Primitive Flame

by Lakes, Lynde

  “I can buy that. But what about now? What about refusing to see me, keeping my history from me?”

  “Like I said, we took him off guard. I’m sure—”

  “Men! You guys really stick together. Maybe you think it’s okay to run from responsibility.”

  “No, Lani, I don’t Frankly, I think Pono was gutless about this whole thing, and if you remember, I let him know it. But don’t turn off on me because of him.”

  She folded her arms. “Who’s turning off? I just gave you an earful.”

  “Not true, Lani. You’re putting me in the same pot as everyone who ever hurt you—afraid to risk the chance that I might not always be here for you.”

  She held his gaze with a fierceness that cut through him. “Will you?”

  “I have been so far.”

  “But how much more craziness and uncertainty can you take?”

  Before he could answer, the taxi driver said, “United Airlines, folks.”

  “We’ll talk about this later,” Cort muttered. He shoved a wad of cash in the driver’s hand and left the taxi with the man to retrieve their overnight bags from the trunk.

  Lani got out of the taxi on her own and joined Cort at the curb, looking stiff and unyielding. They headed for checkin in silence. After that, an icy tension slid between them like a huge glacier and stayed there. Cort was too tired to fight it and knew he’d need his wits about him when he tried again.

  ****

  On the flight back, Lani glanced at Cort, napping next to her. She felt like pinching him. How could he sleep? She rubbed her arms and looked out the window at the aimless clouds. Didn’t Cort know she needed to be held? She shook her head at herself. She wasn’t being fair. When he’d tried to comfort her, she’d flinched from him and asked to be left alone. How could he know what she really wanted? She didn’t know herself. God, she was a mess. Seeing Pono had yanked the scab from her unhealed childhood wound, leaving it sore and bloody. Although she strove to be an adult capable of handling her emotions, she didn’t feel grown up now. Why hadn’t the years healed the hurt in her heart? Although she’d been only four years old, she vividly remembered the life-altering day that she was sent away:

  Aunties Miki and Effie had brought steaming bread and haupia coconut cake. Grandfather Keo supplied freshly caught fish and a seaweed called limu. Uncle Reri provided his freshly pounded poi, and Great-grandfather Maiau—a kahunapule, wise man, made his specialty the sweet, creamy taro pudding, kulolo.

  Lani remembered how she’d looked forward to the party with a child’s delight, thinking of the coconut cake.

  “It’s not a party,” Mama had said with sadness in her voice.

  “It’s a meeting. And you’ll stay next door with Mrs. Lau.”

  Lani’s heart sank. Why can’t I be there? The get-together had something to do with her. Uncle Reri told someone on the telephone that the gathering was to settle the matter of the little flame-haired devil. He meant her. Everyone said her hair was different from the rest of the family—the color of flames.

  When the withered Mrs. Lau fell asleep in front of the television, Lani grasped the opportunity and scampered from the neighbor’s yard, past her family’s vegetable and flooded taro patches toward the back steps.

  No one noticed her slip in through the rear kitchen door. She opened a floor-level cabinet and struggled to move several large kettles. She crawled into the cabinet, leaving the door slightly ajar.

  Soon Mama and everyone entered the kitchen in a flurry of chatter. Mom and Dad Ward joined the group. But back then she’d known them only as Dr. Raymond Ward and his wife, Anna. They were Mama’s close friends.

  Grandfather Keo’s deep voice rose above all the others. Even then, he was a huge whale of a man who spouted legends and joy. Next to Mama, he was her favorite person in the whole world.

  “Congratulations on your transfer to San Diego County General Hospital,” he told Dr. Ward.

  “It couldn’t have come at a better time, Keo. It’s as though the Fates willed it.”

  Grandfather Keo darted him a strange look. “Don’t pretend you believe in that nonsense.”

  Great-grandfather Maiau mumbled something too low to catch. He was a bone-thin healer with watery, pale blue eyes and long flowing white hair and beard. His very presence made Lani tremble.

  Chairs scraped the floor as everyone sat down at the big oblong koa table.

  “The sooner it’s done the better,” Auntie Miki said sadly.

