CHAPTER 20
Singapore
The drive back to the apartment was a quiet one.
As if to match the sombre mood, the late afternoon sky had turned black and the monsoon-like rain had transformed the highway into a sea of blurry red tail lights.
The soothing strains of Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’ played on the radio, but Annabel was agitated.
Next to her, James looked deep in thought, keeping his focus on the road ahead, alert to the unpredictable drivers around them.
She gave a sigh of frustration. ‘I just don’t get it,’ she began. ‘Why did Mei get so upset? And why so angry? What on earth was that about?’
‘Yes, you’re right,’ James said. ‘Julia was putting a calm front on, but they were clearly disagreeing about something. There’s more to this, I’m sure. I guess we’ll just have to wait till we can see her again.’
‘It all seems to add up, what they were saying, I mean,’ Annabel said.
‘The last time I saw Dotty, in the hospital, she told me that she couldn’t have children.
I had no idea she’d suffered recurrent miscarriages, though.
She was going to explain everything to me the next time I saw her, but .
. . ’ Annabel’s voice broke and she welled up.
She suddenly felt so tired and so confused, and her grief, still raw, threatened to overwhelm her.
She closed her eyes, blinking away hot tears, and was surprised to feel James’s warm hand on hers.
She turned to look at him but his appearance had not changed; his eyes were still fixed on the road ahead.
But his hand was solid and comforting, offering her silent, rock-solid support. It was just what she needed right now.
A moment later, the spell was broken by the buzz of Annabel’s phone. She reached down into her handbag and checked it for the first time in several hours. There were four text messages and two missed calls.
‘All OK?’ James asked.
‘Messages from my dad and my brother, checking that I’m still alive and . . . ’ She paused as she tapped on the call history, then continued more quietly, ‘A couple of missed calls from Luke.’
James looked across at her. ‘Your ex?’
Annabel nodded and felt that uncomfortable knot in her stomach again.
Seeing his name pop up on her phone felt so normal, so natural, and it had always made her smile.
But her heart sank as the pain of his deceit stabbed at her again.
Why was he calling her? She could feel her heart start to race as all the anguish of the break-up started to creep over her.
She closed her eyes and focused on taking five long, slow breaths, in and out, just as she’d read in some Sunday supplement article.
‘Are you alright?’ James asked as she finished number five.
Annabel sighed and forced a smile. ‘Yes, thanks. I have no idea what he wants. I’ll text him back later.’
James slowed the car as they approached a set of traffic lights. The rain had stopped and he turned off the windscreen wipers.
‘Have you told your dad what you’ve found out?’ James asked, changing the subject. ‘Do you think he had any idea about Dotty’s life out here?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I haven’t told him.
And I really don’t think he could have known anything; Dotty seems to have done a very good job of keeping all of this top secret.
Dad knows I’m here in Singapore, but I guess I was a little economical with the truth.
I just said I needed a change of scenery after the break-up and that my friend Jenny had set me up to stay with her cousin out here.
It’s not exactly a lie.’ She shrugged. ‘Well, only by omission, I suppose.’
Annabel felt a pang of guilt as she thought of her father and suddenly missed him very much.
She wanted to call him, to hear his voice, but was worried she might let something slip about her research.
So she tapped a quick reply instead, reassuring him that all was well, that she loved and missed him, then pressed send.
‘I don’t like keeping secrets from him.’ She sighed.
‘But he’s only just come out of hospital after major surgery and I don’t want to bother him with any of this yet.
He’s got enough on his plate with his recovery and I want to make sure I’ve done my research and got my facts right before I share any of this with him. ’
‘Spoken like a true historian!’ James turned to her and waggled his eyebrows comically. Annabel rolled her eyes but couldn’t mask her smile.
The lights changed to green and James put the car into drive and moved off. ‘How do you think he’ll react when he finds out? It’s pretty amazing that Dotty had a whole other life out here before she married his father.’
Annabel turned and looked at him, her eyes creased in confusion. ‘What did you just say?’
‘His father,’ James repeated. ‘Well, you think it’s unlikely that Dotty was his biological mother, right? So it could be that he was your grandfather’s son from a previous marriage. No?’
‘Oh!’ Annabel was surprised, but as she thought it through it all made sense to her. ‘So you think Grandpa was also married before? Maybe his first wife died, too?’
