The Aloha Quilt (33 page)

“Claire has offered me a partnership in the Hale Kapa Kuiki Inn and Aloha Quilt Camp.”

“Oh.” Sylvia fell so completely silent that Bonnie heard distant conversation that
must have come from another room of the manor. Perhaps the Elm Creek Quilters had
gathered for a quilting bee or business meeting. Suddenly Bonnie felt a pang of longing
to be there among them, although they didn’t seem to miss her.

After a moment, Sylvia inquired, “What would this partnership mean for Elm Creek Quilts?
I don’t suppose your friend
has offered you the sort of honorary position allowing her to keep your name on the
company letterhead without requiring you to do any actual work.”

“No,” said Bonnie, laughing in spite of herself at Sylvia’s dry humor. “I’d need to
be here, teaching classes, organizing curricula, and planning evening programs, and
that’s not the sort of work I could do from a distance.”

“I see.” Sylvia sighed quietly. “Have you accepted Claire’s offer?”

“Not yet. I’d like to wait until the end of the month to decide, if you can bear with
me that long. I know it’ll be difficult to plan for the entire summer if you don’t
know whether I’ll be on the faculty.”

“Difficult but not impossible. I’ll hope for the best, assume that you’ll be returning
to us, and plan our summer accordingly. If you decide to remain in Hawaii—and frankly
with the weather we’ve been having lately I’m tempted to join you—we’ll adjust our
schedule as necessary.”

“Thank you, Sylvia. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if there’s any way you could keep
this to yourself until I decide—”

“Of course. It wouldn’t do to worry our friends unnecessarily. Bonnie, dear, I know
it was an ugly business back in December, recommending that you sell your share of
Elm Creek Quilts—”

“I understand. It had to be done.”

“But it might not be forever.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s best not to say anything more until your divorce is final. As far as Craig is
concerned, your share in Elm Creek Quilts is gone forever.”

As far as
anyone
was concerned it was gone forever, Bonnie thought, but her emotions were too raw
and she didn’t want to
discuss it. “I’ll let you know my decision by the end of February,” she promised.
“But whatever happens, I’ll always admire you, Sylvia.”

“And I will always be your friend, Bonnie. Remember that.”

Bonnie promised she would.

How could she choose between Elm Creek Quilts and the Hale Kapa Kuiki, between Claire
and the Elm Creek Quilters? Aloha Quilt Camp offered an exciting opportunity, something
new and promising, but she had put her heart and soul into Elm Creek Quilts. Even
though she was no longer a part owner, she cherished the business she and her friends
had created together. Maui was indeed a paradise, but her children and grandchildren
were back on the mainland and travel expenses would limit them to infrequent visits.
Claire wanted her, needed her, and seemed to believe that Aloha Quilt Camp would fail
without her, but if Bonnie didn’t return to Pennsylvania, Elm Creek Quilt Camp would
continue on as successfully as ever, her absence scarcely noticed.

She told herself she was fortunate to be blessed with two wonderful choices, but she
knew that whatever she decided, she would be both happy and sad.

Her conversation with Sylvia left her with such mixed feelings that when she tracked
Claire down in the stockroom of the quilt shop to have her sign some paperwork, Claire
regarded her with concern and asked if she was coming down with something. “Just a
case of frazzled nerves,” Bonnie said, trying to smile. “I finally told Sylvia about
your partnership offer.”

Claire winced in sympathy. “How did she take it?”

“As she always takes bad news, rationally and calmly but with assurances that things
will work out for the best.” Bonnie knew, too, that Sylvia would not divulge her secret
to the other Elm Creek Quilters, even though it would be easier to plan
for Bonnie’s potential resignation with their help. “I thought it would be unfair
not to give her some advance notice just in case I don’t return.”

“What do you mean, just in case?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean? You know I still haven’t made up my mind.”

“I thought you had.” Claire’s brow furrowed. “You’ve been working so hard, we’ve been
having such a great time together—”

“Of course,” said Bonnie, so astonished she laughed. “But that would be the case whether
I’m staying on or just finishing up the consulting job you originally hired me for.
Do you think I’d slack off because I might be leaving in a month?”

