by Kristy Tate
“He even offered to let me call his mom. But she’s ninety-three and lives in Pasadena, so she’s probably asleep right now.”
Charlie wished she was asleep, too.
“We should probably call his wife,” Charlie said. “If there’s dirt, she’ll know it. Besides, wouldn’t she want to know two complete strangers are about to travel with her husband?”
“Not married.”
“An ex-wife then! An even more credible character witness!”
“He’s a widower.”
Charlie blew out a sigh of frustration and tried to size up the man. Finally, she marched over to him.
“You’re going to Nuhaka, too?” she asked. “I thought there was nothing there but a paua factory.”
“Have you ever heard of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival?” Owen asked.
“The what?”
“The Wairoa Māori Film Festival,” he repeated. “It’s New Zealand’s premiere Maori and Indigenous film festival. It’s a lot of fun. If you’re in town in June, you should come.”
“June? But it’s February,” Charlie pointed out.
“I’m also a part of the planning committee.”
“And what do you have to do with the festival?” Dotty asked.
“I’m a judge. I teach at USC’s film school in Los Angeles,” Owen said. “Or at least, I did. I retired last year.”
Dotty gave a little start. “Why, that’s right in our backyard!”
“Really? Where do you live?”
Dotty opened her mouth to reply, but Charlie elbowed her. “Grandma! You’re not going to tell a stranger where we live!”
“He’s not a stranger! He’s a professor at USC! And our traveling companion!” Dotty winked at Owen. “We live in Orange County.”
Charlie scowled at her grandmother.
“Hey!” Dotty replied. “It’s a big place.”
“But not so big that I couldn’t find you,” Owen said.
“That doesn’t sound stalkery at all,” Charlie said.
“Come along, Charles, stop being such a stick in the mud.” Dotty fluttered her eyelashes at Owen.
Charlie followed her grandmother and her new friend out the door to the rental agency’s parking lot.
Dotty and Owen both started laughing when they spotted the tiny purple Fiat. It looked like it should have a crowd of clowns in it.
Charlie just rolled her eyes.
#
Zach called his mom. He’d been meaning to visit her anyway, and now that he knew the business was running smoothly, he didn’t see any reason not to. Besides, it would give him a break from the media storm he’d inadvertently caused. Of course, those teenage girls had taken a video of him declaring his love to Charlie and posted it on every social media site known to man.
He’d been soaked by the rain. His hair had been flattened and drenched, his clothes sodden and gray. In the video, he had looked as bleak as he’d felt. And those girls had caught him at his most raw and pathetic.
Being with his mom was the only solution.
Unless he could find Charlie. But Dotty wasn’t answering her phone.
Zach pinched his phone between his ear and shoulder as he waited for his mom to answer.
“Hello, sweetie.”
Just hearing her voice made him feel better. “Mom? I’m coming to visit.”
“Oh darling, I’m so glad. Are you bringing your Charlie Angel with you?”
“No,” his croaked. “I’ve lost her.”
“Oh dear! What happened?”
He told her about Eva’s interview with Tina Marie.
“Well, that’s bad, but if you just explain to her about Eva’s dying mother, she’ll probably come around, don’t you think? If you love her, she must be a sweet girl.”
“Mom, it’s too early to use the L word. We’ve only been on a couple of dates! And have known each other for less than six weeks!”
Mom chuckled. “Oh sweetie, don’t you know that sometimes you just know? That’s how it was for Moose and me. I know you and Ethan struggled with our decision, but it’s been so fun. And it’s not as if you don’t have your own plane and can come and visit us any—” Her words cut short.
“Mom?”
The call had dropped. Zach stared at the phone, unsettled and unsure. He tried calling again, but it didn’t go through. He tried a third time. After a mental shrug, he resumed packing his bag.
