“You doing all right, Po?” Allie asked the little one, who was busy chewing on the sticky candy. The boy nodded furiously. When they finally got to the shoreline, Dallas saw the water was farther from the truck than he remembered. The floodwaters were receding, slowly but surely. Allie helped Dallas pull the kayak up and dragged the floating refrigerator case to the shore, which took some doing. Once safe from the water, Dallas backed up his truck, bed side facing Kai, so that all they’d have to do was lift him a short ways. Dallas held one of his arms and Allie held the other, and together they lifted him to the truck bed, where they laid him down. The effort caused him quite a bit of pain, and he grunted as he slid down on the metal, his face going pale. Dallas glanced at the wound, wishing he knew enough first aid to help, but didn’t as he stared at the leg, clearly bent the wrong way. The bone had broken the skin, and blood dripped down. All in all, Dallas didn’t like the look of the leg, not one bit.
“We’ve got to get him to the hospital,” Allie said. “Where’s the closest one?”
“Kona Community Hospital,” Dallas said as he swung himself in the driver’s seat. Allie helped Po into the cab of the pickup, but he wanted to turn around and stare at Kai through the window. Kai gave him a “hang loose” sign, and the boy mirrored it. Dallas handed Allie his phone. “Call Jesse, would you? Tell her what’s happened.”
Allie pulled up his contacts and dialed while Dallas drove through the roads that were far enough from the water that they were left largely undamaged.
“Jesse? It’s Allie. We’ve got good news and bad...” Allie began.
Dallas tuned the rest out. He had to focus on driving. A few streetlights were out, making intersections treacherous. Not many people were on the roads, but enough were, and he hadn’t planned to save Kai just to get in a car accident. He glanced in his rearview, watching the bobbing head of Kai against the back window, hoping his friend was all right. Kai looked way too pale and weak. He’d lost a lot of blood.
“Okay, Jesse. We’ll meet you there.” Allie ended the call. “She’s on her way,” Allie told Dallas, who just nodded.
After easing through a blinking red light and down the street, Dallas saw where most of the people were: the hospital parking lot. Cars and trucks were parked in every available space. Without an alternative, Dallas pulled close to the emergency room entrance, the spot where an ambulance had already stopped, and put on his parking lights. He went into the ER to see if he could get help, and found chaos instead: gurneys and beds lining the hallways, patients overflowing into the waiting area. He grabbed a nurse in blue scrubs and tried to explain what they had, and she hurried out the door with him and a wheelchair.
Together, all three of them got Kai out of the truck and into the hospital. She took one look at the leg and whisked him straight through the people waiting in the hallway. Dallas didn’t take that as a good sign at all. He noticed Kai had turned even paler, and worried again about how much blood he’d lost floating in that water.
“I’m taking him in to see a doctor,” the nurse said as she pushed him through the automatic sliding doors of the interior room of the ER. “Wait here, please.”
She held up a hand, leaving Allie, Po and Dallas standing in the hallway.
“Kai!” Po called. The boy’s bottom lip quivered, as if he might cry.
Well, now what? he wondered.
Allie put her arm around the boy’s shoulders, gently guiding him away from the closed doors. “Come on, Po. Let’s see if we can find a snack machine.”
He looked at her in wonder as she calmly but decisively distracted Po from what would have no doubt been a huge, heart-twisting fit. She seemed to have a magic touch.
CHAPTER TWO
STANDING IN THE HOT, open-aired shower, Allie fanned herself. Jet-lagged and sweaty, all she wanted to do was get clean, change into some shorts and track down the nearest real estate agent. She’d use the money to travel the world by herself. She didn’t know where she’d go, but she’d figure it out.
She glanced up at the blue sky and blinked.
No roof? Who did that? She wondered if anyone would buy a place with an outdoor bathroom. Allie sighed and turned the knobs of the shower, half expecting them not to work. Water sputtered out, and surprisingly, it felt warm, but then again, the air was a balmy eighty-two degrees. Everything would feel warm, even at room temperature. Allie shrugged out of her too-hot jeans, T-shirt and wool sweater and stepped into the warm shower, letting the water rinse over her. She exhaled. Remember the positives, she thought. You’re not stuck in subzero weather in that blizzard you left back home, and once the property is sold, you can travel for a year. That was all she had to do: keep moving. People couldn’t disappoint you if you didn’t let them.
