"Yes"
“Bree, are you playing pool with me and James tonight?” Meg asked, setting the mug of hot chocolate down on the table and sliding into the booth beside her friend. Her restaurant had been open and running for fiver hours, and the break was welcome.
Brianna wrinkled her nose, sipping the drink gratefully. “Use my name, I’m not a horse.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “That line is starting to get old. So are you coming or what?”
“Uh-uh, I’ve already got plans.”
This earned an arched eyebrow. “Oh really?”
“Nope, not skeptical at all, are you?” Brianna muttered. Louder, she said, “I have a date.”
This earned wagging eyebrows. “Jun Fei again, huh?”
“Yeah. He’s taking me to celebrate New Year’s with him in Chinatown.” She smiled faintly to herself, staring out the window and at the passers-by littering the town square.
“This is serious, then.” Meg meant it as only half a question.
“More serious than Todd,” Brianna confessed. “Mom likes him, and so do the twins – even Robin does, and that’s saying a lot.”
“You told me.” Meg swiped absently at the beaten wooden tabletop. “He cheered when he found out Jun Fei beat James in chess.”
Brianna sighed and sat back, squeaking leather punctuating her movement. “I love him, Meg.”
“First prize for stating the obvious.” Meg laughed. Then she leaned forward, lowering her voice. “James and I have been watching you two, and we’ve both come to the same conclusion – much to James’s dismay, I might add.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I think Jun Fei’s gonna ask.”
Brianna gasped. “What? What gave you that idea?”
Meg sat back, sticking her hands in her apron pockets and whistling innocently. “Just, you know, conclusions from observation...and some ‘manly’ insight from James.”
Brianna slumped back again, shaking her hair out of her eyes.
“If he were to ask you, would you, theoretically of course, say yes?” Meg’s eyes twinkled.
Brianna opened her mouth, hesitated, closed it. “I don’t know.”
Meg sat up straight. “What? You love him, Brianna, the answer should be – ”
“I don’t know!” Brianna cried. She ran a hand through her hair, tousling it even more. She frowned and yanked the blonde ponytail loose, combing her fingers through it and refastening it, movements full of leashed tension. “Now I’m going to be weird on our date tonight.”
“Why wouldn’t you say yes?” Meg demanded.
Brianna shut her eyes for a moment. “Oh, I don’t know – who would watch the boys?”
“Their mother?”
“No, Meg, the woman’s like the Queen of England, some useless figurehead who lets someone else do the work. My home is here, my life is here, my family is here...”
Meg stood up abruptly. “I’m sorry I asked. Put it out of your mind. Have fun on your date tonight.” She picked up the mug and strode back to the kitchen.
Brianna sighed again.
Would I say yes?
“Feet, feet, and more feet,” Brianna mumbled to herself, stumbling when someone jostled past. She winced at the din of clanging cymbals and wondered if one could really call that music. The dance looked more like a warped parade. It wandered up the main street crowded with hundreds and hundreds of smiling Chinese dressed in festive reds and golds.
They watched, clapping and cheering. All she could do was stare at the dozens of pairs of black-clad feet beneath the brightly-colored shrouds of “lions” and wonder which were his.
Jun Fei had explained the importance of the lion dance, and the competition between the two rival schools in Chinatown, but neither creature resembled a lion, and not much of a fight was happening. Brianna didn’t even know which lion he was part of.
The clashing of cymbals became faster, louder, more frenzied. Brianna gasped, lifting one hand to her throat as the lions began to climb the pillars set in the middle of the square. They inched higher and higher, giant frilled heads weaving and bobbing. The entire crowd cried out when one lion lunged, jaws snapping over the head of lettuce suspended between the two pillars, scattering green. The cymbals reached an earsplitting crescendo above the cheering crowd. Both lions wilted, suddenly lifeless as the young men beneath poked their heads out, waving. Brianna let out a whoop when Jun Fei peered out from under the head of the victorious lion.
She jumped, waving. “Jun Fei! Over here!”
He turned, scanning the crowd.
She waved more vigorously. “Over here!” She yelped when someone jolted her, hard, and stumbled back, a hand to her ribs. She panted for a couple of seconds, caught her breath, plunged into the crowd again. They had to watch the fireworks together! She spotted Jun Fei shouldering his way past the other dancers, searching for her, and she sucked in a gulp of air to call him again. He slowed, and so did Brianna, frowning curiously.
“Oh,” she breathed, stopping in her tracks. She stared at the old woman who materialized out of the crowd and earned a bow from Jun Fei. “His grandmother?”
Brianna began shoving her way through the crowd, her gaze never leaving him. She halted a few feet away, walled off by the pedestrians scurrying on with the festivities. Jun Fei’s voice rose over the din of the celebrations.
“Kim Fei! Mei Ling!”
Brianna recognized the names of his cousins and glimpsed a young man and woman at his grandmother’s side. Jun Fei’s face was pale, brows drawn low over sloe eyes.
Brianna took a step forwards, faltered, and retreated. She turned to leave, let him have some time with his family. He’s obviously not asking tonight.
Horror pierced the air in a sharp tenor.
“Lian Xing!”
Brianna froze. That was the name of Jun Fei’s wife. She turned and saw a second young woman join his grandmother.
“I thought she was dead,” Brianna said to herself. She whirled away and drifted into the sea of bodies.
Brianna wiped down the counter with swift, broad strokes.
“Three weeks of barricading myself up in my mother’s house and I can’t get the question out of my head. I should send Meg my thanks.” She tossed the rag into the sink and slumped against the counter, wrapping her arms around her waist and sighing.
Would I have said yes?
No, don’t think about him, don’t think of any of it.
He was married, you knew he was married, you just thought his wife was dead!
“Brianna?” The screen door rattled.
She didn’t turn her head. “Jun Fei.”
“I didn’t see you after the lion dance.”
She pushed herself up and opened her eyes. His shadow hovered on the other side of the door.
“I got lost in the crowd.” She shrugged.
“My grandmother and cousins came to visit.”
“That must have been nice.” Brianna moved closer to the door. “My brothers miss you.”
“Lian Xing is still alive.” He shoved his hands, clenched into fists, into his pockets. He bowed his head, a few strands from his usually perfect ponytail hanging like black tattered silk in his face. “I have to go back to China with them.”
“Do you still love her?” Brianna asked softly.
He turned his head away. “I respected her.”
Brianna sucked in a breath between her teeth. “Why do you have to go back?”
“It is my duty to my clan. She is my wife; it is my duty to her as a husband.” His voice was flat.
“It’s been eleven years, Jun Fei,” she bit out.
“She is my wife.” He didn’t meet her gaze.
“You thought she was dead!” Brianna hissed.
“Well, she isn’t.” His jaw tightened.
“You were fifteen years old! You gave eleven years of your life to her memory. Aren’t you allowed to move on?” Brianna fisted her sweater at her sides.
“They are my family.” His voice was hard now, his body taut.
“And they tossed you aside like a broken toy!” She threw her hands up. “What about us, here? We’re your family, too.”
“I have to go,” he whispered finally, breaking the heavy silence.
Brianna watched him vanish into the shadows, and a sudden fear seized her.
Everything she swore she’d never give up – her family, friends, vet practice – flashed through her mind.
Was she making a mistake, letting him go? Yes, a voice in her mind whispered.
I would have said yes.
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©2004 Agent Duo