Midnight Sea (Aloha Reef Series)

by Colleen Coble

  Fawn and Annie had brought Lani to Christ. Fawn might dress in flowing skirts and wear T-shirts that would keep most people awake, but she was the wisest person Lani knew. Next to Annie.

  “Where did you get the impression life would ever be easy, Lani?” Fawn’s palm came down on Lani’s hand. “As long as we have life in our bodies, we’ll have trouble in this world. And God doesn’t remember your sins anymore. Or mine. This isn’t punishment, Lani.”

  “It feels like he hates me.” She brushed the moisture away from her cheeks. “I sound whiny, don’t I? But I just don’t get it, Fawn.”

  “I don’t either, sweetie.” Fawn’s finger trailed along her cheek. “I can’t explain why babies die or young people get cancer. But I trust God. He knows things we don’t.”

  She knew Fawn spoke the truth, but it didn’t make her feel any better. Lani sighed and felt around on the floor with her toes. “Do you see my slippers?”

  “They’re right here.” Fawn slipped them onto her feet. “Those bright green Locals are hard to miss. Let’s go.”

  Lani stood, put her hand on Fawn’s arm, and stepped cautiously along the floor. She’d lost track of time. In the perpetual darkness, she had no sense of the passage of the hours, no sun to mark the day’s movement. With her other hand on the wall, she navigated the hallway. The scent of patchouli incense grew stronger, so she knew they must be passing through the living room.

  “Hang on,” Fawn said.

  The screen door screeched, and Lani felt the touch of a cool breeze on her face. A babble of voices came across the yard. Several male timbres came to her ears, and she recognized the voices of her aunt’s friends and employees. They were supposed to be here for a luau tonight. Her mouth watered at the aroma of the kalua pig in the imu.

  “There she is.” Her aunt’s voice held a touch of eager nervousness. The babble of voices died. “I’m glad you decided to join us.”

  Had they been talking about her? Lani held her chin up, but doing so made her feel more off balance, and she clutched Fawn’s arm tightly. “The food smells good.”

  “Let me get you a plate,” Rina said.

  A cold nose pressed against her leg. Lani reached out and touched the dog’s soft fur. The dog’s presence seemed to leach out her tension. He felt like a safe harbor to her. She sank to her knees and put one arm around him. The dog whined and licked at her chin.

  “What’s his name again?” she asked.

  “Fisher,” a deep male voice answered.

  Lani scratched the dog’s ears. “Are you a fisherman, big guy?”

  “He loves fish,” Ben said. “He’s been watching for you. I’ve never seen a dog fall so completely in love overnight.”

  Did he think he could get her to agree to his help by flattering her with a dog? She’d handled flattery since she was five, and he was an obvious amateur. “He’s pretty special.”

  “Here we are,” her aunt interrupted. “You sit down right over here, Lani, and eat it while it’s hot.”

  Lani heard the rustle of a chair being moved close, then Fawn placed Lani’s hand on the chair back. “Your seat is here,” Fawn said.

  The dependency Lani felt was like being two years old again. As the baby of the family, she’d fought hard for her independence, and it had vanished as if it never existed. Curling her fingers on the metal chair frame, she wanted to pick it up and toss it across the yard, then sit down and drum her heels on the grass.

  The din of conversation ebbed. Lani’s face flooded with heat. People would be staring to see if she could hit her mouth. She wasn’t even sure she could. All she’d eaten so far were sandwiches, because she didn’t want to try to find her mouth with a utensil.

  She shoved the chair away. “I want to go back to my room.”

  “Oh no, you have to eat first,” her aunt said. The scrape of the chair came again. “Here, sit. I’ve got your plate.”

  “I’m not being paraded like some kind of freak,” Lani said past a throat almost too tight to speak. “I want to go to my room.”

  “Let me help you.” Ben spoke softly into her ear. “Sit down a minute.”

  Before she realized it, she found herself sitting down with a heavy plate on her lap. “Imagine this is a clock.” He twisted the plate in her hand. “There’s kalua pork at twelve o’clock. Huli-huli chicken at two o’clock, mac salad at four o’clock, a poi roll at six, sweet potatoes at eight, and mango bread at ten.”

