O'ahu Lonesome Tonight? (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series #5) (6 page)

“I don’t know.
I think I’d like a quiet dinner. Then maybe turn in early.”

“You won’t get
an argument from me. But would you mind if I called Farrah to see if she’d like
to join us? We could have dinner over near the Royal Hawaiian and then go check
out her suite. She made me promise I’d bring you over so she could see you.
She’ll be heading home tomorrow so now’s our only chance.”

I called Farrah
but had to leave a message. She was probably still out on the day sail to
Ko
Olina
. Cell phone reception on
the catamaran is often sketchy, especially if the boat’s in open water.

My phone rang
as Jeff and I were walking to dinner.  I snatched it out of my purse and
answered. “Hey Farrah, you back yet?”

“Uh.
I’m sorry. I must have the wrong number.” It was a male
voice. And not one I recognized.

“Who are you
trying to call?” I said.

“I’m trying to
reach
Pali
Moon, from Maui. This is her brother,
Stuart Wilkerson.”

“Oh, Stuart.
I’m sorry, I didn’t check my caller ID.”

“My mom said
you were going to be on
O’ahu
this week. Are you?”

“I am. In fact
I’m with my brother, Jeff, right now. We’re just heading out to dinner.”

“Mom said you
might be willing to meet me while you’re here.”

There it was.
It was a given that sooner or later I’d meet the half-siblings I’d learned
about back in July and I guess that time had come. It’d been sticky business to
finally learn the truth about the father who’d walked out of my life when I was
a baby and to find out I had seven half-siblings. No backing down now.

“I’d love to
meet you, Stuart. Are any of the others around?”

“Just my brother, Michael.
But I don’t keep in touch with
everybody so I’m not sure who else might be in town.”

“Well, I’d love
to meet you and Michael,” I said. That was sort of a lie. What I’d ‘love’
was
getting it over with.

“How about tomorrow?
I can take the afternoon off. My wife
has been bugging me to take her to tea at the
Moana
Surfrider
. You up for something like that?”

“Sounds interesting.
What time?”

“I’m thinking
around two. They do it out on the back veranda, near the beach. The whole thing
is ‘
veddy
’ British.” He laughed. “Say, would your
brother Jeff like to come? I can make the reservation for five.”

“Hang on, I’ll
ask him.” I covered the phone and asked Jeff. He scowled and shook his head
‘no.’

“Thanks,
Stuart, but Jeff’s got a conflict.
Maybe another time.”

“Okay, then I
guess
I’ll see you tomorrow. Two o’clock at the
Moana
. You know where it is, right?
Down
on
Kalakaua
?
It’s next to the Outrigger on the
Beach.”

As if I had any
clue as to where the Outrigger on the Beach was.

“Sure. No
problem. I’ll see you there.”

We hung up and
Jeff shot me a wry look.
“Lucky you.
Not everybody
gets invited to high tea with Satan’s spawn.”

CHAPTER 8

Phil Wilkerson
had been my biological father. I say ‘biological’ because other than his
contribution to my DNA he hadn’t been much of a father to me. He’d disappeared
when I was an infant only to reappear after he’d died and named me in his will.
The whole sordid affair involving my father was a sore subject with Jeff. Phil
wasn’t his father, but he’d figured prominently in messing up Jeff’s life.
After I’d explained it all to him, I’d promised to never utter my father’s name
in Jeff’s presence again.

We walked over
to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and I called Farrah’s room on the house phone.
Steve answered.

“Hey, I was
wondering if I’d hear from you,” he said. “Did Jeff get in okay?”

“Yep, he’s here
with me now. We’re down in the lobby. Is Farrah around?”

“Haven’t seen her for two days.”

“What? She’s
not staying there?”

“Nope.”

“But she was so
excited about staying at the Pink Palace.”

“Yeah, well, it
seems she’s traded her pink palace for a snug harbor.”

“She’s staying
on Ono’s boat?” I said it louder than I’d meant to and a couple of matronly
aunties in matching peach and aqua polyester pants outfits looked over and shot
me some
stink eye
.

