by Conn, Claudy
That was crazy. Warden showed up the same time as Mr. Caprice. He was one of the lucky strangers brought in by the dolphins. Had she and Lena been wrong? Was Mr. Caprice really a human named Mr. Kaplinger? Seeing her foolishness, Brittany began to chuckle. What was crazy was the myth about the dolphins and that a large part of her believed it.
Warden put his heart and soul into refurbishing the grounds of the B&B and he deserved to be paid. She walked over to her backpack and pulled out her wallet. It only held seventy dollars, but it was a start. “Here, take this,” she said, offering him the bills. “I’ll get Lena to write that letter. I’m unknown on the island, but she’s not.”
“I’m not taking your money. You earned it.” Warden shoved his hands in his pockets when she tried to press the bills into his palm. “I’m fine. All I want is a recommendation.”
“You earned this and a lot more. Please take it.”
Warden stepped back toward the door. “I’ll stop by tomorrow to pick up the letter.”
Brittany gave up and returned the money to her wallet. “I’ll make sure she has it ready.” The moment the boy turned to walk away, possibly for the final time, she realized how attached she was to the kid. Impulsively, Britt jumped on his back. Warden wobbled, but held his ground. “Will I ever see you again?” she asked, hugging him tighter.
“Get off me!” Warden exclaimed. “I live a few blocks away. It’s not like I’m vanishing off the face of the earth.”
Brittany slid off his back and glanced at the calendar on the wall. It was the eighteenth of December. If somehow the story about the dolphins and the strangers were true, Warden, Mr. Caprice, and the dolphins would disappear by the Winter Solstice. That was only a few days away on the twenty-first. Brittany figured she would have a definitive answer after that. She kind of liked the idea of having a guardian angel, even if it was only for a short time. It didn’t matter if Warden left on the shortest day of the year, or not, she knew she would always think of the boy as being a little on the mystical side.
Brittany extended her hand. “It’s been nice working with you. You came along at a time when you were needed most. Almost like magic.”
Warden swatted her hand away. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
• • •
TERENCE SECURED THE final bolt in the last of the seven security cameras placed around Grady’s property. He gave the screw another quarter turn and the job was complete. Then he lowered himself down the ladder and clapped the kid on his back. “Now let’s go see if they are working.”
“Could you explain to me, one more time, why the feed is going to your computer and not mine?”
Terence collapsed the ladder and made his way back across the street. “Don’t worry. I’ll give you the password.”
Grady followed, lapping at his heels like a puppy. “That’s not what I mean. Why do you need a direct feed of everything going on at my house?”
The kid had unwittingly placed his entire family in jeopardy and Terence wasn’t about to leave the feed solely up to Grady’s viewing discretion. “You’re a smart boy. I think you can figure it out.”
“Brittany,” Grady guessed.
“The last time I looked, she was legally an adult.” He placed the ladder in its proper place in the garage and brushed off his hands. “Strike one.”
“Erika.”
Terence chuckled. “You’re getting warmer.”
Grady threw his hands up in frustration and tossed out the last name on his list of possibilities. “Because of Annie? I don’t understand.” He grabbed Terence’s muscular bicep. “You’re not jealous of our relationship, are you?”
Terence stepped back and refused to answer his asinine question.
• • •
GRADY RECOGNIZED THAT look and decided to tread carefully. Somehow, he crossed the line with the man, but he couldn’t fathom what it was. “Mr. Javier,” he began, “what’s eating you?”
Terence sighed and leveled a glare in Grady’s direction.
Grady hated it when Mr. J. was in this kind of mood. It would be much more efficient if the man would simply tell him what was wrong. Instead, he forced Grady to figure it out himself.
Just like when he worked with him out on the Erika Rose, Grady began retracing his footsteps to discover the offending behavior.
