Heat Wave

by Jill Marie Landis

  “Hey, R.J., it’s me.” He stopped pacing, kicked a pebble over the edge of the cliff, watched two pelicans soar over the water and dive for fish.

  “The albacore are still running.”

  “Count me out for a while.”

  “What’s up? Business in Alaska?”

  “My daughter Sunny’s here. She showed up yesterday afternoon.”

  “At your place? Are you kidding? That’s great, man.”

  “Yeah. She’s here and so is my granddaughter. She’s a year and a half already.”

  “Your what?” R.J. started laughing. “You’re in for it now, old buddy.”

  “They’re great. I can’t wait for you to meet them.”

  “Are they here for a while?”

  “I’m not sure. I think she’s just testing the water, but she said she wants to get a job.”

  “Wish I could help her out, but I’ve already got two kids alternately working the sunset cruises.”

  Sunny’s working for R.J. would have been a perfect solution. He trusted Ron more than anyone else in the world, and it would be easy working the tour cruises, greeting guests, passing around appetizers, and helping people climb aboard.

  “She’ll find something. I still know a lot of people in this town.” Ty pictured the tattoo on Sunny’s upper arm, her minuscule skirt, and wondered if he was being way too optimistic.

  “If I hear of anybody needing summer help, I’ll let you know,” R.J. volunteered. “I’ll ask at the Sail On Inn.”

  “Great.” The small dockside eatery at Gull Harbor would be a good place for Sunny to start. R.J.’s sailboat was moored nearby. “Sorry about the fishing.”

  “No problem. Hey, congratulations, and good luck with the kid. Or I should say kids?”

  Ty hung up on R.J.’s laughter and then punched in Kat’s number again. Still no answer, so he decided to go inside and see how things were coming along before he went upstairs to surf the Amazon listing of how-to books on his laptop.

  Surely somebody had written one entitled How to Raise a Teen Daughter You’ve Never Met Before Who Also Happens to Be a Mother.

  Chapter 14

  AFTER A COUPLE of cups of strong coffee and a long walk that morning, Kat checked her messages and saw that Ty had called. Although she wanted to talk to him for her own peace of mind, she also wanted to wait until she had time to run a cursory background check on Sunny. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that there might be something behind the way the girl had shown up out of the blue.

  One-handed, she typed slowly, hunting and pecking the keys, and then she made a couple of calls to contacts at the Department of Motor Vehicles and the L.A.P.D.

  The good news was that the background check hadn’t turned up anything. No police record. Sunny had a couple of old speeding tickets, but no misdemeanors or felonies. No car was registered in her name.

  Kat ran the plate numbers she’d seen on a customized bright-yellow Honda Civic parked outside Sunny’s apartment.

  The souped-up Civic was registered to Jamie Hatcher, who had a string of excessive speed tickets. She thought, with a car like that it was no wonder, but there was nothing else.

  She was about to call Ty when the phone suddenly started ringing and the caller I.D. displayed his cell number.

  She took a deep breath, answered, and savored the warmth that oozed through her the minute she heard him say hello.

  “How’s it going over there?” she asked.

  “Pretty smooth. We actually had a nice talk this morning. She says she came up here to give us a chance to get to know each other, and she even wants to work part-time already. She never graduated from high school. That’s pretty much all I know at this point.”

  “Hey, it’s a start.” Since nothing had turned up during her search, she decided not to tell him that she’d done a background check on Sunny. She was happy that he had been right and her own misgivings had been groundless.

  “They both need clothes. Sunny needs things to wear to work. The outfit she showed up in won’t cut it.”

  “The teen-hooker look doesn’t quite work in Twilight.”

  “Exactly. I have no idea what she needs. I’m afraid that if it was up to me, I’d wrap her from neck to toe in sackcloth.”

  She pictured Sunny in her tight mini, cropped top, and heavy eyeliner, and then remembered the way the girl had looked standing in the middle of Ty’s living room clutching Alice in her arms. Maybe Sunny hadn’t led the life of Miss Teen America, but she was just a kid, and doing the best she could from the looks of it. Kat had to give the girl the benefit of the doubt.

  “What if I take her shopping?” The minute she volunteered she knew he had her so infatuated that she wasn’t thinking straight.

  “That would be great, Kat. After the way Alice smelled this morning, running out of diapers and clean clothes isn’t an option.” He sounded so relieved that Kat had to laugh.

  “How about I pick her up after lunch?”

  “I owe you big for this one.”

  She closed her eyes, pictured him walking into the outdoor shower, tall, broad-shouldered, his dark hair glistening in the sunlight, his muscular chest shimmering with water droplets as he moved toward her, soap in hand, a smile on his lips and heat in his eyes.

  “Don’t worry,” she assured him. “I’ll think of some way to make you pay.”

  BY THE TIME she pulled up in the driveway and stepped out of her car, Ty and Sunny were already outside waiting on her. Sunny was carrying Alice in her arms. When the toddler, who was chewing on Stinko’s ear, smiled a sweet, shy half smile and buried her head against Sunny’s neck, Kat’s heartbeat faltered. She turned her gaze on Ty and took a deep breath.

