and a dog, in the same sequence came rushing out of the house.

  The young boy seemed to be around the age of five or six years she guessed. He hid behind the young woman, using her skirts as his shield and shyly peeked at Moon Lai from behind his barrier. In spite of the nervousness she was feeling that threatened to overtake Moon Lai each second, she smiled at the adorable behavior of the boy. The older woman was now standing beside them. She settled her heavy stare on Moon Lai, which didn’t seem unkind to her, only cautious. She had her hair tied in a bun in which a few silver strands showed. She wore an apron over her cotton dress which spotted with flour.

  The dog on the other hand came running and barking towards the monsieur who laughed and crouched down to pet the dog. The dog licked the monsieur’s hand and wagged his tail happily.

  “Dearest God! You didn’t tell us she was this beautiful,” giggled the young woman. She instantly came forward and wrapped her arms around Moon Lai in a hug. Pulling away she said “Do not be nervous. My name is Cassy. This is my son, Jamie. This is my mother,” pointing towards the older woman, “…our mother,” she corrected. “This is our dog, Toto. The butler’s name is Frederick and,” she smiled a knowing smile and gestured at the monsieur, whose name Moon Lai still did not know, “my dear brother, Robert Darney.”

  Moon Lai nodded to each person accordingly. “I cannot imagine how tired you must be after the traveling such a distance. Come along, we shall go inside and have some tea.” She led Moon Lai inside with an arm still around her shoulder. Moon Lai could feel the monsieur’s walking beside them. She suddenly felt shy.

  Inside the first room they entered was enormous. Moon Lai gaped at sheer vastness of space. Her entire hut could have fitted inside this room. She felt a pang of nostalgia remembering her home back in her country. Her poor brother! She could not help but wonder how would he be now.

  The woman, Cassy, scooped the boy in her arms and walked out of the room, with the butler trailing after her. The older woman sat down on a chair. The monsieur gestured for her to sit down as well. When she did, he sat down too. Moon Lai felt the plushness of the seat under her hands. It was unlike the wooden chairs they had at her home. There was more room to sit on this chair and it was stitched in embroidered cloth.

  The butler and Cassy came back into the room after ten minutes followed by two young girls wearing a uniform and rolling a table with piles of dishes on it. They set these dishes on the huge oval table that occupied the other end of the room. “Lunch is served,” announced Cassy happily.

  Moon Lai marveled at the bombardment of many different and strange tastes on her senses. The soury made her wince. The spicy made her suck in her breath. The sweet made her moan.

  A chuckle sounded breaking her of her reverie. It seemed everyone was surprised at the sudden outburst of the monsieur. He had been looking at her but when she met his eyes, he looked away and shook his head. She ducked her head, embarrassed.

  After the meal, Cassy led her upstairs. Moon Lai registered half statements like “Marvelous to have you here”, “It is going to brilliant” and “I am so happy” but her real attention was on the surroundings. The grandeur of this place was baffling. With wide eyes, she tried to take in every bit of detail that she could. She turned her head here and there. Cassy must have seen the surprise on her face because she chuckled and said “Is it too much? I do not to want this place to overwhelm you. Please feel at ease her. This is your home now.”

  Despite the earnestness with which she said the words, Moon Lai could not accept that this was her home. With Cassy leading her down a hallway – everything was white and everything was marble – they came to a stop at a door.

  “This is your room,” opening the door Cassy walked her in, “this is your bed,” she said ruffling the pillows, “this is your dresser, your wardrobe, this is your bathroom,” she said moving to the door that was hidden in the alcove. “The plumbing is new so hopefully you would not face any problems.” They stepped out of the bathroom.

  Moon Lai came to stand in front of the mirror. She looked at the reflection of a girl with straight black hair that had come undone from the hair tie, her face was blotchy and unwashed, her eyes looked haunted. She hardly recognized the girl in the mirror.

  “I should leave you to rest. You must be tired. I will come get you for dinner in the evening. If you need anything just come downstairs.” She hugged Moon Lai and smiling a pretty smile she left and closed the behind her.

  After finding a change of clothes, Moon Lai took a bath, scrubbed her hair and body. The water turned sooty from the dust she had gathered.