He doubted Mr. J. would object to him jumping to the rescue earlier this morning with the Coffee Cart. Annie dropped the ball on that one, and he did his best to salvage their morning’s profits. Miraculously, the bumps in his relationship with Erika had been smoothed out without too much drama. Mr. J. nixed the idea of Brittany being the source of the issue facing them, but when he walked into the kitchen this morning and saw her sitting on his lap, the scowl on his face was unmistakable.
Grady closed his eyes and sighed. He wondered if this could have something to do with Max. He brushed off that thought and dug a little deeper. If it wasn’t one of the three women, it had to be all of them. A pit formed deep in his gut. Grady had inadvertently placed Mr. Javier’s entire household at risk, and Mr. J. wasn’t about to trust him with their safety.
“I’m sorry, Mr. J. My actions don’t just affect myself. They also affect the ones I love.”
Terence released the tight hold he had on his arms and relaxed. “I’m glad you see the light.”
The more mature man guided him up the porch to the swing. They sat down and looked at the house across the street. “If you have any guilt to bear, it was accidental,” Terence began. “However, you have been careless with the ladies this past year. My guess is that one of them has taken advantage of the fact that you were in pain and not paying attention to the things going on around you.”
“A list of all their names is already in the hands of Agent Tam,” Grady said, trying to assure him.
“Good,” Terence ruffled his hair. “You can’t change the past. I’m sure this will all straighten itself out in time. What you need to decide is how you intend on conducting yourself in the future.”
A half-smile inched its way onto Grady’s face. “So, this is about Brittany.”
Terence concurred. “Not just her. It’s also about you and your happiness. Jumping from one girl to the next is a quick fix. The only problem is that it doesn’t last. Pretty soon, you need another one, then another. You find yourself stuck on a merry-go-round, fun when you first get on, but it gets old going in the same circle.” Terence pointed at the trash can overflowing with beer bottles out on the curb. “I’m glad you finally cleaned up a bit. I’m not sure how a twenty-year-old was able to purchase all that.”
“I had a fondness for older women,” Grady snickered. “They plied me with alcohol and had their way with me.”
“You used them,” Terence said solemnly.
“Probably a more accurate description is that we used each other,” Grady said, offering up a weak defense.
Terence rubbed his chin so thoughtfully you could hear the scratching of stubble against his fingers. “That’s obvious considering the mess you’ve found yourself in.”
Somewhere in what Mr. J. was saying was a life lesson Grady needed to learn. It was another thing Terence would leave him to figure out on his own.
Grady felt he made great strides toward growing up. He was about to embark on a huge business venture which would change his life. If he and Annie were successful, he would be set.
Another light bulb popped in his head. Mr. J. was worried that he was using Annie as a means to an end. Annie was already on solid ground. It was his future at stake, not hers. A few weeks ago, she was thinking about selling out. The Jamoka Jack Coffee Cart had always been more of a hobby for her than a career. Annie wanted to spend more time with Max and possibly have another child. Grady pulled her in deeper by whetting her appetite with a new challenge, and he used Larry and Eleanor to help seal the deal.
The pit in his gut sunk lower. “You don’t think Annie and I should go into business together.”
Terence stretched
out his long legs. “I didn’t say that.”
“That’s the problem!” Grady jumped up and yelled. “You never say anything. All you do is plant the seed and let my guilty conscience do the rest. Annie calls it being Terrorenced-ized. It wreaks havoc with your psyche, and you do it all the flippin’ time.” He leaped off the porch and headed back to his house. “Email me the stupid password!”
• • •
NO MATTER HOW hard he tried, Terence couldn’t stop the smile from creeping onto his lips. He hadn’t realized it before, but the only person he ever lectured was Larry and occasionally Erika. The kid was right, most of the time he simply nudged people over to his way of thinking.
It didn’t look as if he had nearly as far to go to satisfy the vow to curb his lecturing ways as he initially thought. Time would tell if this ploy would work on Max. Nothing he and Annie came up with so far seemed to do the trick. If the boy was ever able to be reasoned with, he might have a chance. Terence didn’t count on it.
Terrorenced-ized? He wondered how long the family had that nickname for his slippery ways.
