Not Always Happenstance (Power of the Matchmaker) Page 5

  “Puna brought me here,” she said, purposefully keeping her answer short. Then she smiled warmly at her grandmother before stepping out on the patio where the air was much easier to breathe.

  “Easton, this fish is delicious,” said Cora. “Mahalo for teaching Lani how to make it.”

  “Glad you like it.” Easton glanced at Lani. Ever since he’d parried all her questions, she’d said very little. Cora had been the one to carry the conversation, telling him about all the sites he should see while in Hāna—sites he’d already read about and seen in countless guidebooks, making them of little interest to him.

  Lani, on the other hand, was fascinating. And Cora intrigued him as well.

  “I’ve noticed a lot of paintings on the walls with the same signature,” Easton commented as he dug into his incredibly tasty tuna. “I couldn’t decipher the name though. Is he or she a famous painter around here?”

  “Only famous to my family and some close friends,” Cora answered. “They were painted by my late-husband, Kadir.”

  Ah, so that explained it. Unlike her granddaughter, there was no hint of Polynesian blood in Cora’s skin color. Once upon a time, she’d apparently married a native. “I’m sorry to hear he’s passed away.”

  She waved aside his concerns. “It happened a long time ago.”

  “The paintings are very good. He was a talented man.”

  She nodded. “The bungalow was actually his studio. He used it to paint all the time. Said it was the most inspiring location in all of Maui.”

  Lani paused with her fork halfway to her mouth, gaping at her grandmother.

  “I can see why he loved it so much,” said Easton. “The views from the main room are breathtaking.”

  “They are breathtaking, but so are the views from here, along with so many other places in Hāna. For Kadir, it wasn’t as much about the scenery as the spirit of the place. He always said there was a special feeling in his studio, and every time I visited him while he worked, I felt it too. A mixture of peace and inspiration and… a deeper kind of joy, I guess you could say.”

  Lani set her fork down and clasped her fingers on her lap, watching her grandmother. “Is that why you kept it locked up for so long?”

  Cora chuckled and waved a hand in front of her face. “I don’t know. After he passed away, I tried going there to feel close to him again, but it only made me feel the loss more. So I locked it up and stayed away.”

  Lani’s expression became one of sympathy and confusion. She obviously hadn’t known any of this before and probably didn’t appreciate the fact that the answers had come from a conversation Easton had started. He could almost hear the question burning in her eyes. Or maybe he thought that because it was the same question thudding in his mind.

  Why had she suddenly decided to reopen the studio for him?

  Easton felt like he’d inadvertently opened a Pandora’s Box containing stuff that he didn’t really want to know.

  He shoved the last bite of fish in his mouth and tossed his napkin on his plate. “I think I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’ll rinse my plate and be off. Mahalo for the wonderful dinner.”

  “But I have guava cake in the fridge I was planning to pull out for dessert,” Cora said.

  Easton pushed his chair back and stood, patting his stomach to imply he was stuffed. “Sounds delicious, but I couldn’t eat another bite. Besides, I have a few things I need to take care of. Rain check?”

  “What about tomorrow night? Oh wait. Tomorrow you’re going to Ahe’s annual summer potluck, aren’t you, Lani? Well, maybe Wednesday night then.”

  Easton heard one thing and one thing only. Annual summer potluck. It captured his attention the way Lani had when he’d first set eyes on her. “Did you just say potluck?”

  “Yes,” said Lani. “It’s a traditional, local thing.”

  In other words, Easton wasn’t invited, which didn’t surprise him in the least. The aloha spirit only went so far.

  “You should take Easton with you,” Cora said, coming to his aid. “If he’s going to be here the entire summer, it would be a great way for him to meet some of your friends. Otherwise it’ll be a lonely three months for him.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he has more important things to do tomorrow night,” said Lani, her tone hinting for him to agree.

  Easton ignored it. “Actually, tomorrow night’s free and clear. I’d love to be your plus one, Lani.”

  Her jaw clenched the way he figured it might, and her fingers probably itched to strangle him. “I wasn’t asked to bring a plus one. And if I had been, Derek would be it.”

