House of the Hanging Jade (11 page)

She looked at me, a bit deflated. “Is everything all right, Kailani?”

“Yeah.”

She studied me through narrowed eyes for a moment. I did my best to ignore her, and she left the kitchen. Had she figured out what I knew? I would have to do a better job of hiding my feelings or she might simply decide she didn't want me around anymore.

I poured her a cup of coffee and put it on a tray along with sliced papaya with a lime wedge and a wheat muffin studded with chunks of ripe orange mango. She thanked me quietly and I returned to the kitchen.

Liko came in next. “What's up, K?” he asked, smiling broadly.

I gave him a brief, pained stare, pleading silently with him to understand what he was doing to the Jorgensens. But he didn't seem to notice, or he didn't care.

He took his breakfast to the lanai and sat down across from Barbie. I stayed in the kitchen, not wanting to see the looks exchanged between them, the knowing smiles they would share. I couldn't wait for the kids to leave for school so they wouldn't have to witness their mother so obviously holding court with yet another man who wasn't their father.

Marcus and Justine hurried in a minute later, grabbing muffins and yogurt drinks for breakfast. They would eat on their way to the bus, they told me. They came from the back of the house, so they had apparently been spared the sight of their mother with Marcus's tutor.

I heard Lars join Liko and Barbie at the table. Things were barely civil between Lars and Barbie these days; Lars seemed to know where he stood with his wife, but obviously hadn't yet figured out that Liko was the man who had captured his wife's attentions. I could hear Lars and Liko laughing together about something.

After breakfast, Barbie returned to the kitchen. “Kailani, I'm going to be sending out invitations for the party today. I'm not giving people much notice—just one week. Can you have everything ready by then?”

“Sure,” I answered, attempting to show her that my earlier rude behavior had passed. “I'll start shopping today.”

“Good. This is going to be a great party.” She turned and left for work.

I spent much of that day in the markets in Hawi and up in Waimea. I hadn't been to Waimea in a long time, and it was fun rediscovering all my favorite markets and shops in the up-country ranching town. I got all the nonperishables I would need for Barbie's party, then treated myself to an afternoon snack at one of the several organic restaurants that called Waimea home.

As I walked to my car, I thought I heard a familiar voice. I turned and was surprised to see Barbie walking arm in arm with a tall man in a white coat. I didn't want her to see me, so I ducked into the nearest shop, where I could see them from the front window. They looked as if they were in the throes of puppy love. They stopped next to a small sports car and she kissed him on tiptoe while he bent down to meet her lips halfway. They lingered there for another minute, then he got into the car and drove away with a wave in her direction.

I wondered whether the man—whoever he was—knew Barbie was married to one man and sleeping with another. If he was one of her colleagues, surely he knew she was married. He probably didn't know about Liko, though, and I wondered with an ironic pang of sadness whether Liko knew about him.

Barbie turned around and walked back into a nearby building without a backward glance. I was sure she hadn't seen me. I drove slowly past the building on my way out of Waimea. A sign outside said it was Orchid Isle Wellness.

I drove back to the Jorgensens in an uncomfortable cloud. I didn't like secrets, and now I was the keeper of too many. I had lied to Geoffrey about Liko and me, I was hiding the truth from Lars about Barbie and Liko, and now I would be hiding the truth from both Lars and Liko about this other man. My stomach was in knots and I wasn't sure if cooking would alleviate the stress this time.
Maybe I should just come clean with everyone. But I don't want to be the one to break the news to Lars and Liko that Barbie is cheating on both of them.

I pulled my car into the drive in front of the Jorgensens' house. I lugged all the bags of groceries with me under the pergola and glanced up at the hanging jade, dripping down in all its perfect turquoise glory. As beautiful as the plant was, it was considered an aggressive member of the landscape.
Barbie is the same way
, I thought ruefully. She is beautiful and tempting, but also aggressively flirtatious and overreaching.
Does she sleep with every man she meets?

I was surprised to run directly into Lars as I opened the front door. He laughed and offered to lighten my load of bags a bit. I gratefully handed him two heavy sacks and followed him into the kitchen.

“Kailani, I'm going to take the kids out to dinner tonight,” he told me as we set the bags down on the counters. “You have the evening off.”

“Thanks. That'll give me time to work on the details for Barbie's party.”

“About that party . . .”

“Hmm?”

He hesitated. “Nothing.” He shook his head slightly and left.

I was glad Lars was taking Marcus and Justine to dinner, not because it gave me the evening off, but because it was so nice to see him spending time with his kids. When dinnertime came, I scrambled an egg for myself and ate it with a side of homemade salsa and a slice of my parents' bread, toasted and buttered. As I enjoyed the simple meal on the lanai, I thought again of the man whom I'd seen kissing Barbie earlier. Who was he? Didn't he care that she was married? Didn't
she
care? And why did she work so hard to destroy her family?

I could come up with no answers. I was glad Liko didn't come looking for dinner, because I wanted to be alone. Maybe he had even gone with Lars and the kids, though Lars hadn't mentioned it.

I was in my den, looking through cookbooks for one more showstopping dessert recipe for Barbie's party, when I heard voices in the kitchen. I poked my head around the door to find Marcus and Justine helping themselves to drinks from the refrigerator.

“Hi, guys. How was dinner?”

I wasn't prepared for their response. Justine started crying and ran off toward the lanai and Marcus stared at me for a moment, anger flashing in his young eyes. “Dinner sucked,” he said, then turned on his heel and followed Justine, calling her name.

I was stunned. What had happened during dinner? Had they fought with Lars? Had they gotten in trouble for something? I stood, staring at nothing out the kitchen doorway, when Lars came down the hall from the front door. I hadn't even heard him coming.