With a grin still plastered on his face, he went inside to finish setting up the account for the new security system. When the prompt to enter a new username and password popped up, Terence typed out Stupid3357 for the username, and 33Kid57 for the password, then forwarded the information on to Grady.
A couple of minutes later, his email pinged. It was a message from the boy across the street.
I might be laughing, but I’m still mad. P.S. Using my house number isn’t very original. I was expecting something 24 characters long from a security conscious computer geek like you.
Terence typed in reply, I planned to, but then you wouldn’t be smiling.
A few seconds later, another message popped up. Does that mean you’re going to change it?
Terence laughed out loud. Yes, it does.
He barely hit send before a new message from Grady appeared.
How about this... 33Stupid57PaSSwordForGRADY.
That’s 26 characters, Terence typed in reply. A moment later, the kid’s laughter drifted in the open window.
Fine!... 33Stupid57KidNamedGrADyB.
It was a horrible password. There was way too much personal information in it, but it was extremely apropos. Terence changed the password and wrote, DONE! Remember, you’re sleeping here tonight.
Does that offer include dinner?
It looked as though Grady had already put their argument behind him. Terence tapped out, It always does.
14
BRITTANY OPENED THE refrigerator and looked for something cold to drink. Since Warden’s unexpected departure, she had to restructure her week at the B&B. Her plan for Lena’s garden wasn’t fully implemented, but the boy was right. Most of the heavy lifting was complete. Only a couple elements were left to finish off the hardscape. Digging in the dirt and adding new plants would finish off the project. The challenge was pulling Lena away from the place long enough to go shopping.
She grabbed a pitcher of juice and poured some into a glass. After she dropped a couple of chunks of ice in the drink, she walked over to the large sliding glass door. The arch she decorated for Larry’s service was still down on the beach. It should have been dismantled by now, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Lena walked up behind her. “Are you admiring your work?”
“More like seeing things I should be doing.” Brittany raised her glass. “I found this in the fridge. It smells delicious. What is it?”
An amused twinkle formed in Lena’s dark eyes. “It’s an old family recipe. We call it Jumby Brew.”
Brittany took a gulp and instantly spit the drink all over the window. Her mouth burned from the amount of alcohol in the blend. “Why didn’t you tell me there was booze in it?”
Lena’s entire body shook with silent laughter. “And miss that?” She handed Brittany a towel. “Make sure you make that glass sparkle and don’t leave it on too long. That stuff might pit it.”
Britt took the towel and began cleaning up the mess. “Did Warden talk to you?”
“Yes, he did.” Lena sighed and sat down. “I tried to pay what he was owed, but he wouldn’t accept it.”
Not being paid was the whole reason behind his departure. Brittany couldn’t wrap her head around why he left. “I don’t understand that boy.”
“I suspect the landscaping game wasn’t his cup of tea.” She wagged a finger at Brittany. “Or maybe you yelled at him one too many times.”
Brittany wiped up the last of the Jumby Brew and faced her boss. “Hey! I tried hard to be the plant whisperer, but every once in a while, loud Brittany just slipped out.”
Lena patted the table. “Come and sit down. I’m not blaming you. We don’t have to worry about Warden. The dolphins take care of their own. I need to talk to you about something else.”
Brittany teased Warden about being a mystical being, but Lena was still riding high on the legend of the dolphins. Larry’s death hadn’t brought them happiness. Agent Tam was looking for any excuse to arrest her and Grady. That bird in the shed was annoying the crap out of her, and now her helper up and quit. In Brittany’s eyes, the bedtime story was turning out to be more of a nightmare. “Do you really believe in that tale?”
“I don’t disbelieve. See that arch down there?” Brittany nodded, and Lena continued, “It was supposed to be taken down yesterday. A young couple vacationing from Illinois went out for a drive this morning. It seems they are planning a wedding. They were going to use one of the hotels in Honolulu until they found the perfect spot.” She pointed out the window. “Our little beach down there.” Lena slapped the tabletop. “I now have a new source of revenue.”
