Holiday Spice & Everything Nice

by Conn, Claudy

  A bright smile lightened Erika’s face. “I’m not too young to see when someone’s trying to make me realize what I have and appreciate it.”

  Kap returned her grin and winked. “I guess not. Maybe I’m not as sly as I think I am.”

  “When are those bird sanctuary people going to pick up our little friend? He’s not so annoying since he’s settled down.”

  “I’d be annoying too, if I was scared and hungry.” Kap returned Turnabout to his makeshift cage. “They were supposed to come today, but I put them off until tomorrow.”

  Erika stuck out her lower lip and pouted. “I kind of want to keep him now.”

  “It’s tempting, isn’t it? But it wouldn’t be in his best interest. He’s a wild creature and as soon as he’s able, he should be set free.” Kap urged Erika through the door. “I think you would be better off getting a dog.”

  Erika walked by, and said with a glint in her eye, “Or a dolphin.”

  Mr. Kaplinger’s laugh was full-bodied and warm. “I was wondering how long it would be until we circled back to that.”

  “You have to admit it’s awfully coincidental. You arrived about the same time Brittany and Grady encountered the dolphins. You are set to check out on December twenty-first, the Winter Solstice. You’ve heard Lena’s story.” Erika poked Kap’s arm with her finger. “You are supposed to bring us luck and love.”

  He wrapped a gentle arm around the young girl’s shoulders. “I hate to have to remind you, but it looks like the only thing I’ve brought you and your family is tragedy.”

  She looked the older man square in the eye. “A few moments ago, I felt more than alone. I felt lonely,” Erika said, solemnly. She waved her arm out across the growing crowd of mourners gathering down on the beach. “If not for you, all the thousand words of comfort I’m about to hear would have meant nothing. I think I might make it through today, and as weird as it might sound, I might even enjoy myself a little. I’m lucky you’re here, Mr. Kaplinger. Because of you, I can feel the love of everyone around me. So yeah, in my eyes, you are our mystical savior. Accept it.”

  Kap Kaplinger watched Erika flounce down the hill toward her huge family, with a skip in her step. He raised his bright blue eyes up to the heavens and smiled.

  • • •

  GRADY COULDN’T BRING himself to leave the lanai. It brought back too many memories. He barely made it through the funeral service for his parents. He must have been responsible for planning it, but he was in such a fog, he couldn’t remember picking up the phone or making a single arrangement. What he remembered was all the black suits, the black dresses, and the black frame holding his mom and dads’ last anniversary portrait. Their bodies had never been recovered, so a casket or urn was not present to make the event feel like a final goodbye.

  “There are a couple of young ladies down on the beach who could use those strong arms of yours to lean on,” a deep voice stated behind him.

  Grady turned around and Mr. Kaplinger handed him a bottle of water. He accepted the drink and unscrewed the lid. The moment the cool liquid touched his lips, Grady realized how thirsty he was, and downed the contents in its entirety. “Thanks, I needed that.”

  “Lena told me what happened to your parents. This must be a difficult day for you.”

  There was an emotional hitch in Grady’s voice and he quickly changed the subject. “Larry was a good guy. He helped me build the business plan I pitched to Annie about franchising her Jamoka Jack Coffee Cart. Without Larry’s input, I’m afraid the whole venture is in jeopardy. His passing has the family in a tailspin. I doubt Annie will be able to focus on work any time soon.”

  The lines in Kap’s forehead furrowed into deep chasms. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Annie seems like a pretty astute businesswoman. I understand she ran her own company on the mainland before moving here.” He clapped Grady on the shoulder. “Life goes on, whether you’re ready for it or not.” Kap stepped back inside the kitchen. “If anyone knows that, it’s you.”

  The sliding glass door closed and Grady scrubbed his face. He should be down at the beach helping with Max, but a large part of him wanted to go home and curl up in a ball. He was worried about Erika, Annie, and Marissa, but it was Eleanor who concerned him the most. Larry was her life. He was the sole reason for her being on the island. She loved the girls like a mother, but they would be fine without her. She raised them well and believed her mothering days were almost over.

