CHAPTER TWELVE

THE HELENA MAY, HONG KONG

Astrid walked into the dining room at the Helena May, Hong Kong’s historic private ladies’ club, and Isabel Wu waved to her from her table by the window. She strolled toward Charlie’s ex-wife a little trepidatiously. It was only the third time they were meeting, and the last time in Singapore hadn’t gone so well.

“Astrid. Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me for lunch. I know it’s your last day in Hong Kong, and you must be so busy,” Isabel said, getting up from her chair and giving Astrid a peck on the cheek.

“Thank you for inviting me. I love coming here.”

“Yes, it’s such a special place, isn’t it? There are very few places like this anymore.”

Astrid took a moment to look around at the other smartly dressed ladies having lunch together. The dining room with its Queen Anne furniture and botanical prints covering the walls was a throwback to another era, when Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony and this was the exclusive bastion for all the wives of high-ranking officials and expatriates. It was all so civilized.

Astrid was relieved by such a warm welcome from Charlie’s ex-wife, and glad to see Isabel looking so well, and so chic in white jeans, a rose-colored cashmere sweater with a quilted vest thrown over it. She looked the epitome of Hong Kong old money.

“What have you been doing since you got here?”

Astrid hesitated for a moment. She didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell Isabel that she’d spent most of the week planning her upcoming Hong Kong wedding, and yesterday, Charlie had taken her to see the breathtaking new house he had built for them in Shek O. “Not much really, I’ve just been decompressing. It’s good to be away from Singapore, you know?”

“Yes, the past few weeks must have been very hard on you. I’m so sorry about your grandmother’s passing. She was a great lady, from everything I know.”

“Thank you.”

“As I told you in my note, I was very close to my Ah Ma. In fact, she used to bring me here for afternoon tea once a month. So this place holds many memories for me.”

“My grandmother used to take me to afternoon tea as well. One of my earliest memories, I think, is of having tea with her at the Raffles in Singapore. But soon after that, she stopped going out.”

“So she became a recluse?” Isabel asked.

“Yes, and no. She didn’t go out much, but that’s because she felt that the standards had slipped everywhere. She had very exacting standards, and she didn’t much care for restaurant food. So she only went to friends’ houses—the ones that she knew had good chefs—or she entertained at home. She liked to have people over all the time, and she was very social up until the end of her life.”

“Sounds like quite a character. All the women of her generation, like my grandmother, were characters. My grandmother was known as the hat lady. She had the most incredible collection of hats, and she never left the house without one.”

The waitress came over and took their orders. After Astrid ordered the cream of asparagus soup, Isabel looked across the table at her with an almost embarrassed look. “You know, I have to confess I’ve been so nervous all morning about this lunch. I am still so mortified over what I did when I was in Singapore.”

“It’s fine, really. I’m just happy to see you so well again.”

“Those women whom I scalded. Was one of them a nun or something? Is she okay? I have such a strange memory of that day. Because I remember everything, you know, but I just had no control over my actions.”

“A nun?” Astrid didn’t know what she was referring to.

“I remember the look on her face when I threw that soup. Her eyes got so huge, and she had Tammy Faye levels of mascara on. She was wearing a nun’s habit.”

“Oh! You’re talking about the Dowager Sultana of Perawak—she was wearing a hijab. She was fine, the soup hardly touched her. Don’t worry, it was probably the most thrilling thing that’s happened to her in decades.”

“Well, I appreciate your understanding, and I really must thank you for taking such good care of my daughters during that difficult time.”

“Don’t mention it. Chloe and Delphine are lovely girls.”

Isabel paused for a moment and looked out the window at the view of the hillside park. It was apparent to Astrid that she was going through a spectrum of emotions. “Soon, you will be their stepmother. You’ll be spending much more time with them, and I’m…I’m actually glad they will have you in their lives. Not just their crazy mother.”

Astrid reached out and put her hand over Isabel’s. “Don’t say that. You’ve done such a great job raising them. You’re their mother, and I’m not going to try to be any sort of substitute mother. I only hope that in time they will come to see me as a friend.”

Isabel smiled. “Astrid, I’m so glad we are having lunch together. I feel like I finally know who you are now.”

