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 wasalsomarried 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!’