#
“My grandparents were missionaries here shortly before World War One,” Dotty told Owen while Charlie tried to stay awake in the back seat of the Fiat. There wasn’t room for her legs behind the front seats, so she had to sit with her feet propped up on the seat beside her. She felt it was her granddaughter duty to be alert enough to fight off Owen the potential serial killer should the need arise, but the long, sleepless flight from LAX to Auckland to Gisborne was catching up with her.
“The orphanage they established is still in use today,” Dotty told him. “They’re expecting us. I brought gifts.”
Owen mumbled a response that didn’t sound at all threatening. Charlie drifted off to sleep. In her dream, she was back on the beach. But this time, instead of violins playing, there were drums. And Maoris.
Charlie wore a striped, fringed skirt woven from flax, and a bikini top. A tattoo-covered Zach emerged from the surf, also wearing a striped, fringed skirt woven from flax. The drums upped their volume and speed. Charlie ran to join Zach in the tide. He caught her in his arms, and as a wave washed over them, they fell to the sand, entwined in a kiss. His lips tasted of the sea. The water lapping against their legs was chilly, but his skin against hers burned. They kissed like Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in the movie From Here to Eternity, and despite the cool ocean breeze blowing around them, Charlie thought she might melt from her desire.
“Charlie, wake up!” Dotty’s voice broke the spell.
A cold wave washed over Charlie and her eyes flew open.
“We’re here,” her grandmother announced.
There was the ocean outside her window. If she closed her eyes again, would Zach reappear? Real kisses, of course, were so much better than dream kisses, but if she couldn’t have the real thing, the fantasies would have to do. Her eyes drifted closed.
“Charlie! Wake up!” Dotty called.
Zach wasn’t here. He had never been real. He was going to marry Eva. He had been nothing but a passing moment in her life, and yet, he had helped her see her infatuation with Kirk as it really was. That, too, had been nothing more than a figment of her imagination. When she had really seen him for what he was—
“Charlie!”
“Let her sleep,” a deep voice said.
“No! She needs to wake up and see this!”
The car shook.
“What was that?” Dotty asked.
Charlie’s eyes flew open and she sat up just as another tremor hit the car.
“An earthquake,” Owen said. “And a pretty big one.”
Charlie rubbed her eyes and climbed from the car. Her gaze swept the landscape. Rugged cliffs overlooking the coast. Arid hills dotted with a smattering of evergreen trees. How odd that a place so far away could look so much like home. Without the people, buildings, and traffic, of course. Nuhaka looked more like raw California—the California the Spanish missionaries must have known.
Another rumbling shook the ground.
“New Zealand is even more prone to earthquakes than California,” Owen said. “Thousands of earthquakes occur in New Zealand every year. Most are too small to be felt.” He paused as if a thought had just hit him. “I’m going to move the car.” He chuckled and pulled the car keys from his pocket. “I don’t want to lose it in a tsunami. Just kidding. Sort of.”
The orphanage, a tall wooden colonial-style building, stood in the shelter of pine trees. The sound of children singing floated through the windows. The song pierced Charlie’s heart. She recognized the music and yet knew she’d never heard it before.
But the
singing turned to screams as another tremor rocked the earth.
CHAPTER 12
In the private boardroom he shared with Clive and Ricardo, Zach sat in front of the TV, watching the drama unfold. A massive 8.0 earthquake had struck somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and the resulting tsunami had caused devastation up and down the eastern coast of New Zealand.
Knocking on the door roused him. Kelly, his assistant, stuck her head in. “I’m sorry to bother you, Zach, but there are three very persistent guys here who,” she swallowed, “well, they really want to see you and won’t take no for an answer. They say they’re Charlie Angel’s brothers.”
Zach climbed to his feet, his interest in the TV suddenly gone. Charlie’s brothers trooped in. He had already met Dan and Jacob, but not Ben. What were they doing here?
He shook their hands as introductions were made, and sized up Ben. Despite Ben being smaller than his two younger brothers, he carried himself like he was the boss, striding into the room, taking a stance in front of Zach and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Do you know why we’re here?” Dan asked.
“No.”
“We’ve been trying to get hold of my sister and grandmother,” Dan said.