  Mama raked her hands through her hair. “I don’t think I can do this,” she said with a weepy catch in her voice.

  “You must!” Auntie Effie shouted. “None of us will be safe until she’s gone. The notes from the town’s people, those warning phone calls…” Her voice broke. “And after what happened to Kama—”

  “She had nothing to do with that,” Grandfather Keo growled.

  “Who says?” Uncle Reri asked. “Look at all the bad luck the little flame-haired devil has brought to this house.”

  Lani covered her ears, trying not to hear more.

  Grandfather Keo pounded the table and shouted, “You’re a big-mouthed fool, Reri. She’s only a child, a beautiful, active child.”

  That was the first time she’d ever heard Grandfather yell.

  “Let the haoles take her,” Reri bellowed referring, as he always did, to Dr. and Mrs. Ward by their white skin. “We agreed to do what’s best for the whole family!”

  Ignoring Reri’s rudeness, Anna Ward said, “We’ll love Lani, raise her as our own.”

  Mama began to sob. “I can’t do it. I simply can’t let you adopt her.”

  Reri shot to his feet. “Dammit. She’ll be hurt if you don’t.”

  “It’ll be worse if you send her away,” Great-grandfather Maiau said. “Far worse. The spirits have spoken.”

  “Kama would be alive if we’d done it sooner,” Uncle Reri grumbled. “How many of us have to die before you see that?”

  “No matter what you do, she’ll return,” Great-grandfather Maiau declared. “It’s written in the prophecies.”

  “Maybe we should reconsider,” Auntie Miki said in a trembly voice. “Old Maiau is never wrong.”

  “He’s getting senile,” Uncle Reri muttered. “If the child stays, more bad things will happen. You know I’m right.”

  Everyone began yelling, making it impossible to hear anyone.

  Grandfather Keo’s voice thundered louder than all the others. “Superstitious nonsense. If you do this, you do it without me!” He stomped from the room. A few seconds later the front door slammed.

  Mama sobbed softly. Finally she said, “Anna, if I let you have her, you must promise to never return to the islands. Never permit her to come back. Never!”

  Just like that, she was given away. Now she knew that they’d thought she had caused papa’s death. She must’ve known it even then on some level because she’d always suffered from a mysterious guilt. Maybe she was guilty. Perhaps she’d deserved to be banished from their lives forever. Now, she’d come back and drudged it all up again. Was she drawn to Hawai’i to right a wrong, or bring pain to those who loved her?

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Their flight from California arrived in Honolulu late at night so Cort insisted that Lani stay at his apartment. “It doesn’t make sense to drive way out to the valley when we’d just have to drive right back to the construction site early in the morning,” he said.

  She nodded without enthusiasm.

  He was afraid she’d hand him a blanket and order him to sleep on the couch. Instead, she gave him the silent treatment and lay down on top of the covers of his king-sized bed, clothes and all, and faced the wall. That was okay. At least they were in the same room. She obviously needed time to get over her ordeal. He left the lamp on low and watched her. He waited for her breathing to even out, then he curved around her and tried to ignore the testosterone that flooded his system—tried to keep his heart from going into cardiac arrest at the conta
ct. Her muumuu had come unbuttoned and, over her shoulder, he could see her bra—a lacy thing, trying to contain beautiful tan mounds. He was awed by the mysterious shadow that dipped into cleavage he could get lost in.

  Barely touching her, he smoothed a wrinkle on her sleeve. After the hot and heavy way they’d been going at it before their trip to California, his restraint surprised him. They would make love again. He prided himself on being a patient man. Right now his job was to give comfort and help her get beyond the agony.

  Night passed slowly. His arm was cramped, but he didn’t want to disturb her. She lay so still. Poor kid, sleep was the best medicine. He hadn’t gotten much sleep himself. Lying next to Lani and not making love to her was a real test of will power. Under those clothes was the slender brown body he knew so well. The tightening in his groin was a big throbbing ache now. He closed his eyes, fighting the pain of relentless desire.

