At least I tried.
Besides, I was in China! I was ready for sightseeing and culture.
Chapter Eighteen
“Auntie Lil, I said it once and I’ll say it again. You have great taste in hotels,” I exclaimed as we moved through the oversized revolving doors and crossed the impeccably polished floor to check in to our Xi’an lodgings. The walls were decorated with impressive tapestries, and on every table stood a mammoth vase containing exotic flowers that coordinated perfectly with the colors of the brocade furniture.
“Don’t give me credit on this one, dear. The organizer of the trip made the choice. We should be meeting her and the rest of the group in the morning for breakfast.”
“Or sooner.”
“What makes you think so?”
I took my hand off my wheeled suitcase and pointed to a boisterous group in the lounge off the main lobby.
“I don’t mean to make a hasty judgment, but based on the, umm, demographic of that group, I think that’s our tour.”
We took in the men and women crowded around the bar and seated in the low, comfy-looking lounge chairs. I really didn’t need the sleuthing skills of my favorite mystery writer to formulate my assessment. Gray or graying hair topped the women, as well as the men—well, the men who still had hair. They were all dressed in comfortable traveling clothes and the type of shoes that are mostly sold at mall stores specializing in walking attire.
Yep. If there was going to be a prize for youngest in the group, I wouldn’t have to compete very strenuously.
A petite ball of energy who looked to be about Auntie Lil’s age caught sight of us and bounded toward us.
“Lilliana Fontana?” she asked.
Auntie Lil nodded.
With scarf flying, the ball of energy flung her arms around Auntie Lil’s neck.
“We’re so glad you made it! After your email about your delay in San Francisco, well, we just didn’t know if you might be delayed in Singapore. And this must be your niece. Annalise, is it? What a darling girl! Come on, let’s get you checked in and get over with the group.”
Whew! What a whirlwind.
She identified herself as Colette Ehlers and accompanied us to the check-in desk. She made sure our luggage was delivered to our room with dispatch.
“Now, I know you’ll want to get upstairs, but come over to the lounge to say hello first.”
Having no choice, we looked at each other, smiled, and shrugged as we moved over to meet our new best friends.
Colette clapped her hands to catch the attention of the group and announced, “Everyone, this is Lilliana and her niece, Annalise.”
Dozens of smiling eyes turned toward us, and we heard a chorus of greetings—“Welcome!” “We’re glad you’re here!” “Now the group is complete!”
Our impromptu hostess continued her duties.
“Now, everyone, they’ve had a long flight from Singapore, so don’t monopolize them tonight. Let them go upstairs to get to sleep.”
One look around the room told me that these folks were not going to heed her advice. I was right.
“Annalise, what a beautiful name!” A pair of women whose facial features indicated they must be sisters pulled me toward the bar. I looked over to see Auntie Lil in what looked like a companionable discussion with a couple in matching outfits.
“Would you like a glass of wine, dear?” asked the taller of my newfound friends, calling over the bartender.
“Katherine, she’s young. She probably would rather have a Cosmo,” admonished the other.
“Actually, I’d be happy with a glass of iced tea,” I smiled.
Katherine placed my order and turned back toward me, taking me in from head to toe with a sharp look.
“So, what brings you here with all of us fuddy-duddies? Vivienne and I had a bet that if you were traveling with your elderly aunt, you were being punished for some transgression.”
“Kat!” reproved her sister with a gasp.
“Go on, Viv, deny that we said that,” said Katherine in a matter-of-fact tone.
“YOU said that! I said nothing of the kind,” Vivienne turned to me with a soft smile. “But, if you don’t mind us asking—what brings you here, with us?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The Flynn sisters were mirrored halves. Katherine was sharp edges with a sharp, if honest, tone. Vivienne was all soft curves and managed to cushion her comments with a winning smile.
“I’m not being punished. Actually, this is a treat for me. Auntie Lil is giving me a great opportunity to travel with her.”
