by Terri Farley
Darby crossed her arms and closed her eyes, pretending to be her teenage mom. Ellen was good at acting. The school paper and her teachers had agreed on that. So she’d resented being kept away from it.
But would she leave home over it? Hold it against Jonah for over a decade?
No way.
Unless—Darby sat up straighter and opened her eyes—it had been her dream. What if Hoku, the horse of my heart, was just a few miles away and I wasn’t allowed to be with her? What if I had to stay home and wash dishes and mow lawns instead of riding? What if every day my dream dangled just out of reach?
That would make me hold a grudge, Darby thought.
“Do you want to go back?” her mom asked.
They were stopped at the highway. Once they crossed it, they’d be at Sugar Sands Cove Resort.
“No, I want to hang out with you,” Darby said.
Her mom exhaled and her shoulders sank a few inches as she said, “We’ll have fun, you know. Babe’s given us a suite and promised us the run of the place, for free!” She pretended to adjust her sunglasses. “This celebrity stuff might just pay off. What do you want for dinner, Hotshot?”
When Darby was a little girl learning to roller-skate, her father had called her Hotshot. He still called her by the nickname sometimes, but hearing it from her mom was a rare occasion.
Darby wound her index finger through her pony-tail and hoped that the nickname was a hint that the next few days with her mother would be more than a Hawaiian slumber party.
Staying at Aunt Babe’s resort was a lot different from riding on the beach next to it.
Every window had a view of the ocean, palm trees, or both.
Outside, the resort sparkled pure white, but inside it glowed with color—gold trim, bright flowers, and ceiling fans made of honey-colored wood.
Darby spotted a small sign pointing guests toward the Cultural Corner and wondered if it was like a little Hawaiian museum. She wanted to investigate, but she agreed to do it later.
Since Aunt Babe wasn’t around, Darby and her mother told the front desk they’d find their suite on their own, even if it was the one farthest from the front desk.
It took a while.
“Is it still Saturday?” her mom asked, stifling a yawn when they were still searching for their suite twenty minutes later.
“I think so,” Darby said. She had no idea why she’d left her riding boots on, but she was ready to take them off.
She shot a sidelong glance at her mother. Although she was still smiling, her mom had to be tired. On her “day off” she’d taken a plane at dawn, arrived at the award reception in time to impress Aunt Babe’s guests, fought with her father, ridden a bucking horse—and now this.
“How many gardens does this place have?” Ellen moaned, tilting the map they’d been given.
Darby laughed. They’d crossed a shady meditation garden, a sunny massage garden, a brass sculpture garden, even a rake-the-sand garden studded with black rocks.
When they finally found their room, they didn’t want to leave it, even for dinner.
Darby had never been in a place like this. Carrying her boots, she let her toes sink into a carpet that looked like a golden beach, then stood on the lanai overlooking the ocean.
When she spotted the lava-rock shower with a big window open to the sea and sky, she claimed it and left her mother to call for room service.
Lifting her arms to shampoo her hair reminded Darby of the yank against the lead rope she’d wrapped around her hand. She let warm water knead muscles that ached from her palm to her shoulder.
“I ordered a pizza sampler,” her mom said as Darby appeared with a towel wrapped around her wet hair. “A bunch of mini pizzas—all your favorites, plus goat cheese and porcini mushrooms for me.”
Ellen made a whirlwind trip to the shower next, and even before the pizza arrived she and Darby began catching up on what they’d missed while being apart. Both sat cross-legged on their beds as Darby described a typical day on ‘Iolani Ranch.
Darby told her mother about her chores, her new favorite foods, and when Ellen asked about her new friends, Darby described people she talked to in each of her classes and, of course, Ann.
“Ann sounds great,” Ellen said. “What does Jonah think of her?”
“He calls her Wild Ann,” Darby began.
“Jonah calls her wild?” her mother asked with a quick intake of breath.
Reflexively Darby’s spine straightened, and her mother must have noticed.
“Ann’s the red-haired girl you introduced me to, right? From Nevada.” She waited for Darby to nod. “I’m eager to get to know her better.” Ellen made a gesture that seemed to brush away her worries. “And Megan?”
