Paradise Wild (Wild At Heart Book 2)

by Christine Hartmann

  Ellie: How’s this?

  Devora: Doesn’t match.

  Ellie sent her an emoji with its tongue sticking out.

  Devora: Seriously. I’m saving your butt. Vivyenne will go crazy.

  It’s white. Doesn’t all white match?

  Ellie: Hold on.

  She pulled one of the workers aside, an older man with a gray crew cut and dark tan.

  “Can you take help me? I need an opinion on colors. Are these two shades of white the same?”

  The man plucked a pair of brown reading glasses from his pants pocket and brought the customized cast concrete and cabinet samples to the window. He held them in the light and shook his head.

  Ellie bit her lip. “You sure? They look kind of the same to me.”

  The man smiled. “Is it your house?”

  “No. I’m supervising.”

  “And they want this whole place white, yeah?”

  Ellie nodded.

  “Then you’re in for a hard time. I’m a painter. Trust me. Of all the colors, white’s the hardest to match. So many variations.”

  Ellie’s shoulders slumped. What motivated the owner of a surgical instrument company to design homes that would remind her of an operating room? Ever since Ellie had discovered the jumbo size crayon box as a child, she had loved colors. The more, the better. Celine had called her room in their apartment ‘the botanical garden,’ referring to the floral colored pillows, rainbow hued bedspread, and Scandinavian designer knock-off sheets. Ellie’s dream Hawaii house would’ve reflected the state’s tropical wonderland. Vivyenne’s ideal, Ellie thought, resembled the arrival of the next ice age.

  Ellie: You’re right. Doesn’t match.

  Devora: Right.

  Ellie: What next?

  Devora: Get to the store before they place the order.

  Ellie called the showroom, grabbed the cabinet installation foreman, and raced to his truck.

  “Get us to Kahului before they close and I’ll buy you a shave ice.”

  The foreman smiled and sped out the drive.

  They returned after dark. Ellie hopped out and waved. The truck made a U-turn in her driveway and headed back north. She dropped the new samples in the kitchen. Outside, it was already getting dark. She flipped the lights off quickly, locked the house, and jogged to her car. When she pulled into the street to drive to Jacqui’s, the steering wheel tugged strangely to one side. The car listed to the left. She got out, then bent and examined the rear tire. It was flat.

  Oh, great. Just what I need tonight.

  It took the rental agency only fifteen minutes to show up with a replacement car. Ellie transferred her personal belongings to the new vehicle while the mechanic jacked up the rear end to put a spare on the old one. She was about to drive off when he waved and gave her a funny look. She rolled down the window.

  “You know your tire was slashed?”

  Ellie turned off the engine. “Slashed?”

  “Yeah. Big gash in the side. Doesn’t usually happen around here.” He glanced at the large houses. “People carjack.” He winked. “Lots of nice cars to choose from. But there’s not much vandalism. Bad luck.”

  Ellie shuddered involuntarily.

  “You know anyone with grudge against you?”

  “No.”

  “Just kidding.” The man chuckled. “Your gate open today?”

  Ellie nodded.

  “Probably just some punk. Keep it locked.”

  Ellie nodded again.

  “Let the police know. File a report. Won’t do nothing, but it’s good to keep them in the loop. In case more happens later.”

  Ellie swallowed. “What do you mean by more?”

  “Just more car vandalism. Not likely in this neighborhood. But might happen.”

  Ellie’s hands shook as she drove the dark back roads Upcountry.

  What’s going on? Bad luck? Or…She couldn’t bear to finish the thought. She plugged in her headset and called Denver. His voicemail picked up.

  “Hey, Denver. It’s me. Ellie. I was thinking of you. I wanted to leave a message. So here I am. Duh. I miss hearing from you. But I know you’re busy. I’ve just had kind of a shitty day. Crazy Vivyenne stuff. I don’t mean to dis her. She’s just really picky. I guess you know that. Or maybe you didn’t see that side of her? Anyway, after all that, my car tire got slashed. So I’m kind of freaked. Did I tell you about Noa? I don’t think so. I was going to at the dinner we didn’t have. Oh, I’m out of time. Call me. Or text. I miss you. Don’t work too hard.”

