Authors: Bonnie Dee
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tension didn’t resurface until later that evening when they were alone once more.
At dinner, Alan was rather quiet and remained that way as he sat in the parlor with a book in his hands.
Finally, Huiann could stand the tension no longer.
She looked up from her sewing. “What book?” Alan closed the cover and handed it to her. She studied the letters on the cover and flipped through the pages of close-set type, stopping when she came to an engraving. The illustration depicted a human body stripped of flesh, the muscles lying in bands over the skeleton beneath. This was a physician’s book.
“My father wanted me to be a doctor, a man who heals sickness,” Alan explained. “But I left school to join the army.”
“You want be a doctor?”
“No. I was just looking at the book.” She handed the book back to Alan. “Father angry you no be a doctor?”
He nodded. “Mostly because I left school. He would have been happy to have me study anything.”
“My brother, Bolin, make angry Father. No work for Father.” She didn’t know the word for mill or the one for sailor. “Go to sea.”
“Your brother went to sea instead of working for your father.”
“
Shi.
We want him home. Mother sad.”
“Mine too,” Alan said. “After the war, my family wanted me to stay home.”
“Why you go?” She couldn’t imagine someone choosing to leave their family. Why live on the opposite side of the country from the place he’d shown 144
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her on the map? Had he fought with his father and left home angry?
He shrugged. “I needed to go.” He turned his attention back to his book but soon put it down and went to the desk where he took out a pen and paper and began writing. A letter home, she hoped.
Silence fell again and Huiann could think of nothing but the moment when it would be time for them to retire for the night. Would he invite her to sleep with him again? She didn’t want to refuse but this was not a good night for it as her flow was quite heavy. It was a private thing one couldn’t explain to a man even if he spoke the same language.
At last Alan rose from the desk and put away his writing materials. Huiann hung up the gown on the dressmaker’s form he’d bought for her. When she turned, he was waiting at the door with the lamp in hand.
“About last night… I don’t want you to do anything you don’t wish to. But if you want to sleep with me again, I would like that.”
She wasn’t certain of the exact meaning of all the words but the hope in his voice was clear. She went to him and rested her hand on his arm as she looked up at him.
“I like your bed. But tonight, no good.” She willed him to understand. To make certain he knew she did want him, Huiann grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss.
“Soon,” she said when at last they broke apart.
His eyes widened and she thought he might have realized the reason behind her refusal. “Oh. Good.” Bonnie Dee
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He smiled and she returned his smile and the awkwardness that had haunted them all day evaporated like a ghost. Alan offered her his arm and escorted her to her room, lit her lamp so she could get ready for bed then backed out of the room with a murmured, “Good night.”
“Good night,” she echoed. “Soon.” He stepped back into the room and pulled her into his arms. His mouth invaded hers, sealing her promise, and when he pulled away, he repeated, “Soon.”
Chapter Twelve
Mrs. Kittridge’s fitting took longer than Huiann would’ve liked. Her initial measurements were correct so the gown fit the woman perfectly, but she quibbled over details. She wanted the bodice to be even tighter and was uncertain about the length, requiring Huiann and Dora to adjust the entire hem.
Huiann was glad she could pretend to know no English and simply kneel, placing pins in the fabric while Dora soothed the flighty woman with compliments. When the work was finally finished, Dora escorted Mrs. Kittridge from the parlor/fitting room back to the store. Huiann picked up the room and prepared for their outing.
As she buttoned the heavy-soled shoes Alan had given her, her heart beat fast. She was nervous and excited to be going out after weeks of seclusion. Dora had lent her an ugly broad-brimmed felt hat, which could be pulled low over her face. In Western-style clothing, she would blend in. If by chance one of Xie’s men saw her, they wouldn’t recognize her in this attire, and she certainly intended to be watchful and ready to run if necessary. The fact she didn’t tell Alan she was going didn’t reflect any doubt she was doing the right thing. She simply didn’t want him to worry. Her errand was an important one. Besides, she couldn’t stay indoors for the rest of her life.
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Dora returned from seeing Mrs. Kittridge out.
