by Lois Richer
“That’s `ilima.” He pointed to a bright-yellow flower. “Used to be `ilima leis were for royalty. Over there are a bunch of ti plants, Asian imports that are very important to Hawaii.”
“Because?” she prodded.
“The leaves make hula skirts.”
She laughed but her glance shifted to the smooth white beaches.
“Want to stop?”
“Yes, I do. But no, I can’t.”
“Waikiki it is,” he agreed. “You do know what the word means, don’t you?”
She shook her head.
“Spouting water. Don’t ask me why.” He merged into the steady stream of traffic heading to the city’s heart. “Finding a parking spot might take us a while. The sunseekers flood this place in winter.”
“Ugh.” Glory grimaced at the high-rises looming on either side of the freeway.
“They might not look like much but they cost a fortune. The price of land here is sky high.”
“He jokes, too.” She panned a droll look. “Where are you going?”
“Queen Kapiolani Park. It’s right across from the beach. We can eat lunch in the park, hit the beach and visit the zoo without having to drive anywhere. And the International Marketplace is only a few blocks away.”
“Sounds good. Look at the surfers. Ouch!” She winced, rubbed her side as if she’d taken the fall.
Jared found a spot and parked. A kids’ band was playing at the band shell, so they traipsed over to listen. Glory dragged him to the war memorial, demanding he name all the flowers surrounding it. Next, she found a massive banyan tree and grabbed his hand to run it over the dangling roots with hers.
“What would you like to do next?” Jared asked.
“Shop for Pono’s birthday gift.” Glory shifted her bag to her other arm.
“It’s too warm to lug that bag around. I’ll lock it in the trunk and we’ll come back when we get our suits later. Okay?”
She removed her wallet, handed over the bag. With everything secure, Jared led the way across the street.
He pulled her out of the way of a man dragging a huge shopping cart, threaded his fingers through hers. “Quite the nail polish, Doctor.”
“I like purple.” Glory glanced at their linked hands, then at him, one eyebrow tilted.
“It’s easier to protect you. Just a block more to the International Marketplace.”
She left her hand in his until they reached the famous outdoor shopping mall. Then Jared got caught up in Glory’s wonder as she perused the assortment of T-shirts, muumuus, Hawaiian shirts and shell jewelry.
“It’s wonderful!” She laughed, eyes sparkling in the shady alley.
He smiled as a hint of her fragrance, soft, feminine with an underlying hint of spice, captivated him. A moment later he shook his head when she held up a wooden caricature of King Kamehameha.
“No.”
“Party pooper.” Undeterred, she kept looking. “This?”
She presented a T-shirt with a vivid orchid on the front.
“Um, I was thinking more—”
“Wait!” She turned the fabric to display a smart-aleck saying on the back, giggled when he rolled his eyes. “There’s a fudge stand. You could get a nice big box to go with it.”
When he didn’t respond, Glory’s face lost its glow of excitement. She folded the shirt and put it back.
“I guess tourist stuff isn’t all that special for someone who lives here.”
“Actually, the shirt’s not a bad idea, as wrapping paper.” Jared picked it up, suggested a price, then handed over his money to the vendor.
“Wrapping paper?”
“Your idea is a good one. Pono is mad about fudge, especially if it has Brazil nuts in it. I’ll wrap one box in the shirt and order one to be delivered each month. Kahlia claims she’s the best fudge maker around.” Her hair was like a veil. Jared could watch it dance for hours.
“Is she?”
“Burns it every time.”
“I get it.” Her green eyes twinkled like sea diamonds. “This way Pono saves face.”
“Exactly.” Jared made the arrangements, then looked around to tell Glory he was ready to leave. He found her talking to a boy at a booth displaying kites. By the time he got there she carried a small bag and was paying for a massive blue bird kite painted in the Hawaiian style.
“It’s bigger than you are.”
“Isn’t it great?” Her face was as excited as the boy selling it to her.
“You did barter, didn’t you, Glory?”
“Of course not.” She bristled with indignation. “I paid his price.”
“Which was probably twice what he would have taken.” Jared sighed, shot the kid a glare. At least he had the grace to turn red. “They expect you to haggle, GloryAnn.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She leaned toward him, whispered, “He looks like he needs the money.”
He shook his head, took her arm and walked her out of the avenue and back into the sun.
“You’re thinking mad.” She pulled her arm away.
“What?” Totally mystified by the comment, he waited for an explanation.
“It’s what my dad used to say when I got angry but wouldn’t talk about it. That’s the way you look right now.” Her chin lifted. “Thinking mad.”
“I’m not mad, Glory.” Time to make amends. Again. “Most of these vendors price their articles specifically so there’s room to negotiate, and most of them enjoy bargaining with you. Don’t forget they have a year-round built-in clientele of tourists.”
“Oh.”
He’d ruined it for her.
Jared chewed himself out, wishing he’d kept his mouth shut. He hunted for a way to coax back her joy.
“You’re not going to fly that thing in the wards, are you?”
She giggled and it flooded back in a soft glow that lit her eyes and touched her lips.
