An excerpt from The Bride Test by Helen Hoang


Skipping after him, she said, "I can clean the yard for you. I'm good at it."

He fished his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. "I like it the way it is."

She glanced over her shoulder at the yard again to make sure she hadn't imagined everything, and nope, it was still a jungle of thorns, tangled vines, and dried-up bushes.

He'd been wrong earlier when he said Esme was the stranger of the two of them. He won that contest without even trying. He was easily the strangest person she'd ever met. She didn't know him well yet, but she'd picked up on his strangeness right away. He didn't look her in the eyes when he spoke, he wore all black, he liked his wasteland of a yard, and he said the oddest things. It gave her hope.

Odd was good. Odd was an opportunity.

Besides, she was odd, too. Just not as odd as he was.

"You're very ... open-minded," she hedged.

He looked at her like he thought she was crazy, and she mentally kicked herself.

"Why do you park on the street when you have that?" She pointed to his garage. Judging from the size of the door, he could fit two cars in there. It didn't make sense that he parked his nice car on the street. Not unless he had three cars, which she doubted he could afford based on the state of his yard and house.

Instead of answering her question, he let them into the house. She wondered if he hadn't heard or if he'd purposely ignored her, but she let it slide. The inside of his house was stranger than the outside, with thick carpet that looked more like grass than his lawn, exercise equipment all over the main room, and fixtures and blinds from a different era. After setting her shoes on the floor, she followed Khải down a narrow hall, and the soft carpet fibers hugged her bare feet with every step.

He set her suitcase in a small room that contained a desk, sofa, and closet. When she noticed the old wallpaper, tears strung her eyes. Teddy bears, beach balls, dolls, ballet slippers and building blocks. This used to be a child's room. She touched her fingertips to the ballet slippers. Jade would love this.

"This is your room," he said. You'll have to make do with the couch.

"It's nice. Thank you, Anh Khải." She'd never slept on anything as nice as a couch in her life. She'd never owned a couch. But she didn't mention any of that. She was sophisticated Esme in Accounting now. Esme in Accounting probably had a nice apartment with two or three couches and had never slept on a straw mat over a packed-dirt floor. 

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, not big, important emotions - like grief. And love. He thinks he's defective. His family knows better - that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly refuses to consider a relationship, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. So when the opportunity arises to go to America and meet a potential husband, she can't turn it down. 

As Esme's time in the United States dwindles, will Khai let his head catch up with his heart? 

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