Blooming in the Wild (24 page)

He shrugged. “Anyway, he died about the time I graduated high school. I got a scholarship to the U of I, and Mom moved to Spokane to live with her sister. She’s happier than she’s been since I was a little kid.”

Bella nodded. “How about you? Are you happy?”

He shrugged, wincing again. “I will be, when I get out of here and get back on my feet. As it is, I’m gonna miss that trip to the Arctic. I was really looking forward to that.”

He looked at her. She was still solemn, her mouth curved down in a sexy pout. He tugged at her hand, and she bent over and kissed him. It was a great kiss, until the curtain jerked open again, and his doctor walked in.

Bella flew off the bed again, and Joel sighed. “Yes, please take me home with you,” he said. “Please.”

Then he let her go and turned to the doctor, who waited at the foot of his bed, clipboard in hand.

Bella rode back to Nawea in Claire’s new little SUV with a smile on her face. Claire gave up trying to converse with her after the third try and turned her stereo up.

Bella texted Joel that his rope was safe with her, and he texted back that he was going to tie her up and look at all her tattoos at his leisure. She texted back, wishing him good luck with that. He replied that his luck was getting better all the time.

Homu and Tina were at supper that evening, along with their sons, Claire and Bella, and Hilo. As they sat back in their chairs, finishing their drinks, Homu looked at David and Daniel and received a nod from each of them. Then he turned to Bella.

“Nani,” he said, using her father’s pet name for her. “I have an offer to make you. You don’t need to answer now, just think about it.”

Bella nodded, mystified. She’d told the family that she wouldn’t be going back to her job at DelRay and confided to Tina that she might look for a job at one of the garden nurseries on the island, if she could find a place to live inexpensively. Tina had listened carefully and agreed that it was obvious now that Bella belonged on Hawaii.

“As you know,” Homu said now, “Tina and I own a farm up on Mamaloa Highway. We wish to retire from the life—getting too old for all the hard work. It’s a simple place, some coffee plants, some nursery plants, truck garden. There’s room for animals, but we haven’t kept them for years.”

He smiled at Bella. “We all want to offer the farm to you, Nani. You could live there, rent-free for say, five years. Then, when you begin to earn a profit, you could begin making payments to the family corporation. Reasonable payments, at a very low interest rate.”

Bella stared at him and then Tina. Tears blinding her, she tried to smile at the two. “Mahalo,” she managed. “I—that’s so generous. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes, dummy.” Claire poked her. “You can grow that organic produce you were going on and on about last winter. And coffee. Oooh, you could bring me free coffee.”

Bella laughed, but then she looked down, fiddling with her spoon.

“What is it?” Daro asked gently.

“Well, farming sounds so wonderful,” she murmured. “But it’s so risky, isn’t it? I mean, sometimes farmers lose everything.”

He thought for a moment. “That’s true, Nani. But what does a person really lose if they lose a piece of land? Have they lost their ohana, their loved ones? Have they lost themselves?”

“Or were they willing to risk it all to follow their dreams?” Jason added, smiling at her. “Ask yourself, Nani. What is your dream?”

Bella looked at the people around the table. Oddly, she was not embarrassed to be having this conversation in front of all of them. Other than Joel and her mother and Zane, everyone she cared about the most was right here.

Jason and her father were right, she realized with dawning wonder. She would never lose them. Or herself. Or this island. If farming didn’t work, she would go to work in a nursery or as an arborist. As long as she was working outside with plants, she’d be fine.

And if she could have Joel too, she’d be ecstatically happy.

Smiling, Bella reached over and hugged her friend, who returned it with interest. Then she sat up and looked at Homu and Tina. “Claire and Dad and Jason are right. What am I waiting for? Yes, mahalo and yes!”

Later, as she lay in bed, Bella texted Joel.
R U asleep?

No
.

Good. How U feel about dating a farmer?

A pause, and then the reply
Not good. He’d always win at arm wrestling
. She giggled, which turned into a yawn.
Miss U. Pick U up tomorrow? Yes! But leave farmer @ home.

XOXO

Fine
, he replied.
But I expect more than that when I get U alone.

To Do: In the event of an injury or illness, the tour director will ensure that her client receives the very best of care
.