  “But Derek isn’t here, dear,” Cora said. “You should take Easton and show him what a good time the locals always have.”

  Lani didn’t look too happy about the suggestion.

  “Or, if you’d rather not, I suppose Easton can stay here with me and Pearl and perhaps the Cliftons—though I’m sure they’ll be off doing something else. Actually, now that I think about it, Pearl was telling me about a game she wanted to teach me called Mahjong. Perhaps you’d like to learn it too, Easton?”

  He was quick to shake his head. “A few years ago, I spent some time in the Sichuan Province where I played it often. And truth be told, it’s not really my thing. Potlucks, on the other hand…” He let the sentence hang there, wishing, hoping, possibly even praying that…

  Lani finally sighed. “Okay, but you’d better be on your best behavior. Otherwise don’t blame me if they literally pick you up and toss you out.”

  “I’m always on my best behavior,” he said.

  “That’s not very comforting,” she said, making him laugh. He’d lost count how many times he’d laughed or smiled or fought back a grin today. Even during the drive to Haiku, his thoughts returned to her and the way she’d looked standing beneath the window with her hair draped across her forehead and falling in soft waves around her shoulders. Her expressive eyes, her smile, her laugh, her spirit, and her determination to keep him at a distance.

  Easton found himself smiling yet again. He pushed in his chair and picked up his plate. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow night, Lani.”

  Her answering nod was slow, cautious. “You can meet me here around six o’clock.”

  “Perfect.” Only one day here, and already he had an “in” with the locals. Not too shabby. “Cora, if you end up enjoying Mahjong, let me know. Even though I don’t love the game, I’d be willing to play with you sometime.”

  Cora reached out to grab a hold of his hand. “I knew when I first heard your voice on the phone that you would be a good fit for the bungalow.”

  Easton felt a little hitch in his heart, and a small lump lodged in his throat. He’d only known the sweet woman for a matter of hours, but it was obvious she was something special. He gave her hand a squeeze and said, “Mahalo, Cora. Mahalo.”

  “Easton,” came Lani’s voice, more tentative this time. “Can I ask you a question before you go?”

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “What, exactly, do you do for a living?”

  The directness of the question caught him off guard. But what did he expect, after casually letting slip that he’d spent time in both the Azores and China? That would make anyone’s curiosity meter rise.

  Shifting his plate to the other hand, Easton gave it some thought before answering. “I guess you can say I’m sort of an artist, like Kadir. Only instead of picking up a paintbrush to do my work, I pick up my laptop. Goodnight, ladies.”

  A squeak of the floorboards pulled Lani from her dream of a man with eyes the same color as the deep green of the ocean. She sat up in bed and shoved Easton’s face from her mind, refocusing on the noise that had awakened her. She listened and… nothing. Had she imagined it, or—

  The squeak came again, followed by a heavy sigh.

  Lani squinted at the clock and frowned—2:30AM. Why was Puna awake at this hour?

  She slipped from her bed and wandered into the hall. A light was on in the m
ain room, so Lani walked toward it, finding her grandmother curled up in her favorite rocker and turning the pages of what appeared to be a small memory book of pictures.

  The floor squeaked as Lani crossed it. “Everything okay?”

  Her grandmother continued looking at one picture in particular. Her aged fingers touched the plastic covering lightly. “I just couldn’t sleep is all. I’m sorry if I woke you.”

  Lani pulled up a chair and took a seat at her grandmother’s side. “What are you looking at?”

  “Some very old pictures of me and Kadir. It’s been too long since I’ve opened this album.” She pointed at a picture of a younger version of her standing next to a large and handsome Hawaiian man. She was holding a fishing pole with a large fish dangling from the end of the line. “He took me fishing for my first time, and that’s what I reeled in. Isn’t that amazing? I determined then and there that I would live in Hawaii the rest of my life.”

  Lani had never seen the picture before—or the one on the page next to it, with both of her grandparents standing next to a burning torch, wearing beautiful leis. “Where was that?”