  Tomorrow, Eleanor, Marissa, and Annie would escort Larry’s ashes back to San Diego to plan another memorial service for his many friends and scattered family members back in California. Annie told him she would be gone a couple of weeks, and Grady believed that represented the end of their Coffee Cart venture.

  The service being held in the sand brought back the loss of his parents, and the plane which would carry Annie to SoCal, symbolized the loss of his future.

  Grady couldn’t catch his breath. He loosened his tie and undid the strangling top button of his white dress shirt. Overwhelmed with emotion, tears fell from his eyes. He couldn’t stay. He had to escape.

  Five seconds later, he was in his silver Ford Fusion. The sound of the engine turning over brought him a momentary reprieve from his misery, but it also brought him guilt. He was abandoning the people he loved in their time of need.

  Grady gunned the motor and gravel sprayed when he turned out of the driveway.

  • • •

  BRITTANY BARELY HEARD the words the minister spoke. She hoped Grady would be here with her. He had been unduly subdued since Larry’s death, and she feared what his grief would do to him.

  Max was in her arms. For once, he wasn’t complaining. It was almost like he knew that now was not the time to act up. The sound of Grady’s car speeding away caught her attention. Sadness filled her soul. Britt rubbed Max’s dark hair and tried to refocus on Larry’s service.

  Annie caught her eye and motioned for her to come closer. As politely as possible, Brittany nudged her way through the crowd.

  Max lunged out to his mom and Annie pulled her boy against her breast. Her eyes darted toward the parking lot. “Go make sure Grady is okay.”

  Those were the words Brittany wanted to hear, but she resisted. “He can wait. You need me.”

  “I do,” Annie agreed, “but Grady needs you more.”

  Terence wrapped his arm protectively around his wife. “I got Annie. You go take care of the kid. You weren’t here when his parents died. We’re all a little frightened about what this is doing to him.”

  Brittany searched the couple’s eyes. “What if I mess up? I’m not sure what to do.”

  Terence shrugged. “He likes pancakes.”

  Annie cut her husband a long, unflickering glare.

  Terence cracked under the weight of her heady stare. “You don’t have to do a thing. You just have to show up and let him know you care.”

  • • •

  ELEANOR HELD MARISSA’S hand, and Marissa held Erika’s. None of them could let go. They were each other’s lifeboat and hanging on for dear life.

  The nails digging into the back of Marissa’s hands were close to drawing blood, but she didn’t mind. She took comfort in being able to absorb some of Eleanor and Erika’s pain. It also helped take her mind off the problems she would face the moment she returned to San Diego. Her father’s death opened the door for new management.

  She had a choice to make. She could put her grief aside and make a run for sole power, or continue with her plans to leave the firm completely. Marissa knew what her father expected, but she wasn’t sure working eighty hours a week would be in her family’s best interest. For the past few years she’d been doing just that and the stress was taking its toll.

  The decision had already been made once. She was almost out. David and the kids had moved to their small home in Lake Tahoe, and Jack and Sandy had settled into their new school. She missed David’s touch, his smart-ass remarks, and the spark in his eye whenever she walked int
o the room. Their marriage was still on solid ground, but Marissa wondered how much more they would be able to withstand.

  As fitful and as depressed as she felt the last few days, she’d been able to slip into a deep, solid sleep. It was her body’s way of avoiding the decisions she needed to make, and she luxuriated in its sweet denial. She was sad, lost, and lonely, but at least she was no longer sleep deprived.

  If at all possible, Marissa would have brought her family to Hawaii and stayed through the holidays, but her son had finals, her daughter had a recital, and her husband had found employment at an old friend’s law firm in Tahoe. Something had to give. None of them could keep this up much longer.

  The minister finished his sermon and gestured in her direction. Marissa drew in a deep breath and exhaled in nervous jags. Only a quick eulogy needed to be read before she could let go of her tightly held emotions. She stepped back and pulled Erika and Eleanor into each other’s arms.