  Surprised by the understanding in his tone, Lani turned her face toward him. Why did his voice seem so familiar? She couldn’t put her finger on it. Ben put the fork in her hand, and she moved it toward the warm plate on her knees. Pork at twelve o’clock. The fork in her hand met resistance, so she knew she’d found something. Lifting the loaded fork toward her face, she prayed she didn’t stick it up her nose or something equally humiliating. The pork on the tip of the fork hit her lips, and she quickly opened her mouth and ladled it in. Success felt sweet. After living on sandwiches, the taste of the slow-cooked pork made her close her eyes and savor the flavor.

  The hum of conversation picked up around her, and the tension in her shoulders eased. A bit of her independent spirit seemed to be resurrecting its head. She took another bite. What was this guy’s story? “So how did you get interested in doing this?”

  “Doing what?” His voice held a note of warning.

  “Never mind.” She didn’t want to deal with any more controversy in her life than she had right now. “How long will it take to learn to work with Fisher?” At the mention of his name, the dog pressed his nose against her knee. She started to give him a piece of pork, but Ben put his hand on hers.

  “Dogs can’t digest pork. He’d love a piece of your chicken, though.” He guided her hand around to two o’clock.

  She picked up a small piece and tossed it toward Fisher. His jaws snapped, and she heard him licking his chops. “I have a lot to learn about dogs.”

  “I’ll teach you.”

  “How long will it take?” She nibbled on a bit of chicken. The thought of having her independence back was exhilarating. When she’d demanded to be taken back to her room, the fact was, she couldn’t have found it by herself, but maybe with a dog’s help, it would be possible.

  “Usually about a month, but I have a feeling it will only take a couple of weeks with the connection you and Fisher have.”

  “I thought there was a waiting list for service dogs. Why do I get one when my situation isn’t permanent?”

  “Fisher isn’t fully trained. And neither am I. We can learn together. And he’ll be a loan. When your vision comes back, he can help someone else.”

  Her fingers trailed through Fisher’s silky fur. The thought of growing fond of the dog only to give him up bothered her. And was Ben using her in some way? She didn’t like the idea of being a guinea pig. “I’ll have my sight back before a month is up.”

  “Maybe.”

  She didn’t want to consider the possibility that her condition might last. If only she could catch some small glimmer of light and dark, just shadows. But nothing showed in her vision except this awful black hole that sucked her into oblivion; it was like floating in an empty universe.

  Rina’s hand touched Lani’s shoulder. “Lani, everyone wants to say hello.”

  How do you greet someone without seeing them? Lani held her tongue and tipped her head up. “Aloha. Are you all here?”

  “The gang’s all here. Arlo Beckett, Harry Drayton, Jerry Kapuy.”

  A chorus of male voices sounded in her head. The different voices seemed impossible to filter, but she had to make an effort for her aunt’s sake. “Arlo?”

  A soft hand took hers. “Right here.” His high voice sounded almost effeminate.

  “And Harry’s here.” A hard hand with calluses replaced Arlo’s soft one. Harry squeezed her fingers, then dropped her hand. “You look more like your aunt all the time. I like the new shorter haircut.”

  Another hand picked up hers, so lar
ge it enveloped her small palm. “It’s Jerry, Lani.” His deep voice held a rich timbre. The compassion in his voice was from his longtime medical background. He was a holistic doctor, though he and Josie often disagreed on things. She could hear the pain behind his words too. He’d been dating Pam, and she’d expected an announcement any day.

  “I’m blind, Jerry,” she whispered.

  “Your vision will come back.” Jerry squeezed her fingers. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk with the specialist in charge of your case. Maybe there’s something I could do on this end to help. Something complementary might work.” His voice held no pity, just a calm acceptance of how things would be.

  “Oh thanks, Jerry! You’re the best.” She gave him her doctor’s name. “I—I’m sorry about Pam.”

  He squeezed her hand again. “Me too. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the ring I got her.”

