Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [99]
If only he weren't Chinese, or, at the very least, if only he didn't live in Chinatown and wasn't so closely tied to this neighborhood, maybe then she could consider him as someone she could date. But ... she glanced over her shoulder, realizing how close he lived to this building, only three short blocks away. It wasn't nearly far enough.
Her mother finally opened the door and beckoned for her to come in. "Are you all right?" Jasmine asked, her gaze traveling up and down Alyssa's body, as if she were checking for bruises or broken bones.
"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I've been calling you since yesterday. Why didn't you call me back?"
"I didn't get a chance," Alyssa said, knowing that she'd had plenty of chances, but she'd been battling herself over how much she wanted to get involved with the missing dragon, her mother, and her newly discovered father. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the deep worry lines stretching across her mother's forehead. "Why are you so upset?"
"You shouldn't have spoken to your grandfather about the dragon."
"Oh. Well, I ran into him in the square. I was going to talk to Grandmother, but I couldn't find her. She wasn't at the shop."
"She came to see me."
"She came here?" Alyssa echoed in amazement. "What did she say? What did she want?"
Instead of answering her, Jasmine walked over to the nearby easel and stared at the still-wet painting. She was stalling, Alyssa thought, wondering why. She also noticed that her mother had once again painted the dragon, and this one was more distinct, the details sharp and clear where before they had always been hazy.
"You can't stop painting it, can you?" she asked.
"I try, but whatever object I start to paint always turns into this."
"What did Grandmother want?"
"She told me that I had seen the dragon at a museum in Taiwan, that I had tried to touch it, and the alarms went off, frightening me. That's why I have such bad dreams about it."
Alyssa considered the explanation. It was so simple, so easy. "Why didn't she tell you that before? When I asked Grandfather, he said you had never seen a dragon like the one you dream about."
Her mother looked as confused as she felt. "I don't know, Alyssa."
"They're not telling us the truth, are they?"
"We should not speak ill of our elders. It is wrong, disrespectful. We must honor them."
Alyssa had heard those words a thousand times, but she had always had a difficult time equating her grandparents' behavior with honor.
"My mother reminded me that the story of the dragons includes a curse on all first daughters," Jasmine continued. "Because I touched the dragon the other day, I may have brought the curse down upon you, Alyssa. I am worried about you."
Her mother's words rocked her back on her heels. She'd never thought about the curse in terms of herself. Did she even believe in curses? Wasn't that just more superstitious foolishness?
"I'm not worried," she said, trying to ignore the unease sweeping through her body.
"You should not taunt fate."
"Ben already told me about the curse, but we don't even know if the dragon you saw is part of that story, that set."
"You went to see Ben?" her mother asked in astonishment. "Why? Why would you do that? You don't care about the dragon or Ben."
"I care about you. I care about the fact that the dragon is missing, and you might have been the last person to see it before Mr. Hathaway was attacked just a few blocks from here." She couldn't quite bring herself to call him her father. It still didn't seem real.
"I didn't hurt David."
"Of course not. But he's a rich man, and his family has connections. If they need someone to blame, who better than you?"
"You don't have to worry about me."
"I'm afraid that's not possible. I love you. You're my mother."
Tears came to Jasmine's eyes. "I brought you into a world of shame."
"You brought me into a world of opportunity. And I thank God that you did. I can be whoever I want to be."
"I