Winter in Waianae (Love in Oahu Book 2) Read online

  The minister finished his sermon and gestured in her direction. Marissa drew in a deep breath and exhaled in nervous jags. Only a quick eulogy needed to be read before she could let go of her tightly held emotions. She stepped back and pulled Erika and Eleanor into each other’s arms.

  Her stiletto heels stuck in the sand when she approached the arch Annie’s sister had so elegantly decorated. Marissa grabbed the shoulder of one of Terence’s many cousins and removed her black strappy sandals. Hooking them in her index finger, she handed them to the solid block of a man. “Can you hold these for me, please?”

  With a small smile of encouragement, he accepted her gift. Marissa continued down the beach in bare feet.

  • • •

  Larry had been a thorn in Terence’s side for years. Many times he wished the man would simply go away. Now that his wish became reality, all he could do was berate himself for how he treated him during their last encounter.

  A conversation required both parties having a voice, but he lectured Larry and hadn’t allowed him to get in a single word. Terence hadn’t wanted an explanation. He thought he had all the answers. Larry had contrived a way for their daughter to meet a boy of a more appropriate age than Grady. If Terence hadn’t been so quick to jump to conclusions, or held off judgement, he might have seen that something was going wrong inside Larry’s head.

  Looking back, the signs were obvious, the persistent headaches he suffered, the occasional blurred vision, and Larry’s insistence he had nothing to do with Warden showing up at Lena’s. He and Eleanor even joked that Alzheimer’s might be playing a role in his forgetfulness.

  Unbeknownst to any of them, an aneurysm had begun to bleed inside his brain. The doctor’s best guess was that it began slowly, causing the first symptoms, which Larry ignored. When Erika found him in the middle of a full-blown seizure, the specialist surmised that enough blood had seeped out to trigger the stroke Larry was never able to recover from.

  Terence didn’t think he would forgive himself anytime soon, but Eleanor brushed off his guilt as misguided. She insisted if anyone was to blame, it was her. She lived with the man and hadn’t been overly concerned about the symptoms he presented. It wasn’t as if Larry hadn’t had a hundred headaches before, and it wasn’t unusual for his vision to be blurry after spending the day pouring over legal documents. If these things were more severe than he was accustomed to, it was Larry’s responsibility to relay that information to her, or his doctor, but he hadn’t. The only clue she had that anything was wrong was when he quipped that he didn’t think he had Alzheimer’s, but that she should keep an eye on him anyway. Instead, she laughed and punched him lightly on the arm.

  Being a Monday morning quarterback wasn’t going to change the outcome. Larry was gone and he wasn’t coming back. However, it didn’t mean he couldn’t improve himself. He vowed no more lectures. He would listen to Erika when she defended her actions and not shut her down.

  He glanced at his son resting in Annie’s arms. The boy was headstrong and had a temper. Terence could already envision Max running through every boundary he and Annie forbade him to cross. His beautiful child was bound to push his patience to the limit.

  Terence pulled Annie tighter into his chest. They would have to devise a way to curb their boy’s wild ways without destroying his individuality.

  • • •

  Annie snuggled into her husband’s arms. She wished she could keep her mind in the present, but numbers ran through her head. This was the worst possible time for her to leave, but Eleanor and Marissa needed her in San Diego.

  Her best friend was delivering loving words about her father. Annie wanted to hear what Marissa had to say, so she tried to push the Coffee Cart franchise from her mind. Why was it so hard for her to maintain focus? She loved Larry. He and Marissa saved her from a wretched childhood. Participating in his final goodbye should have been in the forefront of her mind, but she kept drifting off.

  A splash out in the cove caught everyone’s attention and a hush fell over the proceedings.

  Annie turned towards the sound. Even Max’s head followed the noise.

  A spinner dolphin leaped out of the water and flipped before dipping back into the sea.

  When one spinner starts to play, more will follow. Today was no exception. The pod put on a show that would rival a production at Sea World. For a solid fifteen minutes, their acrobatics entertained the guests.