  “Oh, Jerry.” Her eyes burned, and she heard him swallow hard.

  His voice sounded thick. “I’d better let you eat.” He pulled his hand away.

  Ben’s voice came. “So how did you all meet up again? Rina said you lost touch until a year ago.”

  Arlo’s voice answered. “I ran an ad in the Honolulu Advertiser looking for people who had lived at Taylor Camp in the early seventies.”

  Josie sniffed. “You just wanted to find Rina. She’s too good for you.”

  “Now, Josie,” Arlo said in his squeaky voice. “I could never aspire to win her hand. But a guy can’t help dreaming.”

  Now that she thought of it, his voice reminded her of Gomer Pyle. She hadn’t heard this story. They’d all been on the plantation by the time she arrived, and she’d just accepted them as her aunt’s friends.

  “Were you all in love with Aunt Rina?”

  Josie didn’t wait for an answer. “Rina has always been like orchids to bees.”

  “And all the Taylor Camp residents called you?” Lani asked Arlo.

  “Emailed me. And we set up to meet. Your aunt hadn’t changed a bit. Still just as pretty as ever.” The smile in Arlo’s voice grew. “We all met here, and the years we’d been apart melted away.”

  “What about you, Jerry?” Lani thought his friendship with her aunt seemed more long-term.

  “I never lost touch with Rina,” he said. “We shared a lot of the same interests—pearls, holistic medicine, organic food. We’ve been friends a long time. Josie too, though she doesn’t often admit she likes me.” He laughed.

  “Why did you ever leave the camp?”

  “They burned it!” Josie exclaimed. “Kicked us all out and burned it to the ground. I watched my tree house go up in flames and cried.”

  Lani gasped. “But why?”

  “It was a legal wrangle with the state. Howard Taylor bought the land to build a house. The state wouldn’t let him because they wanted it for a park, but they expected him to pay the taxes. He let us live there, and when he finally turned it over to the state, we were settled pretty tight,” Josie said. “They didn’t get rid of us easily, but they finally wore us down and we moved out. They wasted no time in burning our homes.” Her voice cracked.

  “It was a long time ago,” Jerry said, his deep voice gentle.

  Lani put her attention back on her food as the others drifted away. Taylor Camp must have really bonded them for their friendship to have stood such a long test of time.

  Bikes lined the lot of the Harley Davidson shop. Ben mentally ticked off the various bikes to see if Tyrone had sold any. One black Softail no longer sat by the fire hydrant. A red Fat Boy was missing too. His bike rumbled to a stop by the door, and he dismounted and went inside. Customers meandered through clothing displays. Several men stood talking to Tyrone Brown at the parts counter. Ben nodded to sales clerk Monica Warren, then made his way back to parts, where he waited until Tyrone finished with customers.

  Tyrone turned sightless eyes toward him. “That you, Ben?”

  “Yep.” It never ceased to amaze him how accurately Tyrone could catalog footsteps and small sounds. “Looks like you’re having a good week. I saw a couple of bikes missing.”

  “Not bad. I tried to call you this morning.” Tyrone was about Ben’s age. They’d grown up together, gone to police academy together, and been best friends for thirty years. Tyrone had never wanted to go into business with his dad, but he didn’t have much choice after the accident. He took over the Harley dealership last year, and it had thrived.

  “I’m going to be gone a couple of weeks.”

  “Oh?” Tyrone’s dark face lit with interest.

  “Yoshi needs me to guard his cousin.”

  Tyrone’s face grew guarded. “Lani?”

  “Yep.” Ben tried to reconcile the defiant young woman who’d interfered in Ethan’s marriage with the hurting, vulnerable one he’d been seeing all week. “What went down with you two? You dated her for a while. What happened?”

  Tyrone’s hand crept along the counter to a pen that he began to twirl through his fingers. “I don’t want to talk about it. Why are you getting involved? It must’ve been some problem to get you to help her.”

  “Ethan is mixed up with something.” Ben told his friend about finding the coffee bags and the expensive purchases in the house.