  Ellie massaged her temple with one hand.

  That was the single worst message I’ve left in my life. W-T-F, Ellie?

  The new car’s engine revved as she navigated the steep Kula hills.

  Why couldn’t Denver have stayed just one more night? I could have told him about Noa. He could help me think this through. Now he’s super busy. And I don’t want to depress him. But I hate having to deal with this without him.

  She could still see his sparkling eyes, sense his smooth body, feel his warm hands on her shoulders, her breasts, and her thighs. She could still hear his voice and remember every detail of their nighttime conversations, when she shared her hopes for what her future could hold. He seemed sometimes distracted but never absent. His presence felt at once like a comforting blanket and an electrifying jolt. Both were addictive. Both seemed increasingly necessary to her future.

  Faint solar lights on stakes illuminated Jacqui’s driveway. Ellie pulled in and parked next to the Civic.

  One thing’s for sure. Without Denver next door, I’m not staying down there after dark. Not until after the alarm system’s up and running.

  ***

  A few nights later, Ellie sat in Jacqui’s living room alone, talking with Celine.

  “She’s out with a real estate agent?” Celine smiled at Ellie from the laptop. “I pictured Jacqui with a surfer.”

  “She met him online.”

  “Athletes hang out online.”

  Ellie grinned. “I think he might have misrepresented himself.”

  “From what you tell me, Jacqui won’t let him get away with that for long.”

  Celine reached for a cup off-screen.

  Ellie snapped her fingers. Viv flashed her a sheepish look and dropped his gecko, which scuttled under the sofa. “How’s K-Rao?”

  A smile stretched across Celine’s long face. “Awesome. That man’s got style. He actually sent me snail mail. Can you believe it? A real letter. He says his grandmother wrote letters to his grandfather while they were separated in World War II.”

  Ellie’s gaze drifted to the ceiling. “I don’t know anyone our age who ever sent me a letter.”

  “Seriously. I don’t even know how much a stamp costs. My mother’s going to love the dude.”

  “Is he flying there to see you?”

  “At Thanksgiving. I hope. We’re still working it out.”

  Viv stalked back and forth across Ellie’s lap, his tail swishing at the screen like an insistent flag. She stroked his back and he stretched across her lap.

  Ellie leaned back. “Any police gossip?”

  “K-Rao told me there’s no sign of Noa on Maui. He said they think he might have gotten a boat to take him somewhere. K-Rao said maybe the Big Island.” Celine cocked her head. “That’s Hawaii, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Why’d they name the state after one of the islands? Wicked confusing.”

  Ellie laughed. “Anyway…”

  “Anyway, K-Rao says if he went off the grid, it’ll be basically impossible to find him. He says people do it all the time.”

  The furrows on Ellie’s brow deepened. “Just disappear?”

  “It’s different in Hawaii, he says. Not like San Francisco. If you’ve got your own food and water and never go into a town, there’s no way to track you.”

  “I’d love to think Noa disappeared. But who slashed my tire if he’s on the Big Island?”

  “Maybe it was som
e punk, like the mechanic said.”

  Ellie’s face brightened. “Yeah. Maybe it doesn’t have to be connected to Noa. Brandon’s death wasn’t. Maybe this isn’t either.”

  “What’s Mr. Drone say?”

  A momentary cloud passed across Ellie’s face. “I haven’t explained it all. Haven’t had the chance. He’s swamped at work. But if K-Rao’s right, then maybe there’s nothing to explain.”

  “Absolutely. Go with the simple answer.”

  “Right. No more conspiracy theories.”

  Ellie lifted Viv to the screen and moved his paw as though he were blowing Celine kisses. Celine blew one back at him.

  “Thanks for cheering me up.”

  “Anytime, girl.”

  ***

  A week later, Ellie looked out Jacqui’s living room window at a two-foot long electric green iguana clutching a tree branch. The creature’s back was covered in spines and a long flap of skin hung from its jowls, like a reptilian beard.

  “Crazy. Olivia, check this out.”