Allie rinsed her hair in the warm water and sighed, almost forgetting about the lack of roof when a bright red blur zoomed past her, practically thumping her head.
She jumped, startled, until she saw the intruder: a small, brilliant red bird with black-trimmed feathers, its beak thin and scooped downward. It looked as if a cardinal had mated with a hummingbird, a species she’d never seen before. Definitely not in Chicago anymore, she thought. The bird cocked its head to one side and eyed her.
Allie felt like jumping out of the shower and running back to the house, but instead, she shook the shower curtain and the bird flew away.
Wonder what he was doing in here anyway, she thought, rinsing off. She shut down the water and stepped out, reaching for a fluffy white towel. She grabbed one from a hook and wrapped it around her chest, tucking it under her armpits, and then she wrapped her head up in a towel, turban-style, and looked at herself in the foggy mirror. She swiped at it with one hand, wondering what that brown stripe was along the top of her head towel, and that was when she realized the brown stripe was moving.
It was a centipede—a huge, disgusting, hundred-leg brown centipede, nearly a foot long and thicker than her thumb.
Allie did what any reasonable city girl would do: she screamed.
She flicked her head downward, and in the same instant, bounced against the thin door and tumbled outside, barely keeping the small lightweight towel wrapped around her as the turban fell to the ground. In her panic, Allie couldn’t see where the centipede went. Was it tangled in her hair? Running down her back?
It was a friggin’ monster, that was all she knew. She’d never seen a bug that big in Chicago. Ever.
Then she saw the horrible insect crawling in the black lava dirt. She felt relief: it wasn’t on her! And yet she felt complete terror as she realized the huge bug was headed straight for her bare toes, its huge menacing back pincher stinger wagging as it went.
She hopped on one foot, squealing, unable to help herself as she looked around for a weapon—a stone, a stick, anything. She couldn’t step on the thing with her bare foot.
That was when a square-toed brown cowboy boot crunched it for her, mashing it into the dirt.
“Got it, ma’am,” Dallas drawled, an amused smile on his face as the thing twisted and turned under his boot. He ground it farther into the dust.
Allie had never felt so relieved and so embarrassed at the same time. Her wet hair hung in strands down her shoulders, black mud caked her once-clean toes. She clutched the towel more tightly around her chest, but it did no good. She might as well have been wearing a washcloth.
“Th-thanks,” she managed, trying to regain her composure. He’d put on a T-shirt, she noticed, wondering fleetingly about whether the Cheeseburger in Paradise was a real restaurant. It clung to his muscular chest, stretched and near popping as if his pecs were planning an escape. He was handsome, even she had to admit. He had golden hair, worn shaggy, with natural highlights from the sun. His age was hard to place, but midthirties, Allie guessed. She felt drawn to him, and immediately shut down the urge.
“Those things are nasty. Sting hurts worse than a yellow jacket. Want me to check for any more?”
“More?” Allie’s voice came o
ut as a squeak of fear. She hadn’t even considered there’d be another one of those creatures.
“Sometimes they travel in pairs,” Dallas drawled, and Allie was unable to tell whether he was teasing or not. “I’ll check.”
“Okay.” Allie stood very still as Dallas made a slow sweep, walking so close to her she could catch the faded scent of some earthy aftershave. He just grazed her shoulder as he glided behind her, and she was more than aware she was standing almost naked in front of him. He seemed to be taking his time, she thought, and doing more looking at her skin than for bugs. She felt suddenly shy.
No one has seen me naked since...Jason. She shifted on her bare feet, very aware of Dallas’s eyes on her.
“You’re all clear,” he said at last, stepping away from her, eyes still on her bare knees.
“Good,” Allie said, her face still flushed. “Uh...thanks.”
“Anytime, ma’am.” Dallas grinned, a big, white smile that made the pit of her stomach feel fuzzy.