  After spending an hour in the bath and when she was satisfied she was clean, she wore the clothes she found in the wardrobe and slid inside the quilt. The bed was heaven. She fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.

  ……………

  Someone was calling her name from the far end of the tunnel. The sound was muffled but persistent. Moon Lai groaned and mumbled unintelligibly, “Go away Ha Su!”

  A feminine chuckle, and then someone was repeating her name. Moon Lai opened her eyes to see a pair of azure eyes looking back into hers. Cassy was leaning over the Moon Lai’s sleeping form.

  “Come on, sleepy head. Time for dinner.” She tugged Moon Lai out of bed and into her shoes. She helped brush her hair and braided her hair with a ribbon saying things like, “You have such silky straight hair. I envy you. My hair is a mop of curls that will put Medusa’s to shame.”

  After Cassy deemed Moon Lai presentable, both the women joined the family downstairs to eat. Moon Lai kept mostly quiet during the whole ordeal, unless to answer a direct question. She enjoyed the comfortable conversations and the light humor of the siblings at the dinner table. Cassy managed to tackle several things at a time: she fussed over Jamie, she discussed Robert’s work with him, she ladled food in her mother’s plate, she ate her own food all the while trying to keep Moon Lai involved. The only thing that made her uncomfortable was the old woman’s intense and wordless stare. Moon Lai squirmed in her chair.

  Suddenly the topic changed to weddings gowns and guests lists. “Moon Lai, you and I are going to the main market tomorrow in the day.” Moon Lai looked at Cassy blankly. “For your wedding dress, dear girl! You and Robert are going to get married soon.”

  Giggling, she wiggled her eyebrows at her brother who looked anywhere but at Moon Lai.

  “Please think about if you would like anything in particular and we have to pick the flowers!” She laughed, “And the table cloth! And the venue too!”

  A sudden outburst of Jamie’s coughing stopped Cassy in midsentence and her attention diverted.

  Moon Lai felt relieved that she was no more talking about this subject in front of everyone.

  After dinner, when everyone seemed busy, Robert asked her if she wanted to go outside for some fresh air. She nodded.

  Outside her took her in the middle of a garden. The flowerbeds were flowing with flowers that looked fresh and well-tended to. Her mood instantly brightened. She rushed forwards and kneeled in front of the flowers.

  “Do you like them?” He asked.

  “Yes! I have an immens
e passion for flowers and plants. Nature is a far more beautiful thing than any of us can truly understand. Have you not felt the peace the nature offers?” she said with a renewed gusto.

  “Hmmm” he nodded, with a smile.

  She continued, “I had a garden in my home. I grew vegetables in it. I sowed each seed with my own hand and I tended to each plant with love and care.”

  Thinking about her garden suddenly ruined her good spirits and she realized she had said so much more than she wanted. The strange openness left her. She wanted to walk away.

  She stood up but a hand grabbed her wrist. Robert pulled her back, “You were telling me about the plants. Please do not go away. I want to hear about your garden.”

  For the next hour, they stayed sitting on the bench in the twilight hours. Robert sensed she had closed herself to him but he kept trying to get her to talk. He had to ask a question three times and in three different ways before she would utter a short answer.

  He understood her need to be quiet. She was in another continent no less, so far from her home and family. He wanted to make her feel at home. He wanted her to smile at him again as she had just a while without realizing it. He wanted to brush his fingers through her hair to see if it was as soft as it looked. He wanted her keep listening to her soft voice.

  He wanted for her to love him as much as he was beginning to love her.

  ………………

  The next day, Cassy, her mother Madam Olivia – the old woman, and Moon Lai put on their summer hats and headed for the main market in the town. Jamie was left in the care of Frederick who nodded solemnly that he would Not let Master Jamie out of his sight and feed him on time – his words exactly.

  The raucous crowds, the rowdy laughters, the slender vehicles running across the streets making harsh noises, the towering houses, the garments on display in the windows, the candy sellers waving their hands to get her attention; there was so much to see here. Moon Lai felt elated with the adrenaline. After passing by a lot of windows where Cassy would exchange a few words with the people, they came to a stop outside a shop displaying a plastic human body without a head – Moon Lai shivered – wearing a lilac dress with laces and frills.