and taking care of all the adoption and immigration legalities, he could stay in the hotel room and work on the magazine articles tied to his latest book project as well as indulge in as much of the culture as he wanted.
That had all sounded good to him. He had been in Summit, Texas, too long and he loved this part of Asia.
Unfortunately, the reservation mix-up had hampered his ability to concentrate and left him acutely aware of many things. The rosewood and patchouli fragrance of Hannah’s soap and shampoo. The fact she carried a stick of lip balm and applied it, every hour or so. The knowledge that the treatment worked—her full lips were a healthy pink and seductively soft. Too soft, Joe chided himself sternly, for him to be thinking about when they were cooped up this way.
The phone rang. Hannah jumped and rushed to pick it up. She listened intently, then smiled in relief. She thanked the caller, hung up and turned to him. “There was a problem with the conference room where we were all supposed to meet, so—” She paused as a knock sounded on the hotel room door. “Oh my God. Joe! She’s here!”
Chapter Two
Her heart in her throat, Hannah rushed toward the door and flung it open. On the other side of the portal, a Taiwanese nanny stood, with Hannah’s baby in her arms. For a second, Hannah was so overwhelmed with emotion, she could barely breathe. Her daughter was here—at long last.
And the baby was so much smaller than Hannah had expected. Only about fourteen pounds, at ten months of age. She was also absolutely, incredibly beautiful. Dark almond-shaped eyes were framed by long thick lashes and nestled beneath thin expressive brows. Her nose was cute and pert, her bow-shaped lips unexpectedly solemn. Her round little face was fuller than it had been in the photo that had been sent months ago, her bone structure more delicately feminine, and her legs and arms were almost alarmingly limp and thin. Her golden skin was flushed pink and it was easy to see why—her child was way too warmly dressed for a summer day. But this, too, Hannah had learned was typical. The Taiwanese feared children becoming chilled and catching cold. Hence, infants here were always quite warmly dressed, no matter what the season.
“This is Zhu Ming,” the nanny said, as the same scene was repeated at doors up and down the hotel corridor.
“Hello, Isabella Zhu Ming,” Hannah whispered tenderly, holding out her arms. The nanny gently made the transfer. Inundated with the love she’d felt for months, Hannah smoothed a tuft of wispy black hair from her little girl’s cheek and held her close.
In response, wariness gleamed in her daughter’s dark eyes, resistance tautened her body. Her baby wasn’t struggling to get away, but she wasn’t melting into her embrace, either, Hannah noted in disappointment. Rather, she regarded her with a world-weary resignation that went far beyond her age.
It’s going to take time for her to adjust and to trust that you won’t leave her, too, Hannah had been warned.
Intellectually, she’d braced herself for just this situation, many times over. Still, she felt momentarily shaken by her child’s stoic resistance.
The nanny handed over a diaper bag containing formula, rice cereal and half a dozen diapers. “We return at nine in morning, escort you to local court, finalize adoption.” The nanny touched Isabella’s cheek. “Zaijian, Zhu Ming.”
Isabella’s lower lip trembled at the nanny’s soft goodbye. She looked even more frightened and uncertain as the woman walked away and the door shut gently behind her.
Hannah caught a glimpse of Joe’s expression—he seemed as transfixed and in awe as she—then turned her full attention back to the child of her dreams.
“It’s all right, sweetheart,” she soothed, walking slowly toward the windows overlooking the city. She’d hoped the view would soothe the little girl. Instead, the view of the tall, elegant buildings made Isabella Zhu Ming all the more anxious. Tears eked out of the corners of her infant’s eyes. She wasn’t making a sound, but she was clearly very distressed.
And no wonder, she thought, her heart going out to her sweet little baby girl. Isabella Zhu Ming probably hadn’t been out of the orphanage since she was abandoned in a marketplace, the previous autumn. To be dressed in clothes that were way too warm, driven several hours on a bus and then to be promptly handed over to a stranger who didn’t even speak her own language had to be very frightening indeed.
Resolved to make this transition as easy as possible, Hannah continued walking her baby about the hotel room, gently rubbing her back and speaking softly. “We’ve got all the time in the world, my sweet baby girl. Your momma’s here, and I promise from here on out I’ll do everything in my power to protect you so you never feel abandoned ever again.”
JOE’D THOUGHT EVERY OUNCE of overwrought sentimentality had been wrung out of him in the year after his parents’ death. He didn’t cry, period. So it was a shock to feel his throat tightening as he watched Hannah interact with her baby for the very first time.
There was something so tender in the way she held the child.
Something equally moving in the way the child was responding to her.
Which went to show how much a mother’s love could mean.
And Hannah did love this child she had barely met. That was apparent. The two were already bonding, albeit slowly and cautiously on Isabella Zhu Ming’s part.
Noting the way the baby had started chewing and sucking on her tiny fist, Hannah retrieved the bag of essential items the nanny had left. With her free hand, Hannah perused what was inside the canvas knapsack. Still cuddling the baby close to her breasts, she paused to read a typewritten set of instructions.
Wordlessly, Hannah hazarded a glance at Joe, who was trying without much success to get back to work, then frowned as she walked back over to the bed to put the baby down.
As soon as the baby hit the feather comforter, she began to cry.
“Oh, dear.” Hannah immediately picked the infant back up again.
Isabella stopped crying and held on to her for dear life.
Hannah looked at Joe. “I know I promised I wouldn’t ask…”
Uh-oh.
“…but according to the schedule, Isabella is supposed to have a bottle of soy formula at 4 p.m. I need to get the bottle ready and check her diaper and see if it’s wet, and since this is all so new to her…”
Hannah looked so tortured about having to make the request, he let her off the hook with a casual offer of assistance. “You want me to hold her?” he said as if it were no big deal, when it felt like it was going to be a very big deal.
Hannah nodded, looking emotional again. “Would you, please? Just for a moment?” she asked in a low, quavering tone.
He held out his arms.
Isabella went into them with a suspicious look. When Hannah eased away, Isabella continued to glare at him. Surprised at the tenderness welling up inside of him, Joe offered his little finger. Still scowling, the baby stared at it for a long minute, then thrust out her lower lip petulantly and latched on to it with one tiny fist.
Joe looked into eyes that held far too much cynicism for someone so young. He tried—and failed—to coax even a hint of a smile from