  ****

  The evidence of Cort’s arousal pressed against Lani’s bottom, sending a tremor of desire through her. Instinctively, she snuggled deeper into his hold. Slivers of sunlight peeked through the slanted blinds and warmed her face. She opened her eyes and turned her wrist to squint at her watch.

  Oh, no. She needed to get moving. In less than an hour, Mr. Kohea would be waiting at the site for them. This is what she’d been waiting for! Proof that the sight was sacred!

  As excitement surged through her, Lani untangled herself from Cort’s arms and gingerly left the bed. She peered out the slanted blind. The sun blazed down from a cloudless blue sky. Did Pono ever miss the Hawaiian skies? A jolt of resentment knotted her stomach. She hadn’t decided what it meant to her that he was her father, or even if she wanted anything more to do with him.

  Lani heard the bed creak and turned to look at Cort. He was studying her with sultry eyes, as sexy early in the morning as they were at night.

  “Good morning, beautiful.” Cort stretched, flexing his work-hardened muscles. “Sleep well?”

  Her desire to trace those beautifully elongated biceps with the tips of her fingers was met with an equally strong opposing need to strike out at him. “Why is it even when you’re being nice you annoy me?”

  He flashed a grin. “Why is it even when you’re being a royal pain in the ass you turn me on?”

  “You’re a masochist?” She turned away, more angry at herself than at him. She hated the fear-driven, probably irrational, anger that had turned her into a shrew.

  Her voice came out icy, yet looking at him made her insides feel all melty. It surprised her that she felt anything beyond her simmering anger, but she did. Still, she couldn’t let go of her sense of betrayal. Pono hadn’t wanted to see her. She’d had to force him! Even though Cort had stood up for her in front of Pono, in private he changed his tune and tried to explain away his guilt.

  Now that she loved and counted on Cort, would he walk out on her as Pono had? As her Hawaiian family had? No matter how much she fought it, the repeated incidence of abandonment in her childhood tormented her. She craved something lasting to soothe away the hurt.

  Cort came up behind Lani and encircled her in the protective cocoon of his arms, turning her until she had no choice but to look up into his eyes.

  “Come on.” He gently lifted her chin with his fingers. “I’m not going to let you stay depressed. We’ve accomplished a lot in the last few days, and today we’ll find out the results of Kohea’s study. Freshen up, and I’ll make us some magic coffee.”

  “Magic?” Lani said wryly. She’d had enough of that type of thing lately. “Just plain black will do.”

  “Your wish is my command.” Cort bowed, grinning broadly. For good measure he threw in his knee-liquefying wink.

  Lani felt her depression lift. It was difficult to stay grouchy around Cort. It was absurd. She’d actually tried to hold on to her gloomy mood, as if it were her banner of punishment. But for what? Okay, no more feeling sorry for herself. She still had her mainland family and friends. And now in addition to Grandfather, she had Lei in her life, perhaps even Pono, if she could trust him to stay.

  And Cort. Cort loved her. No matter what he’d said, he was committed. She could tell. He wouldn’t have been at her side these last few days, taken her coldness, if he wasn’t devoted to her and their love.

  ****

  The construction site remained quiet. No machinery clanked or roared. A breeze gracefully bowed the stately palm trees skirting the site. Lani sighed. She’d stopped the project before all the landscape had been destroyed. She expected to feel a greater sense of satisfaction. Instead an unexplainable foreboding clutched her heart.

  Cort, Kohea, and two men with shovels stood only steps away at the edge of the digging, yet she felt strangely distanced from them. At least from Cort. Trade winds disheveled his hair, accentuating his rugged good looks. He looked so grim. Her heart beat faster. If he no longer opposed her on this, why did she feel as though a wide chasm had ruptured between them?

  “You really found something?” Cort asked Kohea with astonishment in his voice.

  “Frankly, I’m as stunned as you are.” Kohea grinned broadly. “Just look at this carving.” He pointed to the Aumahua stoneware that had been uncovered and now lay cradled in a red mound of damp clay.

  The piece was approximately seventeen inches high and had male features except for its large pointed breasts. Lani stepped closer.

  “Watch out,” Kohea said. “That ground is unstable.”

