Mimi answered her phone on the second ring. “Ava, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“You never call when you travel.”
“I miss home this trip. I just wanted to see how you’re feeling.”
“I’m great. I’ve never been happier.”
“It’s real, huh?”
“As real as it’s ever been. Derek is such a doll.”
“Have you told the parents about the baby?”
“We told mine two nights ago. My mother was thrilled for me, but my father was slightly pissed off that I’m not married yet. The fact that we’re engaged doesn’t impress him. But he likes Derek, he really does, and I think it will work out. I’m not sure about Derek’s parents, though.”
“Why?”
“He emailed them to tell them that we were engaged and that I was pregnant. I said that wasn’t the way to do things, that he should have at least called, but he insisted that they email each other all the time and it was no big deal. He sent them a photo of us with his hand on my belly. The problem is, they haven’t answered him yet, and we’re into the second day. If he doesn’t hear from them by morning, I’m going to make him call. Ava, you’ve met them, right?”
“A couple of times.”
“They wouldn’t resent the fact that he’s marrying someone who isn’t Chinese, would they?”
His father just might, Ava thought, remembering some intemperate remarks about gweilos. With the mother, an aging Hong Kong princess, it would probably be more a case of jealousy. It was one thing to have as a daughter-in-law a flat-chested Chinese girl who understood the roles and rules in the family hierarchy, but it was quite another to have a six-foot-tall blonde, busty Canadian with a mind of her own. “I’m sure they’re happy for you and that there’s some other reason they haven’t contacted Derek. His father travels a lot, you know, and his mother often goes with him,” Ava said.
“When are you coming home?”
“Hopefully this weekend, and when I get there I’m going to plant my ass in Yorkville and not go anywhere for a while.”
“Ava, I really like Maria, you know.”
“Me too.”
“What do you think you two guys are going to do?”
“You mean, like move in together?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“I don’t know, Mimi, I really don’t know. And right now isn’t the time to think about it.”
The hotel phone rang. Ava let it go to voicemail. “Look, I have to go. I’ll email you when I make the travel arrangements for coming home. Give Derek my love.”
She hesitated, trying to decide between the two phones. Well, I’m on a roll, she thought, and dialled her mother’s home line.
“Marcus Lee.”
“Daddy, it’s Ava.”
“How are you? I’ve been worried.”
“I’m fine, and listen to me: things are moving along very well here. By this time tomorrow I expect I’ll have resolved most of Michael’s problems and I’ll be on a plane back to Toronto. We’ll be able to spend some fun time together before you have to go back to Hong Kong.”
“I’m getting a different feeling from your brother,” he said.
“I haven’t told him everything. In truth, I haven’t told him very much at all. He has a low threshold for stress, and I don’t need him badgering me,” she said, and then realized how critical that sounded. “Daddy, he’s a great guy, and he may be a capable businessman, but he’s not cut out for the kind of people he was trying to deal with.”
“We all have our strengths and weaknesses,” he said.
“Speaking of which, have you spent much time with Amanda Yee?”
“A little. She’s a nice enough girl, comes across as a bit spoilt.”
“She’s a keeper. You make sure Michael marries her. She’ll be a tremendous asset to him and the family.”
“I don’t hear you throw around compliments like that very often.”
“Well, there you go. Now can I speak to Mummy?”
Marcus Lee laughed. “She’s not here. She’s gone to play mah-jong. This is closing in on the fourth consecutive week I’ve spent with her. That’s the most time in one year since she left for Canada. I think I’m beginning to wear on her, and by the time I leave she’ll be more than happy to put me on the plane so she can get back to her regular schedule.”
“How is Marian?”
“I speak to her every day. She’s getting over the cruise fiasco. I may fly up to Ottawa to see her and the girls before I leave.”