“I thought the same thing when I saw how beautiful everything looked at the funeral. With Warden leaving and that damn bird’s never ending screeching,” Brittany yanked down her lower eyelids, “I forgot to bring it up to you.”
Lena pushed the glass of Jumby Brew in front of the young woman. “You are only eighteen, but drink up. We still have a few more hours with little Turnabout.”
• • •
BRITTANY DROPPED TO her knees and gave thanks when a truck with the Bird’s Nest Sanctuary logo on it pulled into the driveway of the B&B. Two men got out. One old, one young. Both wore tan colored cargo pants and matching short sleeve shirts. The logo on the back of their shirts matched the one on the door of the truck. The old one seemed too old to still be working, and the young one seemed too young to have a job.
Brittany rushed to greet them. “We are happy to see you.”
The old man chuckled at her exuberance. “I bet you are. Sounds like the little one has been giving you a run for your money.”
Brittany extended her hand and introduced herself.
Tanned weathered fingers gripped hers in return. “Makani Kaʻuhane, but you can call me Mac.” He motioned for the boy to step forward. “This is my grandson, Benjamin.”
The boy squeezed her hand and smiled. “But you can call me Ben.”
Ben ranked high in the upper echelon of the most beautiful creatures on the face of the earth. He was way too young for herself, but she had to get Erika out here and introduce them. His chin length black hair, dark eyes, almost clear complexion, and tight strong frame made him the perfect replacement for Warden.
He even seemed nice. It was a little too soon to make that judgment, but the six words he spoke seemed congenial enough. “Let me take you to Turnabout.”
Mac shot a worried look at his grandson.
“What?” Brittany asked.
“You named him,” Mac explained.
Her brows pinched in confusion. “So?”
“Are you really going to be able to let him go?” he asked, cautiously.
Brittany laughed out loud. “Hell, yes! That won’t be a problem at all.” A fleeting thought about all the time Erika spent with the bird since Larry’s death crossed her mind, but she let it go. The dang bird was out of he
re if she had to hog-tie Erika to get it done.
As they made their way to the shed, Brittany pulled out her phone and sent Mr. Caprice, Lena, and Erika a group message announcing the sanctuary’s arrival.
Mac broke into a huge smile when he saw the bird. “You have a Fairy Tern. They are on the endangered species list. I’m glad this little guy survived. I suppose you found him on a sandy beach somewhere close by.”
“No. I’m pretty sure they found him screaming up in a tree down by the pier.”
Mac took a closer look at the bird. “How odd. His little feathers aren’t quite ready for flight. Most terns wedge their eggs in tree branches, but this species typically roost in the sand or along a sheltered coastline. Human disturbance is one reason for their drastic decline.”
That was news to Brittany. As long as the bird went bye-bye within the next few minutes, she didn’t really care. The thing that interested her most was that Annie insisted the bird had flown down onto Mr. Caprice’s finger. The old guy was, once again, involved with something which couldn’t be explained. Her lack of belief in the spinners swung back in the other direction.
• • •
ERIDA SCOOPED UP the dirty sheets from the Tiki Room and tossed them inside the rolling hamper. Of all the rooms at the B&B, this was her favorite. A floor to ceiling tiki stood proudly in the corner by the window. Erika named him Boden after the artist who created him. As soon as she finished cleaning the rest of the rooms, she planned on polishing his dark grain until it shined.
Boden was a creation of a guest who couldn’t leave work behind. Inspiration took him within the first hours of his arrival. The workaholic spent the next few days searching for the perfect log and sketching his design. The rest of his vacation was full of chiseling, carving, and staining.
Erika loved watching him work and the progression of the piece. Lena complained she hadn’t received a full week’s work with Erika’s lollygagging around, and that she was forever picking up the wood chips which fell from Brett Boden’s clothing. A smile replaced Lena’s frown when she discovered Boden was an internationally renowned artist and that he was leaving the sculpture behind as a gift.