After lunch, as the two of them stood at the entrance of the Helena May on Garden Road bidding farewell to each other, Isabel asked, “What are you going to do now? Some shopping in Central? Can my driver drop you off anywhere?”

“Well, I’m leaving for Singapore in a few hours, but I’m going to meet with Charlie first. I think he’s at the house, waiting for me to make some decisions about the decor.”

“The new house in Shek O? I’d love to see it sometime. After all, Chloe and Delphine are going to be spending half their lives there.”

“Of course. Actually, if you’re free, why don’t you come with me right now?”

“Oh…well…I wouldn’t want to intrude…” Isabel said hesitantly.

“No, no, I’m sure it will be fine. Let me just text Charlie.”

Astrid quickly shot off a text:

“Let’s go!” Astrid said, looking up from her phone. The two of them jumped into the back of Isabel’s chauffeured Range Rover and sped off. As they made their way around the south side of Hong Kong Island, the landscape began to change dramatically as the dense skyscrapers that cascaded down the mountainside gave way to picturesque bays and ocean vistas.

The winding highway took them through Repulse Bay and its crescent-shaped beaches, hugging the coastline as they passed Deep Water Bay and the village of Stanley. Finally, they arrived in Shek O, a historic fishing village on the southeast corner of Hong Kong Island, which was also home to one of the world’s most exclusive neighborhoods.

“Charlie’s always longed to live here, but I would never let him. I prefer being closer to town. I could never live way out here in the middle of nowhere—I’m too much of a city girl,” Isabel remarked as they pulled up in front of an imposing metal gate with an attached gatehouse.

“There’s no one there,” the chauffeur said.

“Oh, we don’t have it staffed yet. Just enter 110011 into the keypad,” Astrid said, glancing at the instructions Charlie had texted her. The gate slid open silently, and they proceeded down the long driveway to the house. Rounding the corner, the oceanfront villa cantilevered on a rocky cliff came into view.

“This place is so Charlie.” Isabel laughed as they drove up to the imposing series of contemporary structures designed by Tom Kundig clad in steel, limestone, and glass.

“Your house on The Peak is more traditional, isn’t it?” Astrid inquired.

“I’m not sure where you heard that, but it’s classical Palladian, built in the twenties. I have it done in a French provincial style. I wanted it to feel like a manor in Provence. You must come over the next time you’re back.”

“I’ve heard that it’s one of the most elegant houses in Hong Kong,” Astrid said.

They stepped out of the car and entered a large courtyard dominated by a reflecting pool. Here the walls of the main villa were made entirely of glass, allowing for a seamless transition between the inside and outdoors. Entering the house, Astrid was once again taken aback by the spectacular ocean views from every vantage point in the house.

In the great hall, an immense window perfectly framed a tiny island just beyond the coastline, and stepping into the living room, a wall of windows opened onto the terrace, where an infinity pool ran along the entire side of the house, its horizon line melding into the South China Sea.

As Charlie came around the corner to greet them, Isabel graciously offered, “Charlie, you’ve outdone yourself. You finally have your dream house by the sea.”

“I’m glad you approve, Izzie. We’re still quite a way from being done and we’ve just received the first big pieces of furniture, but here, let me show you Chloe and Delphine’s private wing.”

After giving Isabel a tour of her daughters’ rooms, the three of them entered the dining room, where an immense vintage George Nakashima dining table had just been delivered. Standing around the free-form structure that resembled an immense piece of driftwood, Charlie looked at Astrid. “What do you think? Is it too Pacific Northwest?”

Astrid considered the piece for several moments. “I love it—it goes great under the Lindsey Adelman chandelier.”

“Phew, I’m so relieved!” Charlie said with a chuckle.

Isabel stared up at the bronze light fixture that resembled blown-glass bubbles budding from the stems of an intricate tree branch, saying nothing. In her former life as Mrs. Charles Wu, she would have vetoed all of this, but now as the three of them headed for the front door, she simply said, “I do think Chloe and Delphine will love it here.”

“Well, you will always be welcome,” Astrid said, her heart soaring that Isabel was being so agreeable about everything. It had been such an unexpectedly lovely day. As they stepped outside into the courtyard, Astrid’s phone pinged, and she saw four text messages suddenly pop up:

Astrid put her phone back into her purse, suddenly feeling a bit sick to her stomach. Why the hell did she have to go back to Singapore?