“Looks that
way,” he said. “Say, do you guys want to come up and see this place? It’s some
kind of gorgeous suite she’s wasting.
Can you imagine,
trading chic for cramped?
But then our Farrah has always been a fan of
the road less traveled. Anyway, come on up. We can raid the mini-bar. Farrah
told me all the room charges are being picked up by
Go Hawaii
.”  

“
Mahalo
, but we’re just heading out to dinner. Do you
want to join us?”

“I’d love to.
I’ve been obsessing over my portfolio for the past two hours. I’ll need a few
minutes to get decent, though.”  

“It’s
six-thirty at night and you’re still naked?”

“Oh, honey. I’m
covered.
But no way am I ‘go out’ ready. Come on up. It’s room
three-four-two in the main building.”

We found the
elevators for the main building and went up to the third floor. Even the halls
oozed vintage Hawaiian charm with intricately-carved wooden doors, dark
wainscoting and pale gold walls. The hustle and bustle of Waikiki felt a
million miles from the quiet serenity created by plush carpet and whispering
air conditioning. Whereas the exterior and lobby of the Royal Hawaiian really
pushed the
Pepto
pink; inside it was all dark wood
and neutral earth tones. 

Steve opened
the door wearing a Royal Hawaiian bathrobe. He had an enormous towel draped
over his head making him look like a sheik.

“Did you just
get out of the shower?” I said.

“Nope.
Been this way since noon.
I’ve been pretty much nocturnal since I got here.”

“Well, it’s
almost dark.”

“Good. Make
yourselves at home while I slip into something fetching.”

We waited in
the sitting area while Steve went into the bedroom to change. The view from the
wall of glass on the far side of the room looked down on a perfectly manicured
lawn and then out to a well-groomed beach dotted with pink umbrellas and
chaises lined up in precise rows. There was an ornate white arbor on the lawn
covered in tropical flowers in anticipation of tonight’s Royal Hawaiian
wedding. I could put on less than half the weddings I do and make
twice as much money
if I worked for a posh resort like the
Royal Hawaiian. But I’d have to keep regular hours and work with brides with
unlimited budgets and never-ending demands. It wasn’t a trade-off I was willing
to make.

Steve finally
appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, one arm stretched high against the door
sill in his ‘making an entrance’ pose.

“How do I look,
darlings?”

I’d made the
mistake of kidding him once and saying, ‘I’ve seen you look better.’ It was
something just short of a fatal error. He’d gone back and fussed over three or
four outfit changes and we’d been an hour late for dinner.

“
Mah-ve-lous
, as usual,” I said.

I nudged Jeff.
“Yeah, you look dashing,” he said.

We went to
Roy’s. Roy Yamaguchi is a local celebrity chef who’s made it big and now has
restaurants all over the country, even in Las Vegas. His locations rarely have
great views. In fact, at his Waikiki location, the
 
restaurant
is on a busy street corner hemmed in by towering high rises.
But the ‘Hawaiian fusion’ cuisine is fresh and colorful as well as the
clientele. I once did a gay commitment ceremony for two mainland guys and after
they spent an evening at the Roy’s
Ka’anapali
they’d
made so many new friends they ended up doubling their guest list.

After dinner,
Jeff and I walked Steve back to the Royal Hawaiian. “You want to come up for a
night cap from the mini-bar?” Steve said.

“
Mahalo
, but no.
You need
to get to bed,” I said. “What time is your interview at
Go Hawaii
?”

“Early. I think
it’s something crazy like eight o’clock or something. But I’ve got to take the
bus so I’ll get there when I get there.”

Jeff and I
looked at each other. I let him speak first. “Uh, I work in a lab and it’s the
polar opposite from the artsy kind of thing you do, but I think pretty much all
employers expect you to be on time for the initial job interview.”

“Yeah,
punctuality counts,” I said.

“This is
Hawaii,” said Steve.
“Island time.
I don’t think
anyone’s uttered the word ‘punctuality’ since the missionaries died off.
Anyhow, I’m not sweating it.”

“Being
self-employed and working for someone else is different,” I said. “Even if your
boss is lax about your working hours once you’ve got the job, you still have to
be on-time for the interview.”

Steve shook his
head. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m not cut out to pick up a regular paycheck.”