  The two women stood at the window. Jacqui glanced over their shoulders. “A male. There should be two of them. See?” She pointed at a second one higher in the branches.

  Olivia moved back to the couch. “Yuck. Aren’t you afraid of them?”

  Jacqui brought a bowl of potato chips to the coffee table. “It works the other way around, honey. They’re afraid of us.”

  “Speaking of scary males…” Ellie plopped on the sofa next to Olivia. “What about your real estate guy?

  “He’s so last week. Turns out he never went near a beach except to try to sell it to some developer.” Jacqui refilled Ellie’s wine glass. “Sure you don’t want any, Olivia? Your cheeks could really use the color.” She held the half empty bottle of red against the last rays of the sun that filtered through her gauze curtains.

  “I’m good.” Olivia opened another can of passion fruit sparkling water. “I’ve got to make a Target run before I go to bed tonight.”

  “Suit yourself.” Jacqui topped off her own glass and curled her legs under her in the papasan chair opposite the sofa.

  Ellie took a sip of the wine. “So if it wasn’t the realtor, who was the guy from last night?”

  Jacqui winked at Ellie and Olivia in turn. “A car dealer.”

  Olivia choked on her drink. “No way.”

  “Yoga instructor’s oath. I met him paddle boarding by the hotel. He was checking me out, so I flashed him. He capsized. I took it as a big compliment.”

  Ellie stared. “You’re amazing.”

  Jacqui inclined her head coquettishly. “I’m a current-era devotee of the ideas from the Sixties. Spread the love around.”

  Ellie nudged Olivia. “But a car dealer?”

  “Don’t say another word.” Jacqui handed them her phone. Ellie and Olivia gazed at the photo of a gorgeous man with his arm around Jacqui’s waist.

  Olivia put a hand to her chest. “He’s killin’ it.”

  Jacqui took the phone back. “Yes. But he’s like the view of Niihau from Kauai. Distant and unattainable.”

  “You mean he’s full of dark secrets?” Ellie deposited her glass on the table where it rocked unsteadily until Jacqui balanced it with her foot.

  “More like he doesn’t talk much.”

  “With a face like that, who needs talking?” Ellie rummaged in her purse, which had emitted brief, muffled music.

  Jacqui rolled her eyes. “I know that text tone.”

  Ellie fished out her phone. Her heart sank.

  Olivia turned to her. “What’s up?”

  “Denver’s on his way to China.”

  “Did you say he might have to go?”

  Ellie walked to the window and tapped distractedly at the iguanas. “Yep. But his flight went through Honolulu today. And he never let me know.”

  Jacqui tipped the remainder of the bottle into Ellie’s glass and brought it to her. “He probably didn’t have much of a layover.”

  “He had four hours. And it’s a forty-minute flight to Honolulu. I would have gone to see him for four hours.” She felt hurt. “Hell, I would have gone to see him for four minutes.”

  Jacqui massaged Ellie’s shoulders and directed her back to the sofa. “Don’t be so hard on him. He probably didn’t have time to think things through.”

  Olivia nodded. “You need a little faith, Ellie.”

  The fading sun illuminated the trees outside, coloring them pink. In the dimming light, Ellie tried to conceal her sorrow. “Maybe you’re right. He did say he’d make this up to me when he came on island again.”

  “See?” Jacqui settled back in her chair. “You can’t keep looking at what’s missing, Ellie. You’ve got to open your eyes to what you’ve got.”

  Ellie rolled her eyes. “What I’ve got is the creeps. He said someone tried to break into his house too, but the alarm system stopped them.”

  Olivia straightened her back. “Did they catch the guy?”

  “He didn’t say. Just asked me to keep an eye on things. Like I’m going to do any good.”

  Jacqui settled her phone into a docking station and pushed some buttons. A rhythmic Tibetan chant pulsed quietly from small speakers hanging in the corners of the room. She pushed the coffee table and papasan to the walls and draped three yoga mats side by side on the floor.

  “Time for your lesson, ladies.” She tipped herself upside down on her elbows and arced her legs to the ceiling.

  Ellie and Olivia stared. Ellie was the first to speak.