I looked at him, confused, but if he noticed, he ignored the question in my eyes. “Where did the kids go?” he asked brusquely.

I blinked. “I just saw them go toward their rooms.”

He nodded and left, going in the same direction the kids had gone.

I couldn't concentrate on dessert recipes anymore. I poured myself a glass of wine and took it out to the lanai. After quite a long time, Lars walked by, his shoulders drooping and his head down. He hadn't seen me.

“Can I get you anything, Lars?” He jumped, looking startled. “I mean, is everything okay?” I asked.

“Oh. Hi, Kailani. Sorry, I didn't see you there. No, everything is not okay. I'll be back in a minute.”

He left, but returned several minutes later with a bottle of wine and a large glass. He sat down heavily at the dining table. I felt funny talking to him from the daybed, so I took my wine to the table and sat down opposite him. I didn't know what to say, so I waited for him to talk. He poured himself a large measure of the dark purple wine and took a long sip.

When he spoke, his words came as a surprise, even though I guess I should have expected them.

“I took the kids out to dinner to tell them that things are not working out between their mother and me,” he announced flatly.

“I'm sorry to hear that,” I murmured.

He sighed. “I should have stayed home to tell them,” he said. “They were upset, and they were mad at me for telling them in public. I didn't even think about that. I just wanted to get away from the house for a while. Neither one of them is speaking to me. Like it's my fault this marriage isn't working out.”

I didn't know what to say. He continued, “I didn't come right out and tell them that we're divorcing, but I think it was pretty clear.”

“I'm sure they got the message,” I said.

“Do you think it was wrong of me to do that?”

I was startled. I didn't know what to say. I thought carefully before I answered. “I think you probably put into words what they've known for a while now. I know for a fact that Marcus hasn't been oblivious to what's been going on, because he's mentioned it to me before. And I'm sure not much escapes Justine's notice.”

Lars seemed surprised. “You think they know what's been going on?”

I nodded. “I think kids know more than adults give them credit for.”

“You're probably right. But I wish they weren't mad at me. It's like they're blaming me for everything. I've tried. God knows I've tried. We even moved here from California to start fresh after I caught Barbie cheating on me. We moved here because I thought she just needed to get away from the temptation. But there are men here too. And she found them, just like I should have known she would.”

He was revealing more to me than I was comfortable hearing, but perhaps getting this off his chest was helping him. So I remained silent. He poured himself another large glass of wine.

“I know I spend a lot of time working, but I've always tried to balance that with family. Maybe I haven't tried hard enough. And I know she's seeing someone else. I just don't know who it is.” He took another long swig of wine.

She was seeing at least two other people, but I didn't tell him that.

“Do you want to know something? I don't even think Justine is my daughter. I think she's the daughter of someone Barbie worked with back in California. Justine doesn't know that, of course.”

I was astonished. I was sure Lars wouldn't have shared that information with me if he had been stone cold sober, and I worried that he would regret it tomorrow. There were a thousand questions I wanted to ask him about why he suspected Justine wasn't his child, but it wasn't my place to ask.

Lars and I sat in silence for a bit longer, then I excused myself and went to my room. I didn't sleep well again that night—which was getting to be a habit. When the kids came into the kitchen in the morning, Justine hadn't even brushed her hair and Marcus's eyes wore a hooded look.

“Justine, can I braid your hair for you?” I offered. “It would look great.”

She looked at me listlessly. “I guess.” She walked over and presented the back of her head to me.

“You have to run and get a brush. Hurry so you don't miss the bus.” I was pleased when she hustled down to her room and came back quickly with a brush.

I brushed her long, chestnut hair and put it in a French braid in time for her to catch the bus. She looked much better. I couldn't do much about Marcus's eyes, but I did remind him to have a great day and he smiled appreciatively.

I wanted to do something special for them. I didn't have a lot of money, but I had enough to take them into Hawi for ice cream after school. When they came home, I herded them into my car and we took off.

“Where are we going?” Marcus whined.

“Are we in trouble?” Justine asked.

I laughed. “We're going somewhere fun. It's a treat.” For all of us, since I got ice cream as rarely as they did.

I pulled into a parking space right in front of the ice cream shop on the main road in Hawi Town.

“We're getting ice cream?” Marcus asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Yay!” screeched Justine from the backseat.

They followed me into the store and took their time deciding what they wanted. Finally, Marcus ended up with a two-scoop macadamia nut and coconut ice cream cone and Justine opted for a dragon-fruit sorbet, no doubt because of its gorgeous hot-pink color.

We took the cones with us and drove to Mahukona State Park, where we enjoyed the view from a picnic table near the boat ramp. I wanted them to feel comfortable talking to me; I ignored the twinge that reminded me that I knew the secret about Liko and their mother and I hadn't told anyone.

No one spoke, and finally I asked, “Where did you go for dinner with your dad last night?”

Marcus scowled and Justine glanced at him, pain showing in her eyes.

“A place in Waimea. It was okay,” he answered.

“I didn't get a chance to ask you about it last night,” I mentioned pointedly. “You know me. I'm always interested in what people are eating.”

“Mom and Dad might be getting a divorce,” Justine blurted out. Marcus shot her an angry look.

“As if you didn't know,” he added, turning the angry look on me. I met his gaze and held it for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I heard Dad telling you some things last night that are private. You just brought us here to pump us for information!” he accused. Justine looked shocked. I wondered if Marcus had heard the entire conversation and specifically whether he had heard his father say that Justine might not be his child.

“Marcus, the reason I brought you here is to let you both know that yes, I do know why your dad took you to dinner last night and to tell you that you can talk to me anytime about it if you're feeling sad or scared or upset,” I told him quietly. “The only information I'm pumping you for is what you had for dinner,” I finished with a slight smile.