The hotel was staging a lavish luau on the Fourth of July, with a gourmet buffet and entertainment by Jimmy Kent. The price of a single ticket exceeded the cost of dinner for two at many fine island restaurants, but even so, the affair was sold out well in advance.
Lani was pleased at how attractive she looked in the strapless suit and sarong she had purchased a few weeks before. The outfit managed to seem sensuous, yet not at all exhibitionistic, and she eagerly awaited Daniel's assessment of her appearance. He was waiting in the hall along with Brian as she descended the stairs, his body encased in fitted jeans and a printed Hawaiian shirt.
For a moment there was such an icy look in his eyes that Lani wanted to run back to her room to change. Then she told herself that his anger must be over something else entirely, because he was suddenly smiling and telling her that she looked very nice. "You'd better go up and get a shawl," he added. "The wind is picking up."
The bar was already doing a brisk business when they arrived. Dozens of long tables had been set up on the lawn between the beach and the pool, and hundreds of guests milled throughout the area, drinks in hand. A portable stage had been erected on the concrete deck of the pool with Jimmy Kent's back-up band playing Hawaiian music interspersed with American favorites. Appropriately, the decorations were red, white, and blue, with matching lights strung in the trees to add a festive air.
Lani recognized a smattering of Prescotts and Thomases from the wedding, including Elizabeth in a halter dress so scanty that she barely managed to stay decent in it. She immediately sauntered over and took possession of Daniel, and Lani soon found herself in a conversation with Tommy's parents, Richard and Marilyn Prescott. They really were wonderful people, she thought to herself. They treated her with great warmth, as if she were a favorite niece.
Brian had gone down to the beach to look for shells along with several of Tommy's younger cousins. Lani gradually relaxed and forgot about Elizabeth as she chatted with the Prescotts. Eventually Richard's parents joined them, and Charles and Mary Prescott were so amiable and friendly that Lani could scarcely believe that they were the son and daughter-in-law of the couple who had so rudely snubbed her stepfather.
The festivities began with a net fishing demonstration, one young man piloting a torch-lit canoe while a second repeatedly flung a large net into the ocean. Next, the traditional kalua or roast pig was removed from the imu, an underground, hot rock oven, by two young men clad only in short cloth skirts. The first was a dark-skinned Polynesian, and Lani began to giggle with recognition when she noticed who the other was. "A last minute replacement," Marilyn whispered. "Tommy got drafted when the boy who usually does this came down with chicken pox!"
The buffet tables had been set up inside the Bay Terrace restaurant, which was closed to other business for the evening. In addition to the salty, smoke-flavored kalua pig, there were such traditional dishes as poi, a light purple-colored paste made of pounded taro root and water; pipi kaula, a spicy Hawaiian beef jerky; lomi-lomi salmon, a salty, steamed fish with green onions and tomato; mahi-mahi, or dolphin fish, not to be confused with the actual dolphins that entertained at marine shows all over the world; beef teriyaki; fresh tropical fruits; and haupia, a puddinglike dessert made from fermented coconut milk. Also on the menu were American favorites like baked ham, fried chicken and various types of pies.
Marilyn helped Lani organize the children at a separate table at one end of the dining area, and then both women took their place in the buffet line. If Lani was dismayed to find Elizabeth Thomas seated at the other end of her table, she experienced a moment of delighted triumph when Daniel joined them, dispossessing Tommy of the seat next to her own. Tommy cheerfully got up, snatched a vacant chair from an adjacent table, and plunked it down next to the sullen Elizabeth.
If any of Daniel's relatives suspected that his relationship with Lani was anything other than respectable, they gave no sign of it. After a few mai tais, Lani was able to ignore Elizabeth's venomous looks and enjoy the good-natured competitiveness and joking between the Prescott and Thomas clans. When she went back to the buffet for dessert she passed by Brian's table; he and his stepcousins were giggling and shouting at each other, and she felt a stab of guilt about her earlier intention to keep him in San Diego. It would have been very selfish of her to deprive him of this extended family, and if she ever returned to the mainland, she knew she would have to leave him with Daniel.