  Lena walked up beside them. “Have you ever seen such a thing?” she asked.

  “Not in this cove,” Terence replied.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Annie saw Marissa grab the arch and collapse against it. She shoved Max into Terence’s chest and rushed to bolster her best friend.

  “What an awesome finale,” Marissa gushed when Annie drew near.

  “You don’t mind that they interrupted your speech?”

  Marissa blinked hard and her head fell back with sad laughter. “I was about to break down and cry all over the place. Those little dolphins saved me from acute humiliation.”

  Annie took a step back and looked into Marissa’s eyes. “Only you would think that crying during your father’s funeral service was humiliating.”

  “Daddy wouldn’t like it.”

  Annie grabbed Marissa’s shoulders and gave them a little shake. “I loved the man, but to hell with Daddy.”

  Marissa pulled Annie in for a hug and echoed her refrain. “To hell with Daddy.”

  11

  Brittany knocked on Grady’s front door and waited. His car was in the drive, but he wasn’t answering. Drumming her fingers on the screen, she agonized over her next move. Britt wasn’t leaving without seeing him, so that made her decision to break in a little easier to live with.

  She wiggled the knob to make sure the house wasn’t unlocked before she did anything more invasive. It didn’t open, so she took a few steps back and searched for an unsecured window. The house appeared to be sealed up tight. Brittany scratched her neck and headed around back. She hoped he hadn’t been as vigilant with the rear door. Hesitant yet resolved, she unlatched the side gate and swung it open.

  Brittany gasped at the vision before her. Grady’s backyard was a pure tropical paradise which she could only hope to achieve at Lena’s. She took a tentative step forward and heard her feet crunch on the gravel path.

  Grady hadn’t shown her this part of his home, and she felt guilty for invading his sanctuary. It was time to leave. She would pound on his door and yell at the top of her lungs until he let her in, but Britt wasn’t going to barge into his private place without an invitation.

  “You’ve come this far, you might as well come all the way inside,” Grady’s shaky voice called out from somewhere down the path.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to soil your hallowed ground.”

  Grady brushed away the giant leaf of a banana plant as he approached. He still wore his dark dress pants, but his tie was gone, and his white shirt hung unbuttoned and loose. His trim waist and slightly rippled young abs were tan and appealing.

  “Hallowed ground?” he asked.

  “Isn’t it?” His response confused her. “I’m a landscaper, but you never showed me this. I figured it was your special place. That’s why I was about to leave.”

  Grady surveyed the garden and considered her hypothesis. “I guess it is, but not for me. My mom built it.”

  With Larry’s funeral, Brittany’s emotions were already inching towards the brink, but the pain in Grady’s sad green eyes shattered her heart into a million pieces. “But you kept it up. It’s special to you, too.”

  “For a long time I couldn’t let go of the thought that she’d come back. All the evidence suggests my parents are dead, but their bodies were never found.” He tapped his skull with his index finger and squeezed his eyes tight. “I know they ended up as fish food, but part of me still believes they’re alive out there somewhere. So I keep Mom’s garden nice for her.”

  Brittany reached out and str
oked his arm. “It’s a big job. I could help if you like.”

  Grady stepped away and brushed off her caress.

  That small gesture felt like a slap in the face. It was like Max wiping off one of her kisses. Coming from the boy she cared about made it much worse. Brittany’s eyes narrowed. The only thing that stopped her from punching Grady in the face was that he was already hurting.

  Her hand instinctively reached out again, but Britt caught herself and let her arm fall down to her side. “I think Larry’s death has brought up a lot of memories. Would you like to go inside and talk?”

  Grady stepped further down the path. “Maybe you could help me with something. I’d like you to take a look at a couple of plants. I’m not sure where they came from.”

  Brittany followed him to the far end of the yard. Inside a rather large pot were three marijuana plants. This time she didn’t hold back and plowed her fist into his bicep. “I thought growing weed was illegal in Hawaii.”

