Danny gazed down at the frail woman he loved with all his heart. She had lost so much weight and was so weak he had to carry her everywhere. He bowed. “Your wish is my command, your highness.”
“You’ve made me the happiest princess in the world…” She began coughing.
Then, to his relief, she giggled. For a moment, she looked like the old Eva.
When they got to the beach, he took off his shoes and carried her barefoot to the sand. They were alone and had a perfect view of Rabbit Island. She took a deep breath and smiled. Her eyes sparkled.
“Can you carry me and run at the same time?” she asked. Her eyes twinkled with mischief.
“I can do anything,” he bragged. “As long as you’re with me.”
She laughed. Optimism surged in Danny. He ran. She kept laughing.
“Faster,” she ordered. “Faster, Danny, faster.”
He ran as fast as he could. Suddenly, he realized she had been silent for a few minutes and felt limp in his arms.
He stopped. Her eyes were closed. She wasn’t breathing.
Danny fell to his knees in the sand. Holding her to him, he buried his face in her neck and cried.
For a time after Eva died, Danny tortured himself with the thought her death was his fault. If only he hadn’t compromised her calling, perhaps the Lord would’ve taken mercy on her and let her live. The guilt plagued him in dreams, and he had many sleepless nights. Because the Catholic Church reminded him of all his failures, he stopped going.
It was an easy transition as his children attended Episcopalian schools. Both of them were very smart. Kathy went to St. Andrew’s Priory, an all-girls school and Gerry attended ‘Iolani, an Episcopalian boys’ school in Kapahulu with an education second to none. Both schools were originally founded as Anglican schools by Queen Emma, who had been raised Anglican.
Now that both his children were steeped in the Protestant world, Danny wanted them to grow up in a church. He chose Central Union Church. It was perhaps the grandest and most magnificent church in Honolulu. Surely the imposing gray stone structure had the most extensive and expensive piece of real estate of any church in the Islands. The Congregational church was often called the Church in the Gardens. One couldn’t help but admire the statuesque beauty of the iconic structure with its towering steeple set back on acres of prime real estate. No small country churches for Danny. He felt comforted inside a structure as grand as any Catholic church he’d ever gone to.
1960
Danny watched the slender, blonde woman sitting in the back of Central Union church. He’d noticed her only recently, probably because he no longer had to attend services at the same time as the youth groups and started going to a later service instead. It was there he first saw her. Her shy nervousness and uncertainty mixed with a patrician air attracted him. For the first time in twelve years, he felt drawn by the intangible winds of fate. Something told him they were alike—two lost, lonely souls born into a bewildering world in which they didn’t belong.
Danny wondered briefly where the last twelve years since Eva died had gone. He’d dated occasional women, some for as long as a year. But his grief and guilt over his loss had been so great, he couldn’t open himself to any of them. Besides, his commitment to his family and job effectively stopped him from marrying again, despite his children’s urging. He was so busy with his kids and the law firm, time had flown by. Kathy was now a married schoolteacher with children of her own. Gerry had just graduated from college and was entering law school in the fall.
Somehow, I did a good job with them, Jo. You would be proud of them.
A sudden need welled up in him, and he approached the woman before she could slip out the back door.
“Hello. I’m Danny Myers. I’ve seen you here before.” He smiled.
The woman looked up at him timidly. She was a bit older than he’d initially thought. Older than he was, anyway. Still, she had the same fragile quality as Eva, the one which had made his heart stop.
“I’m Meg, um, Duncan.” She smiled.
Her radiant glow blinded Danny momentarily, catching him off-guard.
My God, she’s beautiful.
“Meg Duncan,” Danny offered her his hand. “Would you allow me to take you to brunch?”
1978 – Governor’s Office
“So now you know the truth, son.” Danny sat back in his chair.
“I’m not part Filipino?” Gerry smiled. “I think I’ve always known the truth. Kathy and I used to talk about it because we vaguely remembered our real mom and dad. But it was all in the shadows because of the trauma. Thank you for being honest with us. And thank you for honoring our mother’s final request.”
Danny sighed with relief. “Your mother loved you so much she sacrificed her identity and memories of herself as your mother to give you better lives.”
“I understand.” Gerry nodded. “But we’ve always been one big ‘ohana. Uncle Tommy and his family, Mama Meg, and even Grandpop. As for Eva, she really was a mother to us after our mom died.”
The two men stood up and hugged. Danny grabbed his son’s arms and stood back. He had to look up at Gerry.
“We are a strong ‘ohana, and we’re going to get through this. My granddaughter will find a donor. Nothing is going to shake our ‘ohana.”
THE END
This story is based on the untold story of a character from the novel, The ‘Ohana by C.W. Schutter.
C. W. Schutter
C.W. Schutter grew up in Honolulu dreaming of becoming a novelist.
After graduating with a BA in Psychology from the University of Hawai‘i, she worked in Hotel Management, later became an Editorial Assistant, and Realtor. She sat on the board of a commercial real estate company, and chaired benefits for non-profits in Aspen, Colorado.
Her first screenplay, September Dawn, became a movie starring Jon Voight, followed by a novel. The Ohana, an award-winning novel about Hawaii took 1st place in the Golden Scrolls Awards. Danny’s Story, is an untold story from The Ohana. She enjoys writing in different genres.
Find me on the web at www.cwschutter.com and follow me on Facebook.
Acknowledgments
As the architect of this project, I wanted to say a quick thank you to those who made this project a reality. First, of course, there are the writers. This anthology wouldn't have been possible without the generous support of ten other writers, who all had one goal in mind, to help improve literacy in Hawai‘i. So, thank you to JoAnn Bassett, Gail Baugniet, Frankie Bow, Kay Hadashi, Laurie Hanan, Jill Marie Landis, AJ Llewellyn, Toby Neal, and CW Schutter for joining me in this effort to do some good with our imaginations and words.
I mentioned ten writers. The tenth is Lorna Collins, who is also an editor and agreed to edit each of the stories. Thank you, Lorna, for finding our mistakes, redundancies, and moments of pontification.
Laurie Hanan did double duty on this project by volunteering to read and edit each story for the Hawaiian words. Our attempt was to be true to the language and we all hope each and every ‘okina and kahakō are used correctly.
Kathy Ambrose at Pen 2 Ink Designs deserves all our gratitude for the book layout and cover design.
We all want to thank Jed Gaines and the staff at Read Aloud America for their tireless efforts to help improve literacy in Hawai‘i. You truly are the ones who help make this world a better place.
Thank you to Caroline Hart for your inspiration to all mystery writers and, of course, for the foreword.
And last, but not least, thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of this book. We hope you enjoy our stories and thank you for your support.
Terry Ambrose
Project Manager
“Paradise, Passion, Murder”
Paradise, Passion, Murder Page 34