Jimmy Kent's show was dazzling, even if the dancers' costumes did owe more to Las Vegas than Polynesia. About halfway through the entertainment, Michi Hansen appeared. The manager had spent her evening thus far supervising the proceedings, and joined their table just in time for the hula contest.
Elizabeth Thomas immediately jumped up to take part. "Don't you dance the hula, Kaiulani?" she called out mockingly. "With a name like that, you should win hands down."
She's sure I would make a fool of myself, Lani thought angrily. She began to get up, only to feel Daniel's hand on her wrist, pulling her down again.
"No way," he said brusquely. "Not in that outfit… and not in front of five hundred people."
His protectiveness only goaded Elizabeth into further sarcasm. "That's right, Kaiulani," she cooed.
"Be a good little girl and do what big brother tells you."
"Lani looks charming," Michi interjected impatiently. "Really, Daniel, you're being impossible. Let her dance if she wants to."
He reluctantly released Lani's wrist and she followed Elizabeth to the stage. If anyone but Michi had dared to challenge Daniel's authority in such a manner, she thought, he would have squelched the offender ruthlessly. But Michi was very special, and as Lani danced she tried not to think about the rueful, tender look Daniel had given her as he complied with her wishes.
Lani had learned the graceful, seductive movements of the hula as a small child, and a determination to best Elizabeth Thomas loosened any inhibitions she might have had about publicly demonstrating her considerable expertise. Most of the mainland women were quickly eliminated, and eventually only Lani, Elizabeth and two others remained on the stage. As they danced, Jimmy Kent asked the audience to indicate its choice, with Lani the clear favorite. Elizabeth's look as she left the stage was pure venom, and Lani was rather shaken by it. Surely she had never done anything to deserve such antipathy.
"Would you folks like the lady to do a solo?" Jimmy Kent's question was greeted by whistles and applause, particularly from the male half of the audience. As Lani danced her eyes collided with Daniel's, and she wondered if his grim expression betokened some Fourth of July fireworks all his own. She devoutly hoped not.
Afterwards, Jimmy put his arm around her shoulder and said easily, "You look familiar, little lady. You dance the hula like a native."
"I am," she smiled. "You might have noticed me at your show a few weeks ago. I was with Mrs. Hansen and Mr. Reid."
A wolfish grin lit up the entertainer's face. "Well, now. I was going to award the prize myself, but I couldn't deprive my good friend Daniel Prescott Reid of that pleasure. Come on up here, Daniel."
Lani watched apprehensively as Daniel strode to the stage, the displeasure on his face replaced by a smile the moment he turned to the audience. Jimmy handed him an orchid lei and directed, "Give the little lady one of our special Hawaiian greetings, my friend."
Daniel shook his head. "I think the honor should go to my Uncle Charles. He's the senior member of the clan here tonight."
"How about it, Mr. Prescott?" Jimmy called out.
Charles Prescott stood up and boomed out in his gruff voice, "Wouldn't think of it! My nephew would never forgive me, Jimmy!"
Given the fact that every hotel menu, matchbook, and brochure read "The Maunalua Bay Hotel/A Prescott & Thomas Resort," it was not surprising that the audience quickly figured out that Daniel Prescott Reid and Charles Prescott were important company executives. They cheered and clapped as Daniel placed the lei around Lani's neck, kissing her lightly on each cheek as he di
d so. The next moment he was leading Lani from the stage, his hold on her arm far from gentle.
As the show continued, however, it seemed to Lani that Daniel's mood began to improve. By the time Jimmy Kent invited the audience to join in a community sing, he had unbent sufficiently to add his pleasant baritone to the proceedings. Lani had no idea why her participation in the contest had annoyed him, and didn't intend to ask. She was only relieved that as the last burst of fireworks faded from the moonless, starry sky, the incident appeared to be forgotten.
