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“To be fair, if she was dating someone like Philip Cheung, you’d still be mad because you didn’t pick him out for her.”

“Who is Philip Cheung? Does he come from a good family? Does he get good grades?”

“Ma, I made him up. There is no Philip Cheung.”

“Of course there is! It’s a common name. You must have heard this name somewhere around here for you to think of it. Think harder, Lin Hua. Your niece relies on you. Yoursisterrelies on you.”

“There is no Philip Cheung! Get away from thinking about an imaginary boy!”

“Maybe he doesn’t attend this Winchester Academy. There is still time to arrange a meeting between them if you think he is a worthy boy in the appropriate age range. No more than two years. My granddaughter isn’t quite yet sixteen.”

Jane hung her head over the back of her chair, the blood going straight to her brain. “Personal. Nightmare.”

Clearing her throat, Willow conceded that maybe there was no Philip Cheung available for Cecelia to date.Cecelia Cheung is a name too delicious for my mother to ignore.Then again, for every affluent and well-bred Cheung back in Hong Kong, there was a peasant family with the same name. Had Jane more warning about her mother’s arrival in town, she could have woven quite the fabric of a fake story.

“When your niece left Hong Kong this August,” Willow said with a warning bite to her voice, “she was a virgin. Her other grandmother assured me of this before her sudden passing.”

“Oh. My. God.”

“Do you think Louisa didn’t discuss these things with me when she sensed her time was coming? I am now Cecelia’s only livinggrandmother. She needs an older woman to guide her through life, and since you are… you… and your sister is blinded by her motherly connection, it is up to me to ensure Cecelia’s future. And the other children, of course, but your niece is at the crossroads of her adolescence. When I was her age, I would have been betrothed to someone had my parents the same level of status in Hong Kong as they did in China. The only reason we don’t do that now is because it’s a faux pas. We must instead direct these things in the shadows!”

“Nothing stopped you from shipping your oldest daughter to a geriatric like Frank.”

“Oh, and aren’t you lucky that it wasn’t you?”

“It would have never been me!”

“No, I suppose I’m the lucky one here. The most willful daughters a mother could be cursed with.”

“Yet you say you love that about us.”

“Love? No. Grateful? I count my blessings.” Willow motioned for the waiter to deliver the shareable dish to the center of the table.Seafood fried rice.Someone was feeling homey that day. Although Willow served Jane first, they both knew she wasn’t going to eat much, if anything. “Like I count my blessings that your brother is as docile of a son as I could have asked for. This is the universe’s way of ensuring there remains balance in every family.”

Jane struggled to remember what led to this “discussion.” “I’m pretty sure that Cecelia did not engage in anything untoward with Perry Merryweather. My God, I want to throw up saying those words out loud.”

Willow dug into her food. She atejustfamished enough that Jane suspected her mother had come straight here after checking into her hotel. “Do you think she would tell you? Because I don’t, to be frank.”

“Yeah, well, to be fair, I wouldn’t tell you either.”

“I know you’re not at all that familiar with a man’s way with women – donotgive me that sorry look, you are old enough to hear this, Lin Hua – but it doesn’t matter if they’re teenagers or grandfathers. It doesn’t truly change, especially if there’s a pretty girl with money in the picture. And your niece is set to inherit a joint fortune from both Frank’s and your father’s wealth. Anyone who looks her up will know that she might inherit Cypress Ridge, never mind White Fir.”

“Are we forgetting Bart’s kids?” Jane asked, referring to her brother.

“One never knows what goes through the mind of an American boy. All I’m saying is that you need to protect your niece’s honor. I amveryaware that both you and Lilian were burning harlots during your youth. While you were embarrassing us with every girl you could get your hands on, at least I knew you weren’t possibly getting pregnant. Lilian, though… oh, don’t ask me how much we covered up back then.”

“I’d love to play ‘count my sister’s abortions’ someday, but not right now. Especially if we’re talking about my fifteen-year-oldniece.My God, Ma, did you fly all the way out here to discuss this with me? What does Lilian think?”

“Nobody but your father knows I’m here. Last I heard, Lilian was in Indonesia with that woman of hers under the guise of some silent retreat in the jungle. Honestly, what hogwash.” Food was in Willow’s chopsticks as quickly as she swallowed.Heimlich Maneuver in three… two…“I am fulfilling my promise to Louisa Lam that I would oversee Cecelia’s progress since she no longer could. There were several fine young Chinese boys even out here that she was working behind the scenes to introduce our granddaughter to. Perry Merryweather was not one of them, I probably don’t have to tell you.”

“Ma.” Jane finally relented to pick up the lacquered chopsticks dropped off at the table for her. With a piece of shrimp betweenthem, she said, “If Cecelia isn’t a virgin, it happened under Louisa’s so-called watch. Cece has been nothing but blissfully boring since she got here. She goes to the mall with her female friends, school-sanctioned activities, and things like poolside birthday parties with plenty of adults in attendance.” Jane thought it best to not explain what a haunted corn maze was right now. “I was admittedly a bit worried that she might act out when she tasted freedom here, but nobody’s noticed a thing.”

“It’s you and Rebecca right now, is it not?”

“Yeah? So?”

Willow slammed her chopsticks on her plate and folded her hands beneath her chin. “Caitlyn would see something. She has a keen eye for other people’s personal business.”

“My wife is visiting her own family right now.”