  He gave her a quick kiss and whispered hello. She couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment. She felt Sunny watching them closely. It was another moment before she realized that Sunny intended to take the baby shopping. She had the cheap diaper bag slung over her shoulder and the child on her hip, ready to go. Alice was carrying a plastic leftovers container lid. She stuck it into her mouth and start chewing on it.

  Kat turned to Ty. “Will you watch her until we get back?”

  He looked at Alice, then Sunny and then Kat. “By myself. How long will you be gone?”

  “As long as it takes.”

  Sunny laughed. “You passed Diaper Changing 101 earlier,” she reminded him. “She’ll be all right until we get back. Maybe she’ll take another nap.”

  When Ty looked as if he was going to refuse, Kat came up with the perfect excuse. “I can’t take her anywhere without a car seat.”

  Thankfully, Sunny backed her up. “It’s against the law.”

  “Okay, but don’t be gone long.” He sounded less than confident.

  “You scared, Chandler?” Sunny handed Alice to him and hung the diaper bag over his arm. “Big guy like you?”

  He ignored her as he dug into his back pocket for his wallet, juggling Alice as he took out some cash and a credit card. He handed them to Kat and told her to buy whatever they needed.

  Then he fished around in his front pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Would you stop by the bookstore and pick these up for me? Get some picture books, too.”

  Kat stared at the paper in her hand.

  Pick out books and clothes for a toddler. She tried to focus on the book list.

  The American Academy of Pediatrics’s Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Birth to Age Five.

  The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two.

  How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk.

  He followed them over to the car. Kat started the ignition and glanced over at Sunny, who was waving bye-bye to Alice. Ty walked around to Kat
’s side of the car and bent down to kiss her again. When Alice grabbed a handful of Kat’s hair and gave it a tug, the toddler’s hand grazed her cheek.

  Kat closed her eyes for a second, then gently tugged her hair out of Alice’s grasp.

  Ty was saying something. She tried to concentrate.

  “Drive carefully,” he added.

  “Okay,” she managed, trying to forget the way Alice’s soft hand felt against her cheek.

  He was waving Alice’s arm up and down, repeating, “Bye-bye, bye-bye,” over and over.

  The little girl started fussing when she realized Sunny was actually leaving. She alternately whined and chewed on the stuffed skunk’s sopping-wet ear. Sunny waved but didn’t look back as they pulled away.

  Kat drove through Twilight and up the canyon road that wound its way inland. Never one for idle chitchat, she was perfectly content with the girl’s silence. If Sunny wanted to talk, that was up to her.

  Finally Sunny shifted in her seat, adjusted the seat belt on her shoulder, and out of the blue asked, “Do you love him?”

  Kat hit the turn signal and passed a slow-going tourist in front of them.

  “So, are you in love with Chandler?” Sunny asked again, as if Kat hadn’t heard.

  “He’s a wonderful man.”

  “Somebody your age would probably think he’s hot.”

  “I like him a lot.” If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. “I make it a habit not to fall in love.”

  Sunny drew her knee up, turned to face Kat. “Not ever?”

  “Not anymore.” It frightened her to think that her resolve might be slipping because of Ty.

  “Weird. How do you stop yourself?”

  How do I stop myself?

  “I just do.”

  “You think he’s in love with you?”

  “We just met last week.”

  “What’ll you do if he falls for you?”

  What will I do?

  “I’ll figure that out if and when it comes to that.”

  “I fell in love with French Fry’s dad when I was seven. We grew up together at River Ridge.”

  “Where is he now?”

  There was a long, uncertain pause before Sunny said softly, “Dead.” There was no hint of sadness in Sunny’s voice, just a cool, blank matter-of-factness that hit Kat too close to home, reminding her of herself and the way she guarded her emotions.

  “I’m sorry,” Kat said, glancing over at the girl. Sunny was staring straight ahead, trying real hard to act as if she didn’t care, but her eyes were suspiciously bright.

  Sunny’s tears got to Kat. “Things can’t be easy for you, raising a child alone.”

  “That’s the way it goes.”

  “Ty said you mentioned job hunting.”

  “Yeah. I’d like to get something right away.”

  “Have you worked before?”

  “Sure, but I don’t plan on going back to what I was doing in L.A.”

  “Which was?”

  “This and that. In a place like Twilight, there probably aren’t many choices, though.”

  Kat surprised herself when she advised, “Don’t sell the place short. There are good things to be said for living in a small town.”

  “‘Where everybody knows your name’?” Sunny folded her arms, shifted her legs, and then tugged on the hem of her miniskirt.

  “Something like that.”

  Twilight Cove was just a bit bigger than the town she was born in on Kauai. The trouble with a small town was that it was impossible to bury your past there.

  In Kapa’a, it took thirty extra minutes just to go to the post office because she would run in to so many folks she knew.

  Folks who knew everything about her, yet they never mentioned the accident because they didn’t have to—their expressions said it all.

  Sunny turned on the stereo, tuned it to a hip-hop station. “I’m used to L.A. Have you lived here long?”