  “Kadir’s best friend’s wedding. We were engaged at the time and planning our own. The four of us used to do so much together.” Puna flipped the page, and there she was, dressed in a long and simple, beautiful white dress with a lei around her shoulders. Her once-dark hair had been pulled back into a bun, with a plumeria tucked beside it.

  Lani fingered the edge of the page. “You made a beautiful bride, Puna.”

  Her grandmother pointed to the next picture. “And Kadir made a beautiful groom, didn’t he? Oh, how he made my heart soar.”

  Lani felt a constriction in her chest. How many times would she have loved to sit at her grandmother’s side and flip through old photo books, listening to all the memories of her late-grandfather—a man who’d died nearly fifteen years ago? Until today, every time Lani had brought him up, her questions had been redirected and the subject changed.

  And then an almost-stranger came to dinner, asked one question, and suddenly Kadir became as casual a topic of conversation as a discussion about the weather. Lani had never felt more confused, or, she had to admit, hurt. Ever since dinner, something had gnawed and pestered, refusing to ease up.

  “Puna, why did you tell Easton about Grandfather’s studio and the paintings?”

  “I was telling you both.”

  Lani shook her head. “No, otherwise you would have mentioned it before tonight. I have asked so many questions about Kapuna, and you’ve deflected them all until now. Why?”

  Her grandmother closed the book gently, keeping it clutched in her hands on her lap. She stared at the wall across from her, and her body slowly rocked back and forth. “It’s hard to talk about him without feeling lost. And I don’t like to feel lost or sad—not when there’s so much to be happy about.”

  Lani could understand that. In the five years she’d lived with her grandmother, she couldn’t remember ever seeing Puna sad or even imagine it. Her grandmother thrived on giving, loving, sharing, and doing. “Then why was it okay to tell Easton? Why is it okay to talk to me about him now?”

  A soft smile touched Cora’s face, and she laid her head against the back of the rocker. “I should probably tell you the real reason I decided to rent Kadir’s studio.”

  Lani said nothing, only waited for her grandmother to continue.

  “It began like I told you. Pearl mentioned what a shame it was that we didn’t rent out the little house on the hill, and the phone rang. When I first heard Easton’s voice, my heart nearly stopped. He sounded exactly like Kadir. And that’s when I knew it was time. It were as if Kadir was telling me himself that I’d kept his memory buried long enough.”

  Lani didn’t know what to make of it all, but it made her happy that Puna had found a reason to unbottle the painful memories that had been trapped inside her for so long. “And you couldn’t have told me that while we were cleaning?”

  Puna patted her hand. “Baby steps, my dear. At the time, it was all I could do to turn the key in the lock.”

  “And tonight at dinner? Did Easton still sound like Grandfather?”

  A throaty chuckle sounded, and Puna shook her head. “Not at all. Isn’t that interesting? Mostly it was his personality that reminded me of Kadir.”

  “Really?”

  Her grandmother nodded, pushing with her feet so that her rocker swayed back and forth. “Kadir used to enjoy teasing me the way Easton teased you tonight. He wasn’t afraid to make a stand or push me beyond what others considered my limits. And my, was he charming. The man could make my heart drop to my toes with a simple look or touch or smile—just like Easton did to you.”

  Whoa. Puna had jerked a lovely conversation onto rocky terrain, and Lani was not okay with it. Her name belonged next to Derek’s—not Easton’s or anyone else’s. “Puna, don’t be silly. My heart never dropped to my toes.”

  Her grandmother directed a pointed look at Lani. “You burned the fish. You never burn fish.”

  “That had nothing to do with Easton. I was in the kitchen talking to you—not him.”

  “You can’t deny that you’ve been in a state of distraction ever since that man walked through the door.”

  “Only because nothing has made sense since, until now—the bungalow, Pearl, Easton. Actually, it still isn’t clear. So if I burn any more fish, that’s why. Not because a well-traveled, invitation-finagling mystery man shows up on the doorstep. I don’t get swept off my feet that easily—just look at me and Derek.”

