He could hardly subject Megan to that possibility.
So he held his tongue, instead letting Noelani and Jackson hammer out an agreement. But curiosity got the better of him. He excused himself and followed her outside.
“Hey, wait up. You acted unhappy at my news back there.”
“Surprised, I suppose.” She still sounded miffed.
“Why? You made it plain enough that I need to find another woman. Are you, by chance, having second thoughts?”
Was she? Well…yes. Even so, she couldn’t admit it. “I hate to disappoint you, Adam. If you only invited Denise out to make me jealous, it’s not working. I hope you have a good time.” Jerking open her car door, Noelani climbed in and started the engine. She drove off, leaving Adam in a cloud of dust.
For a long time, he stared at the spot where her car had disappeared from sight. Hell, for some reason, he still had a feeling she was more upset than she’d let on.
CHAPTER TWELVE
PARKING AT THE SUGAR FETE was even worse than Jackson had said it would be. Noelani drove around the block five times before enlarging her search. Several blocks past the square where everything was happening, she chanced on someone pulling out of a slot on a side street. She didn’t mind stretching her legs after the drive from Bellefontaine. Better prepared today than she’d been at the museum, she’d worn comfortable sandals.
In choosing what to wear, she’d passed over the red dress Adam liked and had picked a golden-yellow sundress. The gold muted the auburn streaks in her hair. It was a dress she felt good wearing. And since she was nervous because this had been declared a family-on-parade day, looking her best was important.
Noelani worried about finding the family in the dense crowd. But as she entered the room where the coronation would take place, she spotted Jackson and Megan. In his white shirt and black pants, and with his athletic build, he did the family proud. And Megan’s pale-pink organza dress set off her violet-gray eyes and her mass of dark curls. Someone, Tanya or Esme, had pulled the ringlets high atop her head and secured them with a pink satin bow.
“Well, don’t you look like a little princess,” Noelani exclaimed, catching hold of the dancing child’s hand.
Jackson turned from the huddle of men. “Ah, Noelani, you made it. Aunt Esme’s been fretting. Our table’s at the front of the room. It’s almost time for the program. Do you mind taking Megan with you?”
“I don’t mind at all. Come on, honey, let’s go dazzle them with our charm.”
“What’s dazzle?” Megan hopped from toe to toe on new white patent shoes held to her feet by a thin rhinestone strap.
“See how the light winks off the diamonds in your shoes? That’s dazzle.”
“Oh.” Megan laughed happily and kicked high so she could see the sparkle. “They’re not real diamonds,” she said, pulling Noelani’s head down in order to whisper in her ear.
“I won’t tell anybody, if you don’t,” Noelani whispered back.
“’Kay. Noelani, if my daddy’s a king, will he hafta go live in a castle?”
Noelani dropped to one knee and gathered the girl close. “Gracious, no, honey. This is all pretend. King Sucrose is…” She started to say a title, but a four-year old wouldn’t understand that, either. “King Sucrose is make-believe. Today your daddy plays the part of a king, but tomorrow he’ll be plain daddy again.” Loosening her hold on Megan, Noelani started to rise, but as she idly scanned the crowd hunting for the Fontaine table, her gaze accidentally lit on Adam Ross. She caught herself seconds from taking a backward tumble.
As she stood and took Megan’s hand, she saw that Adam and his date sat two tables away from the Fontaines. Thank goodness. Spying an empty chair at the very end of the family table, some distance away from him, she left Megan with Tanya and quickly grabbed it. A mistake, she saw at once, as it placed her facing Denise Rochelle. Noelani had a passing acquaintance with the woman who worked as one of the mill’s core samplers. Surely it was her imagination that Denise was staring at her with animosity.
She was saved from dwelling on why by the arrival of Casey, Nick, Viv and Luc. Viv Renault glowed, as usual. Casey, while beautiful in her summer white pants and emerald shirt, still had shadows lurking deep within her eyes. They’d barely taken seats when the ceremony started.
Casey and Viv chatted companionably throughout. Nick and Luc did the same, occasionally giving Jackson a hard time until one of Aunt Esme’s famous scowls curbed their tongues.
