Tropical Temptation

by Angela R. Sargenti

  This time Grandma brought Samantha something to eat and she plowed on, having her lunch at her desk. She didn’t see Alex again until dinner that night.

  The next few days were much the same, Alex disappearing for long stretches of time. Samantha, unused to the heat and high humidity, stayed indoors as much as possible.

  Meanwhile, the memory of their kiss began to fade in her mind until she started to wonder if it ever really happened.

  Still, she knew herself to be fortunate. Alex paid her handsomely and demanded very little in return. In fact, he left her pretty well alone, and in time, she began to see that perhaps he was avoiding her.

  After about a week of such solitude, Samantha, feeling lonely, went out to the kitchen to seek some companionship.

  Grandma was there, busy with her day’s work. Long accustomed to helping her mother around the house, Samantha jumped in to lend a hand. She wasn’t the type of person who could just sit around watching an elderly woman labor on her behalf without even lifting a finger to help. She picked up a clean dishtowel to help Mrs. K. dry the dishes.

  “So tell me how you met Mr. Alex,” said Samantha.

  “He knew my daughter,” she told her. “My poor girl. She was working as a waitress nearby and he was her friend when she was sick and alone...well, dying, really.”

  Mrs. K. dabbed at her eyes.

  “Mr. Alex helped her. He did all he could. He brought her and my poor little Albert here when the end was near. She died here, did you know?”

  Samantha shook her head as Grandma continued.

  “He was very kind to her, Mr. Alex. He kept Albert here and took care of him until I could come over from the Big Island to get him.”

  “What was wrong with her? Why did she die?”

  “Cancer.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Samantha set the dishtowel down. She’d never known anyone with cancer before, but she was frightened of the disease, and she glanced over at Grandma, feeling bad for introducing the topic.

  “But you never went back?” Samantha asked, to change the subject. “You stayed here with Alex?”

  The old woman nodded, her eyes focusing on the wall. She wiped away her tears, her customary optimism returning suddenly.

  “He’s very good to me, Missy Samantha,” she said at last. “He’s good to my boy. He even taught him how to drive out there on that awful road. Most people don’t understand him, but he’s a very good man. Just quiet. Almost shy, even.”

  “I know,” Samantha agreed. “I like him a lot. He really is nice, isn’t he?”

  Grandma nodded again, able to shove the dark past from her mind. “Would you come out to my house with me? I forgot my pills.”

  “Sure.”

  Samantha followed the older woman down the path to her nearby cottage and made sure she left her flip-flops (which they all called slippers) outside the front door, already used to the Hawaiian custom.

  Grandma let them in and Samantha knew at once that, more than just wanting her company, she wanted Samantha to see that Alex took every care of their comfort here.

  Though not nearly as plush as the main house, it was apparent Alex was concerned with their well-being. Samantha, inspired, found she wanted to match Alex’s efforts.

  “Grandma, if this ever gets to be too much...I mean, if you ever need me to help you, please let me know.”

  Mrs. Kujiroaka shot her a surprised glance and seemed pleased.

  “You’d help me?”

  “Of course. Just say the word.”

  The older woman grasped her hand in appreciation and gave it a squeeze.

  “You’re a nice girl, Missy Samantha. I hope you stay here forever.”

  “Really? Thanks, Grandma. I kind of hope I do, too.”

  With that, they went back to the main house. Grandma started dinner, some kind of stir-fry with Spam and a lot of different vegetables over rice. When Samantha sat down at the table with Alex, she found it was surprisingly tasty.

  “Oh, my God, this is really good,” she told Alex.

  “I know. That woman’s a godsend; I bet she could make an old boot taste good.”

  “I believe it.”

  “Samantha, do you...do you like it here?” he asked suddenly. “Do you think you’d like to stay?”

  “Here? With you and Grandma and Albert? I think so. I mean, I’ve never been any place like this before, but I like it. And how about you, Alex? Do you feel like you want to keep me? Do you think I’m working out as your assistant?”

  He nodded. “I know you are.”

  Another two weeks passed, and Samantha began to feel again that she and Alex were living parallel lives, lives that intersected mainly over the dinner table. And while he never gave the smallest hint there was anything amiss, she often didn’t set eyes on him for hours on end. And Alex, busy with his writing and gardening, never seemed to notice her absence from his life, never seemed to feel the distance between them or make an effort to spend more time with her.

  Eventually, she grew restless and bored being alone so much of the time. Unfortunately for her, before the month was out, Alex rewarded Grandma and Albert with the entire week off, and they cheerfully packed it in and went to the Big Island to visit relatives. With Alex gone so much, Samantha was left behind with no one to talk to and nothing but her work to occupy her time.

  Before the week was over, she felt desperate for some human contact, and she finally decided that-avoid her though he may-Alex was going to have to pay a little bit of attention to her, at least until the others returned from their trip.

  She stepped out onto the back porch and saw him out in the garden, pulling weeds and picking tomatoes. After a few minutes, she managed to capture his gaze. He stood up and came to the porch with a basket full of plump, juicy red tomatoes. He set it down and looked at her.

  “Anything wrong?”

  “I’m lonely,” she said with a pout. “Can’t I help?”