  “My dad suffered from a bad form of arthritis. He had a medicinal grow card to help ease the pain and inflammation.”

  “Your dad was a pothead?”

  “No, he never smoked it. He baked it in brownies and would take a bite or two before going to bed. It was the only way he could sleep through the night.”

  “Maybe we should make some of those for Max,” Brittany joked. Grady wasn’t amused, so she decided to take his concerns a little more seriously. She touched the plant’s long middle leaf. “Just so we’re absolutely clear on the subject. I need to know if these plants are legal.”

  “They used to be. Dad had to renew his card every year. It’s expired now.”

  That wasn’t the answer she was hoping for. These plants smelled like trouble. “I thought marijuana plants were annuals. How did you get it to come back?”

  “Heck if I know. The last time I looked back here they were brown and dead. Like Mom’s garden, Dad’s plant was another one of those things I couldn’t let go of.” Grady scowled as he tried to figure out the puzzle. “Somehow, it must have re-seeded itself.”

  Brittany didn’t buy it. “Or someone planted new ones. By the size of this pot, I wouldn’t think your dad had more than one plant in it. There are three young plantings in here, and each one is strategically placed to form a triangle.” She looked up into Grady’s perplexed face. “Nature doesn’t do math. It’s much more random.” Her arm waved across the patio. “And where are the dried leaves? A dead plant doesn’t get up and walk away.”

  “No one comes back here but me.”

  “Correction,” she stated firmly. “No one used to come back here. Now someone does.”

  “They must have taken my dad’s marijuana plant.”

  “And had a high time,” she smirked. Suspicious by nature, Brittany began inspecting the rest of the garden. If the culprit was anything like her stoner friends back in San Diego, three measly plants weren’t nearly enough.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Saving you from a felony drug possession charge.”

  “You think there’s more?”

  She moved aside a tender palm frond and exposed six more plantings. “I think there is a lot more. When was the last time you worked out here?”

  Grady plopped down in a metal garden rocker. Red with rust, the chair moaned under his weight. “Everything is watered automatically. I don’t think I’ve been back here to do any real work since you arrived.”

  Brittany discovered two more plants and announced, “We’re calling the police.”

  “Why don’t we just dig them up?”

  “What then? Toss them in the trash or burn them?” she shot back. “I’m sure none of the neighbors will notice. Grady, someone is using your secret garden as a pot grow. They’re rank amateurs. These plants get big and pungent. As the buds ripen, the smell can be overwhelming. There is no way they would ever get away with it. I take that back. The placement of the plants are deplorable. I doubt very many of them would grow to reach maturity.”

  Grady leaned back and the rocker creaked louder. “I was having a really bad day, but it was nothing compared to this.” He rocked forward and locked his eyes on her. “You seem to know an awful lot about weed. Just how much experience do you have with Pakalolo?”

  Brittany dragged an orange metal rocker up next to Grady’s and sat down. “Enough to know what Pakalolo and Maui Wowie are. Don’t worry. Most of my knowledge was gained through osmosis. I used to hang out with a few tokers of the delectable Mary Jane.”

  Grady cracked a smile. “Most?”

  “I’ve been clam baked a few times,” she freely admitted, “but it was nothing compared to this. You have a real problem here, Grady. I’m unfamiliar with Hawaiian law, but back home, you could only grow five plants with a card. Even if you didn’t have a card, five was only a misdemeanor. I’ve counted eleven so far. No matter how you look at it, this is a felony. You’ll be facing real time if you don’t get ahead of this. Call the cops. You didn’t plant it. You found it growing in your backyard. Let the DEA take it from here.”

  “They won’t believe I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

  “Why the hell would you call the cops on yourself, Grady? They might look at you funny. They might even try to get you to fess up.” They needed advice, but the last thing she wanted to do was ask Miss Fancy Pants, big time lawyer, Marissa, for it. “Larry Wright picked a fine time to up and die. We could sure use his help right about now.”