If not for Megan dashing over to report every last detail to Noelani, she wouldn’t have felt like a part of the family.
“Auntie E said my daddy makes the handsomest king she’s ever seen, except for her brother. Her brother is my grandfather who went to heaven,” Megan announced as the ceremony wound down.
“The four of us are going to skip the parade and go somewhere for brunch,” Casey said. “We’ll catch you all later. If not in the park, then back here for the dance.”
She and Viv moved briskly away. Nick hesitated. “Luc’s group is performing in the square at three. You all ought to try and stop by to hear him.”
“Uh, sure.” Unconsciously, Noelani was checking Adam’s whereabouts. He and Denise had melted into the crowd. Sharp disappointment filled her as she dredged up the energy to stand. All at once, Tanya and Megan plunked down across from her.
“Aunt Esme said I shouldn’t ask. But since you don’t have a date, Noelani, would you take Megan to the parade and on the rides?” Tanya’s big eyes beseeched Noelani to say yes.
“What are your plans?”
“Several of my school friends are performing in the park. And there are some groups from New Orleans that I’ve never seen. Megan doesn’t like hanging around with my friends.”
Megan underscored that remark with a vigorous bob of her head.
“So we’re all splitting up? What about Aunt Esme?” Noelani craned her neck.
“She has friends who own a home on the parade route. They’ve invited her to sit on the balcony with them. She figured Megan would rather sit on the curb where she has a better chance of grabbing the candy and beads they toss from the floats.”
“It looks like it’s you and me, kid.” Noelani grabbed Megan’s hand. “In this crowd, promise you’ll stick right with me. Last thing I want to do is tell your dad I lost you.”
“Can we go see Daddy and the queen first?” Megan tugged Noelani down to her level again. “Daddy’s not gonna marry that old queen, is he?”
“Heavens, no. And she’s not old. In fact, she’s closer to being your sister.”
“A sister?” Megan skipped along. “I’d like a sister.”
“Honey, I didn’t mean your sister. Big people do a lot of joking around when they talk. Remember? I said this whole day is pretend.”
“Do all big people pretend?”
Noelani thought back on her life; when all the layers were stripped away, it had indeed been one pretense after another. Maybe that was why she had a difficult time letting anyone get too close. “I’m afraid most adults pretend things are different than they really are,” she said.
“Oh. Well, I won’t do that when I get big.”
MEGAN LOVED THE PARADE. So did Noelani. She’d never seen anything like it in Hawaii.
“Look, Noelani. We both got lots of pretty beads.”
Noelani’s three strands came from a swashbuckling pirate who swung down from a float. He kissed her before he laughingly dropped the beads over her head. She giggled, then glanced up to see Adam watching. Tossing her long hair over one shoulder, she gave the pirate a big hug.
Adam had no right to deliver that smoldering evil eye when he had Denise crawling all over him.
For the rest of the day it seemed that every time Noelani turned around, she and Megan ran into Adam and Denise. First, at the arcades, where Adam had apparently won Denise a garish stuffed dinosaur that Megan coveted. Noelani patted herself on the back for maintaining a smile all the way through Adam’s introduc
tions. Denise was the one to say rather rudely that they’d already met. Then she dragged Adam away.
Noelani immediately addressed Megan’s wish. “I’ll try to win you a dinosaur, honey.” Twenty dollars later, Megan proudly carried the ghastly green toy she promptly named Dino.
The next time they met up with Adam and Denise, Noelani was trying to help Megan juggle the huge dinosaur with a big tube of cotton candy.
Adam made a one-handed catch and saved the tube seconds before it hit the ground. “Careful, there, cupcake. Hey, we’re just heading out to put Denise’s stuffed animal in my truck. Would you like me to take yours as well, Megan?”
The child studied the woman with the similar toy, who seemed glued to Adam’s left arm. Megan edged closer to Noelani. So close, her sticky fingers brushed Noelani’s skirt, leaving a pink smear across the gold. “I wanna put Dino in No’lani’s car.”
Adam’s shrug said fine. “I guess you guys bought him in one of the booths.”
Megan shook her head. “Noelani won him for me.”
