the rooms so well the previous day there was little that needed to be done so she started sewing muslin into curtains—a project that would fill many hours.
At noon, Alan came for his lunch and taught her more English words for objects around the room.
There weren’t specific words and intonations for variations of a thing like in her native tongue. In English a word had only one pronunciation no matter what the context.
94
Captive Bride
“Huiann eat appu…apple.” She repeated the simple sentence he taught her then pressed a hand to her chest.
“ I eat apple.”
“Yes!” He grinned. “Good.”
She would parrot phrases all day if it earned that bright smile.
Alan returned to work and left her to her sewing.
Even with taking a break to cook dinner, she was able to show him a stack of curtains to be hung when he returned that evening. Her neck, shoulders and fingers were stiff from hours hunched over her work, but a glow of pride filled her at his pleasure in her accomplishment.
After supper, he went to the store and brought back lengths of wooden dowels and metal brackets. The rest of the evening was spent hanging curtains, a job that didn’t go smoothly. As Alan pounded a nail into the wall of the sitting room, the thin plaster layer crumbled away and bits fell into his face. He sneezed and muttered what Huiann could only surmise were curses.
She was embarrassed that her curtains had caused him extra work when he would normally be relaxing for the evening. But after he’d brushed the dust from his eyes, he smiled at her. And the curtains covered the damaged plaster.
When all the windows were finished—the bedroom and parlor casements and the small window above the kitchen sink—Alan stepped down off of the stool and smiled at her again. “Good. Good job.”
“Good” must mean bu lai. Huiann accepted his compliment with a bow.
Alan reached into his pocket, pulled out a flat pouch and took several American coins from it. She Bonnie Dee
95
started shaking her head even before he tried to hand them to her. But he grasped her hand and pressed the coins into her palm, closing her fingers around the cool metal. He pointed at the bleached muslin curtains hanging above the sink and then at the stove, the table and the broom in the corner, indicating all the housework she’d done.
Huiann understood he was paying her for her service, but she couldn’t accept money when she owed him her very life.
Alan squeezed her hand lightly and looked into her eyes. She didn’t need more than his potent gaze to understand what the words thank you meant. She felt she was tumbling into the blue pools of his eyes. Her body yearned for him and the phoenix inside her rustled its feathers once more.
Huiann cast her gaze down and stepped away, pulling her hand away from his. She murmured her thanks for the payment. She would not hurt his pride by refusing, but it was time to put some distance between them before the phoenix and dragon bridged the gap between them. Such a union would not be good—not for her in her precarious situation and not with this foreign man.
Huiann hurried upstairs and felt his gaze burning into her back as she climbed them. In her room, she stacked the coins on the little table next to her ivory combs then removed her clothes and lay down in her drawers and chemise. It was her third night in Alan’s house and once more she lay in bed listening for him to come upstairs. He didn’t spend time in the parlor tonight, but went straight to his bedchamber and closed the creaking door behind him.
96
Captive Bride
She knew his room intimately now that she’d cleaned it and pulled up the covers on the bed herself.
Heart fluttering at the wrongness of it, she had pressed her nose into his pillow and breathed deeply, smelling his scent. Now she could picture him moving about the room, sitting on the bed to take off his boots and tossing them in the corner, unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it
At noon, Alan came for his lunch and taught her more English words for objects around the room.
There weren’t specific words and intonations for variations of a thing like in her native tongue. In English a word had only one pronunciation no matter what the context.
94
Captive Bride
“Huiann eat appu…apple.” She repeated the simple sentence he taught her then pressed a hand to her chest.
“ I eat apple.”
“Yes!” He grinned. “Good.”
She would parrot phrases all day if it earned that bright smile.
Alan returned to work and left her to her sewing.
Even with taking a break to cook dinner, she was able to show him a stack of curtains to be hung when he returned that evening. Her neck, shoulders and fingers were stiff from hours hunched over her work, but a glow of pride filled her at his pleasure in her accomplishment.
After supper, he went to the store and brought back lengths of wooden dowels and metal brackets. The rest of the evening was spent hanging curtains, a job that didn’t go smoothly. As Alan pounded a nail into the wall of the sitting room, the thin plaster layer crumbled away and bits fell into his face. He sneezed and muttered what Huiann could only surmise were curses.
She was embarrassed that her curtains had caused him extra work when he would normally be relaxing for the evening. But after he’d brushed the dust from his eyes, he smiled at her. And the curtains covered the damaged plaster.
When all the windows were finished—the bedroom and parlor casements and the small window above the kitchen sink—Alan stepped down off of the stool and smiled at her again. “Good. Good job.”
“Good” must mean bu lai. Huiann accepted his compliment with a bow.
Alan reached into his pocket, pulled out a flat pouch and took several American coins from it. She Bonnie Dee
95
started shaking her head even before he tried to hand them to her. But he grasped her hand and pressed the coins into her palm, closing her fingers around the cool metal. He pointed at the bleached muslin curtains hanging above the sink and then at the stove, the table and the broom in the corner, indicating all the housework she’d done.
Huiann understood he was paying her for her service, but she couldn’t accept money when she owed him her very life.
Alan squeezed her hand lightly and looked into her eyes. She didn’t need more than his potent gaze to understand what the words thank you meant. She felt she was tumbling into the blue pools of his eyes. Her body yearned for him and the phoenix inside her rustled its feathers once more.
Huiann cast her gaze down and stepped away, pulling her hand away from his. She murmured her thanks for the payment. She would not hurt his pride by refusing, but it was time to put some distance between them before the phoenix and dragon bridged the gap between them. Such a union would not be good—not for her in her precarious situation and not with this foreign man.
Huiann hurried upstairs and felt his gaze burning into her back as she climbed them. In her room, she stacked the coins on the little table next to her ivory combs then removed her clothes and lay down in her drawers and chemise. It was her third night in Alan’s house and once more she lay in bed listening for him to come upstairs. He didn’t spend time in the parlor tonight, but went straight to his bedchamber and closed the creaking door behind him.
96
Captive Bride
She knew his room intimately now that she’d cleaned it and pulled up the covers on the bed herself.
Heart fluttering at the wrongness of it, she had pressed her nose into his pillow and breathed deeply, smelling his scent. Now she could picture him moving about the room, sitting on the bed to take off his boots and tossing them in the corner, unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it
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