Promise Me

Something you lost will soon turn up.

Fortune Cookie

Sunday evening Matthew rang the bell around five-thirty. I opened the door to find him holding three large paper sacks.

“How did you ring the bell?” I asked.

“With my elbow.”

“Come in,” I said. “I’ll take one of those.”

“I wasn’t sure what ingredients you had so I just bought everything.”

We carried the sacks into the kitchen. He took off his coat, then we began emptying the sacks onto the counter. There was rice, soy sauce, carrots, onions, eggs, chicken breasts, ham steak, garlic and scallions. In addition, there were fortune cookies, three pairs of chopsticks, three rice hats and a plastic baggie filled with grass.

“What’s this?” I said holding up the baggie.

“Grass. I didn’t know where to find hay.”

“You cook with hay?”

“No. The Chinese New Year is next Friday. And it is the year of the horse, hence the hay which, in our case, is grass.”

He walked over and set a rice hat on my head. “You have to wear this. Health department regulations.” He tied the ribbon beneath my chin. “Perfect.”

“Then you have to wear yours,” I said. I picked one up, put it on his head, and fastened the ribbon. “You still look Italian.”

“Thank you,” he said.

There was another hat about half the size of the ones we wore. “You even brought a little one for Charlotte.”

“We didn’t want to leave her out of the fun. So where is Charlotte?”

“She’s next door at her friend’s house. But I called just before you came, so she’ll be home in a few minutes.”

“Great. Let’s get started.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, sure I looked stupid under the hat.

“You got the drinks?”

“It’s not very Chinese, but I made lemonade. There’s also beer and soda in the fridge. What else can I do to help?”

“Can you cook the rice?”

“I’m on it.”

“Where do you keep your knives?”

“Knives are in that drawer. The cutting board is below the sink.”

While I put the rice in the rice cooker, Matthew began dicing the carrots, garlic and onions. When he was done, he threw the vegetables into separate pans to sauté. Before long the kitchen smelled wonderful. Fumbling with chopsticks, I picked up one of his carrots from the pan, blew on it, then dropped it in my mouth. “Ooh, that’s good,” I said.

“I sauté all the vegetables in garlic butter. The garlic is key.”

“I love garlic,” I said. “Though usually not in the early dating phase.”

“I disagree. Garlic is the great revealer. A relationship that can withstand garlic is worth pursuing.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“My secret to a great fried rice is to make sure that each ingredient tastes delicious on its own and don’t overdo it on the soy sauce. People always overdo it on the soy sauce.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“You don’t need to,” he said. “You can always just ask me to make it for you.”

“I like that,” I said.

He was cooking the chicken when Charlotte walked into the house. “Mom!”

“In here, sweetie.”

She walked into the kitchen, then stopped and stared at us. “Hi, Mom, where’d you get the hat?”

“Mr. Matthew brought them. He brought one for you too. Do you want to put it on?”

Her face lit with excitement. “Uh-huh.”

“Come here then.” She ran to me and I set it on and tied it around her chin. She looked adorable. “Tell Mr. Matthew thank you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Matthew.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Charlotte. We’re celebrating the Chinese New Year. Do you know what that is?”

“We had enchiladas for New Year’s,” Charlotte said.

Matthew smiled. “You’re a smart girl. Americans celebrate New Year’s on January 1, but in China they have a different calendar and their first day of the year is different than ours.”

I could see her thinking about this.

“Chinese New Year is a really big deal in China. It’s their biggest holiday, like Christmas is here. All the people get together with their families and have big meals and share presents. At night they do fireworks, and in the morning the parents give their children red paper envelopes with money inside them.”

“I would like that,” Charlotte said.

“You know something else they do? Every year before the New Year begins, all the families clean their houses really well so they can sweep away all the bad luck from the old year and make room for good luck in the new year.”

Charlotte nodded. “My room is clean.”

“Then I guess we’re ready.” Matthew smiled at me. “I think we’re all ready for a good year.”

The rice was delicious, as was the conversation. Matthew had a genuine interest in Charlotte and seemed fascinated with everything she had to say. After the meal Matthew handed out fortune cookies and we broke them open.

“Something you lost will soon turn up,” I read.

“That’s intriguing,” Matthew said. “Did you lose something?”

I looked at him and nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

Just then Charlotte handed me her fortune. “Read mine.”

“ ‘You will live a long and happy life.’ That’s a good one. What does yours say, Matthew?”

“A good reputation is something to prize.” He looked at me and frowned. “That’s not really a fortune. Fortune cookies should tell you something that will happen in the future, like, ‘You’re going to win the lottery,’ or ‘Your house will burn down.’ I mean, what’s the point of this?”

“Don’t you think it’s better not to know the future?” I asked.

“Why do you say that?”

“If we knew how everything was going to turn out we might not even try.”

His countenance fell. “Maybe,” he said. After a while he stood, then said, “All right, let’s do the dishes.”

“No, I’ll do them later.”

“It’s a lot faster if—”

I reached over and put my finger on his lips. “I’m not in a hurry. I’d rather just spend the time with you. Let’s go for a walk. Charlotte, do you mind being left alone for a few minutes? We’re just walking down the street.”

“It’s okay, Mom.”

We got our coats and walked outside into the frigid, February air. I was hoping he’d take my hand but he didn’t, so after a minute I reached over and took his, intertwining my fingers with his. “That was a lot of fun,” I said. “You make a mean fried rice.”

“I told you I did.” He looked at me. “So what you said about not knowing the future. Do you really mean that?”

I nodded. “I think so. I mean, if I had known that Marc was going to cheat on me, I’d never have married him.”

He looked thoughtful. “I think you still would,” he said. “Or you wouldn’t have had Charlotte.”

I thought about it. “You’re right.”

We walked a ways in silence. It was nice being with him. I loved his sense of humor. I loved the way he talked to me. After the second time around the block I said, “I better get back to Charlotte.” I squeezed his hand and smiled. “I’m sorry I was so tough on you at first. Thank you for persevering. I don’t know why you did it, but I’m grateful that you did.”

“I had a hunch that you were worth persevering for.”

“May I take you out next time?”

“I’d like that.”

“When are you free?”

“I’m unemployed. I’m always free.”

“Right, the life of a gentleman of leisure. How about next Friday?”

“Friday it is. What time?”

“For what I have in mind, we’ll have to leave early. Like around four-thirtyish. We’ll be gone until late.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“What should I dress for?”

“Dress very warm. Heavy coat, hat and gloves.”

“Outdoor surprise. Nighttime snow thing?”

“Don’t overanalyze it,” I said. “You might ruin the surprise.” I leaned against his car door, blocking his escape. It was cold and our breath froze in front of us. “Are you going to kiss me this time?” I asked.

He looked at me as if he was thinking it over. “Of course,” he said. He leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the lips.

My heart fell. Why didn’t he really kiss me? Then a thought came to my mind that both comforted and stung—maybe he was still in love with his wife.

“You still miss her, don’t you?”

“Because of the kiss,” he said. “I’m sorry about that.” He nodded slowly. “I’ll miss her the rest of my life.”

“What was she like?”

He looked at me sadly, then said softly, “She was a lot like you.”

I looked down, unsure of what to say. Nearly a minute passed in silence. He spoke first, “You know your fortune—something you lost will soon turn up? What did you lose?”

I brushed my hair back from my face. “Trust.”

“Do you think it will turn up?”

I looked into his eyes, then smiled. “I think the cookie was right.”