David took Bella in to pick up Joel in his big SUV. They slid in under the passenger pickup awning, and a tall, burly orderly wheeled Joel out in a chair. He wore sunglasses, a baseball cap pulled down over his freshly washed hair, shorts and a collared plaid shirt turned up around his jaw.

David and the orderly helped him into the backseat beside Bella, Joel’s seat tipped back as far as it would go, with a soft neck rest tucked behind his head. David tossed Joel’s duffel in the back, stepped in, and they rolled away.

His eyes closed, Joel reached for Bella’s hand. He looked pale, and his jaw clenched when David hit a bump, but he held on to her hand, stroking it with his thumb as they rolled through Kona town and up onto the Mamaloa Highway, headed for Nawea.

“Missed you,” she whispered, feathering a kiss on his newly shaven cheek. “Whatcha doing, kissing strangers?” he asked without opening his eyes. “I saw right through your cheap disguise,” she told him, inhaling his scent.

“Mm, love what you do with a cleansing wipe.”

“Made them let me shower and shave.” He turned his face into her hair. “Damn near knocked me out too.”

“I know. You’re going straight to bed when we get there.”

“Am not. Lounge chair by the beach. Can’t stand to be inside anymore, baby.”

Her heart melted. “All right. If you promise not to show off and stay up too long.”

“Promise.”

Bella turned her head and met her cousin’s gaze in the rearview mirror. He winked at her and turned up his Hawaiian music a little.

She smiled back. She was bringing her lover home to her ohana, and her heart was full. Now if she could only figure out a way to persuade him to stay.

David and Daniel helped Joel out of the SUV at Nawea and onto a lounger on the shady lanai. He settled into the soft cushions with a groan, his eyes already closing.

“Thanks,” he murmured dopily. “Damn, weak as a baby.”

“Rest, man,” David answered, his deep voice soothing. “We’ll have you up in no time.”

Joel opened one eye. “Is that a threat? ’Cause if it is, my wahine can take you.”

Daniel cocked an eyebrow at her, his expression asking if she was sure about this guy. Bella rolled her eyes. “Funny, hotshot. I think that’s the painkillers talking. Go to sleep. ’Cause I
can
take
you
.”

His eyes closed, a faint smile curved his lips. “Yes, you can.”

Daniel shook his head and strode away. David patted her on the shoulder, grinning, and then followed his brother.

“Wasn’t Daniel supposed to pick up my mother?” Bella called after him.

“Hilo offered,” he called back. “He’ll take good care of her.”

That would be Homu’s brother Hilo, who operated a small boat shop at Honokohau, west of Kona on the broad plain near the airport. He was one of Bella’s favorite people in the family, with his quick wit and good humor. There was another Hilo, married to Tina’s sister Noelani, but they lived on Kauai.

There were two Zoe’s in the extended family too. A teenager and a young wife. Probably more doubles in a family that size too. Bella guessed she’d learn them all eventually.

Her ohana, her family. After a lifetime with just her mother, whose parents had passed away while Bella was in elementary school, Bella had a hard time believing that she was now part of a large, vibrant family who showed their emotions with unashamed fervor. And threw great parties, luaus as celebrations.

Bella sat beside Joel for a while as he slept, a book by a noted Hawaiian gardener open on her lap. She tried to read, but her eyes kept straying to his face. He looked younger asleep. Her fingers twitched to brush back a lock of his hair that fell across his forehead in an S-curve, but she didn’t want to wake him.

He was to rest for at least another week, and then take it easy for another month, the doctors had told them. The trip to the Arctic was out until at least next summer. And he’d have to come back for a complete checkup before returning to work.

That suited Bella. It gave her time to take care of him. And to convince him that island living was ono, the best. She chewed her lower lip uncertainly. Could she do it?

Then she looked up at the forest rising green and lush behind the house, and narrowed her eyes. She was ho’omalu, a wahine of strength. She’d use any power she could draw from the island to claim him and get him to stay with her.

Her mother arrived soon after they did, delivered by Hilo in his big silver truck. Bella was relieved to see that Grace was smiling as she walked down the lanai from the driveway. Hilo was smiling too, his broad, dark face in his habitual merry lines, black Ho’omalu eyes twinkling. They made a nice couple, Grace, auburn-haired and graceful in her favorite pastel lavender linen, Hilo in a flowered shirt and slacks. Bella realized with a shock that her mother was only in her late forties, and Hilo probably wasn’t too much older.

