Early One Morning (Love in Oahu Book 1)

by Aubree Lane

  “Annie, I’m glad I caught you,” Larry’s familiar voice rang out when she picked up. “I was hoping you’d answer.”

  Annie hadn’t spoken to Larry since Christmas. She had conveniently failed to answer or return any of his calls on her cell phone. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know how he was taking the news of her engagement. This was the moment she’d been dreading. If Larry was against the marriage that would indicate that he might try to squeeze Terence out of Erika’s life. If he was for it, he might expect her to use whatever influence she had over Terence to sway him into relocating to San Diego. She hoped all he would do was congratulate her, but she doubted that was in the cards.

  “Hi Larry,” she said as casually as possible. “I’m sorry I don’t have a moment to spare. I have to pick Phoebe up at the airport and I’m already running late. I’ll call you when I get back.”

  “Have you talked to Nathan lately? He seems a little frazzled handling his new responsibilities. Are you sure he can handle your business by himself?”

  The warning hairs on the back of Annie’s neck stood on end. Nathan had been in charge for exactly two days and he hadn’t complained to her. What made her even more suspicious was that Larry had never, even in the early years when she could barely support herself, questioned her business decisions. She hated not being able to trust him and being suspicious of his every word. Didn’t he know how much his opinion mattered to her? Didn’t he know that the simple question he just asked made her doubt herself to the core? Or did he know and just didn’t care, and was he trying to use that to his advantage?

  Stubborn determination took hold. She was not going to let him get to her. “What do you mean?”

  “Just that I think he’s in a little over his head. Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll get his footing soon. I didn’t mean to worry you. By the way, how is my daughter?”

  Worry her was exactly what he meant to do. He already roped her into this conversation further than she wanted to be, so she decided to hang in there and see what else he would throw at her. “Erika is doing well. She loves it here with Terence.” Let him chew on that!

  “Congratulations on your engagement. I’m sure you and Terence will be very happy. Have you talked about where you will be living? The offer of my guesthouse is still on the table.”

  Let the pushing begin, Annie thought. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about much of anything. Terence has Erika for several more months. There is time to work it all out. We don’t have to do it today.”

  “I know you’re having fun playing house, but Erika is my daughter. The sooner the two of you start dealing with that, the better.”

  Playing house! How could he talk to her that way? And better for whom? “I know you are Erika’s father,” Annie practically screeched in reply, “but Erika doesn’t. We have to think about her right now, not ourselves.”

  Larry made an abrupt about-face. “You’re right, Annie,” he said softly. “I’m sorry. You know how pushy I can be. I’ve missed so much with Erika. I don’t want to miss anything else. Can you forgive me for being such a louse?”

  Actually, Annie had never known him to be pushy and deep inside she was already beginning to feel like an ingrate. Of course Larry would want to settle this business with Erika as quickly as possible. Anyone in his position would. The pain she heard in his voice was real. She softened her stance and tried to smooth things over. “I’m sorry, too. I’ll call you later, and I’ll talk to Terence, but please don’t rush us. We have plenty of time.”

  Larry gave a sad laugh. “Time is an old man’s enemy.”

  • • •

  Forty-five minutes later, Phoebe sat on a bench outside Aloha Airlines Terminal Z, waiting for Annie to pick her up. Surrounded by fellow air travelers who were filling their lungs with nicotine, she waved the air in front of her face trying to catch a breath of breathable air.

  When she saw Annie walking up from the short-term parking lot, she jumped up and tapped the tinted glass behind her, a moment later Alan arrived carrying their luggage.

  “Hey! I didn’t say you could raid my crew,” Annie gave Phoebe a quick hug and ruffled Alan’s light brown hair.

  “After you assured me Lena was straight, I thought I’d bring along the hunk to see if we could hook them up,” Phoebe joked.

  Alan was in exceptionally good shape. Annie and Phoebe had many enjoyable moments watching him run up and down the scaffolding as he painted Mrs. Barrington’s unusually high vaulted ceilings. There was no doubt about it. Alan Daniels had the best buns in the business.

