Leo cleared his throat uncomfortably and poured himself some coffee.
After Mr Chen had gone out, Leo sat next to me at the table. ‘That’s the first time he’s mentioned his wife’s name since the funeral.’
‘Michelle,’ I said. ‘There’re no photos or anything in the apartment.’
‘He shouldn’t have kept it bottled up for so long, poor dear,’ Charlie said. ‘It’s good to hear him talk about it. He’s changed.’
‘In what way?’ I said.
Charlie stopped and mused. Then, ‘I think he just seems happier. Last time he came, he didn’t talk much, he didn’t laugh, he didn’t want to do anything. It’s good to see him so happy.’
‘I wanna go to the Science Museum!’ Simone yelled.
Leo and I groaned.
The next day we all went shopping in Harrods so that Simone could see the toys and Leo could check out the menswear. After the third time through the toy department Simone was becoming restless, so we went back to the menswear section.
Mr Chen called Leo over. ‘How much longer will you be?’
Leo glanced back at the racks and the shop assistant he’d been talking to. ‘Just a bit more.’
‘You’ve already been more than an hour,’ I said, exasperated.
Leo glared at me.
‘We’ll take Simone to the big toy shop in Regent Street,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Take your time, and we’ll meet you back at the house.’
Leo didn’t hesitate. ‘Yes, sir.’ He returned to the shop assistant without looking back.
Mr Chen and I shared an amused glance.
‘I just prefer to be comfortable,’ I said.
‘Me too.’
‘Yeah,’ Simone said. ‘Both of you are really scruffy. Leo says he’s embarrassed to be seen with you, and I should never let either of you buy clothes for me.’
Mr Chen grinned. ‘Good.’
On the final day, we all went to the zoo in Regent’s Park.
‘I’ll have to take you to the zoo in Sydney one day, Simone,’ I said. ‘It’s heaps bigger than this one, and it has a great view of Sydney Harbour.’
‘Turtles!’ Simone squealed and ran to see the Galapagos giant tortoises. She leaned over the fence, delighted. ‘I love turtles. They’re so ugly.’
Mr Chen came and stood between us, leaning on the railing. ‘You think they’re ugly?’
She grinned up at him. ‘Yes.’
‘What do you think, Emma?’ Mr Chen said.
I suddenly realised that he was standing very close to me. Very, very close: his whole body was stretched alongside mine. He put his arm around me to lean on the rail and the shock of the chemistry went right through me.
I took a deep breath and tried to control my reaction.
‘I like snakes better,’ I said. ‘I had a pet carpet snake back in Australia.’
Mr Chen moved closer and leaned into me. His long hair brushed over my shoulder. I found it extremely difficult to concentrate.
Simone didn’t seem to notice. ‘Was it poisonous?’
‘Was what poisonous?’ I said.
‘The snake, silly.’
‘Uh, no, it was a python.’
Mr Chen pulled his arm closer around me. ‘What did you feed it, Emma?’
Leo made some throat-clearing noises behind us. Neither of us paid him any attention.
I turned and looked up into Mr Chen’s glowing dark eyes. ‘Live mice.’
He shifted even closer. His whole body was pressed into mine. ‘Where did you get your mice from?’
I caught my breath. ‘I bought them from the pet shop. Monty only ate about one a week. Then they found out what I was doing with them, so I had to breed my own.’
‘Monty?’ Simone said, still watching the tortoises.
‘The snake.’
Leo snorted. He was the only one who understood the joke. Then, ‘My Lord…’ he said softly, warning.
‘I wonder if they have any poisonous snakes here, Simone,’ I said without looking away from Mr Chen.
Simone pushed her father out of the way and he snapped out of it. She took my hand. ‘Let’s go and see.’
Mr Chen took Simone’s other hand. ‘Okay, let’s go.’
‘I hate snakes,’ Leo said as we moved towards the snake house.
Mr Chen stopped and spoke over his shoulder. ‘Some of my best friends are snakes, Leo.’
‘No offence, sir,’ Leo said sheepishly.
About three hours out of Macau, the jet pilot called for Mr Chen on the intercom. Mr Chen went into the cockpit and talked to him for about ten minutes.
When he returned, he sat and picked up the Chinese book he’d been reading.
‘Is there a problem, sir?’ Leo said.
‘Not at this stage,’ Mr Chen said without looking up.
About an hour later, Simone fell asleep on my lap and Leo carried her to the back of the plane and put her in the bunk.
The pilot called Mr Chen over the intercom again. When Leo returned he looked questioningly at me. I pointed towards the cockpit and he nodded.
Mr Chen came back, sat in his chair, picked up his book and bookmarked his page. He closed the book and put it to one side. ‘A typhoon is headed straight for Macau. It will be a direct hit in the next two hours.’
A direct hit from a typhoon would close the airport. The winds would be ferocious. A small plane had tried to land during a typhoon in Hong Kong a couple of years before, and had flipped over on the runway. Three people had died. And that hadn’t even been a direct hit.
‘So we’ll divert to Taipei or Manila?’ I said.
‘I have to be in Hong Kong later today,’ Mr Chen said. ‘I have an appointment that I must fulfil, regardless of the circumstances. We’ll land in Macau.’
Leo threw himself out of his chair and towered over Mr Chen. ‘If you’re planning what I think you are, you are completely crazy!’
Mr Chen glared up at Leo, irritated. ‘I must be in Hong Kong later today. I have no choice.’
‘You’ll undo all the good work the Lady Kwan did for you!’
‘I’ll probably need to see Mercy about a month earlier.’
‘Wait a minute.’ I pointed at Mr Chen. ‘You’re going to fiddle with the weather?’
Both of them looked at me.
‘Don’t point at a Chinese, Emma, it’s very bad luck,’ Leo said.
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Leo,’ Mr Chen said. ‘I am far too big for any fung shui to affect me. I am water. I am shui.’
I dropped my hand and glared at Mr Chen. ‘You’re going to use all that energy that Ms Kwan gave you to move a stupid typhoon? Leo’s right – it had better be damned important if you’re going to waste your energy like that.’
‘I