Spoils of Eden (40 page)

She said nothing more. Emotionally drained, she sank to the sand and put them on. He walked to the edge of the lagoon and looked out. His face was quiet now, the moment of decision between them seemed to have come, settled, and passed by like the billowing clouds.

He flipped a shell in the air, catching it absently.

She stood, the wind blowing against her. Now that he’d agreed to wait, she looked at the engagement ring.

“Then may I leave the engagement ring on, Rafe?”

“Yes, leave it on,” he said simply. “It saves us both from explaining to the family. Besides,” he confessed dryly, “I really don’t see it matters much now. You have your commitment to Jerome, and I have work to do in the Legislature, as well as at Hanalei and Hawaiiana. I think we’ll both have enough to keep us busy for a while.” He turned and looked at her, his head tilted, one hand on hip. “We’ve agreed to meet again in around—what? A year? Two? Longer? We’ll see how we feel then.”

“You make it sound so—so pragmatic.”

“I’m only giving you what you want.”

“But you seem, well—businesslike.”

He laughed unexpectedly. “For the life of me, I struggle to understand you sometimes. I told you I’d settle down if you married me. But we’ve mutually agreed to wait
again
. So why are you making something of my restraint? I thought that’s what you wanted.”

She seemed caught by her own words.

He walked up to her. “I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen. I’ve waited for you all this time. So I guess another year or two won’t rob us of too much. Unless,” he said maliciously, “next time you want to wait until we need rocking chairs.”

“Very amusing.” She folded her arms, cold in the wind.

“Time isn’t likely to end things between us. What does it say in Scripture?
Love never fails
. Love lasts an eternity, Eden, though this life doesn’t. It’s brief. The days, the weeks, the months pass quickly.”

“Yes,” she said, “of course our love will never die.” Her throat was dry. She tried to smile. “Our love will last forever.”

His eyes flickered with amusement. “Then, again … maybe not. I might forget you on Kalawao. Some pretty girl might show up and tell me how wonderful I am. In my loneliness she’ll comfort me. And then, who knows? She may make me forget your frustrating ways.”

Eden, her emotions sore and frayed, allowed her tears to spring to her eyes. “Don’t say that. Don’t even joke about it.”

“Eden—” He wrapped her tightly in his arms and kissed her temple. “Don’t you know yet that I will never stop loving you? You are the love of my life. You always have been. No one could ever take your place.”

That was just what she wanted to hear.
But could promises, well intentioned, go astray?

Time had slipped by, and the wind was increasing noticeably.

He smiled. “Even as children, didn’t I love you and save you from Zach?”

She traced the tiny scar on his chin and knew it was there because he had, even as a child, fought to save her from harm. She didn’t know whether she wanted to cry or laugh.

“Yes, you’ve always been there,” she said. “You may have to come back and save me again. But not from Zach. Don’t go far, Rafe,” she said soberly, her hand tightening on his.

He scanned her face. “Who is the big, bad wolf this time, or don’t you know?”

She shook her head. “No big, bad wolf. Zachary has turned into a lamb. One I try to protect.” She attempted to speak with a mood of lightness, but her eyes, she knew, revealed a sense of gravity.

“What is it about?” he asked soberly.

“We better go back. The storm will worsen.”

“Yes, but I want to know what’s behind this sudden sobriety of yours. We’ll talk at Keno’s house. It’s not far from here. We need some dry clothes anyway. Then we’ll go back to the plantation house before dinner. Keno can make us some coffee.”

She nodded as they started back toward the pathway.

“It concerns Tamarind House,” she said, unable to hold back some of the details. “And Hawaiiana. And Silas.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve been seeing ghosts in the Round Room again on stormy nights.” But he spoke gently, without mockery, and it gave her reason to take heart.

“No. I haven’t been up there since Great-aunt Nora had the house refurbished. But Zachary claims to have seen flesh-and-blood beings. He brought me here in his friend’s boat. He wants to discuss it all with you, but first so do I.”

A brow lifted. He watched her alertly now. She knew once again, as she always had, even in moments of uncertainty, that Rafe was the one man she could turn to for help. Just as he said, he’d always been there for her.

“Zachary knows I’ve come here to see you about his suspicions and a whole lot more. He intends to talk to you himself later.”

