The Paper Daughters of Chinatown - Heather B. Moore Page 0,95

“I return to San Francisco tomorrow. I can’t stay away too long.”

He squeezed her hand gently. “Of course you can’t. What about next weekend? Would you turn away a visitor if he showed up on your doorstep?”

Dolly’s smile bloomed. “I would not turn away such a visitor.”

The front door to the house creaked open, and Charles released her hand.

She looked over at Mrs. Bazatas. If she had noticed they’d been holding hands, she didn’t comment on it.

“Dessert is served,” Mrs. Bazatas said, her tone cheerful. “Ben said it’s your favorite, Dolly.”

Dolly felt Charles’s gaze on her, and guilt pinged her heart. Ben. It wasn’t as if they had any sort of understanding. There had been only friendship between them. But now, after meeting Charles, Dolly could never imagine herself with Ben. And surely Ben had noticed.

“Thank you,” Dolly told Mrs. Bazatas.

Half an hour later, Dolly walked with her sister’s family back to their home in the darkness. The temperature was mild, and the cooling breeze felt nice on Dolly’s still heated cheeks. Caroline was being carried by her father, and her head bobbed against his shoulder as she slept.

“You’re quiet,” Jessie said as they walked side by side.

Dolly exhaled slowly, choosing her words carefully. But she was positive that Jessie had already noticed enough.

“Charles is going to visit me in San Francisco.”

Dolly felt the warmth of her sister’s smile cross the distance between them. “You like him.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I do,” Dolly admitted. There was no use denying it. She liked Charles Bazatas, and that fact alone made her future look much different.

“[My owner] used to make me carry a big fat baby on my back and make me to wash his diapers. And you know, to wash you have to stoop over, and then he pulls you back, and cry and cry. Oh, I got desperate, I didn’t care what happened to me, I just pinched his cheek, his seat, you know, just gave it to him. Then of course I got it back. She, his mother, went and burned a red hot iron tong and burnt me on the arm.”

—Tien Fu Wu

1901

Dolly ran a brush through her hair with a trembling hand. She was more than nervous, if she were to admit it. Charles Bazatas would be at the mission home in only a few minutes, and she had already delayed in her bedroom long enough. Quickly, she pinned her thick hair up, then rose to her feet and surveyed her appearance in the half mirror.

Would he notice the blush on her cheeks or her too-bright eyes?

No matter. The weather was warm, the clouds wispy, so she opted to forgo a shawl or jacket. And she wanted to be the one to open the front doors. The girls were already abuzz with the news. Despite herself, Dolly had been unable to keep it from her staff members, which now included Tien.

Dolly left her bedroom and found no fewer than a dozen girls waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Her cheeks flushed hotter now that she would have quite the audience when Charles arrived.

He was late by about twenty minutes, but the moment his knock sounded on the door, Dolly immediately forgave his tardiness. He grinned as she welcomed him into the foyer, and the Chinese girls suddenly became shy.

“Well, hello, everyone.” Charles swept off his hat and dipped his chin into a nod.

“Hello,” the girls chorused, and Dolly held back a laugh at their curious eyes.

Lonnie stepped forward first, holding out her hand as if she had all the confidence in the world. “I’m Yoke Lon.”

“Nice to meet you, Yoke Lon,” Charles said, giving her hand a very formal shake.

Then the other girls crowded around him, also wanting to shake his hand. The younger ones turned into instant chatterboxes, asking him where he was from, how tall he was, and Dong Ho asked in her sweet voice if he’d ever played the game Tiu-u.

“It’s like dominos,” Dong Ho said.

Charles chuckled. “I can’t say that I have played your version, Dong Ho, but I’d sure like to learn some time.”

Dong Ho’s face bloomed red, and she scurried behind another girl.

Charles only winked at Dolly. “Well, if you ladies don’t mind, Miss Cameron and I had better be going. We have reservations, you see.”

The girls tittered, and even Tien smiled, although she stayed in the background.

Gallantly, Charles extended his arm, and Dolly slipped her hand around his forearm. Charles replaced his hat, and together they