She shelved that weird thought for later and went to hug her mother.

Grace held her tight, enveloping Bella in her soft arms, expensive perfume and a murmur of satisfaction.

Then Grace drew back and looked at Bella, her green eyes searching, her soft mouth pursed. “Well, you look wonderful, considering what you’ve been through.” She sounded surprised but relieved. “I guess your father and his family have been taking good care of you.”

“They have,” Bella agreed. “But I’m glad you’re here, Mama.”

Grace pulled her close for another long hug. “I want to hear the whole story, when you’re ready to tell me. Those horrible drug runners.” She shuddered, her arms tightening. “I nearly died when Tina called me, and then I saw the news story. That storm—all the bodies, oh-hh! I can’t believe you survived, sweetie.”

Bella clung to her mother, meeting Hilo’s gaze over Grace’s shoulder. Wait until her mother heard the rest of it.

He nodded silently at her. It was time to tell her mother about the ho’omalu. But that was for later.

“Come into the house,” Bella urged. “Claire and Melia can’t wait to see you.”

Grace turned to walk into the house with her, her arm still around Bella. Then she stopped as she saw Joel, lying on a lounger on the corner of the lanai, where he could see the shore when he woke from his nap. He wore shorts and his plaid shirt, a soft russet that emphasized the auburn highlights in his hair, which was wavy in the humidity.

“Is that who I think it is?” Grace asked.

“Joel Girand,” Bella said. “He’s recuperating here.”

She turned to see Grace watching her with an arrested look. “Oh, I see.”

Bella blushed. “Come on in, Mama.”

Joel woke to hear voices eddying quietly around him. Opening his eyes, he saw a glass of water on the table beside him, sweating in the humidity. He reached for it and drank thirstily. Setting the empty glass back with a sigh, he rubbed his eyes and then looked around him, squinting in the bright afternoon sunlight.

He sat in deep shade, but down across the lawn was a little bay, waves spilling over the reef at its outer edge, the water inside a bright, clear turquoise. Waves lapped gently at a small golden-sand beach, palms clustered along the edge. A cement dock jutted out along the west side, with one of the most spectacular cigarette boats Joel had ever seen tied up to it. Long and sleek, it shaded from turquoise to blue, with native emblems swirled on the sides in long ribbons of metallic paint. A tiny fishing boat rode jauntily next to it.

Bella and her friends lounged on beach chairs in their swimsuits. They were all wet, as if they’d just come out of the water, and he lay there for a moment, admiring the tableau of two pretty blondes and one Hawaiian beauty in bikinis. He was looking forward to meeting the two other women who’d forged such a tight bond with Bella.

They didn’t look like prim and proper little corporate types, so outside of DelRay time, she obviously allowed the real Bella to come through. Reinforced his decision to get her to quit. Of course he’d win, because anyone could see she didn’t belong in an office. And now that his future was assured, he could take care of her.

Another woman sat with them, a big straw hat shading her face, her swimsuit much more conservative.

She said something, and all of them laughed. Their happiness tugged at him. Carefully, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the chair. Then he pulled himself to the edge and prepared to stand up.

“Need some help there?” It was Frank, materializing from the shadows of the house.

“You look a hell of a lot better than last time I saw you,” Joel said, attempting a smile. He was really glad to see the older man safe and well.

“So do you—kinda.” Frank bent to put his arm under Joel’s and helped hoist him to his feet. It hurt like hell, but he was glad to be upright. “You look like hell now, but den you were nearly dead. Where to?”

“Toilet.”

Frank walked him into the house, across a sitting room and into a bathroom tiled in cool beige. “I’m gonna be right outside,” he told Joel. “Bella’ll be mad as hell if you fall and reopen your wounds.”

“Thanks.”

Joel relieved himself, sighing as the pressure on his aching bladder eased. He fastened his shorts one-handed and then turned, holding on to the counter around the sink. He peered in the mirror. He didn’t care how he looked, but Bella might. He grimaced at his reflection, pale from lying around inside and dark smudges under his eyes, as if he was recovering from the flu. He’d lost weight from several days of no appetite too. He swiped his face off with cool water, ran his wet fingers through his hair and dried his hands. Best he could do.