“No kidding?” Despite Denise’s pout, Adam reached out and squeezed Noelani’s biceps. “Who’d have guessed you had muscle enough to knock down three sets of pins in a row.”
“Gee, I thought you’d put all my muscles to the test already,” she said sweetly, before she jerked loose and circumvented the couple. She wasn’t sure why she felt so inclined to remind Adam of their intimate night together.
However, she refused to look back to see if her barb had hit home. But of course it had. Because she heard Denise ask Adam what she’d meant. He stuttered and sputtered, then ended by clamming up in typical Adam Ross fashion.
The five-block jaunt to her car helped to neutralize her irritation. Darn it all, though, she’d ordered Adam to find someone else. But it was who he’d found that set her teeth on edge. Although, why did the who matter? She’d resent anyone.
Megan chattered a blue streak as she skipped along. It took Noelani a minute to realize the girl expected a response to her last question. “Can we get some lunch, Noelani?” Megan repeated patiently.
“Gracious, it’s later than I thought. I guess you’re hungry for real food. Let’s drop Dino off and find a place to wash your sticky hands first.”
Once they’d accomplished that goal, they wandered the food booths, running into Jackson and his pretty young queen. Megan threw herself into her dad’s arms. “Hey, sugarplum, I wondered where you got off to.” Turning to the blonde, he said, “Trish, this is my daughter, Megan, and my…uh…sister, Noelani Hana.”
“We’re after food,” Noelani babbled, not fully absorbing the significance of Jackson having declared their family ties.
“Us, too. Although Trish plans to eat with her boyfriend. We saw Adam and Denise, and I said I’d grab a burger and sit with them. Why don’t you two join us? Noelani, I gave Tanya money for Megan. Let me buy your lunch and here’s some extra for her afternoon.”
“I have money, Jackson.”
“Which you don’t need to spend on my daughter. Aren’t you saving every cent to buy out Bruce Shiller? By the way, how’s he doing?”
“I haven’t talked to him in a couple of weeks. Should I be calling him?”
“I heard the coalition mandated another hike in shipping. Stuff like that hits Hawaiian and Australian growers especially hard.”
Noelani didn’t respond as she took the money Jackson handed her. “Megan, you said you wanted a hot dog. Here’s the booth. Tell the man what you’d like on it.” She chewed her lip as they waited. Tomorrow, she’d try to reach Bruce. Another shipping increase was not good news.
She followed Jackson to a table and began nibbling on an apple she’d brought. She let their chatter swirl around her. Even so, it was a relief when they were joined by Casey and Nick.
“We were going to wait for Viv and Luc, but Nick’s starved.” Casey took a seat across from Noelani. “So, how are you liking your first Sugar Fete? I see you picked up some beads.”
“No’lani got kissed by the pirate who gave her the beads,” Megan said loudly, making Noelani blush.
“Ooh.” Casey, Nick and Jackson all teased her at once.
“Adam!” Denise tugged on his shirt until he turned. “We’ll miss the blues singer at the south end of the park if we don’t leave now.”
“I haven’t taken two bites of my po’boy, Denise.”
“Can’t you carry it? I’m eating my catfish as we walk.”
Jackson and Nick shared a smirk as Adam got up and stepped outside the bench seat. No one said a word until after the couple had disappeared.
“What do you suppose he sees in that little tart?” Casey muttered.
“Careful, she works for us at the mill,” Jackson cautioned. “They weren’t here long enough for me to form an opinion. What do you have against her, sis?”
Casey shrugged. “She certainly has Adam jumping through hoops.”
Noelani thought so, too. And it nagged her all afternoon. She didn’t want to run into them at the dance and wished there was some way she could just leave. Unfortunately, she’d been more or less told by Esme that attendance at the dance was a command performance.
By 6:00 p.m. the building where they’d held the crowning ceremony had been transformed into a ballroom. Thankful that it was dimly lit, Noelani took a seat with the family. Aunt Esme introduced her to her friends. Their son asked Noelani to dance.