  “Yeah. Sure. Come on.”

  They made their way down a thick row of green beans. Alex handed her a battered tin pail and showed her which ones were ripe. Stooping, he pulled out a weed.

  “If you see any of these, go ahead and yank them out. I’m going inside to rinse the tomatoes. Later, I’ll show you how to dry them in the oven.”

  Samantha soon forgot her boredom and picked up a little of Alex’s enthusiasm for gardening. Before long, she became completely engrossed in her task and, spotting a weed, she reached way under a bush to pluck it out.

  A sharp sting caused her to draw back her hand in shock, and when she did, she saw a long, wiggly insect drop back down to the ground and scurry away under the bush.

  A shrill scream broke from her lips and she dropped the weed, grabbing her throbbing hand instead.

  Turning, she ran up the wooden steps and into the house, feeling faint, her hand already beginning to swell painfully.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Something just bit me,” she sobbed, showing him her hand.

  “What was it?”

  “How should I know, Alex? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  He seized her hand and examined it.

  “What did it look like, Samantha?”

  “I don’t know...a rope with legs?”

  She shuddered, remembering. She never liked bugs, and now she felt really faint, thinking about the hideous creature that bit her. She sucked in a deep breath as Alex led her by the arm to the kitchen table and sat her down.

  “Sounds like a centipede,” he told her. “Was it brown?”

  “Yeah, and sort of reddish. Oh, it really hurts, Alex.”

  “I know, sweetie.”

  She watched as he opened a nearby drawer and took out an old dishtowel,
tearing a long, narrow strip from it.

  “What are you doing that for?”

  “I’m going to make a tourniquet.”

  “What? Why? Am I going to die?”

  He ignored her question and grabbed a pencil, setting to work to bind her arm up tight, just below the elbow.

  “Here, hold this,” he instructed. “I have to get a razor blade.”

  “What?” she rasped, feeling hot and thirsty.

  He ducked into his bedroom and returned with a razor blade and bottles of alcohol and peroxide.

  “That’s not for me,” she told him, her eyes wide with fear as she eyed the razor.

  “Don’t be such a baby, Samantha. I have to get the venom out.”

  He pulled a chair around next to her and sat down in it. She watched as he rinsed the blade in alcohol and took a firm grip on her wrist.

  “Hold still.”

  “No, Alex, don’t. Ow,” she howled as the razor slit her skin. Alex wrapped the rest of the dishtowel around her hand to soak up the blood and then he whisked off the tourniquet.

  Dazed, Samantha slid her chair back across the kitchen tiles in haste and stood up.

  “You shouldn’t get up so fast,” he said as he rose from his own chair to stop her. Samantha did get up, though, and she quickly realized what a mistake she made in doing so. The world tilted dangerously up on its side and she felt herself falling to meet it.

  Chapter 7

  Samantha slowly opened her eyes to find Alex standing over her, a look of undisguised relief on his face.

  “Jeez, you scared me,” he told her. “I thought you were having an allergic reaction, but I guess it was just the shock.”

  She tried to sit up but felt drained, tired.

  “I don’t know what came over me,” she told him. “I’ve never fainted before in my life.”

  “How do you feel now?”

  “Thirsty.”

  “How about some tea, just the way you like it?”

  “Yeah, sounds good.”

  Samantha listened as Alex moved about the kitchen making her tea.

  “I guess I should’ve warned you about centipedes,” he told her. “I’ll have to get you a pair of gloves. Or maybe gardening isn’t your thing?”

  “No, I’ll be all right. I’ll be more careful next time. It’s just that no one ever told me about centipedes.”

  He set her cup of tea down on the end table and helped her sit up on the couch, plumping the pillows for her before handing her the cup.

  She tasted it, noticed he’d done it perfectly.

  A smile drifted onto her lips and her glance met his. He grinned at her affectionately, apparently pleased with his handiwork, and all of a sudden, he heaved a satisfied, almost wistful sigh.

  “I’ve never noticed it before,” he told her, “but you really are very beautiful.”

  “Huh?” she asked gracelessly.

  “You are, Samantha.”

  Blushing, she toyed with the handle of her cup.

  “Uhm, thanks, Alex,” she replied, glancing sideways at him out of the corner of her eye, not entirely sure he wasn’t just teasing her again. She even thought for a brief moment he might hitting on her, but the look in his eyes told her he was being sincere.

  His whole attitude seemed to shift all of a sudden and he stood up, growing off-hand again.

  “Anyway, I’m glad you weren’t allergic. Those things have been known to kill.”

  Without another word, he sent her to bed. He made sure she had everything she needed for the night, and then he left her alone, urging her to get some rest.

  Her throbbing hand awoke her in the middle of the night and she got up to take an aspirin. The air in her room was fresh and clean as the sheer curtains lifted in the breeze, and she returned from the bathroom to go stand at the window.

  Being used to the cold Santa Ana winds in Los Angeles, she’d never known such a powerful breeze could also be so warm. She realized then they’d been relying on those same trade winds to cool them off ever since her arrival.

  She looked out at the stars and breathed in the fresh, cooling air, thinking about what Alex had said to her that day.

