Laura Jo Phillips Read Free Page B

Alverian Empath.  As such, I am able to detect those women who are not truly wanting to marry a Clan Jasani male-set to have a family, but who have...,”  Talinka paused for a moment, searching for the right word.  “Those who have a different agenda,” she finished delicately.  
    Hope set her cup down and picked up a slice of toast.  “Yes, I know,” she said.  “But Talinka, I assure you, I did not come here for a quick way to get rich and leave.”
    Talinka’s eyes widened in surprise, then her white skin blushed a faint peach color.  “Forgive me, Hope Strigida,” she said quickly.  “I did not mean to imply such of you.  I am well aware of your sincerity.”
     “I’m glad,” Hope said.  “The truth is, I never really thought much about getting married.  I’ve always been content with my life.  Then one day I just got it into my head that it was really important that I come here.  That I was supposed to come here.  I thought I was meant to find a male-set.  But it didn’t happen.”
    “Yes, I have sensed your feelings most clearly, Hope.  Your strong excitement and anticipation when you first arrived, and your earnest belief that the right men would come at any moment.  Right up until last night, when you realized your time was up and the doors were closing to visitors for the day.  Even now, you are not only disappointed, you are also confused.”
    “You’re right, Talinka,” Hope admitted.  “I am confused.  I was so certain this was the right thing for me to do, even though a part of me has been against it from the start.
    “Against it?” Talinka asked curiously.
    “I was raised by my mother, and then my Aunt,” Hope explained.  “They both had some fairly strict rules when it came to the subjects of sex, love and marriage.  Let’s just say that living with three men at once is not something they would approve of.”
    “Yes, many women who come here struggle with that issue,” Talinka said.  “I admit that for myself, personally, I would have difficulty with it as well.  But it helps to know that, for the Jasani, this is not a sexual preference.  It is a physiological difference in the way they are made.  They look very human, so it is quite easy to forget that.”
    “I understand that, which is why I followed my feelings and came here,” Hope said.  “I was so certain it was the right thing to do.  Perhaps it is just as well that I was wrong.”
    “Hope, please tell me, were you certain that coming to Bride House was the right thing to do?” Talinka asked.  “Or, were you certain that coming to Jasan was the right thing to do?”
    Hope took a bite of her toast as she considered that question carefully.  “I don’t think it was either,” she said slowly.  “I was sitting on the bus one day and there were two women in the seat behind me talking about an ad in the newsreader for contract brides on Jasan.  I don’t think I’d ever even heard of Jasan before that moment, or if I had I don’t remember it.  But that day, when one of those ladies said Jasan , the thought that popped into my head was that my future lay on Jasan.
    “The moment I got home I went straight to my vid terminal to look for the newsreader ad for contract brides.  When I looked into the options, I knew that I couldn’t go the contract bride route, agreeing to marry men I’d never met.  Bride House was the only other option, so I made a reservation that very same day.  Which, to be honest, is not like me at all.  I am usually very logical and deliberate about things.  I rarely do anything on the spur of the moment, but I just had to do it.”
    Talinka frowned as she listened to Hope’s story.  It was too much like other stories she had been hearing of late. 
    “What’s up, Talinka?” Hope asked curiously. 
    “I am not sure,” Talinka replied.  “Over the past eighteen months I have seen a few other women come through Bride House with much the same feelings,