by Caroline Lee
How about you? Kiss anyone?
She could imagine her sister snorting sarcastically when her reply popped up: Who am I supposed to kiss? Rogers? Karonov?
Assuming those were Toni’s coworkers, Lin rolled her eyes as she typed, How about your hot prince?
The reply was almost immediate.
HA. Ha. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Hah.
No.
Lin pressed her lips together to keep from laughing out loud. He’s that bad, huh?
Worse. Stuffy do-gooder. But he wouldn’t kiss anyone who didn’t advance his country’s place on the world stage blah blah blah.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard to keep up with her sister. So no kisses for you then, huh?
Oh ha-ha. A pause while Toni typed her comeback. I don’t think they celebrate Valentine’s Day over here. Know what he did instead? We went to an orphanage for photos, and to make sure the kiddies had enough warm clothes for the winter.
Oh yeah, Lin typed. He sounds like a monster.
You know what I mean! He’s so uptight about his image.
While you prefer a dude who can kill a man with one hand tied behind his back?
Toni’s reply was quick. Or at least one I can’t knock over when we spar.
Ooh, sounded like there was a story there. Lin’s lips twitched as she tried to think of a way to tease her sister further. But before she could, another text window popped up, and she quickly signed off with her sister when she saw it was Brandon.
Looks like you’re about done, since the bao just came out.
Lin looked around. Sure enough, her char siu bao were being plated and carried out to the diners in the restaurant. Her work really was done. How had Brandon known that?
Where are you?? she texted him.
Meet me in front of the restaurant ASAP. I’ll be the one freezing to death.
The laughter that had been threatening during her conversation with Toni burst out then, and Lin had to wave off a few of the curious glances from the other restaurant representatives. She quickly thanked Stacy for her help, promised she’d be back later to pick up her trays, then bundled up in her winter gear to trudge around to the front porch of the restaurant.
Sure enough, there was Brandon standing beside the door, jiggling in place in an effort to get warm. She grinned and ran up to him, throwing her arms around him.
He pulled her up against his chest, and it didn’t seem so cold anymore.
“Hi there, lovely. You seem chipper.”
“Cold air seems to revive me. And the promise of kisses!” she said with a grin
He dropped a kiss to her nose. “I have something better than kisses. Come on inside before we both turn into icicles!”
She followed him into the restaurant, where he took her coat and hung it up. She didn’t understand what was going on, and it didn’t help when he took her by the shoulders and looked her up and down.
“I know this is your work outfit, but you look really nice. Almost nice enough for a Valentine’s date with me.”
A date? Lin looked down at her outfit. “I wasn’t expecting to go anywhere—”
He silenced her with a finger to her lips. “You look wonderful, Lin,” he whispered. “But you need…something else.”
Before she could see what he was doing, he’d draped something around her neck, and was fastening it from behind. When he stepped back slightly, she looked down to see the necklace he’d put on her.
With a gasp of delight, she picked up the large red heart pendant to examine it. It was heavy and smooth, and she loved it immediately. When it hung against the black and gold of her t-shirt, it was the perfect accessory, and really did jazz up her outfit.
“Oh, Brandon, It’s gorgeous!”
“I’m glad you like it. It’s jade from China. The red is lucky, you know.”
She tried to contain her smile when she teased him back. “I did know that. I learned it from some guy whose license plate reads ‘4CHIN8,’ if you can believe that.”
Brandon nodded solemnly. “He sounds wonderful.”
“He is!” She beamed up at him.
When he offered his arm, she took it, not knowing where they were going, but trusting him to lead her anywhere. And good thing she did, because he led her into the restaurant, to a small table in the corner. All around were couples enjoying the small plates—some biting into the baos with obvious pleasure—but this table was empty, except for the plates of food.