“Any luck?” Zach asked, his breath catching. He knew Charlie and Dotty had gone to New Zealand, but that was all he knew. “Do you know where they are?”
“They were headed to Nuhaka to visit the orphanage our great-great-grandparents established in the early part of the last century. If they ever made it there—” He choked up.
“They’re right in the thick of it,” Ben finished.
“How can I help?” Zach asked.
“Charlie doesn’t know it because Dotty didn’t want anyone to know, but Dotty has a heart condition and needs her medication to stay alive. If she’s unable to get back to the States before her medication runs out, the situation really could be life or death.”
Zach pressed a button on his phone and Kelly reappeared.
“Get me a plane and find out what I need to do to get to…” his words stumbled.
“Nuhaka, New Zealand,” Ben said.
Kelly’s mouth hung open for a moment and then she blinked back to life. “Of course. Will anyone else be flying with you?”
As if they’d all learned a bizarre dance move and heard secret music, all of the brothers stepped forward.
“Guys, as much as I appreciate your devotion, you don’t all need to go,” Zach said. “Dan, you’re the only one not married, so you’re invited.”
Arguing erupted. Zach watched, wondering how Charlie put up with them. “Do you want me to do this thing or not?” Zach asked, interrupting their quarreling.
Ben stepped forward and placed a wad of bills on the table. “We’re paying whatever it takes. We’re not asking for charity.”
“But you are asking for my help, and if I’m going to go—”
“Wait,” Jacob said. “You don’t need to go. We just need to send someone to get my grandmother and Charles.”
“And that someone is me,” Zach said.
“But—” Ben began.
“My plane, my rules,” Zach told them.
#
“Charlie,” Dotty said on their fourth day in the orphanage, “I want you to know that no matter what happens, I’m glad we came.”
Charlie sat down on the twin bed beside her grandmother and took her hand. “Are you worried? Because I’m not. I talked to Zed this morning. He said the road will be cleared in a few weeks. We’re lucky because unlike a lot of our neighbors, we have clean water—thanks to the orphanage’s well. And there’s plenty of paua at the factory, not to mention all the vegetables in the garden! We’ll be fine.”
Dotty still trembled, making Charlie wonder if there was something her grandmother wasn’t telling her.
“And thank goodness for Owen,” Charlie said.
Dotty blinked back tears. “He is a lovely man, isn’t he?”
“The kids love him.”
Dotty gave her a weak smile. “It’s hard not to.” Her voice changed as she spoke about him. It softened and deepened and made Charlie feel alone.
“In some ways, this just makes everything worse.” Dotty sighed and looked sad.
“What does?” Charlie asked. “You’re not making any sense.”
A knock on their door interrupted them. Millie, Zed’s wife, stuck her head in. “All of the children are waiting for you, Ms. Monson.”
“Awesome.” Charlie pulled herself away from her grandmother and headed downstairs to the common room. She’d been delighted to find the orphanage had an extensive, if outdated, library. It thrilled her to think that her great-great-grandmother may have purchased some of these books and even sat where she now sat, reading to young children.
She took her seat in the old wooden rocking chair near the giant stone fireplace and picked up The Scarecrow of Oz, the ninth book in L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz series. She chose it because she’d heard it had been Baum’s personal favorite. Just yesterday they’d finished reading Ozma of Oz to the children.
Now, the children, who sat cross-legged on the floor, smiled at her expectantly as Charlie began to read.
“Seems to me,’ said Captain Bill, as he sat beside Trot under the big acacia tree, looking out over the blue ocean, ‘seems to me, Trot, as how the more we know, the more we find we don’t know.” Charlie used her old man voice until she read Trot’s part.
“I can’t quite make that out, Cap’n Bill,’” answered the little girl in a serious voice, after a moment’s thought, during which her eyes followed those of the old sailor-man across the glassy surface of the sea. ‘Seems to me that all we learn is jus’ so much gained.”