  Her stiletto heels stuck in the sand when she approached the arch Annie’s sister had so elegantly decorated. Marissa grabbed the shoulder of one of Terence’s many cousins and removed her black strappy sandals. She hooked them in her index finger, and handed them to the solid block of a man. “Can you hold these for me, please?”

  With a small smile of encouragement, he accepted the shoes. Marissa continued down the beach in bare feet.

  • • •

  LARRY HAD BEEN a thorn in Terence’s side for years. Many times, he wished the man would simply go away. Now that his wish became reality, all he could do was berate himself for how he treated him during their last encounter.

  A conversation required both parties having a voice, but he lectured Larry and hadn’t allowed him to get in a single word. Terence hadn’t wanted an explanation. He thought he had all the answers. Larry had contrived a way for their daughter to meet a boy of a more appropriate age than Grady. If Terence hadn’t been so quick to jump to conclusions, or held off judgment, he might have seen that something was going wrong inside Larry’s head.

  Looking back, the signs were obvious, the persistent headaches he suffered, the occasional blurred vision, and Larry’s insistence he had nothing to do with Warden showing up at Lena’s. He and Eleanor even joked that Alzheimer’s might be playing a role in his forgetfulness.

  Unbeknownst to any of them, an aneurysm had begun to bleed inside his brain. The doctor’s best guess was that it began slowly, causing the first symptoms, which Larry ignored. When Erika found him in the middle of a full-blown seizure, the specialist surmised that enough blood had seeped out to trigger the stroke Larry was never able to recover from.

  Terence didn’t think he would forgive himself anytime soon, but Eleanor brushed off his guilt as misguided. She insisted if anyone was to blame, it was her. She lived with the man and hadn’t been overly concerned about the symptoms he presented. It wasn’t as if Larry hadn’t had a hundred headaches before, and it wasn’t unusual for his vision to be blurry after spending the day pouring over legal documents. If these things were more severe than he was accustomed to, it was Larry’s responsibility to relay that information to her, or his doctor, but he hadn’t. The only clue she had that anything was wrong was when he quipped that he didn’t think he had Alzheimer’s, but that she should keep an eye on him anyway. Instead, she laughed and punched him lightly on the arm.

  Being a Monday morning quarterback wasn’t going to change the outcome. Larry was gone and he wasn’t coming back. However, it didn’t mean he couldn’t improve himself. He vowed no more lectures. He would listen to Erika when she defended her actions and not shut her down.

  He glanced at his son resting in Annie’s arms. The boy was headstrong and had a temper. Terence could already envision Max running through every boundary he and Annie forbade him to cross. His beautiful child was bound to push his patience to the limit.

  Terence pulled Annie tighter into his chest. They would have to devise a way to curb their boy’s wild ways without destroying his individuality.

  • • •

  ANNIE SNUGGLED INTO her husband’s arms. She wished she could keep her mind in the present, but numbers ran through her head. This was the worst possible time for her to leave, but Eleanor and Marissa needed her in San Diego.

  Her best friend was delivering loving words about her father. Annie wanted to hear what Marissa had to say, so she tried to push the Coffee Cart franchise from her mind. Why was it so hard for her to maintain focus? She loved Larry. He and Marissa saved her from a wretched childhood. Participating in his final goodbye should have been in the forefront of her mind, but she kept drifting off.

  A splash out in the cove caught everyone’s attention and a hush fell over the proceedings.

  Annie turned toward the sound. Even Max’s head followed the noise.

  A spinner dolphin leaped out of the water and flipped before dipping back into the sea.

  When one spinner starts to play, more will follow. Today was no exception. The pod put on a show that would rival a production at Sea World. For a solid fifteen minutes, their acrobatics entertained the guests.

  Lena walked up beside them. “Have you ever seen such a thing?” she asked.

  “Not in this cove,” Terence replied.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Annie saw Marissa grab the arch and collapse against it. Max was shoved into his father’s chest, and Annie rushed to bolster her best friend.

  “What an awesome finale,” Marissa gushed when Annie drew near.

  “You don’t mind that they interrupted your speech?”