Claire waved her hands as if to ward off an unimaginably unhappy future. “Don’t even
say it. I can’t bear to think of launching Aloha Quilt Camp without you.”

“I’ll definitely be here for the soft launch,” Bonnie reminded her. “If I leave, it
won’t be until two weeks after that, so we’ll have time to work out any problems that
come up during our dress rehearsal.”

Claire clasped a hand to her forehead, distressed. “I can’t believe you’re still thinking
about leaving.”

“I haven’t made a secret of it,” protested Bonnie.

Claire paced down the narrow aisle between the shelves, tears in her eyes. “Are you
going back to Craig?”

“What?”

“Are you going back to Pennsylvania because you want to reconcile with Craig?”

“Are you out of your mind? Of course not! He betrayed my trust. He’s killed any love
I ever felt for him. Don’t you think I have any self-respect at all? Craig has nothing
to do with this decision, absolutely nothing.”

“That’s what you say,” Claire murmured, her gaze distant. “That’s what they always
say. They always go back to their cheating husband. He can treat her like dirt again
and again and again, but she always takes him back.”

“You’re not making any sense.” Suddenly Bonnie had a sickening thought. “Claire, has
Eric cheated on you?” She couldn’t believe it, but Claire seemed to know too much
not to have gone through the nightmare herself. “Is that what this is about?”

“No, no, you’ve got it all wrong.”

“Claire.” Bonnie embraced her friend, held her at arm’s length, and looked her in
the eye. “I know what it’s like to be betrayed by someone you love. I know what it’s
like to feel as if you’re all alone. You can tell me. I’ve been there. I understand.”

“No, you don’t. Eric would never do that to me.”

“Then why are you so upset? Why are you so sure that I’ll take Craig back? How do
you know anything about it?”

“Because I cheated on Eric,” Claire burst out. “That’s how I know. Because I cheated
on Eric.”

Bonnie stared at her. “What?”

“It was a long time ago.” The words tumbled out like rocks down a steep hillside,
dangerous and unstoppable. “Eric was deployed when it started, I was lonely, we were
having problems, and so was my—my friend, he and his wife—”

“I can’t hear this.” Bonnie forced her frozen fingers to uncurl from around Claire’s
shoulders. “I can’t hear this.”

“Bonnie—”

Bonnie held up a palm. “No. Don’t. No more.” She shook her head slowly, ears ringing.
“How could you? Eric adores you. He’s a wonderful man, a wonderful husband. How could
you do such a thing?”

“It’s complicated. I—I don’t even know—”

“How could you do to Eric what Craig did to me? How could you do to some other woman
what Terri did to me?”

“This happened long before Craig cheated on you,” Claire pleaded, as if it made any
difference. “I thought I was in love with this man. I didn’t know how it was for you,
for the wife. I never thought about her. I only thought about myself. Don’t you think
that if I’d known then what I know now, I would have made better choices?”

“Choices? You mean the choice between living a life of integrity and betraying the
people who love and trust you? If you wanted out of your marriage—”

“I never wanted to lose Eric.”

“Oh, so you wanted them both? You wanted a good, responsible husband to provide for
you, and some other woman’s husband for fun on the side?”

Claire flinched. “You think it was fun for me? I was miserable every day of that affair.
You don’t know how it was. The lying, the deception, the fear, the guilt—”

“Then why do it? If it was so awful, why not end it? Was the sex that good? Was it
worth it?”

“Bonnie, please, it’s been over for a long time—”

Another thought flared. “Is that why you close your web browser every time I come
into the office? Are you still in contact with this man? Because if you are, then
you’re still having the affair, even if he never touches you.”