“Hmm.” Katherine trained her gaze on me and stepped back.
“No, really.” I’m not sure why I felt the need to convince her.
“Pay no attention to her,” Vivienne said, then pulled me toward her and whispered, “Katherine has the misguided notion that she is intuitive.”
“Not misguided, Viv. This young lady has a story. Before our trip is over, I’ll get to the bottom of this.” She nodded briskly.
“Katherine!” scolded her sister.
I looked from one to the other. Quirky, to be sure. If these two were representative of the group, it should be an interesting week.
“Annalise, come and meet the Willems.” Auntie Lil gestured me toward her and the couple she was chatting with.
I excused myself from the two sisters and took in the cozy couple. He was tall and dark-skinned, with a broad smile and a gleaming bald head. He looked like Chi McBride plus about twenty years. Her fair skin belied her Nordic heritage. She had obviously been a corn silk blonde in her day, but the tresses wound about her head in a braid were now mixed shades. Her eyeglasses were an updated cat-eye frame in clear plastic and surrounded deep-set eyes.
“Pleased to meet you.” I reached out my hand for a shake.
“Oh, no, I’m a hugger,” said the wife, who identified herself as Frida and embraced me before turning me over to her husband, who she called Bear.
“Bear?” I questioned.
“I got that nickname in college, and it just stuck,” he said. “Much better than my given name, if you ask me.”
Of course I had to ask him.
“My given name is Willie.”
“Willie seems like a fine name.”
“Say it all out loud.”
Oh. Willie Willems. I’m sure the children in grade school had a field day with that when he was young! “Bear” it was, then.
“I was just telling Frida and Bear about our whirlwind tour of San Francisco. They lived near there when he taught at Berkeley.”
“We loved our time in the city by the bay,” nodded Frida.
“We had a lot of fun that day,” I said.
“Your aunt said you met a nice young man while you were there,” said Bear.
“Wow, Auntie Lil, you certainly packed a lot of information in a five-minute conversation.” I elbowed her.
She just looked off to the side innocently while Bear and Frida smiled.
“We probably should be getting to bed, Auntie Lil. You must be tired. You’ll excuse us.”
But as I attempted to circle my aunt’s shoulder and lead her out of the lounge, our effervescent hostess Colette and another couple joined us.
“Lilliana and Annalise, I know that you need to get to bed, but I do want you to meet Georgiann and Tom Perini. They’re absolutely marvelous, and you have so much in common.”
The Perinis could have been on a poster titled “Italian Grandparents.” They were of similar height and weight and had matching Mediterranean features. Her haircut was so similar to my own mother’s that, from the back, I might not have been able to tell them apart if Ma were there. I bet that at home, she had a well-worn apron hanging on the back of the kitchen door, and her meatballs and sauce were probably renowned in her neighborhood.
He was nattily dressed for this trip, but I’m sure that on a Saturday afternoon on his own turf, he would be puttering around a small garden in his favorite faded trousers and shirt, tying
up tomato stakes or delicately caring for zucchini plants.
They greeted us each with a double-cheeked kiss, and I was immediately transported home.
“Annalise! What a beautiful girl. You and your mother here could be sisters!” said Tom with a clap of his hands.
“Oh, we’re niece and aunt,” I clarified.
“So, two more lovely single girls on the trip,” smiled Georgiann. “We’ll see if we can take care of that.”
I smiled inwardly. She really WAS a lot like my mom!
“We’re looking forward to visiting the terra-cotta soldiers.” I thought moving the topic of conversation away from matchmaking was a good idea.
“Definitely. It was one of the reasons that Genio wanted us to sign up for this trip.”
“Genio?”
“My brother,” said Georgiann. “He is with us. Tom and I were going to go on another cruise to Alaska, but Genio-Eugene-said to branch out. He said that this would be more interesting. So far he has been right. There he is. Genio Cusamano, come meet the Fontana girls.”