Darby explained that she and Megan were the best of friends, too, and even confided the misunderstanding that had lasted between Megan and Cade for years.
“Tutu told me I was a natural at conducting ho’oponopono when she found out I got them talking.” Darby stumbled over the Hawaiian term that meant an ancient problem-solving process, kind of like something a counselor would use, but she still felt proud.
Answering the soft knock at the door, her mother smiled over her shoulder and said, “Let me give you a tip: Don’t try practicing your ho’oponopono skills on me.”
The aroma of oregano and cheese puffed into the room as Ellen removed a silver dome from the tray of treats, and Darby could only listen and eat as her mother told her about her working life in Tahiti.
“I’ve never spent so much time with the same cast and crew,” her mother said. She sipped her diet cola thoughtfully. “At the risk of sounding sappy, I have to tell you, it really is like a big family.”
Just as her mother had bitten back her views on Ann, Darby didn’t point out that her mother already had a great family she should get to know better.
“What about your cousin Duxelles?” Ellen asked suddenly.
Darby groaned.
“She’s a striking girl, but she looks unhappy,” Ellen said.
“Funny you should use the word striking.” Darby didn’t choke back her sarcasm, but she did explain that her cousin’s bullying didn’t stop short of shoves and stinging finger flicks. “The nicest thing I can say about her is she’s a strong swimmer. The one time I actually liked Duckie—”
“Duckie?”
“—was when she helped rescue the foals from the churned-up water after the tsunami.”
Ellen’s eyes widened, grew angry, then worried, and finally shone with laughter as Darby explained how Duckie had gotten her nickname.
Satisfied and drowsy with dinner and gossip, Darby turned down her mother’s offer of watching an in-room movie.
“Maybe tomorrow night,” Ellen said. She tucked Darby into bed as if she were a child, but Darby didn’t protest.
Sometime her mother slipped into the bed next to her. Sometime she turned out the bedside lamp. And sometime, just before her eyes closed for the night, Darby said, “I loved watching you ride, Mama,” but she was asleep before Ellen answered.
The next day, Darby’s mother and Aunt Babe taught her what it meant to be pampered.
For breakfast, she ate taro and mango pancakes with toasted coconut sprinkles. Next, she snorkeled in a pool surrounded by lava rocks and filled with native fish. After that, her mother let her drive a golf cart on their spin around the resort grounds.
Lunch was ti leaf–wrapped fish. It was delicious, but a little weird. She didn’t know if she was supposed to eat the ti leaf, and the fish looked just like one she’d swum next to an hour before.
The hotel’s Cultural Corner turned out to be a gift shop. It had a wall of portraits and replicas of artifacts that reminded her of the ancient necklace that had attached itself to her on the pali, but when her mom offered to buy her a souvenir, Darby didn’t see anything she wanted. She didn’t need a trinket to keep her smiling, because Ellen looked more content every moment, and that made Darby happy, too.
When they were having an afternoon snack of passion fruit, pineapple, and papaya ice cream with lavender sauce at an outside table, Ellen lowered the sunglasses covering her eyes and looked at Darby.
“If we did stay, you’d have to attend a private school,” Ellen said, “and that takes a lot of money.”
Darby sat back in her chair. Her impulse was to bounce around crowing with delight, but she thought of Megan’s advice to hang back.
Taking a deep breath, Darby said, “I wouldn’t have to. I like my school.”
“The public schools here aren’t that good, honey. Everyone knows that.”
“But wait, the Potters—you know, Ann’s family—well, not to be impolite, but her family has tons of money and Ann goes to Lehua High School. And Mom, you went to Lehua! What better endorsement could they get than that?”
“Come on, sweet talker,” her mom said, pushing her sunglasses back into position. Then she stood and adjusted her straw hat to protect her complexion. “Let’s change into dry swimsuits and go back to the beach.”
The next morning, Ellen let Darby oversleep on purpose and called her school to say Darby was out on family business.