Brandon held a chair out for her. “I got the idea last week, when you shared the schedule for the evening. I knew since your plate was towards the front of the line-up, you’d be free after the last seating of the evening, so I made sure to get a reservation.” Shyly, almost, he pushed the plates of food towards the center of the table. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
In that moment, all of the exhaustion of the last two days slipped away, and Lin found herself grinning at him. Her body ached, her mind was fuzzy, and she wasn’t sure what time it even was…but that didn’t matter, because the man she loved had moved Heaven and Earth to make sure they had a Valentine’s Day date together.
“Thank you, Brandon,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I love my new necklace, and this is possibly the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Plus, I’m starving.”
She picked up a fork—one of the reasons they’d chosen to serve bao was that chopsticks weren’t necessary to eat it!—and reached for the small plate from the Mexican restaurant she’d been eyeing all evening. But before she could grab it, he stopped her with his hand on hers.
His expression looked almost pained. “I promise you’ll get to eat, but…” He took a deep breath. “There’s something else I want to give you, and if I don’t do it soon, I swear I’ll be too nervous to eat.”
Her brows shot up, and she instinctively reached for the jade pendent. More that this? “What is it?” she asked in a whisper.
To her surprise, Brandon picked up and handed her one of the fortune cookies from her plate. It was one of the plates she’d prepared in the kitchen herself, with the two baos, but for some reason, this one had three fortune cookies on it, rather than the two everyone else had.
Still confused, she broke open the cookie to pull out the fortune slip they’d baked inside. Holding the cookie half—the other half was delicious, she had to admit—and the fortune, she looked up at Brandon.
“Read it,” he urged, still looking nervous.
She swallowed and cleared her throat. “Finding true love is indeed fortunate. Celebrate your good fortune at The Golden Palace—”
He lunged across the table to snatch the slip out of her hands, then turned it over twice, peering at it.
“Brandon?”
“I could’ve sworn that was the right one,” he muttered. Then, snatching up another cookie, he thrust it at her. “Try this one.”
She didn’t know what was going on, but she was having fun, so she was giggling when she broke open the second cookie and pulled out the slip. It wasn’t one of the ones she’d made with him, she could tell instantly. Even more confused than ever, she held it up to the light to read…and her throat went dry.
I love you.
That was it. That was the only thing written on the slip, and it was in Brandon’s handwriting. Her hands shook as she lowered the little piece of paper and met his eyes across the table.
“Lin?” he asked hesitantly. “Was it the right cookie?”
“I sure hope so,” she replied in a shaky voice. “Because otherwise, I’d think I was sitting with the wrong Valentine’s date.”
He reached across the table and took both her hands in his. “I love you, Lin Dryden. I wouldn’t want anyone else sitting with me as my Valentine’s date.”
There were tears in her eyes when she squeezed his hands, and she knew it wasn’t just because she was overwhelmed and exhausted. Well, maybe a little because she was overwhelmed and exhausted, but it was more than that.
“And I love you, Brandon Chin.
I love you because you’re so much fun, and because you care so passionately about things. And because everyone knows men with dimples are the cutest.”
His eyes lit with joy at her confession, but he apparently couldn’t resist teasing her. “And because I’m a really good kisser?”
Her eye roll was pronounced. “Obviously because you’re a really good kisser.”
He lifted one hand to his lips, and kissed her knuckles. “You have no idea how hard it’s been to not blurt out ‘I love you!’ at random times.”
She giggled. “Same here. I think I’ve been in love with you for a while now.”
“I know I have.”
Wiggling one hand free from his, she picked up a cookie half and bit into it. “And now we’ll always have fortune cookies!”
He scooped up the other half. “Well, not this one,” he said around a bite of it. “But we’ll always have the recipe.”
“I’m saving this fortune though.” She waved the little hand-written slip of paper. “Forever. So I can read it whenever I want.”
“You won’t need to.” He winked. “Because I’m going to remind you I love you at every opportunity.”
A surprise dinner date with the man she loved? A beautiful gift? A perfect confession of love? Lin didn’t think this Valentine’s Day could get any more special…
If only there wasn’t that nagging worry about their future together. How could she leave Mr. Lee and the restaurant? But how could she ask Brandon to stay?