“That woman is such a snob!” She pulled a face and tipped her nose high in the air. “Snob.”
“Snob. Yes.” She’d known such women in Suzhou, the ones who spent their lives demonstrating their superiority over others. Although Huiann’s family had been well-respected and fairly well-off, there were always those who placed themselves higher and enjoyed talking down to those they considered social inferiors.
“Ready? Let’s go.” Dora led the way out the kitchen door and down the narrow alley to the street in front of the shop.
Huiann paused at the entrance of the alley, studying the busy street, the traffic, pedestrians and shops.
There was no one who looked like her among all the pale faces that passed by. She tipped her face down, tugged the brim of her hat lower and followed Dora onto the board walkway.
Dora linked arms with her so they walked side by side. They went around the corner and Huiann gazed in fascination at the teeming thoroughfare. She’d thought Suzhou was a large city, but San Francisco was beyond belief. So many people packed into so little space. It felt good to stride along under the open sky and to breathe fresh air after being indoors for days. Relatively fresh air, for a thousand smells assaulted her from horse dung to body odor to cooking aromas.
Dora stopped to examine frosted pastries in a bakery window, pointing out the ones she’d buy if she could afford them. Huiann barely glanced at the sweets before resuming her study of the milling crowd. She 148
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couldn’t let her vigilance drop in case Xie Fuhua was still searching for her even after these many weeks.
She plucked at Dora’s sleeve. “Come.”
“All right, but look at these shoes. Aren’t they beautiful? Wouldn’t you love to have a pair like that?” Dora dragged her to another window.
A salesperson took a pair of shoes from behind the glass pane and replaced them with another pair. All the shoes were displayed on a length of black velvet and were arrayed at different heights in an attractive presentation.
Alan needs to put our dresses in a front window.
We’ll have so many orders our fingers will bleed
trying to keep up with them.
She was excited by the prospect. A workroom full of seamstresses and her ingenuity in duplicating the magazine fashions, and they’d have a solid business. Maybe over time she could introduce some designs her own.
This time it was Dora who pulled on Huiann’s arm.
“We’d better get going. We have quite a walk ahead of us.”
After several more blocks, Huiann’s feet began to ache. The heavy brogans had rubbed blisters on her heels and toes. She wished she’d worn her soft-sided slippers. They wouldn’t have shown beneath her skirt.
But she marched on without complaining.
They made a few more twists and turns, ending up on a quieter street. Dora stopped before a door with a placard above it. “Dr. Harrigan will have what you need.”
Dora opened the door and ushered Huiann inside a dimly lit, stuffy room. A woman sat behind a desk, knitting, and a few wooden chairs were placed in a Bonnie Dee
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row along the opposite wall. Two of them were occupied—one by a very fat man with a sweating red face, the other by a pregnant woman whose hands were cupped around the bulge beneath her gown.
Huiann stayed a pace or two behind Dora as her friend went to the desk and talked to the knitting woman. The woman rose and left the room.
Dora returned to Huiann. “She’ll get the elixir.” Huiann was suddenly very nervous about taking whatever concoction this doctor might provide. What if it poisoned her? This place was so dingy and a bad smell hung in the air. She folded her arms and turned away from the seated patients who were staring at her.
Minutes of waiting felt like hours before the woman returned and held out a small bottle. Dora paid her with some of Huiann’s money.
Outside the doctor’s office, Huiann drew a deep breath. Dora gave her the change and the bottle of brown liquid. “You drink this before…you know…and again after.”
Huiann nodded, her cheeks flaming at the idea of doing “you know” with Alan.
On the way home, they walked faster and each step was painful. Huiann couldn’t wait to take off her shoes.
She paused near the shop window with the shoe display and leaned against the brick wall, rubbing her heel. But there was no relief through the thick leather and no way to loosen the shoes since they were buttoned from ankle to calf.
Dora wrapped an arm around her waist. “Poor thing.
Lean on me.”
Gritting her teeth, Huiann pushed off the wall, anxious to make the last few blocks to home. It was 150
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late in the afternoon. Alan might already have closed the shop and be wondering where she was.