  “What about that old guy staying at Lena’s?” Grady suggested.

  The only old guy at the B&B was the man who came in with the dolphins. “Mr. Caprice is a lawyer?”

  “I think that’s what he told me.” His face scrunched in confusion. “I don’t think that’s his name, though.”

  Brittany hadn’t told Grady about Lena’s fairy tale. Teasing Warden was one thing, but letting on how much she truly believed in the myth was another. “Come on. We need to get back to Lena’s.”

  • • •

  Grady was still looking at Britt funny when they found Mr. Caprice in the toolshed, caring for the baby tern. It was almost as if her newfound love didn’t believe the story about the dolphins. They settled on a compromise on the car ride over. They were going to ask for Kap’s real live help and not bring up anything mystical. Brittany agreed to Grady’s demands, but he couldn’t stop her from thinking it.

  Kap sat on a stool, cooing and gently blowing the bird’s snow white feathers, as they recounted the marijuana mystery.

  “I’m not sure what you expect me to do,” Kap warned. “I’ve been retired for many years and I never had a license to practice in Hawaii.”

  Brittany reached across the worktable and tugged his sleeve. “We just want you there to help protect Grady’s interests. He hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s been victimized. We simply want a little backup when we call the cops.”

  Kap nudged his beaked friend onto the table and stood. “There’s your first mistake. You don’t want to call the police out to your house. You’re frantic. You’re upset. We’re going to them.” Kap rubbed his forehead and paced a circular track as he considered their problem. “Give me a couple of hours to brush up on the local ordinances. Go home and find the closest DEA office. It’s probably a good idea to photograph all the new additions to your mom’s garden and print them out from your computer. It would help if you had some older photos of how the garden looked about a month ago.”

  Grady frowned. “My mom used to take pictures all the time. I have a ton of those. I’ve maintained her paradise, but I haven’t documented it the way she did.” His face suddenly went slack and his eyes went wide. “Wait a minute,” Grady snapped his fingers. “I took a few pics a couple of months ago. I took them out to the cemetery and placed them on her empty grave.” He scrolled through the photos on his cell. A satisfied grin formed on his lips and he held the device up for Kap to see. “You can see the dead pot plant in the background.”

  Kap studied the scr
een. The time stamp was approximately six weeks previous. “That will do it.” He handed Grady back his phone. “You might make a list of anyone who had access inside your home since that date.”

  Brittany cut Grady an amused look. “That will probably be a long list,” she smirked.

  Grady opened the contact list on his phone and showed her a group.

  Anger flared in her eyes. “Tapped That! I sure as hell better not be on that list!” Brittany stormed.

  Grady grinned. “Not yet.” He touched the phone. “I wanted you to see that the list isn’t as long as you might think.”

  Brittany scrolled through the numbers and counted seven. “Why do the Javiers think you are a hound dog? From the way they talked, I was expecting a much bigger number.”

  “They’re old. Two girlfriends in less than two years are probably too many.”

  She didn’t buy it, “I got the same information from Erika.”

  Grady grabbed back his phone. “And Erika was jealous of each and every one of them.”

  Kap escorted the young couple outside. “As thrilling as this conversation is, I need to do a little research. Meet me back here when you’re done, and we’ll head down to the DEA office.” Kap clutched the door to close it, but paused. “Oh, and you might want to add Erika to that list.”

  The door slammed shut and Grady and Britt stared at each other.

  “No,” Brittany gasped.

  “Impossible,” he agreed.

  Her shoulders slumped. “Crap.”

  Grady blew out a reluctant sigh. “Shit.”

  • • •

  “You understand why I can’t go, don’t you?” Annie implored.

  Marissa shoved the last of her belongings into the hard-shelled suitcase and snapped it shut. “If my kid was in trouble, I’d leave you hanging in a heartbeat.” She dragged the case off the bed and placed it next to the door. “Think back to when we were in high school. Eleanor would have never left either of us to attend a memorial service in a time of need.”