CHAPTER NINE
On Thursday, Lin slept in, and wasn't that just glorious? When she stretched and looked at her clock, she figured she'd gotten a good ten hours of sleep, which had been practically a medical necessity after the two previous days.
Of course, last night when she’d finally gotten home, she didn't think she'd ever be able to fall asleep. Suddenly, that scene from My Fair Lady—about dancing all night—made perfect sense. After that incredible date, and Brandon's wonderfully sweet declaration of love, she felt like she was walking on air!
Still, it hadn't taken her long to fall asleep, and she’d slept really well, which was surprising, because the lingering doubt about a future with Brandon was making her stomach queasy now that she was awake. Of course, that might just be the fact that she was hungry. And after three days straight of cooking—and more cooking to come—she was fine with a bowl of cereal.
After, she called Toni. Because there are some times when a girl just needs her big sister.
“What’s up, Buttercup?”
“Are you busy, Toni?” Lin paced in her living room, trying to do the mental math of time zones.
“I’m getting ready to head to the kitchens for some chow. But there’s no set time to eat, and I wouldn’t mind disappointing Rogers, so lay it on me.”
“It’s just—” Lin squeezed her eyes shut, not sure how to approach the problem.
“What did he do?”
“What?”
“Brandon. You sound like you’re heartbroken. He didn’t dump you on Valentine’s Day, did he?” Toni’s anger was obvious, even through the phone. “Want me to fly home and kick his butt?”
“No! No, no,” Lin was quick to reassure her sister. “He didn’t dump me. He…he told me he loved me.”
There was silence from the other end of the phone. After a very long minute, Toni finally asked, “And?”
“And…yay?”
Toni clucked in exasperation. “No, I mean, and…did you tell him you loved him?”
“Oh. Yes.”
Another long moment of silence. Then Toni hesitantly asked, “So why do you sound like your dog died? Oh no! Muffins didn’t die, did she?”
Her question made Lin chuckle, despite the confusion in her heart. Toni had always said she hated their parents’ little Pomeranian, but she asked after the ball of fluff any time she called home.
“No. Muffins is fine, at least as far as I know. Thanks for reminding me what’s really important in life.”
Toni groaned. “Well, that sounds even more ominous than what I was imagining. If he didn’t dump you, and if Muffins is okay, what’s wrong? And don’t try to lie to me—I can tell something is wrong. Don’t make me have to guess either, I have to eat dinner sometime!”
“Okay, okay!” Lin agreed, laughing. Leave it to Toni to pull her out of her funk. “It’s nothing that bad, not really. Remember how I told you we made fortune cookies? Well, he made a special one with a handwritten note which said ‘I love you’. In fact, it was kind of cute, because he gave me the wrong one at first…” She trailed off, remembering the way they’d laughed about that for the rest of the dinner. She’d probably laugh about that for the rest of her life, all things considered.
Toni didn’t say anything for a moment, then hesitantly said, “That sounds really nice, Lin. What did you do?”
Lin sniffed a little bit, the memory of the night before and her worry bringing back the butterflies in her tummy. “I told him that I love him too, that I’ve loved him for a while. We had the most wonderful dinner date, and I wasn’t even expecting it! He worked so hard to make Valentine’s Day special, and it just reinforced how much I love him.”
“Ah,” said Toni sagely. “That does sound horrible.”
A snort of laughter burst out of Lin. “No! It was wonderful! The most wonderful Valentine’s Day I can possibly imagine.”
Toni huffed in exasperation. “Then what’s the problem, Lin-Lin?”
“The problem is that I love him, and he’s leaving town!” Lin exclaimed, embarrassed by how close to tears she sounded.
After a long moment, Toni said, “I’m sorry, Lin-Lin. Did he tell you that?”
“No,” Lin sniffed. “But his home is in LA. His life is in LA! When I met him, I thought maybe I could go to California too. But I can’t leave the restaurant, not now when Mr. Lee needs me most.”
“And are you sure he wouldn’t consider staying?”