“I’ve...uh...got to get dressed. The Realtor’s coming...”
“The who?” Dallas snapped to attention, his demeanor immediately changing from affable country boy to guarded cowboy.
“Realtor. I took the liberty of inviting Jennifer Thomas. I’ve heard she’s the best on the island. I saw her on that show...Hawaii Living?”
Dallas looked suddenly pale, as if he’d seen a ghost, but Allie kept going.
“She said she might even want to put the property on the show when I talked to her on the phone...”
“I don’t want her here.” Dallas’s voice was a grunt.
Allie, surprised, shifted on one bare foot to another, conscious of the sticky dirt beneath her bare toes. “Oh, well... I don’t know if I can cancel with such late notice. Her assistant was very clear...”
“She can’t come here. She—” Dallas seemed to lose the ability to speak “—just can’t.”
“But...” Allie didn’t get to finish her sentence. Dallas had turned and was stalking away from her, his back taut with anger, his boots making rivets in the mud.
* * *
HOURS LATER, DALLAS still felt hot with anger. He couldn’t believe Allie had invited his ex straight to his doorstep. Might as well just let loose the rest of the lions and tigers and bears.
Jennifer would be more bloodthirsty than all of them. Dallas was arguing with Jennifer’s assistant on the phone that afternoon when he heard a roar near the driveway and realized he’d have to tell the woman to her face just how unwelcome she was. He walked out of his front door and down the path of coffee trees toward Misu’s place, carrying a bundle of papers rolled up and sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. He made it to the clearing in time to see the goat skitter away at the sight of Jennifer’s cherry-red convertible BMW. Smart goat. Jennifer was the kind of woman who didn’t mind running over anything in her path. Dallas still had the tire tread on his back to prove it.
He frowned as he watched her step out of her sports car, wearing her usual uniform of overpriced designer clothes, which clung tightly to her curves, her too-short skirt inching up her thigh as she slammed the car door with a thunk. She met his gaze over the car roof and smiled just slightly, triumph on her face as she flicked a long, curving strand of blond hair off her shoulder. She must love that Allie invited her here, must be relishing every minute, he thought.
He glanced in the backseat and saw it was empty, save for Kayla’s pink-and-green striped booster seat. She’d be at day care anyhow. He felt a pinch in his chest as he saw her small white stuffed bear. Mr. Cuddles, he remembered. She used to be inconsolable without him. He felt the urge to run it over to her at day care, but then felt a dull ache in his rib cage when he realized that wasn’t his job anymore. Hadn’t been for nearly a year. Jennifer had made sure of that.
He watched as she vigorously shook Allie’s hand, his stomach tightening into knots. He didn’t know if he wanted to shout or run, but his whole body felt as if it was on fire. The two women standing there looked like yin and yang: complete opposites, dark and light. Jennifer was a walking Barbie doll, clad all in pastels and wearing high-heeled wedge sandals. Allie had on flip-flops and hiking shorts, not wearing a bit of makeup and looking all the prettier for it. Even angry at Allie, Dallas felt a strong pull to her. Seeing Jennifer standing so close to her made Dallas want to step between them, if only to protect Allie from being eaten alive.
He couldn’t believe that once upon a time, Jennifer had shared his bed. She’d been as aggressive there as she was everywhere else in her life. And just as selfish, he thought. It would serve her right if he told the whole island the truth of what had happened between them. Except that they both knew why he wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t just Jennifer after all. There was Kayla, and Dallas wasn’t about to do anything that would hurt that sweet, innocent girl. Jennifer knew it, too. Counted on it.
“Jennifer.” Dallas’s voice was stern. Jennifer glanced up, worry flickering across her face for a split second. She knew what she’d done, and the honesty of guilt showed in her eyes for the briefest of moments before she quickly buried it beneath a disingenuous smile. That’s right, Dallas thought. Just pretend nothing happened.
“Dallas,” she purred, and then threw her arms around him as if they were old friends. He staggered back a step, completely taken off guard. The woman had the nerve to touch him? “Good to see you again.”
Allie’s eyes widened, as she glanced from Dallas to Jennifer and back again.