“But you’ll get
photo credits in a mainstream magazine. I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“True.”

“And, anyway,
this is just the interview. You said a lot of
photogs
are applying. Maybe you won’t even get it.”

“Thanks for the
vote of confidence.”

“No, I think
you’re the best. What I mean is, if you get a job offer but you decide not to
take it they’ll have a bunch of other people they could hire instead. You won’t
have to feel guilty.” I mentally congratulated myself on my quick save.

“You really
think I have a chance?”

Jeff put a hand
on Steve’s shoulder. “It’s the other applicants who need to sweat this, not
you. I don’t know jack about photography but when
Pali
posts your stuff on Facebook it always makes me homesick.”

“That’s good, I
guess,” said Steve.

“It’s true.
You’re the best.”

The
conversation was getting a little gushy for me so I leaned in and gave Steve a
good night hug.

“Uh, one more
thing,” Steve said. “I’m getting kicked out of here in the morning. Can I stay
with you guys tomorrow night? I’m
gonna
need a little
time to either drown my sorrows or celebrate my victory before I head home.”

I looked over
at Jeff.
“Your call.”

“Fine by me,”
he said. “Just one thing: we’re not nocturnal.”

“Don’t worry.
Either way it goes I’ll probably start drinking at noon. I’ll be passed out
long before dark.”

“And we’re
talking sofa bed,” I said. “It’s just a two-bedroom place.”

“No problem.
I’ll even make you guys breakfast before I leave.”

“It’s a date,”
said Jeff. His eyes darted from Steve to me and back again. “I didn’t mean an
actual ‘date’ or whatever. You know, what I meant was—”

“Look. You’re
good-looking enough. But I don’t go for geeks. Your homophobia is safe with
me.”

“I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to offend you. I just—”

Steve started
laughing and I flicked him on the back of his head, NCIS-style. “Knock it off.”
I turned to Jeff. “Steve loves to play the downtrodden gay card. Don’t fall for
it.”

After hugs and
parting wishes for good luck, Jeff and I headed back to the penthouse. My cell
rang as I went through the lobby door. It was Farrah.
“Hey,
Pali
.
Guess what?”

Here we go
again. “You’ve decided to fly home after all.”

“No way.
Even if I was willing to try it—which I’m not—I’d
still want to keep Ono
company
on the trip home. What
I called to tell you is we’re staying another day.  Ono says the weather
report looks gnarly and he doesn’t want to take the chance. He says if it was
just him, he’d probably go for it, but since I’m with him he wants to be extra
careful. Isn’t that cool?”

“Very cool.
But you can’t keep your room at the Royal
Hawaiian, can you?”

“No, but we’re
not staying there anyway.”

Since this was
old news, I let it slide.

“We’re comfy
cozy down here in the
Ala
Wai
Harbor,” she said, answering the question I hadn’t asked.

“Good. Well,
let me know if you have time to see Jeff before he leaves. You said you wanted
to see him and he wants to see you, too. But if you and Ono are too busy, I’m
sure he’ll understand.” The guilt trip was the green monkey’s idea, not mine.

“Oh, yeah.
I so want to see him! Can we maybe have, like,
lunch tomorrow?”

“I’ve got to go
to tea at two with my half-sibs, but maybe you could have lunch with Jeff
without me.”

I looked over
at Jeff and he nodded.

“Groovy. I’ll
tell Ono. He knows all the good places. Tell Jeff we’ll call him by ten to set
up a time and place.” I gave her Jeff’s cell number and we signed off.

“I can’t
believe those two,” I said.

The elevator
dinged and we got in. I punched the button for the penthouse and Jeff sniffed
the air like a dog catching a whiff of
kalua
pig.

“What are you
doing?” I said.

“Thought I
smelled monkey,” he said.
“Pretty strong, too.”

“Oh stop it.
But I wish she’d just be straight with me about what’s going on. I mean, the
old ‘can’t go home because of bad weather’ is completely lame. I checked before
we left and the weather’s going to be perfect for the rest of the week.”

“Yeah, well,
one thing I’ve learned from being a scientist is things change. No matter how
solid things seem or how many opinions say otherwise, it can all go south in a
heartbeat.”