Frank walked him back outside. Joel looked longingly at the beach, where the big Hawaiian moke who’d brought him out now stood with the scarylooking dude with the long hair. Man, he’d hate to tangle with either of them.

“Wanna join dem?” Frank asked.

Joel nodded. “You have a cane around here or a walking stick?”

“Maybe, I’ll take a look. Fo’ now, I got Ho’omalus. Hey, boys,” he called. “C’mon and give us a hand, yeah?”

To Joel’s embarrassment, the whole beach erupted in activity. The two men loped up the lawn to take his arms, and the women scurried around, fixing a lounger for him in the best shade of the palms that leaned over the little beach lanai, bringing a table and a cold drink from the big cooler nearby.

Bella hovered, admonishing her cousins to be careful. When he was settled, exhausted and hurting again, she perched at the foot, frowning at him. He held out his hand, and she put hers in it and let him hold it on his thigh, without even realizing what she was doing, he’d bet. But he knew. He was staking his claim in front of her family and friends.

“You really should be in bed,” she fretted aloud.

“This is great,” he assured her, squeezing her hand. He’d take a painkiller in a little while, but for now he wanted to be alert. “You gonna introduce me?”

“Oh.” Her cheeks flushed with pretty color, and she looked around. “Well, everyone, this is Joel. Joel Girand. Joel, this is my mother, Grace.”

The woman in the hat, who he now saw was an attractive, older redhead with pale skin, green eyes and Bella’s mouth, murmured a greeting and smiled, but her gaze was cautious, measuring. That was okay; he understood that. Hell, he’d only known her daughter a week, and in that time they’d been through a cataclysm of violent danger. For all this woman knew, he’d been the catalyst, not Bella.

David Ho’omalu and his wife smiled at him, seeming genuinely glad to meet him. The taller blonde, Claire, and her Hawaiian hulk of a husband were more conservative, both examining him as if letting him know they’d measure him and decide later if he was worthy of their Bella. But they were polite, and Claire asked about his wound and how it was healing.

“It’s good,” he said. “The doctors were surprised there wasn’t more internal damage.”

An odd look was exchanged amongst the younger Ho’omalus. “Hilo,” said David cryptically. He winked at Bella, and her eyes widened. She smiled brilliantly at Joel, squeezing his hand. “David, Daniel, and their father and uncle were there that day,” she said quietly. “They arrived even before the police and the Coast Guard.”

He nodded. “Excellent triage, huh? Thanks, guys.”

The brothers nodded, and for an instant, Joel had the odd notion they looked like kings, conferring their grace on an ally.

“I’ll go see if lunch is ready,” Melia said, rising from her lounger. “David, come help me carry things?”

The voluptuous Claire swatted her husband’s huge biceps. “We’ll come too.”

The four trooped off, leaving Joel with Bella and her mother.

“You must have been pretty scared when you saw those news reports,” Joel commented to Grace.

“Good Lord, yes,” she exclaimed. “The devastation that storm wrought was incredible in itself. And then to see the lineup of faces, of those criminals, drug runners that died in their gun battle… I’ve never been so horrified. And you kids, landing innocently in the middle of their—turf war or whatever it was.” She put a hand to her face, her mouth quivering.

Joel met Bella’s gaze. Her mother didn’t know, then. Bella shook her head slightly, her eyes haunted.

Joel squeezed her hand.
Time enough to break it to her
, he tried to say with his eyes.
It will be all right, baby
.

She squeezed back and tried to smile. “We were lucky the Ho’omalus came so quickly,” she said. “And Dad was there too.”

“Where is Daro?” Grace asked, looking around as if he might materialize. “I thought he and Jason were here?”

“They’re over at Daniel’s,” Bella said. “Working on a new song, I guess.”

Grace nodded and then smiled as Bella’s big, silver-haired uncle ambled down the lawn toward them. He smiled at her and Bella and bent to hold out his hand to Joel. “I’m Hilo.”

Joel took his big paw. “Thanks,” he said. “You’ll have to explain to me sometime just how you saved my sorry ass.”

Hilo nodded. “It was my pleasure, son. Anything for our Nani.”