“You two know each other?”
“Oh, we’re old friends.”
Dallas firmly unclasped her hands from his neck and stepped backward. “No, we’re not.”
Jennifer flipped her blond hair from her shoulder, not bothering to register the protest. “I was so surprised when Allie here told me you were selling that I wanted to come right over.” Jennifer ignored Dallas’s hot glare.
“I’m not selling.”
Jennifer swayed a little, unsteady on her feet. “But Allie said...”
“Allie doesn’t speak for me.” Dallas set his lips in a thin, determined line.
“You don’t want to sell?” Now it was Allie’s turn to look dumbfounded.
“Well...I thought it was too good to be true.” Jennifer considered Allie and Dallas.
“Now’s the part where you tell Allie the bad news,” Dallas said. He hated being so close to Jennifer and hated that Allie had brought her here, but the fact was, he would enjoy this next part.
“What bad news?” Allie had no idea what was about to hit her.
“I’m sure you’ve already considered the problem of selling only Allie’s half.” Dallas tucked his thumbs through his belt loops. Jennifer suddenly looked uneasy.
“What problem is that?” Allie’s voice was sharp.
“My half has the seaside views that the tourists want.” Dallas nodded toward his side of the property, which sloped downward. Allie’s house would have a seaside view, except it was completely obscured by tall coffee trees, dotted with white flowers. Dallas, on the other hand, had a house closest to the beach, nothing on three sides but sparkling blue Pacific Ocean. “Plus, I have indoor plumbing.”
“You what?” Allie’s face bunched up in anger.
He took a second to enjoy it. Wasn’t his fault that Misu had turned him down when he’d offered to build a bathroom to her cabin when he was doing the same for his.
“And then there’s the volcano,” Dallas continued, unable to help himself. “Technically, your half of the estate is in Lava Zone Three. I’m in four.”
“I know about the volcano. But what are the zones?” Allie’s gaze roamed from Dallas to Jennifer and back again.
“It means that you’re in a more hazardous zone than Dallas is.” Jennifer picked invisible lint from her shirt. “Your house is more likely to be wiped out by a lava flow.”
“What?” Allie grew pale.
“The divider line pretty much goes right through the property.” Dalla
s pointed from one end of the land, drawing an invisible line with his finger straight across the ground. “Because of that, and the lack of a seaside view and plumbing, your half will fetch less than half of what mine will if you’re selling to developers. If we sold our shares together and split the profit, you’d make far more. Isn’t that right, Jennifer?”
“Well...” His ex tried to hedge, but even as slick as she was, she couldn’t sidestep this fact. “Dallas is mostly right.”
“Mostly right?” Allie looked as if she was going to explode. Her dark eyes sparked like steel striking flint. “How much difference are we talking about?”
“Well, realistically...” Jennifer hesitated, biting her lower lip.
“Spit it out.”
“The real value is the land and the Kona coffee on it. If you took that away, as well as the seaside views... You’ve got a pretty small house and a coffee-processing facility, but only a very small share of the actual Kona crop, so it wouldn’t be a workable plantation. You’d have to sell it strictly as a residence, and with the lava zone issue and no plumbing...about half as much as we talked about on the phone.”
Allie couldn’t hide her disappointment, and Dallas saw it clearly on her face. Too greedy, Dallas thought. That was the problem with Allie and every other gorgeous woman he’d ever met. Too damn greedy. Maybe she and Jennifer had more in common than he thought.
“And you can’t even get that,” Dallas said. “According to the will, Allie can’t even sell her half without getting permission from Aunt Kaimana first.”
“What? I don’t remember that in the will,” Allie protested.
“Page three, section E,” Dallas said, pulling the will from his back pocket. He’d unrolled a photocopy of the will and began to read it aloud.
Jennifer and Allie listened with interest.
“‘If the land is to be divided and then sold, it is the will of Misuko Osaka that Kaimana Mahi’ai oversee the division and issue written approval of the final sale before official transfer can be made to both parties. No sale will take place unless approved by Ms. Mahi’ai.’”
Her Hawaiian Homecoming (Mills & Boon Superromance) Page 4