“It all sounds mysterious and intriguing, but we can’t stay here. We should have left before now.”

Clouds had rolled in from the tops of the surrounding mountain and settled above the lagoon. The rain began to fall in torrents.

With her hand in his, they climbed up the path near the waterfall.

“Hold on,” he shouted above the wind.

They struggled upward, grasping shrubs and branches, keeping to the lava rocks and trying not to slide.

The rain struck her face, blurring her vision, while mud trickled down the path. He gripped her forearm, pulling her up after him. She missed her footing and slipped, the mud smearing her. Her wet hair plastered against her face and neck. Her skirt ripped on a shrub, and her knee scraped against a jutting stone.

Eden thought her arm might get sprained as he kept hauling her forward, trying to keep her from sliding backward.

“I can’t—” she gasped, every muscle straining with effort.

His arm clasped her waist. “Yes, you can, darling! We can,
together
. Keep going!”

He climbed, making steady progress, and Eden followed in his steps, gasping. At last they reached the top of the path, where the full force of the storm lashed the rain against them, so that Eden could hardly walk. He drew her to his side, his arm around her. Then, with heads lowered into the wind, they started toward the horses.

“Keno’s place is about a mile from here.”

The storm turned the afternoon into an eerie twilight as her horse plodded forward behind Rafe’s. Eden huddled toward its strong neck. She wondered how Rafe could find his way back, but he seemed to know where to go.

“Were almost there,” he called over the wind, yet Eden thought they’d never arrive, were totally lost, and would soon be swept away in an avalanche of volcanic mud. Then, she heard him say, “There’s the house ahead. Keno’s lit the lanterns.”

The golden light shone as a beacon of hope and refuge. Rafe came around and helped her down and, with an arm about her waist, walked her to the house.

Rafe banged on the door. It opened immediately, and there stood Keno. He looked startled, then ignoring all propriety, he threw back his head and laughed.

“Out from the raging storm come ghostly visitors awash in tropical dew. Come in, and
aloha
!”

Eden stumbled inside. Keno rushed about, gathering towels and a small rug for them to stand on.

“Take care of her, will you?” Rafe told him. “I’ll be back in a moment. I want to get my horses in your stable.”

Rafe hurried back out, the door banging behind him in the wind.

Even in her misery Eden thought,
How Candace would love even this little house to settle in with the man she loves
.

K
eno lit several more lanterns and the living room brightened to a warm, golden glow that revealed entrances to several other rooms, a kitchen, and bath. There were koa and teakwood tables, intricately carved with Keno’s artistic talents, and lauhala mats on the wood floors. He had brought Eden and Rafe some big towels, and Rafe would borrow a shirt and trousers from Keno, for both men were much the same build. Drying her face and hair in privacy, Eden gave thanks to the Lord for getting them safely to a place of refuge and for bringing their mutual love to a hope of future happiness.

There was a heavy teakwood trunk in one corner, and Rafe lifted the lid and rummaged around briefly. He pulled out a blue garment and handed it to her.

“How do you know Keno approves of your rummaging through his personal things?” Eden said.

Keno laughed and looked at Rafe. “If I didn’t approve,” Keno said in mock gravity, “he would take it anyway. He always takes my things. Right, Rafe?”

“Everything but this.” Rafe lifted the carefully folded garment. He shook it out and held it up by its shoulders. It was an oversized muumuu, much too long for Eden and far too wide, with a splashy blue hyacinth and bright yellow hibiscus flowers on the print. Rafe looked at Keno.

Eden, weary beyond stopping herself, burst into silly giggles.

“Noelani’s,” Keno said gravely. “A birthday present. And if it weren’t for lovely Miss Eden being soaked due to your waywardness, I would wrap it delicately and put it away.”

Rafe turned to Eden with a smile. “You heard him. Better get out of those wet clothes and into this. You can draw that curtain across the bedroom door.”

When Eden returned, lifting the hem of the muumuu in order to walk, Rafe had already changed into a pair of black trousers and a clean cotton shirt. He took her in with one glance and laughed.

“You’re about to taste some of the best coffee in the world,” Keno said, as the pots and pans rattled in the kitchen.

Who is making coffee?
Rafe and Keno were in the room with her.