  Kat reached over and turned down the volume a notch. “I don’t live here. I’m from Long Beach. I’m just house-sitting for a friend while my hand heals.”

  “What happened?”

  “I got shot.”

  “No kidding? Did it hurt?”

  “Like hell.”

  “How’d it happen?”

  “Accident.”

  “Did you shoot yourself?”

  Kat glanced over at Sunny to see if she was kidding. Behind all the mascara and eyeliner, she really was a stunning girl.

  “I’m a private investigator. I was on a case.”

  “Chandler told me that he hired you to look for me.”

  Kat took the off-ramp for the mall she’d seen from the highway.

  “We met when he came to me for help.”

  “It didn’t take you very long to find me.”

  Kat pulled the car into a parking space and killed the engine. Sunny was watching her closely.

  “If you know where to look,”—Kat met her stare—“you can find out just about anything.”

  TY CALLED HER cell every twenty minutes. Kat heard Alice crying in the background and assured him that they were shopping as fast as they could.

  Sunny chose very little for herself in the way of clothes, shoes, and undergarments. Instead, she spent most of their time and Ty’s money in the toddler department.

  Kat had convinced herself the outing would be no problem, and it wasn’t, not until they entered the area of the store where they were suddenly surrounded by pastel clothes, plush animals, mobiles, and moms with kids in strollers.

  She might as well have opened up a vein.

  “You all right?” Sunny was at her elbow, her arms piled high with soft knit pieces for Alice in a rainbow of pastel colors.

  Kat cleared her throat and rubbed her hand across her eyes.

  “I’m fine. Why?”

  “You look kinda pale.”

  Kat shook her head and tried to sound convincing. “I’m okay. I was up late last night, is all.”

  “How many of these should I get?”

  Kat focused on the little outfits and cleared her throat.

  “Ty said, whatever you need.”

  “You think this is too much?”

  Kat thought it a conservative amount of items draped over Sunny’s arm. She shook her head. “No. In fact, since there’s a buy-one-get-one-half-off sale, I think you should pick out some more. And be sure she has some socks and sweaters, too.”

  Luckily, between all of Kat’s sisters, she had so many nieces and nephews that she knew what it took to keep them all clean and dressed.

  She waited while Sunny chose what she wanted, then helped her at the checkout desk.

  When they finally drove up to the house, Ty was waiting at the end of the walk. Kat parked and got out. She couldn’t help but laugh when she saw him, and when she glanced over at Sunny, she saw that the girl was fighting a smile.

  The front of his navy polo shirt was smeared with baby food, his hair was spiked in all directions. Alice started howling the minute she saw Sunny in the car, and Ty couldn’t hand her over fast enough.

  Once Sunny had taken Alice inside, Ty leaned against Kat’s car, let go an exhausted sigh, and grabbed her hand.

  “I don’t see how anybody can actually do that all day long.”

  “Sometimes you get what you wish for,” she reminded him.

  “And I wouldn’t trade a minute of it. Stay for dinner?” He started to pull her close, but she reached for his other hand and held them both tight. Then she shook her head. “I’m beat. I think I need a quiet night at home.”

  She desperately needed time alone. Time to think.

  “I’ll take a rain check, if that’s okay.”
>
  “You sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  He wouldn’t let her leave until he kissed her.

  “I don’t think I’d be very good company anyway. I’m pretty beat, too,” he admitted.

  She left as soon as he unloaded everything, but once she got back to the house at Lover’s Lane, all she could think of was Ty. She found herself wondering how things were going at the old Chandler house and wishing that it didn’t matter as much as it did.

  Chapter 15

  JUSTIN IS IN California for three weeks. They speak almost every day at first, less often as the days pass. He makes some great mainland contacts. Things are looking good for his new line of surf gear.

  There’s a knock at the apartment door. Her sister Kainani—the family gossip—shows up after work carrying the latest issue of People magazine.

  Nani reads every issue cover to cover, justifies paying over a hundred dollars she can barely afford for the subscription by passing it on to her sisters when she is through.

  Nani has the magazine rolled up in her hand. Nervous and edgy, she heads straight for the refrigerator.

  “You got iced tea?” Nani opens the refrigerator; scans the shelves, forages.

  “Have a soda. What’s up?” Kat easily slips in and out of the pidgin English they use when they are together. She knows by the look on her sister’s face this is no casual visit. Nani is on a mission.

  “Got the new People.” Nani holds up the magazine. Julia is on the cover again.

  “I see.” Kat sees, but doesn’t know what this has to do with the price of taro.

  “Okay. I just look through already and . . .” Nani swallows, her eyes huge. She flips the magazine open to a dog-eared page and thrusts it at Kat.

  “And?”

  “Look yourself.”

  Kat stares down at the “Star Tracks” section featuring photos of celebs at play. There is Justin with his arm draped around a tall, lanky blond model with a megawatt smile. Ken and Barbie.

  Stunned, Kat reads the caption.

  “Seen about Tinsel town, Justin Parker, Hawaii’s former golden-boy surf champion, and Tara Roman, hot new Model for Revlon . . .”