Is this bribery? Darby wanted to ask, but instead she raced her mom up the resort’s climbing wall, wearing the cute little skirt Aunt Babe had given her to play tennis in—which she did badly—and swam some more before lunch.
It wasn’t until Flight’s neigh stopped Darby from chewing a macadamia-crusted prawn and she stared into the air, thinking of Hoku, that Ellen said, “You’re not enjoying this, are you?”
“Are you kidding? Of course I am!” Darby said, and she meant it.
Why would Ellen say such a thing?
“But you’d rather be with your horse than your mother.”
“No. No way.” Darby shook her head so hard, her wet ponytail slapped her cheeks.
“Go ahead, honey, be honest.”
“Mom, don’t you think you’re being kind of paranoid?” Darby asked, but Ellen just sat back, studying her, waiting for her daughter to give the question more thought. “Okay. It’s true that if I had to choose between ‘Iolani Ranch’s green grass and that golf course for the rest of my life, I’d pick the ranch. And if I had to pick Sugar Sands’ lava lagoon or the ocean, I’d pick the ocean. But this is totally fun, like a vacation.”
Darby didn’t flinch away, but she was curious when her mother reached for her ponytail.
“This confirms it,” her mother said. “See the reddish tips on your black ponytail? They’re sunburnt. You’ve turned into an outdoor girl.”
“Of course,” Darby said, thinking of her mom riding headlong into the rain forest. “It’s in my blood. I was born into the Explorers Club.”
“I don’t know.” Her mom stretched like a cat. “I could get used to this. Your aunt Babe has offered to let us live here rent free, with maid service.”
Darby froze.
She thought of a mouse in the owl’s shadow.
Stay still, stay very still, she told herself.
She wanted to stay in Hawaii, but not here.
“You can breathe,” her mom said. “I told her we’d have to think about it.”
“It’s an incredible offer,” Darby admitted.
“And I haven’t said no.”
Darby nodded. Looking at the offer from Ellen’s point of view, she must be flattered that Aunt Babe wanted her here for her star power.
“I don’t have to go back to work until Wednesday morning,” her mom said, “but it’s important you get back to school—part of this decision is going to be based on your grades, young lady…”
“Good,” Darby said, and she meant it. The only class she’d fallen below an A in was Ecology, and Mr. Silva was acknowledged to be a real warlock when it came to makeup work. She’d better remember that.
But her mom was still talking.
“…and Cathy said she’d like to pick you up after Megan’s soccer practice today and take you back to the ranch. Hoku’s making a nuisance of herself.”
“Hoku? What’s wrong?” Darby asked.
“She’s fine, but she’s neighing incessantly. For you, probably.”
“Aw, poor Hoku,” Darby said, and she knew how the filly felt. “But, what will you do—”
“Without you?” Ellen kissed Darby’s cheek. “I’ll console myself with a massage in the massage garden, maybe have breakfast in bed….”
Darby smiled. After living in a bunch of low-rent apartments, working low-paying jobs while she polished her acting skills and took care of her daughter, Ellen was enjoying this taste of luxury.
“Okay,” Darby said. “But before you leave, can we go ride together once more?”
And since I’ve been the most patient human on earth, can you tell me then whether we can stay in Hawaii?
“Absolutely. Tuesday afternoon. It’s a date!” Ellen said, and then she dumped the contents of a sterling-silver sugar bowl into a cloth napkin, knotted the top, and handed it to Darby. “Until then, tell the horses I said aloha.”
Megan looked longingly over her shoulder as the white hotel grew smaller out the SUV’s back window. “Restaurant meals, maids, and massages? What a drag, yeah?”
“I know, it’s awful of me not to appreciate it more,” Darby said as Megan begged for details of her days at the resort, “but it’s just not my thing.”
“It’s my thing,” Megan whined.
“Megan,” Aunty Cathy scolded.
“So, Hoku’s sad?” Darby asked.
“Sad?” Aunty Cathy met Darby’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “No, I’d say she can’t believe you’d go off and leave her. What would you say, Megan?”
