A Moonlit Murder
Page 21
June laughed. “Your Aunt Amy will be proud of your business acumen when she hears about this.”
They sat for a while talking about the kids, June enjoying the sunshine as much as Melanie.
“Today’s it, huh? We won’t meet here anymore, will we?” Melanie asked after a few minutes.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because you’ve brought Dalisay.”
“Her soul has nothing to do with us. I’m just her escort.”
“It seems odd to have an extra soul in the house,” Melanie said.
“There are more.”
“Oh? How many?”
“Souls aren’t things that are counted, honey. I guess you do deserve an explanation.”
“It would be helpful to know what’s going on in my home.”
“Dalisay doesn’t seem familiar to you because she presents herself to Thérèse. You knew somebody else when you were in that room as a little girl.”
“This is kind of weird, Mom. Maybe it’s ordinary stuff for you, but not for me.”
“Not so easy for us to understand, either. What comes next is just as messy as what you have now.”
“Not very reassuring.” Melanie looked out toward the ocean, a place she and her mother had shared uncountable times in life. The moments at the beach with her mother and grandparents were her most treasured, right along with the times she took her kids there. The pain of losing Josh only an hour before was still fresh in her heart, and she knew it would linger there for far into the future. “I’d like to know something better is ahead.”
“You have a big life in front of you and the kids, with so many opportunities.”
“You know I had my last day at the hospital yesterday, right?”
“I know. I thought it was a little early, but that was your decision to make, no one else’s. Nobody knows better than you what’s in your heart.”
The two girls came back, sweaty and breathing hard from all their running and games of tag. Dalisay had a yellow hibiscus in her hand and gave it to Melanie.
“For you. I’ve never seen yellow hibiscus before. Only the red ones.”
Melanie kept it in her hand. “Thank you.”
When Thérèse sat with a juice box, Dalisay went off for more explorations of the resort landscaping. Thérèse leaned up against June, close to dozing off.
“She’s mentioned she might want to get rid of her gift,” Melanie said. “Is there anything you can do about that?”
“Take back her gift?” June said. “I’m not a mage.”
“What are you, then?” Melanie asked.
“I’m a soul that has things to do. When I’m not busy with those, I come here to the bench. This is where you put me, after all.” June put her arm around the dozing Thérèse and hugged her close. “Most of all, I’m a mother and grandmother.”
“Did I make a mistake by sprinkling your ashes here? You can’t escape this place?”
“It’s not a matter of being trapped or trying to escape. It’s like Dalisay in Thérèse’s room, except this bench is where I return to.”
Melanie looked off into the distance. “I’m not going to try and figure it out.”
“Easiest that way.”
“Will I remember any of this, Mom? Dalisay, or what we’ve talked about?”
“I’d like to think you’d make some part of it a part of your sense of being. Otherwise, what would be the point of us meeting? But in a rational way, no.”
Melanie sensed their meeting was hurtling to an end. She had to change the subject, if only to keep her mother there a little longer.
“I’m thinking of using some of Dad’s money to remodel the house. The place is getting pretty rundown. Is that okay?”
“That old box of firewood? The place was a dump when I bought it.”
“So, it’s okay if I redo the interior?” Melanie asked.
“I think you should bulldoze the whole thing and build something nice. And whatever you do, put in air-conditioning.”
“Ha! Yeah, definitely A/C. And a roof that doesn’t leak. Seriously, I’m sick of emptying buckets every time it rains hard.”
“Never did find that leak?” June asked.
“I’ve had half a dozen roofers up there patching things. I guess it’s time to start over with a new house.”
“You have the money for it. You also have the money to redo the restaurant. It might be time to try garden salads and desserts. You could even start a chain of them. One in town near the mall, one in Kihei, another upcountry somewhere. They would be very popular.”
“I’d lose your Michelin rating. You worked hard to get that.”
“The customer base is no longer interested in star ratings, Mel. You have to give them what they want. If there’s one thing I learned from Amy, it’s give the customers what they want, and not what you want them to have. Salads, desserts, and wine are what they’ll want next.”
“I’m thinking of starting…”
“Mel, whatever you decide to do will be successful. I have no doubt about that.”
Melanie knew she was simply stalling by trying to chat with her mother about pointless topics, desperate to delay the inevitable. Dalisay was now walking back toward them. As the girl drew near, Melanie looked at her mother’s face.
“Looks like we’re done for the day,” she said quietly.
***
When Melanie woke from her nap, a lady was there admiring Chance. She seemed familiar but Melanie couldn’t place her face as either a patient or a restaurant customer. She held the hand of a little girl with her.
“Make sure you take good care of your brother,” the lady said, smiling at Thérèse.
“I will.”
The lady looked at Melanie and offered a smile that seemed very familiar.
“Your children are precious.”
“Thank you.”
The lady and little girl turned and walked away across the vast lawn, hand in hand.
“Who were they, Momma?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re guests at the hotel. Sure looked familiar, huh?”
“Momma, look!” Thérèse took the toy from her mother’s hand. “A new teddy bear! Can we keep it?”
Confused, Melanie looked at her empty hand, expecting to see a hibiscus for some reason.
“Cute little bowtie. Where did it come from?” Melanie took the bear and gave it a close look. For some reason, she gave it a sniff. “It must be that little girl’s. We should give it back to her.”
When Melanie looked back at where the lady and girl should’ve been in the middle of the lawn, they were no longer there. Instead of trying to figure out where they went, she gave the bear to Thérèse.
“You have to share it with Chance.” Melanie watched as her daughter gave the teddy bear to her little brother to hold. “Who’s ready to go swimming in the ocean?”
“Us?”
“You know it, little girl.”
“Yay!”
Thanks for reading “A Moonlit Murder”!
Next in the Maui Mystery Series is “A Spa Full of Murder”
When clients begin croaking in the local resort spa, and all the evidence points to her best friend, who has no alibi, Melanie gets involved.
And then she wishes she hadn’t.
Next will be “A Timely Murder”
Melanie’s life is as complicated as ever when a dead man is linked to a baby abandoned on her front porch. While Melanie wonders where the mother might be, Detective Nakatani knows there is more than meets the eye with the dead man—and the baby!
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