  He and Annie were casually dating just before she jumped ship and flew away to meet Terence. She heard he had not gone to the concert alone, and when she returned to San Diego, they easily fell back into their employer/employee relationship. Obviously since she was able to stand him up without giving it a second thought, and the fact that he’d been able to replace her on such short notice, their relationship was not meant to be.

  Alan headed towards the lot. “I don’t know what she’s laughing at,” he said directing, his remarks towards Annie. “I hear Lena Javier is pretty hot.”

  Annie ran after him. “If you’re staying, you’ll have to do a lot more than just paint. Lena can’t afford for you to stand around waiting for the construction crew to finish.”

  Alan kept walking and Annie quicken her step.

  “First of all, I’m not working for you, I’m working for her.” Alan cocked his head back towards Phoebe. “Secondly, I am the construction crew, the painting crew, and I’m probably the electrician.”

  Annie stopped and let Alan continue on without her. Phoebe was in charge, not her. She had to back off and let her call the shots. When Phoebe caught up, Annie complimented her. “I see you have everything well in hand.”

  Phoebe grinned from ear to ear. “Damn Skippy! Now get out of my way and let me do my job.”

  Annie hopped to attention and saluted proudly. “Ma’am, yes ma’am.”

  • • •

  After Annie dropped the Motley Crew, as Phoebe dubbed herself and Alan, off at Lena’s, she headed back over to Terence’s house. She put off telling him she wasn’t planning on going back to San Diego long enough. Larry was right about one thing, it was time to talk about their future. Terence needed to know he had options. She was willing to give up her life, or at least change it, in order to stay with him. She loved Hawaii and she was fairly certain they would be able to work something out with Larry. There was no need for Terence to leave his home. Annie felt that was terribly important. The short time he’d been in San Diego, he hated it. Even if they had to live there for a while, it didn’t have to be a permanent situation, and it didn’t have to be in Larry’s guesthouse. In addition, she needed his technological help to telecommute with Nathan until the rest of her contracted projects were completed. If what Larry said was true and Nathan was feeling overwhelmed, she was going to have to do a better job of helping him. It was her business after all, and Nathan shouldn’t have to bear the load alone.

  She pulled into the driveway and saw Terence sitting on the front step, awaiting her arrival. It must be love, she smiled to herself. He already misses me. She slammed the car door and with a skip in her step went to greet her fiancé.

  Terence didn’t get up to meet her and when she saw the look on his face, she knew something was wrong. Dreading the worst, she sat next to him and waited for him to speak.

  “You’re not going to believe this―” his voice cracked, and for five solid minutes he was unable to continue.

  Whatever was wrong, it was beginning to scare the daylights out of her. “What is it?” she finally prompted.

  “Somehow,” he said, trying to maintain control of his vocal cords. “Erika found out I am not her father.”

  A sick feeling formed in the pit of Annie’s stomach. “How? Who would have told her?”

  “I don’t know, but when she wakes up, I’m going to find out.”

  Annie jumped to her feet,
needing to find Erika. “I have to see her. Where is she?”

  Terence grabbed her leg. “Annie, calm down. She’s resting. I found her crying out back when I got back from my run. We had a long talk and she cried herself to sleep.”

  “Out back! As in outside the back door!” Could Erika have overheard her conversation with Larry? Was this her fault? “Terence, I was talking to Larry on the phone right before I left for the airport. We got into an argument about...” Annie fumbled, “I said...” she couldn’t finish her awful confession, and she buried her face in her hands. Erika was supposed have been on the beach with Miss Murphy, but she hadn’t stopped to make sure they weren’t in earshot before discussing Erika’s paternity with Larry. How could she have been so stupid?

  Terence stood up and wrapped his arms around her. “We don’t know that’s what happened.”

  Tears streamed down her face, and she couldn’t stop them. “It’s a pretty good bet, though. Terence, I am so sorry.”

  He shook his head. “If this is anyone’s fault, it’s Larry’s, or mine. Erika had to find out sooner or later. Someone was bound to slip up. I should have told her the truth the moment we had the test results.”