  Marissa blinked hard and her head fell back with sad laughter. “I was about to break down and cry all over the place. Those little dolphins saved me from acute humiliation.”

  Annie took a step back and looked into Marissa’s eyes. “Only you would think that crying at your father’s funeral service was humiliating.”

  “Daddy wouldn’t like it.”

  Annie grabbed Marissa’s shoulders and gave them a little shake. “I loved the man, but to hell with Daddy.”

  Marissa pulled Annie in for a hug and echoed her refrain. “To hell with Daddy.”

  11

  BRITTANY KNOCKED ON Grady’s front door and waited. His car was in the drive, but he wasn’t answering. Drumming her fingers on the screen, she agonized over her next move. Britt wasn’t leaving without seeing him, so that made her decision to break in a little easier to live with.

  She wiggled the knob to make sure the house wasn’t unlocked before she did anything more invasive. It didn’t open, so she took a few steps back and searched for an unsecured window. The house appeared to be sealed up tight. Brittany scratched her neck and headed around back. She hoped he hadn’t been as vigilant with the rear door. Hesitant yet resolved, she unlatched the side gate and swung it open.

  Brittany gasped at the vision before her. Grady’s backyard was a pure tropical paradise, which she could only hope to achieve at Lena’s. She took a tentative step forward and heard her feet crunch on the gravel path.

  Grady hadn’t shown her this part of his home, and she felt guilty for invading his sanctuary. It was time to leave. She would pound on his door and yell at the top of her lungs until he let her in, but Britt wasn’t going to barge into his private place without an invitation.

  “You’ve come this far, you might as well come all the way inside,” Grady’s shaky voice called out from somewhere down the path.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to soil your hallowed ground.”

  Grady brushed away the giant leaf of a banana plant as he approached. He still wore his dark dress pants, but his tie was gone, and his white shirt hung unbuttoned and loose. His trim waist and slightly rippled young abs were tan and appealing.

  “Hallowed ground?” he asked.

  “Isn’t it?” His response confused her. “I’m a landscaper, but you never showed me this. I figured it was your special place. That’s why I was about to leave.”

  Grady surveyed the garden and consid
ered her hypothesis. “I guess it is, but not for me. My mom built it.”

  With Larry’s funeral, Brittany’s emotions were already inching toward the brink, but the pain in Grady’s sad green eyes shattered her heart into a million pieces. “But you kept it up. It’s special to you, too.”

  “For a long time, I couldn’t let go of the thought that she’d come back. All the evidence suggests my parents are dead, but their bodies were never found.” He tapped his skull with his index finger and squeezed his eyes tight. “I know they ended up as fish food, but part of me still believes they’re alive out there somewhere. So I keep Mom’s garden nice for her.”

  Brittany reached out and stroked his arm. “It’s a big job. I could help if you like.”

  Grady stepped away and brushed off her caress.

  That small gesture felt like a slap in the face. It was like Max wiping off one of her kisses. Coming from the boy she cared about made it much worse. Brittany’s eyes narrowed. The only thing that stopped her from punching Grady in the face was that he was already hurting.

  Her hand instinctively reached out again, but Britt caught herself and let her arm fall down to her side. “I think Larry’s death has brought up a lot of memories. Would you like to go inside and talk?”

  Grady stepped further down the path. “Maybe you could help me with something. I’d like you to take a look at a couple of plants. I’m not sure where they came from.”

  Brittany followed him to the far end of the yard. Inside a rather large pot were three marijuana plants. This time, she didn’t hold back and plowed her fist into his bicep. “I thought growing weed was illegal in Hawaii.”

  “My dad suffered from a bad form of arthritis. He had a medicinal grow card to help ease the pain and inflammation.”

  “Your dad was a pothead?”

  “No, he never smoked it. He baked it in brownies and would take a bite or two before going to bed. It was the only way he could sleep through the night.”

  “Maybe we should make some of those for Max,” Brittany joked. Grady wasn’t amused, so she decided to take his concerns a little more seriously. She touched the plant’s long middle leaf. “Just so we’re absolutely clear on the subject. I need to know if these plants are legal.”