4 Maui Macadamia Madness (4 page)

Didn’t they know how
long it took me to get in that position?

Ethan stared at me.
“Stop mixing up the bottom. You’re making the water murky. Just fall forward or
squat then let your feet up.”

Oh. That explains
the unclear view down below.
“Thanks, sweetie.”

I tried again and
succeeded. Once the water cleared, I spotted all types of marine life. Deciding
to follow the reef, I skimmed along the top, spotting black and yellow striped
fish with fins, some silver sparkly ones, and one that looked like a snake. I
steered clear of that one. The sun’s rays warmed my shoulders and the top of my
head. I couldn’t think of a more pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning.

A lot of people
thought us strange to get married when we did, but we were set on April Fools
and couldn’t wait until the day fell on a weekend. I struck an underwater pose.

Ethan took a picture
of me through an underwater camera then swam in the opposite direction. I
turned back to study the reef. An eel poked its head from a hole and came
straight for me. I gurgled like an actress in an underwater B-horror movie and
backpedaled as fast as I could. Didn’t eels bite? I wished I would have read
the pamphlet that came with our snorkeling gear. Gasping for breath, I stood
and pulled off my mask.

Leroy
Wahine
stood on the reef grinning. “Aloha.”

“I was attacked by
an eel.”

His smile never
faded. “Are you enjoying the fish? This small reef circle is a nursery. You can
see the same species much larger by the resort.
Molokini
is where you want to worry about getting bit.”

A
baby eel?
My face heated,
and it wasn’t from the sun. “It’s fantastic.” Lifting my feet as high as
possible so I didn’t stir up the ocean floor, I plopped my way to shore.

Good grief! Susan
Wood lay on her stomach, bathing suit top untied, and talked to David Hatcher.
I immediately scoped the area for Ethan, relieved to see him still snorkeling.

I tossed my gear to
the sand and plopped on my beach towel.
Might as well try to
get some sun on my mayonnaise-white legs.
Maybe I would overhear some
tidbit of titillating conversation between Susan and David. I put on my
mirrored sunglasses and floppy hat and did my best to be inconspicuous.

“I met with him last
night, and he didn’t say a thing about anyone being a suspect.” Susan twirled a
paper umbrella in a mango-colored drink.

“Obviously,” David
dug his toes into the sand. “He doesn’t tell you everything.”

“He should, if he
knows what’s good for him.” Susan cut me a sideways glance.
“But
enough of that with Nosey Nellie sitting here.
How are you,
Summer
?”

“Wonderful.” I kept
my gaze trained on Ethan, who laughed at something Leroy said. Dripping water,
hair slicked back, and blue swim trunks that matched the ocean, I don’t think I
had ever seen anything that looked better.
Including the
scenery.

“Heard
someone threw a stick at you.”
Susan giggled along with David’s chuckle.

This time I did look
at her. “What is your problem? You’ve been on my case since yesterday. Unless
I’m mistaken, we’ve never met. If I have managed to wrong you somehow, please
accept my apology.” I stood, shook off my towel, deriving a small bit of
pleasure at the sand that rained over her shiny, oiled skin, and marched a few
yards down the beach.
So much for garnering valuable
information.
Some things were not worth the trouble.

Of course, I would
like to know who she had been talking to David about.

Chapter
Four

I smoothed the skirt of the white sundress I wore to show off my
glowing sunburn, and sat in the chair Ethan pulled out for me. The menu said we
were being served pineapple ham. Although jet lag had caught up with me, I
didn’t want to pass up what the
Wahine’s
claimed was
a traditional Hawaiian meal. Nor did I want to miss another chance to possibly
glean clues from the other guests.

The
Aldrichs
were across from us, the Franklins at the opposite
end of the table. Susan, David, Officer
Manano
, and a
couple of other faces I didn’t recognize filled the other seats. Several small
tables dotted the outskirts of the room if someone desired a more intimate
dining experience.

I met
Manano’s
unsmiling gaze with a grin, then turned to Ethan
who sat on my right. The one long table didn’t provide much opportunity for
conversation except for those sitting close. The delectable aromas coming from
the kitchen made my mouth water. I decided the food would be worth the lack of
information gathering.

I must have had my
gumshoeing look on my face, because Ethan squeezed my hand, and whispered for
me to be more subtle. I couldn’t believe that I was married to the world’s most
handsome man and that he had agreed to help me solve a mystery. God couldn’t
have given me a better honeymoon.
Romance and a mystery to
solve.
I was one blessed gal.

“The thrown spear
must have been so frightening.” Sharon Aldrich stabbed a chunk of pineapple
with her fork. “I heard, just a couple of inches to the left, and you would
have sported an extra hole in your body.”

Amazing how
confidential news, such as a police report, traveled so quickly to the other
guests. I gave
Manano
a stern glance. He acted as if
he couldn’t see me and continued talking to Susan. How was I supposed to find
out what happened to Jamison if the local police blabbed to everyone within ear
shot? Detective work required secrecy.
Stealth.
I
transferred my attention back to Sharon.

“It was scary.
Luckily for me, my new husband has good reflexes.” I smiled at Ethan and cut
into my ham.

Sharon shook her
head. “Almost makes me rethink our decision to spend our anniversary here. I’m
not much of one for adventure, and to have a murder and an attempted murder
happen in the same night? Well!”

“Now, honey,” her
husband, Ron, patted her hand. “Crime exists everywhere. Jamison and Mrs.
Banning were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jamison wasn’t very
well liked in certain circles, you know.”

I paused at putting
my fork in my mouth. “I thought you didn’t know Jamison.” Weren’t they the ones
who had everyone introduce themselves on the bus?

Ron peered over the
rim of his tropical drink. “I’ve heard things.”