“Easton Brand,” Rafe stated. “How does the name sound? Think it will go over on the Mainland?”

“‘Easton Brand,’” she repeated musingly. “Well … actually, I think it needs a little more ‘Island’ sound.”

There was amusement in his voice. “All right. How’s this—A Taste from Eden? Make you want to try it?”

“Yes, I think I might, especially if I lived on a farm in snowy Minnesota.”

“Wake Up to Paradise,” Keno joined in.

“Coffee all ready,” announced Ling Li, walking in with a wicker tray and three cups of steaming Kona coffee.

“Ling!” cried Eden.

He grinned. “Been here plenny time now. I stand between two big man. They keep me safe from—”

“Later, Ling,” Rafe interrupted calmly.

“Yes, Ling talk too much.”

“Until recently not enough,” Rafe countered.

Ling looked sheepish. He nodded. “Ling afraid of big haoles. He just come from China to work. Best keep tongue for eating.” He put the tray down and, smiling at Eden and giving a traditional bow to Rafe, returned to the kitchen, where the pots and pans, then continued to rattle contentedly.

Eden was pleased to see Ling safe and, as he put it, kept safe with the bodyguards Rafe and Keno. So that’s why Ling had been searching for Rafe. He had important information that he’d thought might endanger him.

“Are you going to tell me everything?” she asked quickly.

“Everything worth telling, my sweet, and all in good time. Are you hungry?”

“No—”

“Rafe is always hungry,” Keno said. He got up and went into the kitchen and said something to Ling. A brief time later fruits and breads were brought out, and some hot food wrapped in brown bundles, chicken pieces stewed in coconut milk, and some shrimps.

With the wind and rain still howling, and the enticing aroma of coffee adding a touch of cheer to the room, Keno stood and slipped into a hooded jacket of oil-slick.

“Are you sure you want to risk it?” Rafe asked, but did not appear worried.

“What’s a little rain? I’ll go to the big house and let Zach and the others know Miss Eden is here, safe.”

“Knowing Zach, he’ll be pacing the floor,” Rafe said. “The sooner he knows we’re here, the better. Tell him he and I will have a long talk later tonight.”

“By the way,” Keno said, lingering at the door a moment and focusing on Eden. “Miss Candace didn’t come with you from Koko Head, did she?”

Eden felt her spirits sink. She said quietly, “No, she remained at Tamarind with my aunt and father.”

He gave a nod, as though he understood, and opened the door, with a gust of windy rain blowing. A moment later he disappeared into the afternoon weather, as though he were used to it.

After he’d gone, she must have shown something of her sadness over Candace and Keno because Rafe looked at her. Part of the tragedy facing Candace was that she forbid her to explain, even to Rafe, about her upcoming decision about Oliver Hunnewell.

“Will Keno be all right finding his way?” she asked.

“This is nothing to Keno. We faced far worse at sea.”

Rafe must have mistaken her mood over Candace as worry over the matters at hand. “Let’s begin with Zach,” he said. “At the lagoon you mentioned the suspicions he’d talked about on the boat. What’s troubling you, honey?”

She loved the way he pronounced the word “honey.” It had a warm, caressing note that gave her the feeling of belonging to him, without too much romantic tension. With marriage well over a year away, they both wanted to avoid intensity.

“And what’s going on at Tamarind?” he inquired, his expression inscrutable.

Rafe already understood the cause for the jealousy between Zachary and Silas, so it was only necessary to explain Zachary’s latest suspicions. She did so in meticulous detail, including the accusation that Silas was the man Candace saw on the lanai at Hawaiiana.

“The boatman, Laweoki, made it clear to me that he’d brought Zachary to Tamarind on that same night, and that Zachary had returned to the boat sometime later, nervous and limping.”

“Did Laweoki admit to following another boat with Silas presumably aboard?”

“Yes. He was sure of what he stated.”

“Did he mention the name of the boat or anything by which to identify it?”

She sighed. “I didn’t think to ask him that. Is it important?”

“Well, if we knew the boat supposedly bringing Silas or
someone else to Koko Head, we could check with the captain for proof. I’ll ask Zach later.”

“What could Silas have been searching for in Nora’s room?” Eden concluded.