we order a selection of dishes for the table?’ someone suggested. ‘We can all share, and have a taste of everything.’
After a minimum of discussion the plan was approved, and the menus removed.
The meal became a friendly free-for-all of passing, tasting, dipping and enthusiastic recommendations. Chopsticks were wielded with varying degrees of expertise and success, and as Felicia dexterously transferred a few pork balls from the serving dish to her plate Joshua commented, ‘You’re pretty damn good at that.’ It had taken him several attempts to get a firm grip on one of the sauce-covered morsels.
‘I often eat in Chinese restaurants.’ She turned to Maggie. ‘Would you like some of these?’
‘If you’ll kindly get them for me,’ Maggie replied, waving her own chopsticks. ‘I still haven’t got the hang of these danged things.’
One of the children in the party, sitting on the other side of Maggie, piped up, ‘You’re holding them wrong. See, try like this!’
It was all very relaxed and sometimes hilarious. ‘Group bonding,’ Joshua murmured once, slanting a glance towards Felicia. ‘How about it?’
‘What?’ She had to look at him, finding his eyes darker than usual, questioning her. Curious, perhaps.
‘There was more than one wall out there today,’ he said quietly, his voice covered by a burst of laughter from across the table as someone accidentally dropped a prawn into their drink. ‘And this one’s still intact.’
‘I’m not sure what you mean.’ Felicia looked down at her plate, toying with a grey, semi-transparent slice of sea cucumber and wondering if she really needed to eat it.
‘We’re all going to be together for a while, and a friendly atmosphere can help things along considerably. I thought last night...’
‘What did you think?’ she asked, more sharply than she meant to.
He was looking at her with a baffled expression. ‘Was it the kiss?’ he asked bluntly. ‘Should I apologise?’
It had hardly been anything to make a fuss about, except for its unexpected effect on her. ‘That’s not necessary,’ she said hastily. ‘As kisses go, it scarcely rated, after all.’
A tight grin came and went on his mouth. ‘Is that meant to be an insult?’
‘I don’t go around insulting perfect strangers.’
His brows twitched. ‘Yow! A double whammy.’ He glanced round the table. ‘Look, it was an impulse, a nice way to end the evening, I thought. And...’
‘And?’ She looked up at him in challenge.
‘And... I wanted to know whether you’d reciprocate. It seemed to me I had reason to hope for it. If I offended you, I’m sorry.’
‘I’d forgotten all about it,’ she assured him with spurious earnestness. ‘It was totally unmemorable.’ And she turned away to speak to Maggie.
She could feel him seething beside her, even as his deep voice answered something that Suzette said. Well, OK, she thought defiantly. He’d asked for it, and he’d got it—in spades. That should ensure that he stayed away from her for the rest of the trip. Only she wished she didn’t feel so sick, as if she’d just done something peculiarly horrible.
Within days the tour group had developed a camaraderie that boded well for the rest of their time together. They’d visited temples and gardens, and most of them had ventured to the Chinese department stores and the street markets.
Joshua seemed popular, although when the group was taken to the Friendship Store where foreigners were encouraged to buy souvenirs, he had instead gone off somewhere on his own. Even Suzette didn’t know where.
They were flown to Xian to visit the famous terracotta army and other archaeological sites, and travelled by rail and road to Qingdao on the Yellow Sea, through vast areas of cultivations and scattered pink-walled villages. Water buffalo plodded patiently along dusty raised roads by narrow canals, and in some places it seemed that the countryside had been unchanged for centuries.
Qingdao dispelled that feeling. A sleepy fishing village until only a hundred years ago, it was now a sprawling, traffic-ridden, skyscraping metropolis that Jen called ‘... a small city... only seven million people.’
Coming from a country that boasted a population of three and a half million or so overall, Felicia was unable to suppress a choked little laugh. Turning away to try and hide it, she caught Joshua’s eyes, and an answering grin.
The first morning the group divided into those who wished to visit the Hi-Tech and Industrial Park and those who preferred a tour of specialty shops.
Relieved to find that Joshua had gone with the industrial tour, Felicia spent a relaxed morning with the bulk of the women browsing among a tempting array of embroidered silks, carved jade and cloisonné. It was difficult to limit her buying to a few irresistible pieces.
In the afternoon Maggie and several of the others declared they intended to spend the free time napping. Felicia welcomed the opportunity to take a walk on her own.
Strolling along the seaside promenade, where hundreds of Chinese holidaymakers and Japanese tourists enjoyed the broad beach a few feet below, she stopped to lean on the safety barrier, watching the swimmers and ball-players, and lifting a hand to her eyes to squint along the pier at the double-pagoda of the Rebounding Waves Pavilion.
Someone came to lean alongside her, and she felt the tightening of her skin that invariably told her when Joshua was near.
‘Isn’t this a bit silly?’ he said mildly.
‘What?’ She lowered her hand but didn’t take her eyes from the pavilion with the waves breaking gently around the rock on which it stood.
‘Not speaking,’ he said bluntly.
‘I am speaking to you.’
‘You avoid me at every opportunity.’
‘Actually there aren’t that many opportunities—’
The word fortunately hung in the air between them.
His hand on the rail beside her tightened. Then unexpectedly he laughed. Really laughed, with his head thrown back in genuine enjoyment. Watching him, she felt something clutch at her heart, and bit her lip, not wanting to recognise what had caused it.
The laughter was still in his eyes as he looked at her, shaking his head. ‘You never miss a chance, do you? Why do I keep asking for it?’
‘I’ve no idea.’ Felicia straightened away from the railing and turned to resume her stroll.
‘I don’t believe that.’ He was walking beside her. ‘You strike me as a fairly intelligent woman.’
“Thank you. What does that have to do with anything?
‘Do I seem to you like the sort of man who enjoys hitting