She noticed a tall, heavily built white man about a half block ahead watching them. His hair and beard were reddish brown and his face was blotched with freckles. As his gaze met hers, he started toward her, bumping aside other pedestrians in his hurry.
Huiann’s heart leaped to her throat. She grabbed Dora’s hand and pulled her in the opposite direction.
Dora squeaked as Huiann nearly pulled her off her feet.
“What…?”
“Run!” Huiann demanded in Wu, too panicked to remember any English. Their pursuer might be Xie’s agent or only some street thug, but she wasn’t going to wait to find out which. They ran around the first corner they came to then turned down an alley between two buildings. Emerging onto another street, Huiann turned again without glancing back to see if they were followed. She simply ran and Dora followed her lead.
People and buildings flew past, but all Huiann could feel was the pain in her chest and Dora’s sweaty hand clenched in hers. Not until they’d zigzagged several more times did she finally risk looking over her shoulder.
The man was no longer there.
Dora dug her heels in at last, forcing her to stop.
“Who was that?”
Huiann shook her head, aware of the curious glances they were receiving from pedestrians. “Bad man.”
Dora had learned Huiann’s story and realized what that might mean. “Well, he’s gone now. Let’s get on home afore your man gets mad.” Bonnie Dee
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They’d added extra blocks by dodging their pursuer and it was nearly sunset when they reached their street.
Huiann continued to look for someone following them, but didn’t see the big bearded man again.
When she bid Dora goodbye outside the kitchen door, the other woman gave her a hard hug. “You’d best keep safe inside from now on. Good luck tonight.
Don’t be scared. First time hurts some, but it ain’t too bad after that and sometimes it’s real good.” Embarrassment at Dora’s frank talk mingled with a rush of affection. Huiann returned her hug. “Thank you.”
The kitchen was empty and silent. A lamp burned on the table. She went to the foot of the stairs and called for Alan, but there was no answer and the upstairs was dark. After removing her hat and coat and hanging them on the hook, she went to the stove, added another piece of coal and built up the fire. She got out a pot and poured water into it to boil rice.
Suddenly the back door burst open, banging against the wall. Huiann jumped and whirled around. Alan filled the door frame. He strode across the kitchen to her in three steps. His brows twisted in a scowl. She shrank back from his anger.
“Where have you been?” He lifted his hand and she winced, half expecting a slap. But his hand settled on her shoulder, gripping hard but not squeezing. “Are you all right?”
She nodded.
His frown relaxed. “Where did you go? I was worried.”
“I go doctor. Dora too.” She shook her head.
“Sorry.”
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“The doctor? With Dora? Huiann, you can’t leave here. It’s not safe for you.” He shook her once then pulled her into his arms. “Not safe. Understand?”
After being chased by a frightening stranger?
Absolutely.
“Yes,” she said in a small voice, and repeated, “Sorry.”
“It’s all right. I’m sorry I yelled.” He was apologizing to her. She’d never heard her father apologize to her mother in her entire life. Men didn’t admit fault to women, or at least not where anyone could overhear them. Maybe in private a man did all sorts of apologizing she wasn’t aware of. Alan’s contrite tone was as arousing as his arms holding her or his hard chest against her cheek. She hugged her arms around him, closed her eyes and leaned into his body, nuzzling her face into his shirt.
He kissed the top of her head. When his stomach rumbled, Huiann pulled away. She was being paid to feed him and dinner wasn’t even started. Her lax attention to her duties was shameful.
“I cook now.” She limped over to the counter and pulled one of the onions from the string hanging from the ceiling. She’d almost forgotten the pain in her feet, but now the tenderness flared again. Wincing, she bent to unhook the shoe buttons.
Alan dropped to a crouch beside her and lifted her foot in his hands. Placing it on his bent knee, he worked open the buttons for her and pulled off the shoe. She hissed and he glanced up. “Hurt?” She nodded, embarrassed yet strangely excited by having him on his knees before her. He peeled off her stocking and cradled her sore foot in his palm. Her discomfort mingled with pleasure. Alan examined her Bonnie Dee