Kona Winds (5 page)

"You are Julie Lancaster," he identified her without hesitation.

But it was only logical, she decided. After all, she was the one who was the stranger in his house. Immediately, she wondered why she had reached the conclusion that he lived there. Was it his superior attitude?

Taking his lead of not issuing a formal greeting, she replied, "Yes, that's right. I'm afraid you have the advantage. You know who I am, but I don't know who you are." She softened the challenge with a smile.

"I'm Ruel Chandler."

The unusual name clicked in her memory. Emily Harmon had mentioned it yesterday at the airport. Despite his lack of friendliness, this Ruel Chandler intrigued her. The fascination she felt must have registered in her look, because she noticed the shrewd and knowing gleam that glinted in his eyes.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Chandler." Her head bobbed in a demure nod. She wondered what his position was in the house. "You are. . . ." She hesitated deliberately so he would fill in the blank.

"I'm Debbie's brother," he stated, vague amusement in his voice.

Julie didn't have to feign surprise. "Oh. I didn't know Debbie had a brother. Her name is Chandler?''

"Yes."

"Then Emily Harmon is—"

"My mother's sister."

"I had it all mixed-up. I never bothered to ask. I simply presumed that Debbie's last name was the same as your aunt's. I should have asked."

"It doesn't matter." Not a single expression seemed to crack the hard set of his features, but Julie thought she detected a note of boredom.

In another minute he might walk away and she would still be lost. "Perhaps you could help me. I have a small problem," she said.

"What is it?" He tipped his head to the side, vaguely indifferent.

"Your aunt asked me to join her for breakfast this morning on the lanai. My problem is I don't know where or what a lanai is." Julie smiled at her own ignorance.

"It's a porch or a balcony. Emily usually has her breakfast on the lanai on the ground floor," he explained with seeming patience. A hand gestured toward the rain darkening the windows. "But, as you can see, it really isn't the kind of weather to be eating outdoors today. Breakfast will be served in the dining room. It's right through that archway." He pointed in the direction from which he had just come. "You can't miss it."

"Thank you." Her gratitude was met by a dismissing nod before he moved off in another direction. She watched him for a couple of seconds, then walked through the archway he had indicated. A living room led into a dining room where Emily Harmon was seated.

"Ah, Julie." She glanced up. "Did you have a good night's rest?"

"Yes, I did, thank you."

"Sit wherever you like," Emily instructed. "What will you have? Juice? Fresh fruit? Pineapple? Papaya? Malia will fix you some eggs."

"Ill just have some fruit and toast. I've never been able to eat a large breakfast," Julie took the chair at the table opposite from her employer.

"Pineapple or papaya?" Malia inquired.

"I believe I'll try some papaya."

As Malia disappeared through a door, Emily offered, "Coffee?"

"Yes, please, black." Julie noticed a place setting at the head of the table. It hadn't been used. She supposed it was for Ruel Chandler.

Malia returned carrying haft of a papaya in a bowl, a green tinge to its ripely yellow skin. It was a melonlike fruit of a rich orange color. A lemon wedge was in its hollowed-out center.

"Squeeze the juice over the fruit," Emily Harmon instructed. "It tones down the sweetness and gives it a tangy flavor."

After following the suggestion, Julie scooped out a spoonful of the fruit. It was delicious, tangy but sweet. Emily was waiting for her opinion.

"It's very good," Julie assured her.

"Malia, why don't you go see if Ruel is going to join us this morning? I'm not even sure if he's up yet. I know it was very late when he came in last night," her employer stated.

"He's up." Julie offered the information, and was immediately the recipient of Emily's questioning gaze. "I met him in the entryway just before I came in. He was talking to someone named Al."

"You met him, then?" It wasn't exactly a question.

"Yes, he introduced himself." Julie laughed shortly. "I wasn't aware that Debbie had a brother until he told me."

"Never mind going after him, Malia. If he's going to join us, he'll be along. He probably went to see Deborah," Emily decided.

"Very well." Malia glanced at Julie. "I'll bring you some toast."

"Actually Ruel is Deborah's half brother," Emily offered the information as the housekeeper left the room. Her voice was very matter-of-fact. "Deborah is the daughter of Ruel's father's second wife."

"Oh," Julie digested that for an instant. "Then you aren't really related to Debbie."

"Not by blood, but I consider that an unimportant detail."

And Julie believed her. Emily Harmon seemed genuinely devoted to the young girl Julie had not yet met. "What does Ruel do?" she asked.

"He manages this place and he has business interests in Honolulu and Waikiki." The last was admitted very grudgingly.

The statement Emily had made yesterday at the airport about Ruel came back to Julie. She had been talking about the tall string of hotels and skyscrapers and said that Ruel called it progress. Julie knew that was a touchy subject with her employer, so she avoided it.

"It was too dark last night for me to see much and with the rain this morning, I really don't know all of what you have here," she commented.

"Sugar fields mostly and Ruel runs cattle in the hills," came the information. "Of course, he spends most of his time in Honolulu with his other . . . projects. Al oversees most of the work around here." The tone of her voice left little doubt that it was a situation Emily Harmon didn't like.

When Malia returned with the toast, Julie let the conversation lag. Ruel and his activities seemed to be a sore issue with Emily. She thought it was best to let the subject fade out of the woman's mind before attempting to discuss anything else.

After breakfast was finished, Emily suggested, "Let me take you to meet Deborah so the two of you can become acquainted."

Julie agreed readily to the proposal and the two of them left the dining room. Rain continued to come down outside, but it wasn't the deluge it had been. The air in the house was muggy and warm.