James nodded. ‘Maybe. It’s one possibility. Is there much of a family resemblance?’
Annabel thought of her dark-haired, dark-eyed father and compared him to the image she had in her mind of her fair grandfather, as she had done several times since finding the secret photographs.
She frowned and shook her head. ‘No, actually, they didn’t look at all alike.
Completely different colouring.’ She screwed up her face, it didn’t make any sense.
‘Oh well,’ said James lightly. ‘Maybe he was more like his biological mother?’
A moment later, it was the turn of James’s phone to start buzzing. The car radio screen lit up, showing a call from Tom. James clicked the answer button on the steering wheel to connect it through the car speakers.
‘Mate, what’s up?’ James answered casually.
‘Hi James,’ Tom began in his usual cheerful manner. ‘Don’t suppose you’re still with Annabel, are you?’
‘Yes, she’s here, we’re in the car, heading back to your place now.’
‘Hi Tom!’ Annabel added.
‘Oh, that’s good. Hi Annabel!’ He sounded pleased.
‘Emma’s busy child-wrangling at the moment.
’ Annabel smiled at his turn of phrase, imagining the busy hubbub of family life.
‘So I’m in charge of telling you the plan!
Once the little darlings are in bed, we thought it might be fun to do something a bit touristy, show Annabel the bright lights of Singapore!
Quite literally, now I think of it!’ He chuckled at his own joke.
‘We thought Gardens by the Bay. Have a wander, check out the light show, then have some satay and a few beers down there. Pretty casual. Emma mentioned it was on Annabel’s list and, well . . . We aim to please!’
James turned to Annabel and raised his eyebrows questioningly. She smiled and nodded her enthusiasm.
‘Sounds great, Tom! Thanks for thinking of it!’ she said.
‘No problem at all! We’re both looking forward to hearing how you got on this afternoon, too. Meet you in the car park at 7.30!’
A muffled shout from Emma in the background let them know that he’d got the time wrong.
‘Oops sorry, no; eight o’clock apparently!’ Tom corrected himself with a chuckle.
‘Alright mate, we’ll meet you there.’ And James clicked off the call. He looked at his watch and spent a moment figuring out timings in his head.
‘We’ll be too early if we head straight there.
Do you mind if we call into my place on the way?
I might drop the car off and we can get a cab down there, then I can join Tom on the beers!
’ He gave her a lopsided grin. There it was again, that fun, carefree side that she hadn’t really seen before. She liked it.
‘Sounds like a plan!’ She grinned back, then checked her watch. It was half past six. What time was it back home? It must be daytime as text messages had started coming through.
‘In fact, would it be OK to call my brother from your place? I promised him I’d let him know what we’ve found out and it feels a bit weird texting all this.’
‘Of course,’ James said as he turned the car off the highway and onto a tree-lined street.
The rain had stopped and the sky had brightened.
It looked like it was going to turn into a nice evening.
‘No problem at all. You can use the Wi-Fi and curl up in the lounge for a bit.’ He noticed her yawn. ‘You must be tired.’
‘I’ve actually got a couple of emails I need to send, too, so you can make yourself at home,’ he added.
‘Thanks, James, that’d be great. And throw a cup of builder’s tea into the equation and I’m in!’ She smiled back. ‘It was nice to try the green tea at Mei’s place, but I’m a Tetley’s girl at heart!’
‘Ha!’ he laughed. ‘You can take the girl out of England, but . . . ’
‘She’ll still want a decent cup of tea!’ Annabel finished for him.
James’s apartment in Holland Village had ‘bachelor pad’ written all over it. It was the total opposite of Emma and Tom’s expansive family home – neat and compact, with just two bedrooms.
‘Excuse the boxes,’ he muttered as he led the way into the open-plan living area. ‘I haven’t finished unpacking yet.’
Annabel felt a pang of sympathy as she remembered the reason for his new bachelor lifestyle; it was only a few weeks since he’d left the family home and his ex and their daughter had moved back to England. What an adjustment it must be for him.
‘It’s lovely.’ She smiled encouragingly. ‘All looks very modern!’
James shrugged in a non-committal way. ‘It’s OK. Good location and the gym’s decent.’