Bamboo and Lace (34 page)

“We are still off,” Ashton answered his future mother-in-law, Anita Talbot. “Lily Walsh is staying with us. I think you've heard me talk about Jeff Walsh. Well, it's his sister. She's not in a cottage. She's actually staying with us in the house.”

“Where does she live?” Hadden Talbot, Deanne's father, asked.

“Kashien. She's here visiting for three months.”

“Is she enjoying it?”

“I think so. She tends to be quiet and hard to read, so I'm not exactly sure.”

“Can you tell if she's falling for Gabe the way Deanne hopes?” This came from Anita, and Ashton smiled, thinking his fiancée had done quite a bit of sharing.

“I can't tell. I wish I could. Maybe Gabe can tell, but I'm in the dark on this one.”

“You were in the dark on Deanne too,” Anita now teased him, “so that doesn't surprise me a bit.”

Ashton laughed but had to agree. He had been so afraid of saying the wrong thing and chasing Deanne away that he'd nearly scared her off with his silence.

“You know—” Ashton had a sudden thought— “I should probably remind Gabe of that. If he's like I was, he's afraid of making a mistake. But if Lily's the woman for him, then even if he blows it for a time, it will work out.”

“What'll work out?” Mic asked as he joined them midsentence.

“Mic.” His father said his name quietly before Ashton could explain. Mic had a tendency to enter a room talking, and Hadden was trying to make him aware of that fact.

“Oh, that's right,” he remembered when he saw his father's face. He quietly joined the group and then looked up to find Ashton's eyes on him.

“How are you?” the older man asked.

“I'm all right. Is something wrong with Deanne?”

“Not that I know of. Do you know something?”

“No, but I know I missed what was said and wondered if it was about Deanne.”

“It wasn't,” Ashton stated simply, not willing to admit that he and his entire family were engaged in matchmaking. Anita had no such qualms.

“There's a young woman staying with Ash and the family. They all hope she and Gabe will get together.”

“Is she cute?” Mic asked, looking very much like the high school boy that he was.

Ashton only laughed.

“What does she look like?” Anita now put in, just curious. “Is she Kashienese?”

“No, she's American, and she's very attractive, but I would not call her cute. She's too classy for that.”

Not to risk giving his fiancée's parents the wrong impression, he didn't add that Lily was one of the sweetest women he had ever known.

“And in all of this,” Hadden's dry voice now asked, “is Gabe interested in her, or is Deanne just doing a lot of wishful thinking?”

Ashton answered very quietly. “It occurs to me that my brother would be very embarrassed if he knew we were discussing this, so I would beg your discretion, but yes, Gabe is interested.”

“We'll just pray for them, Ash,” Anita said with understanding. “And we won't say anything when we visit in a few weeks.”

“Thank you,” Ashton said gratefully, and hoped that would be the end of the conversation. It was all too taxing. The woman he loved was far away, and that was proving to be very hard. His heart never banked on how difficult it would be to watch his brother fall for someone so close by and not have a clue where he stood with her.

Chapter Nineteen

Lily couldn't believe she was back on an airplane before it was time to go home. And this time she wasn't alone. The large, comforting presence of Gabe Kapaia was on one side of her; Ashton on the other. Lily glanced up at the female flight attendant until a man came down the aisle behind the woman, causing Lily to drop her eyes. The moment Lily's gaze was in her lap, she realized that the uniformed woman's eyes had lingered admiringly on the men who sat on either side of her. For the first time, Lily thought about what good-looking men they were.

From the time she was a child, Lily had longed for the dark complexion of the people of Kashien and knew now why the Kapaia family was so attractive to her: They looked as she had always dreamed of looking. Her hair was dark, but it wasn't the glossy black locks that both brothers could claim. And her eyes were green! In Lily's opinion she couldn't look less like an islander if she were blond-haired and blue-eyed.

“What goes on in that head of yours, Lily?” Gabe's voice came from her right.

The slim brunette looked up at him.

“I don't know what you mean.”

“You're sitting very still with your eyes down. What are you thinking?”

“I was thinking about blond hair and blue eyes.”

Gabe leaned forward in his seat to get a better angle on her face. His brows had shot up, and Lily could see that she had surprised him.

“You're not actually unhappy with your looks, are you, Lily?”

“Not exactly,” Lily said rather slowly.

Gabe held her eyes for a moment, but she didn't elaborate.

“Do you think you'll ever tell me what that meant?”

Lily suddenly found it impossible to explain. Feeling her face heat slightly as her tongue tied, Lily was glad when Gabe sat back with just a light touch to her arm.