“Bonnie—”

But Bonnie couldn’t bear to hear another word. She stormed from the stockroom and
out of the quilt shop, ignoring the curious, anxious glances of Claire’s employees.
She strode across the street, the usually benevolent sunlight suddenly harsh and unyielding
upon her shoulders. Stumbling up the front stairs to the Hale Kapa Kuiki, Bonnie realized
that even the inn was
too small to contain her, her former friend, and the horrible secret that now lay
revealed between them. Choking back an angry sob, Bonnie hurried to her suite, packed
her suitcase, slung her purse over her shoulder, and rolled her Pineapple Patch quilt
into a tight bundle that she tucked under her arm. Hearing the commotion on the stairs,
Midori met her in the front foyer. She asked what was wrong but Bonnie brushed past
her without a word and left the inn. Let Claire explain. Let Claire offer her skewed
version of what had happened and see if Midori accepted it.

Bonnie couldn’t accept it and she couldn’t stay. Nothing Claire could possibly say
could justify what she had done. So many people she loved and thought she knew—Craig,
the Elm Creek Quilters, and now Claire—

When she stumbled into the music shop, arms aching from hauling her burdens across
Lahaina, Hinano’s expression swiftly changed from pleased surprise to worried concern.

She couldn’t stay under Claire’s roof any longer, and aside from Midori, Hinano was
her only other friend on Maui. He had to help her.

“I hear you know Lahaina pretty well,” she said, fighting back tears. “Could you recommend
a cheap hotel for a homeless tourist?”

Chapter Twelve
 

Hinano insisted that Bonnie take Kai’s room. “There aren’t any cheap hotels on Maui,”
he told her when she demurred, and that settled it. He helped her carry her things
upstairs to his apartment and into a small bedroom with a twin bed, a dresser cluttered
with soccer trophies, and posters of rock bands she had never heard of decorating
the dark blue walls. A Hawaiian quilt covered the bed, deep green on blue, four sea
turtles swimming serenely in the midst of waving kelp. The Hawaiian quilts at the
Hale Kapa Kuiki had become so familiar to her that she quickly recognized Hinano’s
design technique and Midori’s fine handiwork. She looked up from the beautiful quilt
as Hinano brought her a folded pile of clean sheets. He apologized for leaving her
on her own, but he had no one to watch the shop. She didn’t mind. It was a relief
to be alone and she was thankful that he had given her a place to stay without interrogating
her about why she needed it.

She shoved her suitcase into a corner and piled her other things on top of it, stripped
the bed, made it up again with the fresh sheets, and left the others in a hamper beside
a small stacked washer and dryer she found in a hall closet.

Then she stood in the hallway with no idea what to do next.

She heard her cell phone ringing in her purse back in Kai’s room, but she ignored
it and eventually it fell silent. Dullness of spirit rather than curiosity compelled
her to make a brief tour of the small apartment: two bedrooms, a narrow galley kitchen
with a breakfast bar that opened into a dining room, a family room with comfortably
worn sofas and chairs littered with books, magazines, and ukulele parts. Framed photos
of Hinano, Kai, and a beautiful, laughing Japanese-Hawaiian woman who must have been
Nani sat on every shelf and table-top. Bonnie picked up one photo of Hinano and Nani
seated on grass mats on the beach, laughing as they tried to hold a squirming, eager
two-year-old Kai long enough for the photo to be taken. They looked so happy. They
had no idea what was coming.

Pained, Bonnie returned the photo to the shelf and clasped a hand to her forehead.
In the other room her cell phone rang again. Surely it was Claire. Bonnie strode back
to Kai’s bedroom, confirmed her suspicions with a glance at the caller ID, and turned
off the ringer. Tossing the phone back into her purse, her gaze fell upon the Pineapple
Patch quilt top. She gathered up the bundle and her sewing kit and carried them back
to the family room, where she cleared off part of the sofa, spread the quilt top over
her lap, and took up her needle. Claire had given her the fabric, thread, and needles,
sharing generously from her quilt shop. How could that beloved friend be the same
woman who had betrayed Eric?

Bonnie couldn’t bear to think about it. She cleared her mind of everything but emerald
green appliqué, ivory background, smooth thread and slender needle, losing herself
in the meditative, repetitive motion of the stitches.