Lin thought about her sister’s words. Would he? Would he possibly consider staying in a small town in Idaho, consider giving up the job he loved…just to be with her?
“I…I can’t imagine,” she finally confessed, a catch in her voice and her heart in her throat.
“Well, hon, there’s only one way to be sure,” Toni said gently. “You’ll have to ask him. If you ever want a future with him, you’re going to have to give him a reason to stay.”
“And we’re doing the cod with ginger and light soy sauce, I’m assuming?”
From his hospital bed, Mr. Lee nodded. Already the old man looked better since his collapse two days ago. “Of course. And Lin has shown me the menu she created on her computer, explaining yu can mean ‘fish’ or ‘prosperity,’ and the meaning behind the dish.”
Brandon nodded while he looked between the list on his phone and the pad of paper he was jotting notes down on. “Yep, yep. Same with the oranges we’re serving for dessert. It was a really good idea to do a limited menu for New Year. It means we don’t have to get too creative, and we know the diners will be eating traditional dishes.”
Leaning his head back against the stack of hospital pillows, Mr. Lee smiled weakly. “It makes things much easier for you to come in and take over cooking. Thank you.”
Alarmed, Brandon glanced up. “I hope you don’t think I’m trying to take over. This is your restaurant, your dream. I’m just helping to make sure your New Year dinner is successful.”
“Yes, but you didn’t have to.” The old man patted Brandon’s arm. “And I want you to know I appreciate it. It is a poor man who will not pay his debts.”
Brandon was embarrassed by the praise, but remembered something his grandfather used to say when one of his friends would comment on his “willingness” to raise his young grandson. “One beam, no matter how big, cannot support an entire house on its own.”
No one person could do everything!
Mr. Lee closed his eyes and smiled once more. “It is good to find a young man with such regard for tradition
and culture.”
Brandon snorted, but turned his laughter into a cough at the last moment.
The old man opened one eye. “But don’t think I don’t know why you are doing this thing. It isn’t for an elderly grandfather, lying in the hospital. She is a good woman.”
Brandon didn’t even have to ask who Mr. Lee meant. “She certainly is. Thank you for everything you’ve done for her for the last ten years.” His grin grew. “Despite the fact she doesn’t know how to eat with chopsticks, or what Gung Hay Fat Choy means.”
Mr. Lee sighed dramatically. “If the pupil refuses to learn, the teacher is not to blame.”
“This is true.” He was grinning as he looked back over his list. “Okay, I think we’re good. Lin got everything you ordered—including several gallon jugs of soy sauce so you don’t have to keep buying from the store here in town—and I don’t see any issues. Hopefully we can push the fish, because I dunno what we’re going to do with any leftovers.”
“Leftover fish on New Year’s is very lucky. It symbolizes overflowing prosperity.”
“Yeah, but it also symbolizes a bunch of fish taking up space in the freezer.”
“We will make stew,” Mr. Lee said decisively, nodding with his eyes shut.
Brandon laughed. “Deal. And although I said I wasn’t going to take over…”
“What?” The old man blinked up at him.
“I was wondering if you’d mind if I made luo buo gao. My grandmother always made them for New Year, and I saw that the turnips were on sale at the place down the street.”
“That is a good idea. They are easy and tasty, and will be a surprise to people used to fried rice.” Mr. Lee patted Brandon’s hand again. “I am glad you are helping me.” He smiled and leaned his head back once more. “Or rather, Lin.”
Lin. She was why he was doing all this, wasn’t she? He wanted her to be happy, and he knew how much The Golden Palace meant to her. But…
He frowned slightly. But it wasn’t just for Lin, was it? Since agreeing to help her with the Valentine’s Dinner, since teaching her to make bao, he’d felt…well, more alive than he had in a long time. And it wasn’t just her; it was being with her, yeah, but it was more than that. It was like, by tapping into the skills PohPo had taught him so long ago, and by sharing those skills with Lin and Mr. Lee, he was fulfilling something inside himself he hadn’t realized he was missing.