“Of course not. I’m going to send it to my friend Kendra’s son, Billy. He adores kites. Hey, that’s a good idea. The kids could—” She stood still in the middle of the street, oblivious to the hordes jostling the massive package Jared now lugged.
“Come on, let’s store this monster in the car. Then I’d like to have lunch.”
“Great!” She looped her arm through his and trotted beside him, surveying the lazy shoppers, the street buskers and skateboarders with delight. “Can we go to a luau?”
“I don’t think there are any noon luaus,” he muttered. “Anyway, we’re supposed to go to one tomorrow, remember?”
“Oh. Right.” Her face fell.
“How about a picnic in the park instead?”
“Sounds good. But how will you keep that fudge from melting?”
He opened the trunk, showed her the cooler box he always kept inside.
She leaned one hip against the fender, crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “Dr. Steele, you are a man of many talents.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment.” He slammed the trunk shut. “I haven’t been there in ages, but if nothing has changed there’s a little place about a block over called Chow’s. The best Chinese food you’ll ever eat. Want to try?”
“Yes.” She matched her stride to his. “Chinese food is my second favorite.”
“What’s the first?” Jared waited while she placed a dollar in a street mime’s tip box.
GloryAnn winked at the mime, giggled when he winked back.
“I don’t know what my favorite food is yet. I haven’t tasted all the world’s cuisines, so I can’t be sure. But Chinese definitely ranks right up there. Oh, look.”
Jared followed her pointing finger to a display window where a dress was pinned against a white background.
“Isn’t it gorgeous?” she whispered, her nose mere millimeters from the glass.
It was. Swirling masses of variegated greens reminded Jared of the aftermath of a stormy sea. Sleeveless with a scooped neck, the dress fell in what Diana had once told him was a handkerchief h
em.
“Why don’t you try it on?”
“I don’t really think it’s me.”
Jared looked from her to the dress and back.
“I think it’s exactly you.”
“Really?” A tiny smile flickered at the corners of her lips, a hint of yearning fluttering across her face. “I’m not really the glamorous type. Where would I wear it?”
“To dinner tonight.” The words spilled out without thought.
“Oh. You didn’t say anything about dinner. I didn’t bring anything fancy.” She worried her bottom lip.
“We won’t have enough time to go back to Agapé to change,” Jared encouraged, secretly amused by her hesitation. Her head was saying no but her heart was saying yes—and it was winning.
“It probably costs the earth. It looks like silk.”
“You won’t know until you go in and find out. Come on. I might just be able to hold off my hunger pangs long enough.”
She preceded him in, eyes huge as she gazed at the beautiful clothes.
“Jared!” A dark-haired woman wrapped him in her arms then brushed her red lips against his cheek. “I haven’t seen you for ages. How are you?”
“Fine.” He had no idea who she was.
“You don’t remember me. Diana introduced us at your Christmas party a few years ago. We were schoolmates.”
Virginia? Veronica? He couldn’t catch the memory.
“Vanessa,” she supplied with a laugh. “And this is?”
“Dr. GloryAnn Cranbrook. She’s with us at the clinic for six months.”
“Welcome to Hawaii, Doctor. How can I help?”
From the corner of his eye Jared had seen Glory check the price tag of a nearby garment. She’d blanched and backed away. Now she apologized.
“I was just looking, actually.”
“She wants to try on the green dress in the window.”
“Of course. It will look perfect on you. One hundred per cent silk. Gorgeous fabric and cut. I don’t know why I haven’t been able to sell it, but that’s why it’s half off,” Vanessa said as she lifted the dress out of the window.
Glory shot visual daggers at him, but the moment her fingers touched the dress she was hooked.
“I have a fitting room back here.”
“You don’t mind waiting?” she asked softly.
“Go ahead and try it on. We’ve got today off, remember,” Jared encouraged. It must have worked, because Glory headed for the back with Vanessa.
He sank onto a chair that was made for someone half his size and pretended he didn’t look like a misfit. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d come to town for anything other than business. He had, he now realized, become almost a recluse, visiting the city only when necessary to check on the man who’d killed his family.
After a few moments whispers emanated from the back room. He tried to listen in.
“You have to show him. You look beautiful.”
“I’m sure Dr. Steele couldn’t care less what this dress looks like on me.”
“Come on, Glory. Jared would love to see this on you. Any man would. Don’t be bashful,” Vanessa said.
GloryAnn stepped out in front of him and Jared’s breath stalled. She looked nothing like the doctor he’d grown used to seeing. This woman was a starlet. The skirt swirled about her ankles as she strode and pirouetted the way a model performs on a catwalk.
“Well?”
“It’s lovely.”
“Lovely?” Vanessa scoffed at his understatement. “It’s amazing and perfect for her. Look how it changes her eyes.”
He was looking. In fact, Jared couldn’t look away. The dress—no, Glory, was stunning. A cross between a deep-sea mermaid and a forest nymph, with that long golden wash of hair she seemed ethereal.
