At the end of the lunch, Joey said, “I have to get to an appointment. But first, I’d like to invite you all to my place for an old-fashioned, country-style Chinese meal. Doris, if you’re collecting recipes, you might be interested. Mikhail, I know it will be old home week for you. Bird, I think you’ll enjoy meeting my current international student. He read your new book a couple nights ago. He loves dragons.”
Joey looked straight at her. Was that hope in his eyes? “Doris?”
She hesitated, then decided that a group invitation was safely non-intimate. “I’d love to.”
SIX
JOEY
Wednesday morning, Joey got the outdoor stove going, then picked herbs from his own kitchen garden. Nothing but the best and freshest of ingredients for his mate!
“You’ll be on your best behavior,” he ordered the wolf-shifter twins. “And nothing about dragons, Cang, or imperial orders, all right? She’s human. She doesn’t know.”
“Yes, Uncle,” the twins chorused, their faces all innocence.
At least he didn’t have to worry about the serious, studious exchange student Xi Yong, who was sweeping the terrace. The qilin shifter wasn’t going to embarrass him in front of his mate.
He hoped.
Sometimes he caught a glimmer of sly humor in Xi Yong’s solemn eyes, and all three young people had been getting along very well. He had hoped Xi Yong would be a good influence on the mischievous twins, but now he was starting to think it might be the other way around.
But just then his three guests arrived, and Joey only had eyes for Doris as she approached his house. As her gaze swept over the adobe walls and the archway leading to the tiled patio that served as the entrance, he tried to see it through her eyes. Was the house too jumbled-looking? The oldest parts were left from the original adobe house. It had been added onto various times over the 20th Century.
He’d built the long terrace, and the herb garden beyond. Years of students coming and going, playing and experimenting with various projects, had led him to keep things simple. Maybe simple to him would be shabby to her?
But she smiled and seemed friendly, if reserved as usual, as they went through introductions all around. Joey introduced the twins, and then Xi Yong as an exchange student who was staying with him. Trying not to feel shy, Joey showed Doris around the house, accompanied by Bird, while Mikhail went off with the young people to make sure nothing was burning on the outside stove. Joey couldn’t help wishing he was alone with his mate, but he could see that having Bird with her made Doris more comfortable, and Bird was good company.
“It’s a beautiful house, isn’t it?” Bird said to Doris. “I felt comfortable here, the first time I ever visited. It has such a quiet, cheerful atmosphere.”
Doris didn’t answer, but Joey saw her quick smile of agreement, and his fox leaped within him.
Doris paused at the open door to the game room. “Is that a mahjong table? You’re the first non-Jewish person I’ve ever met who played that!”
“It’s actually a Chinese game,” Joey said. “Originally, anyway.”
Bird peeked in. “Doris, is that the game your mother is addicted to?”
“Oh yes. Mahjong is nearly as sacrosanct a tradition at the synagogue as actual services. At least to that generation.” Doris laughed. “But I never got into it. I had no idea it came from China.”
Joey and Doris shared a quick smile. He thought of the tale of Lady Bai and her scholar, and the bridges between different worlds. Maybe this ancient game was the first bridge between him and Doris.
“Shall I show you the traditional stove? Well, a traditional stove. Cooking was done in many ways, of course.” He drew them outside, opening his hand toward the stove he built himself. The stone stove was low to the ground, accessible to people who had traditionally sat on mats on the floor. It was made of stone and brick fitted together to enclose the fire. “Red-cooking takes a number of hours, so I got that going first thing this morning. But everything else is ready to be made before your eyes.”
Doris said, “Red-cooking?”
And Bird chimed in, “Is that how you made those delicious ribs last time?”
“Yes. I forgot to ask if you keep kosher, Doris, so I thought fish was safest. I’ve got a beautiful halibut one of my students caught yesterday. I hope you’re all right with that?”
“My family is Reform. We don’t eat pork and shellfish, but other than that, we don’t keep strict kosher.” She added, her cheeks pink, “Thank you for your consideration.”
“No problem! About red-cooking, the basic ingredients are simple, as people in the country didn’t have much beyond what they could get in their gardens or village. Ginger, cilantro, chili, are the most common spices. Broth or wine and sugar are also added, and it’s cooked for many hours over a very small fire. Meat was rare, a luxury for most. Vegetables and rice were more common.”
Doris looked fascinated. Joey extended his hand beyond the terrace. “Would you like to see the herb garden?”
“I’d love to,” she said.
Bird said, “You go ahead, Doris. You’ll have all kinds of questions. I’m going to get something to drink.”