  Lani nodded, but didn’t step back. “When did you find all this?”

  “The bones yesterday morning. Our archeologist determined them to be over three hundred and fifty years old. In the afternoon we found an ancient torch used for important chieftain ceremonies. Now, this morning we dug up this carving and those carrying poles, known to have been used in the households of chiefs.”

  As Kohea pointed, Lani glanced at the two poles with carved heads fastened at each end. Her gaze shifted to an intricately carved wooden torch. Drawn to it, she stooped and picked it up. It wasn’t as heavy as she imagined. Mesmerized, she studied it. The bowl portion, made of a thin layer of crushed lava stone, held a coal-like residue. She slid her fingers over the torch’s shaft. It was warm. Her pulse quickened. She knew the heat came from the sun shining on it. Yet, there was something about it. The base of her skull tingled.

  “You found this stuff here?” Cort asked warily. “And it’s authentic, right. You’re sure?”

  Kohea nodded, then turned to Lani. “Miss Ward, we wouldn’t have discovered these treasures without your help. You can be very proud of yourself. I’ll request a permanent stop-work order from the court immediately.”

  Lani beamed. Suddenly it was all she could do to restrain herself from dancing in excitement. “I knew it all along! I wasn’t hallucinating. It’s all real. This is a sacred burial site!” She cradled the torch, awed by its significance. “The historical implication covers more than just this generation. This site could lead to important…”

  She was stunned into silence as Cort stepped in front of her and glared down into her face from eyes as scorching as the sun. He took the torch from her and placed it on the ground next to the poles. She felt like a wild bird that had just had its wings clipped.

  His mouth twitched. “Get a grip on reality, Lani.”

  Why was he upset? He knew what it would mean if relics were found. She took a breath trying to stay calm. “This is reality. Face it, Cort.” With all of this proof he had to accept the validity of her visions. Sure, it was contrary to everything rational he believed in but—

  Cort pivoted away from her and faced Kohea. “What about the land owner?” he growled.

  Lani had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She saw where Cort’s loyalties were, even respected him for that, but still. She put her hands on her hips. “Cort, you’re going to keep your promise and support the preservation of the relics, aren’t you?”

  He looked at her, long and hard. His eyes darkened. “Yes, La
ni, I am.” He came close and put his arm around her shoulder. It felt more like a straitjacket than an embrace. “But right this minute I have other concerns.”

  He returned his attention to Kohea. “Mr. Kohea, I need to contact the owner right away. What’s the status of his interest?”

  “Mr. Wang won’t be able to build here.”

  Cort’s jaw tightened to etched granite. “Just great!” he shouted. “The EPA makes a mistake, but it’s my men and the owners who have to pay!”

  A red flush clawed at Kohea’s neck, but he didn’t respond.

  “Cort, you don’t have to shout at Mr. Kohea,” Lani said, “It’s not his fault.”

  Cort dropped his hand from around her shoulder. His impatient glance speared deeply into her heart, then he turned to Kohea again. “What about Wang’s investment? He bought this land in good faith. Who’s going to reimburse him for his loss?”

  “That’s something to be settled in court,” Kohea said. “May I use your office phone, Mr. Wayne?”

  When Cort nodded, Kohea walked toward the trailer that had been set up near where the old one had stood. Cort glared at the artifacts piled near the diggings. “How am I going to explain all this to Wang?”

  “Just give him the facts. I’m sure his attorneys can work it all out.” Lani smiled and touched his arm, wanting him to share her excitement. “Imagine. You’re part of history. Think of what this discovery will mean to everyone in Hawai’i, especially those with Hawaiian blood.”

  He pulled away from her, his eyes flashing. “Why? You’re doing enough thinking about it for both of us. It’s my responsibility to worry about Wang’s rights.”

  “I’ll bet your own job too.” She regretted the words immediately. After all it was a legitimate concern.

  “Right,” Cort growled. “And my men’s jobs. You’re so wrapped up in your newly found heritage you’ve forgotten we’re all part of the human race!” Cort turned abruptly and left her standing.

  “Wait! Where are you going?”