Free The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) by Derrolyn Anderson Page B

designer handbags, golden sculptures of Buddha, and all kinds of colorful dragon figurines. I bought my dad a package of his favorite ginger candies, tucking it into my purse.
    We stopped in a dimly lit doorway to kiss, but were broken apart by a woman with three little Chihuahuas in sweaters who brushed past us to get into her apartment. We hurried away down the street, laughing at the way she’d she scolded us under her breath in Chinese.
    “This place has the best dim sum,” I pointed towards the crowd of people lined up outside a brightly lit restaurant. We peeked in the door, and surprisingly, managed to get seated right away. A woman led us on a weaving path through the labyrinthine rooms, gesturing to a small table in the very back. We were so close to the kitchen that the swinging doors jarred our table each time a cart laden with food came bursting out.
    “At least we’ll get first crack at it ,” I laughed, and we did.
    Dim sum carts rolled by us every few minutes , loaded with precariously teetering steamer trays. We sipped tea and picked out the best looking dishes, sampling pork buns, shrimp stuffed mushrooms, and Shanghai dumplings with ginger scented pork.
    I asked Ethan how his classes were going, and he told me about a horticulture class he was enrolled in. He was most excited describing all the different greenhouses they had at the university, impressed with their vast collections of plants from all around the world.
    “My dad would like to see that,” I said wistfully, “I wish he was better.”
    “Me too,” said Ethan, reaching across the table for my hand.
    “So… W hy did you want to tell him about us without me there?”
    “I thought maybe I should… Uhm, I wanted to ask for his permission.”
    My eyebrows shot up with surprise, “Really? Isn’t that a little old fashioned? Did you offer to trade some goats for me or something? ”
    He laughed, and then smiled apologetically , “I just wanted to cover all the bases.”
    I rolled my eyes at him, “Dad’s not like that. He knows I have a mind of my own.”
    “That’s exactly what he said.”
    “What else did he say?” I asked, still mildly annoyed.
    “He said that he thought we were too young… but he didn’t say no.” He looked hopeful, “I really don’t want to mess this up.”
    He looked so earnest I leaned over the table to kiss him, almost knocking over the teapot.
    “That’s not possible,” I told him.
    After we ate our fill we asked for the check, and I gave Ethan his pick of the two fortune cookies, telling him what Evie always told me, “This one is going to come true.”
    He cracked his open and read it, his face breaking out into a broad grin, “Your patience will be rewarded.” His eyes met mine.
    I could feel my cheeks burning as I looked down and opened mine. It read, “There is time enough to take a different path”. I immediately thought of the forty or so moons I had left before the mermaids would no longer accept me as one of them. I looked up to meet his happy eyes.
    “Mine’s stupid,” I said with a laugh. I crumpled it up and tossed it on the table, getting up to go.
    We wandered back out into the cool night air, slowly walking down the opposite side of the street. Ethan told me about how busy work had been, and how he was starting a challenging job designing the landscaping around a new medical center. He laughed when he described coming home tired, only to find Stumpy the cat waiting, fully rested and ready to play.
    “I was always more of a dog person, but he does kind of grow on you,” he admitted, and I smiled , knowing we had our first pet .
    We drew closer to the end of the block, and Ethan stopped to pull me close.
    “Come home with me,” he whispered in my ear.
    I truly wanted to, but I couldn’t.
    “Not yet. I need to be sure that Dad’s going to be okay.”
    “That doctor seems to be pretty serious about taking care of him.”
    “A little too serious,” I grumbled.
    “Oh, I