  “So you agreed to go help so you can check it out.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maybe she’s involved. She was always up for an adventure. Smuggling might be right up her alley.”

  Ben decided not to remark on the bitter tone in Tyrone’s voice. “I took Fisher out to help her. I’ll look around while I teach her how to function, do a little work on the master’s, and just try to stay out of her way.” Ben studied his friend’s face. Tyrone never seemed to blame Ben for the accident that had blinded him. The first few weeks he’d railed against his fate, then he’d accepted it with quiet resignation. Ranger at Tyrone’s feet had been Ben’s first experience with the amazing blessing a guide dog could be.

  “Let me know how she gets along.”

  Ben studied his friend’s pensive face. “You sound like you still care about her.”

  “It’s hard to turn off feelings. What she did . . . Never mind.”

  “It might help to talk about it.”

  “Not now.” Someone called to Tyrone from the back room. “I’d better go. Keep in touch.”

  Ben watched him walk away, his white cane gliding along the floor, and felt a pang of guilt. No—in spite of everything, Tyrone was a success story. Ben had to remember that.

  Chapter Five

  Fisher whined and put his wet nose against Lani’s knee. He’d been with her two days, and she was already hooked on his presence. She tangled her fingers in his fur. “Having Fisher here has made a big difference,” she told Fawn. “I don’t feel so alone in the dark when he’s here.”

  “He seems to love you too.”

  “Ben never said he was mine. I have to figure out a way to keep him even when my sight comes back.”

  “Can you do that?”

  Lani’s fingers tightened in the fur. “I have to. He’s part of me now. Ben has to let him stay with me. I’ll buy him.” She couldn’t lose the dog.

  “What if Ben won’t sell him?”

  Lani didn’t want to consider it. The cell phone clipped to her waistband vibrated. She found it and flipped it open. “This is Lani.”

  The home show director came over the line. Michelle Landers always sounded as though she couldn’t catch her breath. “Lani, glad we caught you. We’re going to need those initial drawings for the garden by the first of next month.”

  Lani’s fingers tightened around the phone. “But that’s only two weeks,” she blurted.

  “Is that a problem? I thought we discussed a fast turnaround on the design.” Displeasure coated the director’s words.

  “We did. It’s fine.” Lani knew she should tell Michelle what had happened, but the words wouldn’t come. “I’ll be in touch.” She flipped her phone closed. “I don’t know what
I’m going to do,” she moaned.

  “The garden design?” Fawn asked.

  Lani nodded. “They need the designs in two weeks.”

  “You should have told them what happened and asked for more time.”

  “I don’t want to lose this project.”

  “But how can you design anything when you can’t see?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll think of something. Where’s Aunt Rina?”

  “In the coffee building. Changing the subject isn’t going to make your problem go away.”

  “I know that! But I need to think.” She had reams of designs. Maybe she could adapt one with Fawn’s help.

  The purr of a car engine came to Lani’s ears, then the crunch of gravel under tires. “Who’s here?”

  “Some big guy in a black Cadillac.”

  “Willie Kanaho,” Lani said. The car door slammed, and she heard Willie’s customary whistle. “Hey, Willie.”

  “Where’s your aunt?” he asked.

  “I’m right here,” her aunt called. It sounded like she was still a ways off, then the whiff of her perfume floated in the air. “What are you doing here, Willie?” She sounded breathless.

  “I came to say I’m sorry,” he said.

  “A man apologizing?” Fawn whispered to Lani.

  Lani hid her smile with her hand. “You want to sit down, Willie?”

  “I can’t stay,” he said, but his tone invited them to convince him.

  “I just made some coffee, if you’d like a cup,” Rina said.

  “Well, maybe just one.” A lawn chair groaned under his weight.

  Her aunt’s light steps retreated to the house. Lani shifted in her chair. “Are your trees ready to harvest?”

  “We start tomorrow,” he said. “Yours are almost ready too. Do you need a hand?”

  “I’m sure we can get it done,” Lani said. The last thing her aunt would want was to owe Willie anything. She had to wonder why he’d come here. Did he think sucking up to Rina would get her to drop the injunction?