“I’ll never wear it once I go back north,” Glory murmured, but it was clear from the way her fingers trailed over the silk that functionality was not a priority. She lifted her lids, met his stare and flushed before turning toward Vanessa. “I think I’ll take it. Can we pick it up on our way back, in—” She looked to him, a question on her face. “How long will we be?”
“Ten minutes?” he suggested.
“Ten minutes,” she repeated to Vanessa, who assured them she would have the dress packaged in tissue so it wouldn’t wrinkle.
Once they left the store, Jared couldn’t dislodge the image of Glory from his mind, let alone make conversation. So he simply kept walking.
“Um, Jared?”
He blinked at the tug on his arm. She’d stopped, was looking at him with an odd expression. He glanced up, saw Chow’s sprawled across the canopy behind him in big red letters.
“Is this the place?”
“Yes. It’s changed a bit.” Pointless to hide his lack of attention. He could tell from that mischievous snicker that she knew he’d been daydreaming.
“It certainly smells delicious.” Glory followed him in, gulped at the huge buffet. “Oh, my.”
“Just choose what you like and they’ll put it on one of those carry-out trays. They have lids so the food will keep hot till we get to the park.” He watched as she wandered along, peering through the glass at each dish.
When Glory got to the end, she turned around and headed back toward him. The server behind the counter raised her eyebrows as if she couldn’t understand the problem.
“Don’t see anything you like?”
“Don’t see anything I don’t like,” she corrected. “How can I choose? They all look scrumptious.”
Thankfully it was too early for the lunch rush hour, so she had plenty of time to decide. Eventually he and Glory each chose a tray filled with different things they’d share.
“It’s going to be way too much,” she murmured once they’d picked up her dress and headed back toward the car. “And it’s a good thing I tried on that dress first.”
She cast a longing look over one shoulder at the store.
“Is something wrong?”
She didn’t answer, reluctantly allowing him to put her dress in the trunk. Jared pulled out two sea-grass mats. The park was across the street, but he hesitated before crossing the road. Judging by the way Glory was studying Vanessa’s shop, something was wrong. He hoped she wouldn’t ask to do more shopping.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked at him, blinked. “Will you promise me something, Jared?”
“What?” Apprehension hovered.
“Do not let me go back into that store.”
“Why?” Secretly delighted to find she had a weak spot, Jared spread the mats on the grass in the shade.
“I cannot afford it.”
“Okay. I’ll save you from yourself.” He pointed to the mat.
Glory glared upward at the shading branches of the trees, held out her arm. “I thought maybe I’d get some sun today.”
“Too hot now. Later.” He handed her a plate. “What are you going to start with?”
Glory tasted it all but kept returning to the stir-fried veggies with almonds until she finally announced that dish was her favorite.
“Delicious.” She leaned back against the tree trunk, surveyed the vista in front of them. “I can hardly believe I’m here, sitting right next to Diamond Head.”
“Didn’t you think you’d come to Hawaii or something?”
“I never thought about it. When you grow up in the North you don’t really dream of something like this.” She sipped her pineapple juice as she studied him. “What did you dream of when you were little?”
“Being a doctor,” he admitted as he tidied up the mess. “I can’t remember when I didn’t want to be a doctor.”
“How did you get interested in burns?”
He answered because they were still treading on safe ground.
“I did a round in emergency and found I had a knack for surgery. One thing led to another and—” he shrugged “—voilà.”
“And your wife? Did Diana always want to be a doctor, too?”
“Diana took her nursing degree first then went back and pushed her way into med school. Once she made up her mind, she never took no for an answer.” He smiled at the memories. “She’d stomp all over your toes to get what she wanted, if she had to. Usually she didn’t have to.”
“Why?”
“She had a way with words. She came by it honestly. Her mother’s the same. Kahlia won’t be talked out of anything. By anyone.”
“Was Diana Kahlia and Pono’s only child?”
So much for relaxation. “Yes.”
“That must be hard for you.”
“Why do you say that?” Her astuteness surprised him.
Glory laughed. “I’m an only child, Jared. I loved my parents dearly, but I was not blind to their, uh—obsessiveness about me.”
“What was your childhood like?”
“Wonderfully happy, full of friends and discoveries and God.”
“God?”
She nodded, smiled.
“My parents were missionaries, remember? Because it took a while for people to accept us, we learned to depend on God for everything.” Her voice softened. “At first there was no church, so we had Sunday service in our home.”
“Oh.” He grimaced.
She laughed.
“Actually, it was great. People would come for miles around. Everybody brought something to eat. My mother would stack the dishes around the stove.” She inhaled. “You can’t imagine the aromas that filled our little house during the church service. We could hardly wait for dinner.”
Jared tried to picture it, couldn’t.
“After we’d eaten, the kids would go out to play while Dad led Bible study for the adults. Then we’d all gather again to finish the leftovers and sample desserts. After that, everybody would head home.”
“Sounds like a party.”
“That’s exactly what it was, a big celebration to God.” She smiled. “My parents gave me the wonderful gift of faith. It still seems like a party whenever I walk into church and hear the music. It’s like I’m coming to His house for a celebration.”
Jared sat up straight.
“You must miss not going to church. I’m sorry I never thought of that.”