During the days that followed, Daniel was again gentle, considerate, and even-tempered. If some small part of Lani longed to provoke him into another demonstration of punishing domination, her common sense easily overruled such insanity. She would only end up badly hurt, and so would Brian, who was thriving under the tranquil atmosphere which reigned in the house of late.
On Monday, he had started day camp, along with several of the stepcousins who had befriended him at the luau. Lani began her regular job, her first assignment the prime minister of a small African nation. He and his wife appreciated Lani's fluent French as she catered to their primary interests: museums and old buildings.
She took them to the Mission Houses Museum, which included the oldest American building on the island. The house had been prefabricated in New England and shipped to the Sandwich Isles, the name bestowed on Hawaii by its English discoverer, Captain James Cook. It was then erected as a home for the first missionaries in 1821. The museum also housed a collection of mementoes of the missionary period of Hawaiian history.
Archeological exhibits and relics of the monarchy period were displayed in the Bishop Museum, where His Excellency was impressed by the spectacular crimson and yellow feathered capes worn by the Hawaiian kings. Lani then accompanied them as they toured half a dozen other palaces, churches, and tombs, and on Thursday dropped them off at the Governor's Mansion on Beretania Street, a building dating back to 1846, for a luncheon with top state officials. On a sudden impulse she decided to fill the resulting free time by inviting Daniel to lunch.
The guard in the lobby of his building was the same man Lani had met the previous week; he smiled and waved to her as she walked in the door. But as the high-speed elevator zoomed to the eleventh floor, Lani suddenly remembered her phone call to Daniel on the day his father had died, and the glacial manner of his secretary in refusing to put her through. If the woman persisted in acting like the leader of a defense squadron, what was she going to do about it? Make a dash down the corridor to his office and storm the fortress, unannounced?
There were two women at the reception desk: a beautiful brunette seated next to the typewriter, and an attractive, middle-aged redhead who was perched nearby, apparently issuing instructions. Both of them glanced up at Lani when she opened the door.
"Hello." Lani was aware of the nervous tremor in her voice. "Is Mr. Reid in? I'm…"
"You're Lani!" the older woman interrupted with puzzling enthusiasm. "There's a picture of you and Brian on Mr. Reid's desk," she added in response to Lani's bewildered look. "I'm Karla Darin, his secretary, and this is Gerry Ybarra, the division receptionist." She glanced at her watch and smiled. "Mr. Prescott is in with him at the moment, but they should be done soon. Let me buzz him and tell him you're here."
"Don't do that," Lani said hurriedly. "I wouldn't want to disturb him if he's with his cousin."
"Your scruples or my job," Karla said with a wince. "I was very sorry to hear about your stepfather," she went on softly, "and I'll never forget the day you called here. I'd been here for almost six months and Mr. Reid had never once raised his voice to me—even when I misplaced an important contract he needed. I know I should have recognized your name—he mentioned it to me the very first day I worked for him. But I forgot, and as soon as I realized what I'd done I went in to apologize and offer my condolences." Karla Darin shuddered quite visibly. "He was absolutely furious—I thought he was going to fire me on the spot. He chewed me out like a top sergeant, and when he was finally finished he picked up your picture and shoved it under my nose. He told me that if you ever came down here, I'd better recognize you."
Lani stared at her incredulously, finally managing to say weakly, "He must have been very upset. He and his father were very close."
"That's what I told myself, but whatever the reason, I hope to heaven it's never repeated. I was shaking for the rest of the day."
The secretary was reaching for the intercom when Daniel emerged from his office, accompanied by Richard Prescott. Both men smiled at Lani, Richard greeting her with a kiss on the cheek and a jovial, "Hello, my dear."
"Is everything all right?" Daniel asked.
"Fine. The Prime Minister and his wife are having lunch with the Governor. I had a few free hours, so I thought… if you're free… we might go out."
Daniel put his hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Richard, you've just witnessed the best offer I've had in weeks. May I take a raincheck?"
"Absolutely." He started toward the door, then called back over his shoulder, "Don't forget our golf game on Saturday. I aim to beat you for once."