I turned to see an attractive man approach us from the corner of the room. His full head of hair was snowy white, and his eyes flashed under his matching snowy eyebrows. He was taller than his sister, but you could see the family resemblance in the broad smile and aquiline nose. I turned to Auntie Lil to comment on his movie star good looks but was struck by the look on her face.
“I apologize, but I really must take my leave,” she said to the Perinis. “I think that the travel has caught up with me. Annalise, would you accompany me?”
She hooked her arm through mine, and I know that my face showed my confusion as I made our apologies. We moved through the lobby to the elevator, where Auntie Lil punched the button with a sense of urgency. Once we were safely within the small confines, she leaned on the back wall.
I turned to her and with tones that channeled my father, I said, “All right, Lilliana Aurora Fontana, what was THAT all about?”
Chapter Nineteen
“I’m just tired, Annalise. There’s nothing else to say.” Auntie Lil delicately elbowed past me to jam her finger in the number of our floor and wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“I have never known you to be tired in my entire life!”
“Well, I guess I’m allowed one then, right?”
We rode in silence for a floor or two.
“But, Auntie Lil—”
“Seriously, Annalise, I don’t want to discuss this. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be watching out for my health? What would your father say if he knew you weren’t encouraging me to rest?”
Who was she kidding? She could run circles around me. There was no way she was run-down.
Oh. Unless she was. I mean. She did just have that heart scare. I glanced at her, worried.
Wait a minute.
“You’re not fooling me, woman. That wasn’t a health reaction, that was something else. You better come clean.”
We reached our room, and Auntie Lil swiveled on her heel.
“I am politely asking you to drop it, Annalise.”
Whoa. I had never heard that tone before.
“Okay, okay.”
We entered our room, and Auntie Lil kept the conversation on anything but our hasty departure.
“This is quite a room, isn’t it?”
“I’ll say!”
The smooth, dark wood of the furniture lent a rich atmosphere that was accented by heavy, golden draperies and duvet covers in a matching gold. Our baggage had been placed neatly on fold-out stands and unzipped, ready for us to unpack. I strolled into the lavishly appointed bathroom and was impressed by the gold-flecked marble countertops and the basket full of high-end lotions and soaps.
“There are free bottles of water in here as well as out there,” I yelled to Auntie Lil.
“Remember,” she nodded as I walked back into the room, “make sure to only drink bottled water and use it for brushing teeth even though the water is safe for showers. There is a note about that on the counter out here.”
I smiled, remembering my mother and her extensive research before I left.
“What time is it? I’m going to call Ma.”
“She’ll appreciate a call no matter what time it is. In the meantime, I think I will take a shower before I get into bed.” Auntie Lil pulled her pajamas and slippers from her bag and moved to the bathroom.
I dialed the home number and smiled when I heard my mother’s warm tones.
“Annalisa, what’s the matter?”
“Hello to you, too, Ma.”
“Why are you calling?” Her tone was concerned.
I didn’t want to go round and round with my mother about why she always assumed that something was wrong when we called. It just was her way. I took a deep breath.
“We were just thinking about you and wanted to call.”
“That’s nice!” She was genuinely pleased. “How is the trip? What have you done since San Francisco?”
I gave her a summary of our Singapore adventure—minus the embarrassment of my dinner faux pas, of course—and brought her up to speed on what we knew about our traveling group.
“They sound pleasant,” she said. “Where is your aunt?”
“She’s in the shower.”
“Remind her not to open her mouth in the shower! And to only use the bottled water to brush her teeth!”
“I’ll do that, Ma. We’re both on top of the water restrictions.” Oh, Ma. “Is Pop around?”
“He’s at work, dear. What time is it there?”
“Bedtime. Well, Ma, I just wanted to touch base. Give him my love, and Nicky and Amanda.”
“I will sweetheart. Take care of your aunt. Make sure you eat.”
