Soon To Be Brides: The Marrying Macallister / That Blackhawk Bride. Barbara McCauley

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ merrily. “I just removed the last dab. I mean, hey, either wear it or don’t, whatever floats your boat.”

      To Caitlin’s amazement and delight, an embarrassed flush crept up Matt’s neck and onto his face.

      “Marsha,” Bud said, chuckling, “give Matt and Caitlin a break, would you? It’s none of our business if they… Well, it’s just none of our business.”

      “Of course it isn’t,” Marsha said. “But that doesn’t mean I can just cancel being snoopy.”

      “Changing the subject now,” Bud said. “I wonder what’s keeping Elizabeth?”

      As though she’d heard her name being called, Elizabeth emerged as the elevator doors swished open, and hurried across the lobby to join the others, glancing at her watch when she finally stopped.

      “Only ten minutes late,” she said, “but I’ll still apologize for keeping you waiting. I was making my usual telephone call to Dr. Yang in Nanjing to confirm our plans. He’ll notify the director of the orphanage that we’re on schedule and good to go. Dr. Yang will leave a message for me at our hotel in Nanjing informing me of the time the vans will arrive to take us to the orphanage so you can meet your daughters.

      “As you’ve been told, you’ll have about an hour’s visit with them tomorrow, then take them with you the next day when we go back to the orphanage to get them.” She paused and laughed. “Uh-oh, there’s no tissue box to pass around and some of you are getting weepy. Let’s head for the restaurant before we flood this lobby.”

      Darkness had fallen and more neon lights had come alive when the group left the hotel and began the walk to the restaurant. The name Las Vegas was heard several times from the various conversations taking place.

      Caitlin replayed in her mind the moment when Marsha had wiped the lipstick from Matt’s lips and couldn’t curb her smile. She should be totally mortified, she thought, but she wasn’t. Matt had been so endearingly embarrassed, she’d wanted to give him a hug and tell him not to worry about what anyone might be thinking about the telltale clue, and to remember that he was the one who had said that new daughters were the main focus of the entire group, not the doings of Caitlin Cunningham and Matt MacAllister.

      Elizabeth was greeted warmly when they arrived at the restaurant, and they were soon settled at a large round table with a lazy Susan in the middle.

      Three waitresses appeared and began to place steaming hot, intriguing-appearing offerings of food on the turntable. Plates were soon piled high with the fragrant food, and they dug in.

      “Did Dr. Yang say anything about the babies, Elizabeth?” one of the women asked. “Anything at all?”

      “Only that they would be ready and waiting for you to see and hold them,” she said, smiling.

      “Oh-h-h,” the woman said. “I can hardly wait. I hope the hours between now and then pass quickly. This is torture.” She smiled at her husband. “Just think, Bill. Tomorrow we meet Emma Lin. Tomorrow.”

      “Yep,” he said, matching her smile. “In the meantime, eat your dinner.”

      “Tomorrow,” Caitlin whispered, staring into space.

      Excited chatter erupted around the table centered on the wondrous event that would take place the next day. Matt leaned close to Caitlin so only she could hear him.

      “Tomorrow,” he said, smiling at her when she met his gaze. “You’ll meet your daughter. You’ll hold her, look into her pretty eyes and know if she’s Mackenzie or Madison. It will be one of those life-changing memories that will be etched in your mind forever.”

      “Yes,” Caitlin said softly.

      “And you know something, Caitlin? When I realize that I’ll be right there to witness it all, I can honestly say there’s no place else on this earth I’d rather be.”

      Chapter Six

      Caitlin sat next to one of the windows on the rickety bus that had picked up the group at the Nanjing airport, her gaze riveted on the bustling crowds within her view.

      Nanjing, she decided, was absolutely enchanting, an intriguing blend of the old and the new. There were tall, modern buildings next to small, shanty-type houses, and the number of people riding bicycles in the surging traffic seemed to outnumber those in automobiles.

      Some of the people were dressed in clothes she might see in Ventura, while others were wearing traditional dark pants and boxy jackets that she’d seen so often in photographs of the Chinese populace. The weather was perfect, warm with a cooling breeze.

      “Oh,” Caitlin gasped as she witnessed yet another near miss of a car colliding with a bicycle. “It’s dangerous out there. The people on those bikes are demanding equal space on the roads. Scary.”

      Matt leaned forward to look out the window, then immediately settled back again in his seat with a chuckle.

      “I don’t think watching that madness is good for my blood pressure. This makes driving in Los Angeles or New York City a leisurely outing. Whew.”

      “There are amazingly few accidents,” Elizabeth said, overhearing what Caitlin and Matt were talking about. “It looks awful, but it’s organized chaos, or some such thing. The majority of people can’t afford cars, so the mode of transportation is most often a bike. There is a stiffer penalty for stealing a bicycle than a vehicle.”

      “Fascinating,” Matt said, nodding.

      “Caitlin,” Marsha said from across the aisle, “you should be taking notes on some of this. I think with your talent for writing you could do some very interesting articles for the magazine from a fashion angle, make our readers feel as though they’ve actually visited China. It would be a nice way to add to your income while you’re working at home, too.”

      “In between changing Miss M.’ s diapers.” Matt chuckled.

      “Babies do take naps, you know.” Marsha frowned. “But I guess that’s when you take one, too, or maybe get caught up on the laundry and what have you. I don’t have a clue.”

      “We’ll find out very soon, sweetheart,” Bud said. “You know, I have to admit I’m getting nervous about meeting Grace for the first time. What if I scare the socks off her? She’s almost a year old, so I imagine she has definite opinions about things…like her father is terrifying.”

      Marsha patted Bud’s knee. “We’ll just take it as it comes, give her space, time to get used to us. When we bring her back to the hotel tomorrow we’ll let her call the shots. If she doesn’t want us to hold her, we won’t push it.” She paused. “Oh, dear, now I’m getting nervous.”

      Elizabeth laughed. “Just relax. If your new daughters sense that you’re uptight they’ll react accordingly. My years of making these trips allows me to say with confidence that you’ll all be pleasantly surprised at how quickly your girls adjust to you and their new environment. They’re extremely resilient little ladies.”

      “Goodness,” Caitlin said. “I never gave a thought to the idea that Miss M. might not…well, like me right off the bat. We’ve all fallen in love with our daughters by just looking at their pictures but…oh dear.”

      “Don’t СКАЧАТЬ