Daniel took Lani to a well-known seafood restaurant in Waikiki, suggesting that they order one of the house specialties: abalone, sliced paper-thin and served with a white wine sauce. When Lani expressed concern that her arrival had interfered with his previous plans, he shook his head and said warmly, "I have lunch with Richard once a week, but this is the first time you've indicated any desire to spend time with me. I'm very pleased by that, princess. I want you to be happy here."
Lani reached for her wine to hide the quick flush that rose in her neck, thinking how blissful life would be if only Daniel's feelings were romantic rather than platonic. Nonetheless, he was so charming to her that she soon found herself admitting many of the things she had hitherto kept to herself.
She told him that she was glad she had come to Hawaii; that she liked his family and enjoyed her job; and best of all, that she felt Brian was happy with his new friends and very much looked up to Daniel. He listened attentively, and although he refrained from uttering the mocking words "I told you so," his triumphant smile conveyed the message just as effectively.
"I suppose I can't blame you for gloating," Lani admitted. "I've given you a pretty hard time, haven't I?"
Daniel lazed back in his chair and grinned rather wickedly. "An understatement. If I'd known we were going to be fighting a cold war for the next seven years," he drawled, "I never would have kissed you so… thoroughly."
Lani was so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl under the table and never come out. Her eyes dropped to her empty plate as she considered a number of rejoinders to Daniel's beastly reminder of that horrible evening when she had been fifteen. Finally, desperately anxious to change the subject, she murmured, "The food here is very good, isn't it?"
"Only the best, princess," he said blandly. "How about some dessert?"
Mercifully, the conversation returned to safer topics.
By Sunday morning, Lani was contemplating that evening's dinner date with Robert Bradley without the slightest enthusiasm. She wanted no one's company but Daniel's, and if she hadn't known that he was escorting Michi to a dinner party, she would have fabricated an upset stomach and conveyed her regrets.
Rob phoned late in the afternoon to make arrangements, opening the conversation with the teasing statement, "I hope you realize that I'm using you, Miss Douglas."
"Using me?"
"You've been drafted as a chaperone. My daughter's birthday party is tonight, a barbecue and splash party. How do you feel about spending an entire evening with a few dozen maniacal high school students?"
Lani was delighted to help out. She might be too absorbed in Daniel Prescott Reid to provide amusing companionship at an intimate dinner, but surely she would be able to help supervise a group of teenagers. She knew that emotional longing and physical frustration were taking their toll in restless nights and troubled days, and suspected that boisterous
physical activity might be the best thing in the world for her.
In fact, Dee Dee Bradley's friends were generally polite and well-behaved, but they were also ravenous and energetic. They ate like horses and swam like porpoises. Lani was wearing her tapa-print bikini under a terry-cloth shift, and eventually Rob coaxed her into joining the teenagers in a game of water volley ball. It was exhilarating fun to dive after the ball, and amusing to watch the antics of Dee Dee's friends. After several games she was out of breath and needed a rest, but was enjoying herself too much to leave the pool.
The ball was punched wildly back and forth across the net, great splashes of water hitting the concrete every time some six-footer flung his body in pursuit. And then one of those slabs of muscle and steel hit Lani. His head crashed into her stomach, knocking the air from her lungs. The last thing she remembered was fighting to stay above water, her chest burning fiercely as she struggled to take a breath.
She was unconscious only briefly, inhaling frantically as one of the boys pulled her from the water and handed her to Rob Bradley. "Easy, now," he said hoarsely as she panted for air. "You'll hyperventilate, honey."
Lani tried to slow her breathing as he carried her inside to his bedroom, but she had already begun to tremble and sob with shock. He sat down on the bed, cradling her on his lap, stroking her hair and murmuring to her as she cried against his shoulder. She realized vaguely that Dee Dee had come into the room with some clothing, exchanged a few words with her father, and then left.
Eventually Lani stopped crying, but still felt chilled in spite of the warmth of the room. "Dee Dee brought in some of her clothes for you," Rob said as she trembled against him. "Let me help you get them on, Lani."
Island Conquest Page 13