Never had anyone read her as well as Gabe. Lily thought it uncanny. It was almost as if he knew what she was thinking. She had lost count of the times he asked her about her thoughts at the worst possible time.

A voice came over the intercom at that point, and Lily was glad for the distraction. She did everything the head flight attendant instructed: tray table up, seatbelt in place, bag stowed under the seat in front of her, exits located. A short time later, they were in the air.

Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii

Lily immediately saw what Gabe had been talking about. Carson and Gloria's home was on a palm-lined street with houses that sat on large parcels. With the rise of the lot, the ocean seemed a long way away, but Lily had been told that it could be seen from the back of the house, and the beach was an easy walk along a paved path.

The house she walked into with the rest of the family was spacious and smelled of flowers. The front door opened up into the living room, with a galley kitchen to the left. A hallway exited out of the living room, and somehow Lily knew that it must lead to bedrooms. A small family room was adjacent to the kitchen, and on the back of the house was a large covered porch.

While Lily was taking this in, she noticed Peter and Celia heading for a box of toys in the family room. She smiled at how well they knew their way around.

“Look!” Peter could be heard calling as he found new toys that his grandmother had added.

“Here, Lily,” Carson, who was suddenly beside her, offered. “Come this way, and I'll show you your room.”

“Oh, thank you,” Lily replied, taking a moment to remember to look up. She was now quite at ease with Gabe, Evan, and Ashton, but having eye contact with other men still took a conscious effort.

Carson took Lily through the living room, both Gloria and Gabe bringing up the rear, to the large enclosed deck on the back of the house and into a small room where the walls were almost all windows. A daybed was made up, but the room was clearly for sitting and enjoying the view.

“Are the children in here with me?”

“No, we had planned that but decided to put you out here on your own. Will this be all right?” Gloria asked.

“Yes, thank you.”

“This is Carson's runaway room,” Gloria explained as she plumped a pillow on one of the chairs. “When he can't sleep, he comes out here and opens all the windows. Sometimes the sound of the ocean and wind can put him to sleep.”

Lily opened her mouth but closed it again as she listened to Gloria telling her where she could store her things for the duration of her visit. After they had been thanked one last time, Carson and Gloria made their way back inside the house. Gabe stood at the door to speak to Lily.

“You didn't ask them if you would be in the way when Carson needs this room.”

“I was thinking of doing that,” Lily admitted.

“No!” Gabe exclaimed, eyes large with mock amazement.

Lily's hand came up to cover her smile, but her eyes gave her away. For the first time since she arrived, she tried to give as good as she had gotten.

“I've decided something.”

“What's that?”

“I'm going to be so much trouble on this trip that you'll be changing your mind about bringing me.”

“What will you do?”

Lily opened her mouth but nothing came out.

Gabe laughed at the bemused look on her face.

“I'll think of something!” she told him, hands coming to her waist.

“You do that,” Gabe said very softly, his gaze warm.

A moment later Lily stood alone, Gabe's eyes still in her mind as she wondered at the strange fluttering she felt in her chest and stomach.

“Have we been bad?” Peter asked after his father directed him inside and shut the door of their bedroom; Bailey and Celia were there too.

“No, Pete. Your mom and I just need to tell you and Celia about something. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The four lay on the bed, heads close. Evan took a moment to look into the faces of his children, so like his beautiful wife with their soft, dark eyes and black hair. It occurred to him that it wouldn't hurt his feelings in the least to have another little person who looked just like them.

“Something special is going to happen in a few months, and we want you to know about it.”

“What is it?” Peter asked.

“What's it?” Celia echoed.

“We're going to have a new baby at our house. Mama's going to have a baby.”

Taking a moment to react, Peter asked, “A boy or a girl?”

“We don't know yet. We won't know until the baby comes.”

“Do Grandma and Carson know?”

“No. We want to tell them, but first we wanted you to know.”

“Can I tell?” Peter asked.

Evan and Bailey exchanged a look before Evan decided.

“I think that would be all right.”

“I brought a special gift for Grandma's birthday, Pete,” Bailey said. “It will help give the surprise away. So if you give her that, she'll figure it out.”

“Where is it?”

“I want to.” Celia had suddenly realized she was being left out, and her brow came down. Bailey and Peter moved off the bed to get the present from the luggage, but Evan kept his daughter on the bed to talk about her attitude.

A short time later the four were ready to go out. Evan asked Peter to let Celia share in the gift, and Bailey had a fit of giggles over the way they attempted to hold it between them.

“Okay,” their father urged, “let's find Grandma.”

“What's this?” Carson asked in a loud voice as soon as they'd come into the living room. “Looks like an early birthday present for someone!”