Stone, Katherine by Pearl Moon

for
Gweneth. She'd insisted the idea for the hotel was theirs, conceived at
the same instant, but in James's memory, it was hers. And Gweneth had
definitely chosen the name.
    Husband and wife had been in complete accord about the purpose of
the Jade Palace. It was to be a celebration of the place James had loved since
boyhood, the place that had, he believed, saved his very soul.
    Because of Hong Kong, he'd become a far better man than he was
ever meant to be.
    Had he been raised in England, an only child on his family's vast
estate, he would very likely have become as cold and remote as his parents.
Theirs was a marriage of pedigree. Both parents felt a sense of
satisfaction—and perhaps relief—that their loveless union had swiftly produced
the requisite male heir. His mother viewed her maternal responsibilities as
finished with his birth. His father's only lingering role was one of
discipline.
    The Drake mansion on Old Peak Road was filled with wealth, but
barren of love. But James was lucky. Beyond the mansion walls lay a world of
treasures.
    James learned to speak Cantonese, and played in the balmy air with
gods and ghosts and spirits and dragons, and embraced the people of Hong Kong
as his true family.
    The man destined from birth to be as cold as stone filled with
warmth instead. Still, James didn't think he'd ever fall in love. The chilling
influences of his parents couldn't be so wholly denied.
    But he did fall in love, and anticipated with great joy sharing
the splendor of Hong Kong with his wife and son—and building the Jade Palace in
tribute to the people to whom he owed his happiness.
    Had Gweneth been alive, the Jade Palace would have been his first
project. Indeed, letters soliciting sketches from world-renowned architectural
firms were to be mailed as soon as he and Gweneth were settled in their new
home. The letters weren't mailed, of course, and in the Hong Kong shadowed by
Gweneth's murderer, the hotel had been indefinitely postponed.
    But James didn't forget Gweneth's words: "You must build the
Jade Palace, darling. And long before 1997. The more the world understands the
treasure Hong Kong is, the more secure its future will be." James didn't
forget, either, his commitment to his boyhood home. But, as he'd mailed the letter
drafted by Gweneth four years ago, he sent silent apologies to her. I can't do
it, my love. Not without you. We agreed it had to be perfect, remember? I don't
have the heart to make that happen. You were my heart... and you are gone.
    The proposal submitted by Maylene had stunned him. It wasn't the
harmonious celebration he and Gweneth had envisioned. There was harmony,
but conflict as well. It was an authentic vision. Hong Kong's origins were
rooted in conflict. And emotionally, Maylene's design reflected his own
feelings about Hong Kong since losing Gweneth—torment, and reverence... wonder
at its majesty despite the anguish he felt.
    And if the resulting structure seemed more harsh than harmonious?
The effect would be softened by images of Hong Kong seen through the
rose-colored lenses of Allison Whitaker.
    In fifteen hours, the photographer whose rosy optimism colored
every photograph she took would be arriving in Hong Kong. Indeed, as James was
leaving his bed to spend what remained of the night perfecting the swift,
lethal moves of a martial artist, Allison was in San Francisco, boarding
United's overwater DC-10.
    ***
    Garrett kept his promise to Juliana. Never, in twenty-eight years,
did he attempt to find out about the woman he'd always love and the daughter
he'd never see.
    But moments after Allison called from San Francisco to say her
flight was boarding, Garrett reached for the phone.
    He wasn't really breaking the vow. Even if the Hong Kong operator
provided him with numbers for Juliana and Maylene, he wasn't going to call. He
just needed to know they were there.
    Garrett wanted to know much more than that: that their
lives were happy—and that they knew he loved