  Terence said all the right words, but his face was cold and hard. He held her, but it was no longer with compassion and understanding. The tenderness she felt a moment ago was gone. She didn’t blame him, but she also couldn’t stand it. She patted his chest. “You need to worry about Erika, not me. Go to her. Be there when she wakes up. I know you probably don’t trust me at the moment, but is there anything I can do?”

  “Call Larry,” he said firmly. “The longer Erika has to wonder about her future, the harder it’s going to be on her. Tell him he needs to come and to bring Marissa and her family. I want her surrounded by all of us. She needs to feel safe again.”

  Annie made the necessary calls, then she called Lena and told her to expect company. The entire Wright family was going to need a place to stay.

  • • •

  Eleanor walked out of the bathroom wearing Larry’s navy blue terrycloth robe. She had left the door open and had been able to hear Larry’s end of his conversation with Annie very well. She also heard every word of the following conversation he had with Marissa.

  One thing about Marissa, she was not a soft phone talker. Her voice carried over the phone lines and projected quite loudly out the other end. It was something she had done her entire life as if she’d grown up surrounded by the hard of hearing.

  “Marissa, it’s happened. It’s time to bring out the big guns. Erika knows I’m her father. Roust that child psychologist friend of yours, and ask him the best way to handle this. I don’t want to hurt Erika, but she’s my daughter, and I will have complete and absolute custody of her.”

  “Daddy, you can’t just blow in there and take over. You have to give Erika time,” Marissa warned. “Terence is still in charge. We are his guests. Don’t push him. We don’t want him running off with Erika and turning this into a missing child case instead of a custody case. He doesn’t even have to take off to drag this out indefinitely. Judge Sanchez granted him full guardianship, and that order will stand in the State of California until he brings her back. We mustn’t do anything to upset him. If we play our cards right, he’ll come back in June, just like he promised, and the power will shift. Until then we walk softly!”

  “Walk softly, but carry a big stick,” Larry laughed.

  “No, we just walk softly. I shouldn’t have to remind you, but Annie doesn’t need to know any of this. It would put her in an awkward situation. She doesn’t need that right now.”

  “Annie is a sore spot with me. I love her, but if push comes to shove…”

  “Let’s worry about that when someone has actually pushed, and someone has actually shoved. Right now, we need to concentrate on Erika and letting her get to know us. That’s all we can legally do, at the moment anyway. My family and I can only stay in Hawaii for one week. That’s all the school I’m willing to let the kids miss.”

  Larry continued on, “I’ll be staying a lot longer than that. I may not even come home until we are all on the plane, coming back for the hearing.”

  Marissa agreed. “That’s probably a good idea. You’ll be able to keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t panic and take off. And if that happens, we’ll be able to get a jump on them fairly quickly. They wouldn’t get far.”

  Eleanor had heard enough and walked back out into Larry’s bedroom.

  Larry quickly wrapped up his conversation with his daughter and hung up the phone.

  Eleanor crawled in bed beside Larry and glared at him. “You are not truly planning on taking that child away from her father, are you?”

  Larry’s eyes narrowed. “Erika is my daughter, Eleanor. You can either get on board or get out.”

  Eleanor stared at Larry. Beginning their relationship again had been a long time coming, but with that one harsh statement, Eleanor saw exactly where she stood, and it wasn’t where she wanted to be. She rose from the bed and calmly walked out of the room, and out of Larry’s life.

  Chapter 18

  Terence and Erika waited outside the terminal, where the plane bringing the Wright and Crandall family would arrive. Terence had not been able to convince Erika to enter the building. She clung to his leg and whimpered. He didn’t feel the need to push her. If this was as far as she wanted to go, then this was where they were going to stay.

  Annie and Lena picked up the rental cars Larry Wright had reserved and parked them in the lot a short distance away. They dropped the keys off with him then headed back to Lena’s to prepare her home for the Wright invasion.