“What sort of
things?”

Ethan kicked me
under the table. “When we’ve finished dinner, we can take a stroll along the
beach. I know you said you wanted to watch the sun rise and set each day.”

“I thought you were
going to help me.” I hissed out the side of my mouth, and then grinned at the
couple across the table.

“I am, but behind
the scenes.”

“That’s not a very
effective way.” I had picked up my glass to prevent people from reading my
lips. Everyone knew a detective needed to ask questions. But, Ethan was new to
this, so I’d let him slide.
This time.

I craned my neck to
see what the others were doing. Susan glared at Officer
Manano
.
What was up with that? My senses were tingling. I’d bet a suntan there was more
to Susan’s coming to Hawaii than just a vacation.

I couldn’t allow
myself to be distracted. There was no way I could solve two puzzles at once,
especially when one was a woman’s relationship with a man. Since I didn’t care
for either of them, it shouldn’t be a difficult decision, but my gut told me
there was more to the situation than I was seeing. When Susan excused herself
from the table and headed to the restroom, I did the same.

Susan bypassed the
restroom and disappeared into the room reserved as a library for the guests.

Whispers drifted
down the hall.

I slowed my steps,
walking as silently as flip-flops would allow and stopped out of sight.
Sharon’s voice rose in answer to another one. I thought the other voice might
belong to the
Wahine’s
daughter, but couldn’t make a
positive identification. I needed to know before jumping to conclusions.

If I passed the
restroom, what excuse could I give? Could I play dumb and pretend to borrow a
book, unaware that the room was occupied? Why not? The room wasn’t a private
one.

I took a deep breath
and stepped inside. “Oh, excuse me.”

It wasn’t the
Wahine’s
daughter, Camilla, but a maid that spoke with
Susan. Both were red in the face and jumped apart when I entered.

“Sorry to
interrupt.” I moved to a shelf of paperbacks. “I’m just looking for a book to
read before falling asleep at night.”

“On
your honeymoon?”
Susan
simpered. “That doesn’t say much for you or your
husband,
does it?”

“Don’t worry about
us.” I grabbed the first book my hand came into contact with. “We’re doing just
fine.”

“I wonder…” She
nodded her head toward the book in my hand. “Bodice rippers don’t bode well for
the bedroom.”

Horror
.
I had grabbed a
trashy romance novel. “We like to act out the scenes.” I did not just say that!
I clapped a hand over my mouth and fled like the hounds of hell were on my
heels.

Susan’s cackle
followed. Now, I would most likely never know what the two women argued about.
Maybe I didn’t need to. But if that was the maid assigned to clean Mr.
Jamison’s room, I would love to speak with her.

I paused in the
doorway of the dining room. What was I going to do with the book? If Ethan saw
it, I would never hear the end. I sat it on a table in the foyer, smoothed my dress,
took a deep breath, and … “Aunt Eunice?”

Chapter Five

A grinning Aunt Eunice and Uncle Roy, accompanied by a serious faced
Joe and a sheepish April, stood right inside the French-style front door.

From the footsteps
behind me, I knew Ethan had joined us. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath,
and forced a smile. What in heaven’s name was the family doing here on my and
Ethan’s honeymoon?

Ethan slid his arm
around my waist. “What are they doing here?”

“No idea.” I
shrugged. “I did
not
invite them.” I
snuck a sideways glance.

Ethan gritted his
teeth,
his smile forced, and extended his hand. “Roy,
Eunice, you two, this is a … surprise.”

“Isn’t it?” Uncle
Roy pumped his hand. “When Summer told April about her latest shenanigans, and
April passed the info along to Eunice, why, there wasn’t any resting until we
had seats booked on the next flight out of Little Rock. I planned on coming out
later in the year to check on a possible investment, so decided to kill two
birds with one stone, so to speak. I’m bushed.”

“I see.” Ethan
glowered at his sister. “We were just finishing up supper. I’ll let the
Wahine’s
know y’all are here.” His arm slid from around me
like frigid water.

I could tell when
his glance fell on the book on the table. He gave me a raised eyebrow look. I
shrugged. What could I say after all? That I panicked in my snooping? If I
showed the smallest amount of fear, Ethan would shut my gumshoeing down faster
than a downpour ruined a picnic.

“Great.” Uncle Roy
clapped. “I’m starved.” He patted his overall-clad stomach and strode in the
direction of the dining room.

“I’m sorry.” April
sidled up to me. “I had no idea this would happen when I told Aunt Eunice about
our conversation. It just slipped out about the murder and the spear.”

“Don’t worry about
it.” I kept my smile firmly in place. “Your brother won’t stay mad at me once
he realizes I didn’t plan this.”

“Even he couldn’t be
that silly.” April straightened. “What woman wants family on her honeymoon? Joe
is pretty livid himself. Says if anyone shows up when we’re on our honeymoon,
he’ll shoot them.”

“Are we
interfering?” Aunt Eunice’s grin faded. “We only want to help. Dying on your
honeymoon is the worst thing that could happen to a person.”

Well, okay, but I
think being murdered at any moment would be pretty horrible. I disentangled
myself from my aunt and best friend and went in search of my husband.

Only a few guests
sat at the dining table eating dessert. Ethan wasn’t one of them. Since I
hadn’t seen him in the foyer, I headed to the veranda. Sure enough, his
handsome profile was traced with a crimson and pumpkin sunset glow. Dancing
palm trees rose behind him.

“I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t have called April, but I had no idea she would tell Aunt Eunice.” My
heart clogged my throat.

“Come here.” Ethan
held out his arm, allowing me to slide under. “I know. I’m not angry, just
disappointed. I love them dearly, but you know how overbearing your aunt and
uncle can be. I don’t want to share you right now.”