"Deborah's room is here on the ground floor. It used to be Ruel's bedroom, so his comings and goings at odd hours wouldn't disturb the rest of us. After Deborah's accident, it was much easier to move his things to a guest room on the second floor than to try to get a hospital bed upstairs. Plus—" a smile briefly touched the woman's mouth "—when Deborah does begin perambulating, we won't have to worry about her falling down the stairs!"

They were crossing the entryway and Julie glanced at the U-shaped stairwell and understood Emily's concern. Not only would it have been difficult to cart a bulky hospital bed up and around those steps, but also dangerous for anyone on crutches to negotiate the polished wooden treads of the stairs.

Entering the smaller, second wing of the house, they passed a room that was a combination study and library. The door stood open to reveal an unoccupied room. A second door was also open. It was this one Emily entered.

The room was dominated by the stark serviceability of a large hospital bed. A dark-haired, dark-eyed girl lay framed by the white sheet. Julie felt the warmth in the girl's smile and was reassured that Malia hadn't overexaggerated her praises last night.

"Hi, Auntie Em," Debbie Chandler greeted her aunt first, but the interest of her gaze was centered on Julie.

"I brought Miss Lancaster in to meet you," her aunt explained unnecessarily, and turned to Julie. "This is my niece, Deborah Chandler."

"How do you do, Miss Lancaster. I hope you had a good flight over here."

Julie approached the bed. "I did, thank you, although it was a long one." One side of the girl's face was faintly discolored, but the bruises had practically faded. "And please, call me Julie."

Keeping up the formality of "Miss" on a one-to-one basis would be difficult under any circumstances, but the natural openness of this girl would have made it doubly so. Julie decided to dispense with it from the beginning.

"This is Sue Ling, my nurse," Debbie made the introduction of the slim Oriental woman, uniformed in a white pant suit, as she lifted a tray from a service cart.

"Glad to have you with us, Julie," the nurse smiled.

Again Julie felt thoroughly welcomed. "I'm glad to be here." Of all the people she had met since she arrived, only Ruel Chandler had held himself aloof. But it was foolish to think about him. He wasn't the reason she was here. The girl in the hospital bed was.

"I'm glad to have you here, too, Julie," Debbie offered. "My right arm and my head are the only two things that aren't plastered, in traction or otherwise immobilized. I need to put them to use."

"I'm going to do that all right," Julie laughed. How many people could joke about their condition, especially sixteen-year-olds? Perhaps it was the resiliency of youth. "I'll probably turn out to be such a slave driver that you'll be glad to get back to school."

"She's nice, Auntie Em," Debbie declared. "Thank you for bringing her over."

"I'm glad, Deborah." Emily Harmon's face softened with unbelievable tenderness. "I'll leave you two alone now. I have some other work to do."

"I'll take the breakfast tray back to the kitchen. I won't be long." Sue Ling made her exit from the room with the older woman.

"Ruel told me he met you this morning," said Debbie.

"Yes, I was lost. I had to ask him for directions," Julie admitted, making light of the matter.

"I know. He told me," was the smiling response. Julie could just imagine what he had told her—your new teacher didn't know what a lanai was. "What did you think of him?" Debbie asked eagerly, and Julie was at a loss as to how to answer the question. But evidently an answer wasn't required. "All my girl friends think he's quite a hunk of man. They practically melt whenever he's around."

"He is handsome." The edges of Julie's wide mouth twitched with a smile. She couldn't help wondering what Ruel Chandler's reaction was to this teenage adulation his sister implied.

"He isn't really handsome. He's just so . . . virile," the girl settled on the adjective after a searching pause. Then she smiled at herself. "As you can tell, I think he's pretty great, too."

"I know what you mean. I have an older brother, too. He's pretty special to me," Julie chose a safe response.

"You do?"

"Yes. He's married now, and he and his wife have two little girls. I haven't seen him in quite a while. They live in Michigan," Julie elaborated.

"We have something in common."

"I guess we do, Deborah," Julie smiled.

Laughter sparkled in the dark eyes. "Call me Debbie—Deborah sounds so sophisticated. Aunt Em indulges in wishful thinking when she calls me that!"

"Debbie it is, then."

"What's your favorite subject?" The girl seemed determined to find something else in common with her new teacher.

"American history."

"Mine's English. What about math?"

"It's my weak spot," Julie admitted.

"Mine, too."

"We both might be in trouble, then!"

They talked for a while longer. Julie kept the conversation centered on Debbie's schoolwork, finding out what she had learned and what interested her. All the information she would obtain later that day from Debbie's teacher, but she wanted to get a feel of her pupil's reaction to learning. The vibrations were very positive.

When Sue Ling came back, Julie used it as an excuse to leave. "I haven't unpacked my suitcases yet, so I guess I'd better get started. I'll talk to you later, Debbie."

It was still raining when it came time to keep the appointment with Debbie's schoolteacher. Emily Harmon accompanied Julie, although she didn't take part in her discussion with the teacher. Julie couldn't make up her mind whether her employer was merely being polite or wanted to observe how knowledgeable Julie was with a fellow professional. Either way, Julie felt she had acquitted herself admirably and returned to the house with an armload of books, school records, and subject study schedules.

"We have dinner promptly at seven," Emily told her on their arrival at the house. "I generally change but it isn't required for you to do so. And I have no objections at all if you choose to wear slacks to the table."

Julie decided that since it was her first dinner, she should wear at least a nice skirt and blouse. Besides, the clothes she had on were damp from dashing in and out of the rain. Wearing an ocher gold skirt and a matching print blouse of silk, she came downstairs shortly before seven, and joined her employer in the living room. There was no sign of Ruel Chandler.

Promptly at seven, Emily rose from her chair. "Shall we go in to dinner?"

"But," Julie hesitated, "aren't you going to wait for your . . . nephew?"