Charlie reverted to her old man voice. “I know it looks that way at first,” said the sailor, nodding his head; ‘but those as knows the least have a habit of thinkin’ they know all there is to know, while them as knows the most admits what a turr’ble big world this is. It’s the knowing ones that realize one lifetime ain’t long enough to git more’n a few dips o’ the oars of knowledge.”
Humming filled the air.
“What’s that?” Cathy asked, bouncing to her feet.
Liam followed her to the window and motioned for the others to join him.
Knowing she’d lost the children, Charlie followed.
A helicopter whirred in the air. Its spinning blades kicked up dust, twigs, and debris.
The children oohed in delight and wonder as they ran for the door.
“Wait! We mustn’t get in the way,” Charlie called after them. “They’re probably just going to make a delivery…”
But the massive helicopter touched down and the blades fell still.
Dan and Zach emerged.
Charlie, followed by the children, ran into Zach’s arms. “What are you doing here?” she cried.
“Rescuing you, of course,” Zach said as he picked her up and spun her around.
“But I don’t need rescuing! We’re fine.”
Zach cupped her face and kissed her hard. “But I’m not,” he said a moment later. “I need you.”
“That’s so sweet, but totally unnecessary. I would have made it home eventually.”
“Eventually isn’t good enough,” Zach said and he kissed her again.
All of the children clapped and bounced around them, cheering.
“But Zach, it must have been horribly expensive—”
He put his finger to her lips, shushing her. “What good is having money if I can’t have what I want? And what I want is you. Do you want me, too? Even if you say no, I have to tell you, I’ll still be glad I came.”
“Why would I say no…except—”
“Except what?”
“Why did Eva tell Tina Marie that you were getting married?”
“Long and boring story,” he said. “And I’ll tell you later, but first, we need to get your grandmother to Auckland.”
“What?” Charlie asked, her head spinn
ing.
He took her hand and led her to the porch where Dotty stood with Dan by her side.
“Is there something you want to tell me?” she asked her grandmother.
Dotty nodded.
“I’ll go and gather up your things so we can go immediately,” Dan said.
“Is there room in that contraption for Owen?” Dotty asked.
“Who’s Owen?” Dan asked.
“Because if there’s not,” Dotty said, “I’d rather stay here with him.”
“You would die for some man you just met?” Dan asked.
“What can I say?” Dotty said, placing her hand on her heart. “I’m a martyr for love.”
“Fortunately, no one is dying today,” Zach said. “We can make room for this Owen.” He followed Dan up the stairs.
“What do you mean you would die for Owen?” Charlie asked her grandmother.
“Hush, not in front of the children,” Dotty scolded her.
Charlie bit her lip, her thoughts scattering and her emotions mixed. On one hand, she was ecstatic to see Zach, but on the other, she was worried about Dotty and frustrated that she’d apparently kept a life-and-death secret from her.
Dan and Zach reappeared, each of them carrying Charlie and Dotty’s packed bags. Owen followed with his own bag. Zed, Millie, and the children gathered to say goodbye.
Charlie hugged them all and promised she’d send them the third book in the Hunger Games series, because their inadequate library had book one and two, but not three.
Then Charlie took Zach’s hand, eager to begin the rest of her life.
“Why are you really here?” Charlie asked after she’d settled into the helicopter and buckled into the seat.
Zach cast a glance out the window before he turned to check her belts. He fussed over her, double checking all of the latches, then eventually strapping himself in.
The pilot had gone inside the house and Dotty and Owen had yet to reappear, so they were alone.
“Your brothers reached out to me because they were afraid your grandmother would run out of her heart medication.”
When Charlie opened her mouth to complain, Zach put his finger to her lips, shushing her. “I was happy to do it. I missed you…and I know it’s soon, that we just met, but in a way after I lost my memories, everyone was new to me. I had to be reintroduced to old friends, my home, I had no recollection of my stepfather. We’re going to visit him and my mom, if you don’t mind. After, of course, we get Dotty’s medication in Auckland.”