  Puna laughed the way Lani hadn’t heard her laugh in a long while, like it had been cowering deep, too afraid to come out until now. “I have been looking, and you’re right. Derek hasn’t done any sweeping that I can tell.”

  Lani sighed and gave her grandmother’s shoulder a squeeze before standing. It was late, she was tired, and breakfast still needed to be made in the morning. “Goodnight, kapuna wahine,” she said, using the formal name for grandmother.

  Puna stopped rocking and grabbed hold of Lani’s hand, keeping her from leaving. “There’s a reason Easton has come for the summer. I think he’s here to teach your heart how to soar. Please let him, Lani. There’s nothing so magical as soaring.”

  Lani felt shaky and weary all of a sudden, as though her legs couldn’t keep her upright much longer. “Puna, I’m engaged to Derek, and I’m going to marry him. The only soaring I will be doing is flying over the Pacific on my way back to him in three months. I need you to come to terms with that and not spend the entire summer trying to throw me at someone who will be in and out of both of our lives. No good will come of it, I promise you that.”

  Puna smiled in a tolerant way and gave Lani’s hand one last pat. “Aloha auinapo, kealoha.”

  Lani gently pulled her hand free and walked back to bed. It was a long time before she fell asleep, and when she did, her dreams were filled with hearts sprouting wings and flapping high into the sky, soaring over the ocean and right past California.

  She woke up feeling like she hadn’t slept at all.

  Lani tried not to fret about her reflection in the mirror. She also tried to convince herself that the reason she’d taken extra care with her appearance had nothing to do with Easton Allard. She was wearing her favorite pink, floral sarong because Ahe had given it to her. And the reason it had taken four attempts to finally get the loose French braid to flow around her head in an attractive slant was because she didn’t want it falling out halfway through the night.

  It was.

  She gave herself a firm look in the mirror and adjusted her white cotton top yet again. You love Derek Lundstrom. You love Derek Lundstrom. You’re going to move back to California for Derek Lundstrom.

  Two lines appeared between her brows, proof that she was fretting yet again. Only this time, it had nothing to do with her appearance and everything to do with her heart’s recent state of confusion.

  She rubbed the area of her left ring finger w
here an engagement ring would soon rest as a symbol of her commitment to a man who’d been nothing but loyal to her. She did love Derek. No, it wasn’t the soaring kind of love her grandmother spoke of, and maybe it never would be. But it was a solid love built on years of friendship and trust. It was the kind of love that would last. She needed to remember that and remind her heart of it whenever it decided to beat too fast for someone else.

  Lani studied her reflection before she slowly tugged the elastic from the end of her hair. Then she combed her fingers through the perfected braid, leaving her hair wavy and untamed around her face. She wiped off some eye-liner, slipped out of the pretty wedge sandals, and pushed her feet into a pair of faded pink flip-flops. She kept the sarong out of respect to Ahe. She knew how much time and money he and his family invested in this party every year.

  On her way out, Lani stopped in the kitchen to grab the fruit salad she’d made earlier, a recipe from the mainland that her local friends loved, then walked out to the lanai, determined to not let her eyes or her heart wander any further than they already had. But the moment she saw Easton, it was like a hundred butterflies broke free from their cocoons in her chest, flapping and fluttering and beating their wings.

  He sat casually in the chair, wearing a baseball hat, green t-shirt, and board shorts. He definitely hadn’t redone his hair four times, tried on three outfits, or took ten minutes to decide on the simple black flip-flops he wore. And yet he looked good. Really good. Too good.

  Easton stood and grabbed a plastic sack filled with something yellow and red and smiled at her. “You look gorgeous tonight, Lokelani. I hope you didn’t dress up just for me.”

  “I dressed up for Ahe,” she said, hoping it really was the truth.

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Who’s Ahe? Does Derek know about him?”

  “Yes, Derek knows about him. Ahe is my very good friend. He welcomed me to Hāna when I showed up five years ago and is a great fisherman. He brings us freshly caught fish about once a week.” She bypassed Easton and stepped down to the gravel, lava rock-lined path. “We should go. The party started hours ago.”