“You know I will, Ma. I love you.”
“Love you.”
I disconnected the phone. If only my mother were the kind of person I could have shared Auntie Lil’s odd behavior with. I would have continued the conversation, but ...
The water in the shower was still running, so I punched in the number of the one person I knew I could share this conversation with.
“Editorial, this is Rory,” came the voice of my best friend.
“Rory, it’s me. Do you have a minute?”
“Hey! What are you doing calling me at the office?”
“I’m glad to talk to you, too,” I scrunched my face. Was no one happy to hear from me today?
“No, no, it’s just a surprise,” she laughed.
“I need to bounce something off you.”
“Ooh. Sounds serious,” she said. “Hold on, let me move into one of our meeting rooms and close the door. ... Okay. So what’s up?”
Not trusting the decibel level of my own voice, I grabbed a key and slipped out of the room to the end of the hall.
“Okay, here’s the thing.” I described the incident in the lounge leading up to Auntie Lil admonishing me to “drop it.”
“Hmm,” said Rory.
“That’s all you have? ‘Hmm’? I could have gotten that from a stranger on the street who doesn’t speak English.”
“Ssh. I’m thinking.”
“Well, you’re thinking on my international dime, Rory.” I paced.
“Do you want my thoughts or not?”
“Any day now.”
“So here’s what I think,” she began. “Your aunt was tired.”
That’s it? I called all the way around the world for that? Before I could give a snarky reply, she continued.
“You guys have been going strong for how many days now? It just caught up with her. I think she just really got tired and was too embarrassed to admit it to you, because she had told your dad she would have been okay on this trip alone.”
I pondered this.
“Annalise, are you still there? Remember, this is on your international dime.”
“Cut the smart-aleck tone. I was just processing. I guess that could be it. But why would she be afraid to admit it to me? Does she think I’d double-cross h
er and tell on her to Pop?”
“No, but she might have had some sort of twinge in her heart and didn’t want it to turn into something that you would make a major medical issue. Can you imagine that?”
“You’re right, you’re right.”
“My suggestion is that you drop it for now and just keep watch to see if she shows any other signs.”
“You’re right, you’re right.”
“Of course.”
I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see them.
“So, other than that, what’s happening?” she asked.
I wasn’t prepared to present an entire trip report, so I managed to deflect.
“Oh, you know, we just checked in to this amazing hotel. We’re starting out early on our tour here tomorrow morning. I’m actually out in the hallway so I don’t have the whole schedule to quote to you, but it’s going to be fun. I’m sure it won’t be too strenuous, given the demographic of the group.”
“Hey, don’t underestimate them. They might run circles around you.”
“At this moment, anyone could. I guess I shouldn’t question Auntie Lil saying she’s tired. I need some shut-eye myself.” I stretched as I walked back toward the room.
“Well, make sure you rest ... and eat good food,” she teased.
“Thanks, ‘Ma,’ I’ll be sure to do that,” I joked.
“Send me pictures.” I could see Rory bounce up ready to return to her day.
I punched the “off” button on my phone and paused a moment before entering the room.
“Where were you?” asked Auntie Lil sitting on her bed, luxuriously applying the sweet-smelling hand lotion provided in our basket of amenities.
“Chatting with Rory.” I crossed to my bed. “I didn’t want to disturb you if you were getting into bed.”
“I see.”
“I think I’ll shower as well.” I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye as I prepared to do so.
“I recommend it highly,” she said as she snuggled under her covers, propped up with her book and reading glasses. It was as if nothing odd had occurred earlier.
When I returned from the shower, she was still engrossed in reading. I climbed into my own bed, armed with my iPad and prepared to write about our encounter with the tour group. Surrounding myself with pillows, I punched them to just the right height and propped my tablet on my knees. A moment later, I went to the wardrobe to retrieve the spare pillow to add it to my collection, then rearranged.
Passports and Plum Blossoms Page 12