  He’d called her beautiful.

  She smiled to herself, thinking she finally made some progress with him, and for the very first time, she realized she was falling in love with him and would do almost anything to feel his arms around her again. She went back to bed, fantasizing about what it would be like and, in the morning, she awoke feeling very much restored.

  The swelling in her hand went down, and she was able to get out of bed and contribute to their relationship. Ignoring the pain in her hand, she spent the day with Alex in the kitchen as together they sliced up the tomatoes and spread them out on cookie sheets to prepare them for the oven.

  Once this task was done, Samantha began cleaning up the dirty dishes.

  “Don’t worry about all that right now,” said Alex, mindful of her injured hand. “Come outside and talk to me.”

  “Okay, but you have to come and drink a beer with me, Alex,” she stated, opening the refrigerator.

  He nodded, so she took out a couple of cold ones and followed him out to the porch.

  Alex graciously set a chair for her and pulled one up beside her for himself. She took a seat and glanced up into the sky.

  The sun was just beginning to set. The sky was ablaze with the most amazing golden clouds she’d ever seen, over a deep violet horizon.

  “I never used to care about sunsets,” she admitted quietly. “Or maybe I just never noticed them much.”

  Alex, trying to hide a satisfied smile, lifted the bottle to his lips and took a drink. Samantha glanced over at him.

  His face nearly in shadow, he looked just about her age, and her lips curled into a soft smile as she slipped her hand into his.

  “I’m glad you’re speaking to me again,” she told him. “I was afraid you were getting ready to fire me.”

  Alex, surprised, fixed his gaze on her. Looking apologetic, he squeezed her good hand.

  “I’m sorry, Samantha. I tried to warn you what I was like.”

  “I know.”

  She raised his hand to her lips and kissed it in a gesture of forgiveness and they sat out there on the porch until the sun set.

  Before she knew it, the week had passed and Grandma and Albert returned to the ranch. Samantha, realizing she hadn’t been away from the ranch herself for weeks, began to accompany Grandma on her twice-weekly trips to town for groceries and supplies. Albert usually drove them, but once in a while he was too busy, so Samantha braved the bumpy road out and took them to town herself.

  “Let’s make steak sandwiches this week,” Samantha suggested as they pushed the cart up the aisle of the grocery store. “We just need some good steaks and a bag of rolls. Do we have any tarragon?”

  Later that day, she sat outside with Albert while he fired up the grill for her. And though he wasn’t a big talker, she was able to draw him out enough to get him talking about Alex.

  “How old were you when you came here, Albert?”

  “Twelve. Mr. Alex, he’s almost like a father to me.”

  “Grandma told me he taught you to drive.”

  He grinned.

  “Yeah, and he made me go to school. Even community college. I got the AA degree for horticulture. He pretended it was for him, but I know it’s really for me. Maybe you’d better flip those steaks.”

  She got up and turned them over, then sat back down with him.

  “It’s nice to have a wahini here, for once. Some of those haole boys he bring here so lazy, crying about the heat and nothing to do. Can’t fish or do nothing. Besides, my grandma, she like you. She say she can understand you.”

 
“How do you like your steak?”

  “Medium, yeah?”

  As it turned out, her steak sandwiches were well-received, and after that, Samantha made it a habit to keep shopping with Grandma. Luckily, she kept a comprehensive, ongoing list with all of Alex’s favorite foods. Long accustomed to taking care of him and satisfying his every whim, she’d grown adept at anticipating them as well.

  Samantha paid close attention to what Grandma purchased and, once they got home, took note of the dishes that were prepared for them. It didn’t take long for her to realize they were indeed eating a large amount of the produce from the garden, but knew it had nothing to do with finances. It didn’t really matter what they spent, as long as Alex was comfortable and happy. No, it was simply because the food they grew tasted so much fresher and better than anything they could buy at the local market.

  It was a tiny market, compared to what she was used to back home in Chatsworth, and there wasn’t much selection, but she found that, what couldn’t be purchased on the island was readily available over the internet.

  And so, she got used to supplementing the items Grandma bought with those she found herself. She got used to buying the kinds of things Grandma would never have dreamed of purchasing, and Alex seemed pleased with her choices and eagerly consumed the imported cheeses, French wines, and exotic produce she had sent over from the mainland.

  The UPS man, after having received her very explicit directions on how to find the house, proved to be her ally, but Alex inexplicably disapproved of the man.

  Regardless, they all settled into a nice, steady routine, and Samantha wasn’t lonely like before. She found her niche in the household and Alex, appreciative of her efforts, went out of his way to spend a more time with her.

  She sensed he was every bit as attracted to her as she was to him, every bit as aroused by her presence, but strangely enough, he continued to hold himself at a careful distance to her. And while she sensed the distance, sensed his reluctance, she couldn’t bring herself to fight it, not for one single second.

  She was working alone in the garden one hot afternoon when she sensed someone was staring at her. She glanced up to find Alex watching her, and she smiled up at him, welcoming his attention. She waved at him, but continued on with her work. When next she glanced up, she saw he was still looking at her. He beckoned her to him with a wave of his hand and she wondered what he wanted.