  With Phoebe and Alan also in residence, it was going to be a tight fit.

  Terence felt a twinge of guilt about not offering the guest room he and Annie were not using, but he wasn’t ready to be that generous. If necessary, Phoebe would be allowed to stay with them, but the Wrights were not welcome. There had to be someplace he and Erika could go just for themselves.

  Deep inside, Terence didn’t believe anything would ever be normal again. They’d just spent a particularly long night with Erika barely speaking a word. She just clung to him and cried. He cleaved to her as well, neither of them willing to let the other go.

  Terence gave up trying to convince her that everything was going to be all right and crawled in bed alongside her. Sometime late into the night, they were able to drift off and sleep for a short while. On the car ride over to the airport, Erika refused to let go of his hand, so Lena drove while he and Annie flanked Erika in the backseat and tried to give her comfort.

  He and Annie had not spoken since their conversation on the front steps. He knew she was upset and needed to hear he didn’t blame her, but part of him did. He also knew that feeling would pass. Erika had to find out he wasn’t her father eventually, but he just didn’t have it in him to deal with Annie right now. Erika needed him. She was the focus of his concern. Annie would just have to wait.

  Through the glass he saw Larry searching for them inside the terminal, and he reluctantly waved to his archenemy.

  The motion caught Larry’s eye. He looked solemnly at Terence and nodded curtly.

  In a strategic move not to overwhelm Erika, Terence watched him enlist the aid of his granddaughter, Sandy. The messy haired little girl, still sleepy from the long overnight flight, came out holding a stuffed floppy-eared puppy dog.

  Tentatively, the little girl approached.

  “Erika, you remember Sandy,” Terence said when she closed the gap.

  Sandy held the dog out to Erika. “My papa wants me to give this to you. Do you know he’s your father?”

  Shyly, Erika scooted a little further behind Terence. She nodded in Sandy’s direction but did not accept the toy.

  “This is so weird.” As the child began to perk up, so did her babbling estimation of their current dilemma. “My mommy is your sister, and you are my aunt.” Sandy shook her head firmly. “But that doesn’
t mean you get to boss me around or anything.”

  A barely audible giggle slipped past Erika’s lips. Smiling the tiniest of smiles she tugged on Terence’s pants. He leaned down and let her whisper into his ear.

  “Can I?” she asked.

  “Can you what? Boss her around?”

  Erika giggled again and nodded.

  Terence smiled. Only a kid would think that was important at a time like this. “You are a little older than Sandy, but I don’t think you’re old enough to be her boss. Sorry, pumpkin.”

  “Told ya,” Sandy shot back happily. She held the dog out again. “I have one just like it at home, except mine is pink. It’s my favorite toy. He’s really soft and squishy. Want to try?”

  Erika released Terence’s hand. She took the dog from Sandy and gave it a big squeeze. The two girls laughed, and Terence felt comfortable enough to give Larry the thumbs up to start phase two of Operation Erika.

  Larry gave his grandson a little nudge and Sandy’s older brother was the next one to exit the terminal.

  “Hi,” Jack said, as if it were any other day. “Mom let me play video games all the way over on the plane. I made it to the third level by destroying the dragon. It wasn’t easy. I lost a lot of lives and had to respawn at the lake about a hundred times before I stabbed him with my sword.”

  Erika was not a gamer and didn’t know what the boy was talking about, but she at least feigned interest when he showed her his hand-held gaming device.

  Terence looked up and saw that the rest of the family was patiently waiting several feet away. David gave the kids a wide berth and came up behind Terence to retrieve the keys to the rental cars. Terence dug them out of his pocket and pointed in the general direction of their location. David tossed one set to Marissa, and the couple headed out into the lot. They hit the alarm button on their key bobs. The cars went off with lights flashing and horns blaring, making short work of their task.

  Larry gradually moved in closer and stood silently behind Erika. Feeling his presence, Erika looked up and gave him a shy grin before hiding behind Terence’s leg once more. Satisfied with that one tiny gift, Larry stepped back and returned to the safer territory of his grandchildren.