“Incredulity.” Megan stretched the word out. “It’s one of my vocabulary words in English this week. Let me use it in a sentence for you. ‘Hoku is in a state of incredulity, because no one abandons the mustang princess.’”
“I think you’re the one Darby shouldn’t leave alone,” Aunty Cathy said.
“I’m just excited because I don’t have any chores for two days,” Megan reminded Darby.
“I know.” Darby groaned. But she really didn’t mind.
This was real life, she thought. Teasing and chores. And if it was wrong of her not to appreciate the resort, but to feel pleased that Hoku missed her, then oh, well.
“You’ll be able to hear Hoku before you see her,” Aunty Cathy said, and Darby smiled as she looked out the window.
She could hardly wait.
Chapter Thirteen
With Conch ground-tied nearby, getting used to the sight of dirt flying from a shovel, Kimo dug holes along the fence line with the Zinks.
“Your horse, she’s pretty darn aggravated,” Kimo said when he spotted Darby.
Darby heard Hoku’s imperious neighs.
“Listen to her,” Cade called as he walked from the ranch office toward her and Kimo. “She thinks you’d better get yourself on down to that corral right this minute.”
Darby laughed and took the pink slip of paper Cade handed her. Before she could read it, Cade tapped the note.
“Call Ann Potter,” he said, then squinted as if stunned by the sound waves of Hoku’s whinny. “If you’re up for learning that bronc stop, now’d be a good time to try it,” Cade said. “She’s apt to pull something.”
“Sure, I’m up for it,” Darby said, trying not to imagine the shock of her bones colliding with the earth.
“Yeah, keiki,” Kimo said, calling her “kid,” “you been gone so long, I’m, uh, you know—” He looked meaningfully at Cade.
“What?” The young paniolo definitely wasn’t getting Kimo’s message. Cade appeared mystified.
“You know da kine—PhD.”
“PhD?” Darby asked. It was a college degree; she knew that much. But was Kimo saying he’d earned a PhD in the two days she’d been gone?
It had to be some kind of joke, and when she glanced over at Cade, his stifled smile made it clear that he’d heard this before.
“Okay,” Darby said, taking the bait, “I was gone so long that you got a PhD?”
“No, I am a PhD,” he repeated slowly. “Post-hole digger, yeah?”
Darby rolled her eyes at the joke, but Kimo chuckled to himself as Cade explained that the Zinks had called Jonah to say they’d gladly pay for a new wooden fence if ‘Iolani Ranch donated the labor.
“They said they never realized the barbed wire was dangerous,” Cade told her. He shook his head. “Wonder what made ’em think of it now.”
Darby knew. She remembered the thoughtful way that Patrick had taken in her remark that all she knew about him was that his family had barbed-wire fences.
But she didn’t pause to discuss the Zinks with Cade and Kimo.
She was headed for her horse.
Hoku fell quiet the minute she could see and be seen. She’d only been calling, like one herd member for another who’d fallen behind or been lost, Darby thought. Now that Hoku saw her, the filly communicated silently, as any wild horse would.
Hoku’s ears tipped so far forward, they almost touched her brow. Her nostrils flared wide, searching for scent clues to Darby’s disappearance.
“I’m sorry, girl,” Darby said softly. “If you could’ve understood where I was going, I would have told you.”
Curiosity remained Hoku’s primary mood until Darby passed the fence. Once Darby was inside the corral, the wild filly’s attitude changed.
Head held high, tail upflung and streaming, Hoku circled the corral at a gallop.
Darby squinted against the dust, until the sorrel stopped and advanced. Ears pointed sideways, head tilted, and lips protruding like she was asking for a kiss, Hoku came closer.
Darby recognized the signs as playfulness, but she wondered what came next. The relaxed eyes, the lips…
“I don’t think so!” Darby jumped aside as Hoku tried to give her a mischievous nip. “We don’t have the same kind of skin, girl.”
Hoku tossed her forelock from her face and pranced a circle around Darby. Though the filly’s lips wore an expression equivalent to a human smile, Darby stayed on her toes, ready to dart away. Even if it was given in affection, a nip would hurt.