After one dance, Noelani escaped to the ladies’ room. While in a stall, she realized Denise and a couple of her friends had come in to use the mirror. Denise made a disparaging remark about Casey. Noelani knew then what Casey had against Denise Rochelle. This wasn’t the first derogatory remark the woman had made about the family who paid her salary. Noelani battled a tug-of-war within herself. She wanted to go out and say something, but maybe Denise was hoping to provoke her in order to bring shame to the family. Keeping silent, Noelani outwaited them.
But from then on, her eyes constantly tracked Adam.
She had no way of knowing that, across the room, Adam did the same with her. He tried several times to break away from Denise. But every time, his date clung to him, or dragged him onto the dance floor. Adam gnashed his teeth whenever some new man swung Noelani out for a dance. Dammit, he wanted to hold her at least once before the night ended.
After the band’s break, he said, “Denise, excuse me, but I’m going to go claim these last few dances with the Fontaine women.”
“Why? You’re only a lowly employee,” Denise drawled. “They’re not like us, Adam.”
“That’s crap, Denise, and you know it.”
Adam found Casey and Nick alone at the family table. He’d already seen Jackson dancing with a grower’s wife. “I’m here to claim my dance,” Adam said. “I expect to take a turn with all the beautiful Fontaine femme fatales.”
Casey glanced up. “You’ll have to settle for me, Adam. Noelani left to drive the others home. Tanya wanted to wait and ride with Jackson, but Aunt Esme pointed out that it’s her job to put Megan to bed. The others were more than ready to go. Anyway, I somehow doubt it’s me you’re dying to dance with. You think we haven’t noticed the way you’ve been keeping tabs on Noelani?”
“What?”
Nick laughed. “You two aren’t fooling anyone. It couldn’t have been more obvious to anyone that you and Noelani would rather be with each other.”
Adam straddled a vacant chair and rubbed his face with his hands. “You’re wrong. At least from Noelani’s perspective. Every time I saw her, a different guy had her in his arms.”
Casey made tsking noises. “Take it from me, she was pea-green over your bringing Denise. But Adam, jealousy only works so long. Then you have to declare.”
Nick leaned toward Adam. “Best friend or not, you dance with my lady and I’ll break your face.” Nick’s devilish smile took the edge off his threat.
“Go soak your head.” Rising, Adam socked Nick in the shoulder for good measure, and they all laughed as
he twirled Casey away in a fast two-step.
Rejoining Denise after the number ended, Adam yawned. “Esme and half the family has gone home. I’ve gotta say, that idea has merit. Going home,” he reiterated, yawning again. “It’s been a full day. And we’ve got a ways to drive.”
“Please let’s stay one more hour?” Denise begged. “My favorite band in the whole world takes over from this one.”
Adam agreed to one hour, which turned into three. The last band quit at two, otherwise, Adam figured he’d never have pried Denise away.
She cuddled up to him on the seat and fell asleep, which was fine with Adam. He woke her up when they arrived outside her apartment.
“Ugh, I’m zonked. You must be, too, after that drive. Come on in and spend what’s left of the night, er…morning,” she purred, stretching and rubbing catlike against Adam.
“It’s not that far to Bellefontaine.”
“Sure. I understand if you’re squeamish about going to bed on a first date. Shall we set up a second one now?” she suggested, tugging Adam forward by his shirtfront.
He untangled her hands from the material. “Ah, Denise. I, uh, enjoyed today, but I’m…interested in another woman,” he said in a rush.
“Duke Fontaine’s bastard.” She scowled. “I’m right, aren’t I, Adam?”
“It’s late, Denise. We’re both tired. Accept that we had a nice day for old time’s sake.”
She flounced from the pickup into her apartment, slamming both doors. Adam winced at the noise, half expecting lights to pop on in her neighbors’ apartments. Or maybe they were used to such outbursts. He left the moment he saw her lights go on.
Adam brooded all the way home about Casey’s advice.
DECLARING HIS FEELINGS for Noelani had sounded like a fine idea when Casey needled him at the dance. But a week later, Adam still hadn’t managed to talk to her. If he stayed up late, she showed up later. Days he rolled out of bed with the chickens, she was already gone, leaving little but a trace of her perfume in the vicinity of the refrigerator. Too close to where Adam had to spend the day working.
The Secret Daughter Page 21