  “I thought we were hanging out. Relaxing.”

  Olivia nodded. “Yeah. I don’t want to throw up again.”

  Jacqui regarded them from the floor. “Off your butts and onto those mats. Relaxing? Just wait until I get through with you.”

  Chapter 16

  The second week of November, Ellie received notification that the security system was fully installed at Vivyenne’s house. She set up an appointment for that afternoon. The company representative walked her through the set up. It took longer than she thought. She glanced repeatedly at her phone and finally spoke up.

  “Look. I have to run back Upcountry to get a few things before tonight. Do you think you could do the final testing without me?”

  The young man shrugged. “Sure. I can call you with the code or you can make one up.”

  Ellie put her hand on the doorknob. “Call me.”

  In the car, she texted Denver to let him know the news. I’m going to run over to his place in my undies the second he gets home.

  Jacqui helped carry Ellie’s suitcase to the car. Her eyes glinted with mischief and a trace of regret. “Just when I was getting used to you.”

  Ellie returned to the living room and shoved Viv’s reluctant body into the cat carrier. “Things are heating up with Mr. Car Dealer, anyway. You’ll be happy to get Viv and me out of your hair.”

  “I don’t know.” Jacqui poked her fingers through a gap in the zipper to stroke Viv’s cheek. “I still haven’t gotten him to do a single yoga pose. It can’t last much longer.”

  Ellie lugged the carrier to the car. “What about tantric yoga?”

  “Don’t mock it till you’ve tried it.”

  Ellie gave Jacqui a squeeze before hopping in the driver’s seat. “Thanks, Jacqui. I really owe you. I feel so much better about the Wailea house now. I think I needed some time away.”

  “You needed a security system. And with Denver due back any day, you’ll have two. One electronic. The other electric.”

  Ellie laughed.

  Before she had driven a mile, the alarm company called. Ellie pulled the car onto a grassy verge near a plant nursery.

  “The house is armed.” The man sounded bored. “You have one minute to enter the code. Any questions?”

  Ellie switched to the notes program on her phone.

  “Tell me the code again.”

  She typed it in a second time and confirmed it. A convertible with the top down sped past her.

  “W
hat if I mess up?”

  “Hit clear and try again. But you only have a minute.”

  “I’m not good under pressure.”

  “If you trigger the alarm, we’ll call you. Give us the password, and we’ll turn it off.”

  Ellie triple checked the password. She pulled back onto the road, wondering why security had to be so stressful. The sun fell low in the sky over the ocean, casting the water in shades of orange and pink. The mountains of West Maui loomed dark against the graying sky, their softness flattened into jagged two-dimensional harshness in the fading light. Clouds skimmed the peaks, obscuring their contours. But her hands tapped the steering wheel nervously.

  Don’t panic. What’s the worst that can happen? Embarrassment. Not like that hasn’t happened before.

  Near the sugar mill at the bottom of the slope, her phone rang again. She pulled abruptly onto the side of the road opposite the tiny brown Puunene Post Office, a cloud of red dust rising behind her. When she looked at the screen the name of the alarm company stared up at her. She answered. Her jaw slowly dropped.

  “Somebody broke in? Already?” She searched in her purse for her headset. “No. I’m nowhere near the house.”

  She gave up the hunt and eased the car over the bump onto the pavement, one hand holding the phone.

  “Yes, of course, you should call the police. I’ll be there in half an hour.”

  Ellie pushed the accelerator and hit sixty-five, blinking each time she passed a forty-five miles per hour sign. When she neared home, blue flashing lights flickered at the end of her darkened street. Ellie rolled her car to a stop opposite the house’s open gate, in front of which a police car was parked at an angle, as though it had arrived in a hurry. She rolled down her window and listened for the sound of the alarm but heard only the roar of the ocean and an occasional gecko chirp.

  “Viv, you stay here.” She scratched the top of the carrier in the passenger seat foot well. “I’ll be back once I find out what’s going on.”

  K-Rao stood waiting for her at the foot of the front steps. She was tempted to give him a hug, but something in his posture told her to keep things official.