Aloha Love (5 page)
Equestrienne? That’s what the woman had said of this sassy young woman who wouldn’t surprise him if she did throw up in his pocket. Perhaps her horseback training made her sit so straight. Or was it his reluctant attitude that rankled her into that erect posture? On second thought, he doubted that. After all, she had accepted the ride.
He felt it best not to attempt small talk. While he kept glancing at her hair beneath her hat to determine just how orange it might be, she kept her eyes on the scenery, which was not too inspiring at the dock.
Whether this would be simply a ride for a couple miles to the area where the mission house, school, and Rev. Russell’s house were located would depend upon her reaction. If she began to thank him, compliment him, or any other of that female kind of thing, he’d gallop her right up to the reverend’s home and deposit her.
He left the dock area and trotted the horse along the beach, where she could feel the motion and see the ocean. She gasped. “Oh, I’ve never ridden a horse on a beach.”
The turn of her head from one side to the other revealed her wonder as she looked at the ocean, smiled, took deep breaths, and looked up at palm trees.
Seeing her enjoyment and hearing her say, “I’m feeling much better,” he rode farther and longer than he’d intended.
The carriages and wagons were already lined up in front of Rev. Russell’s home when they arrived. Russell must have heard the horse’s hooves when Mak rode up to his house. He came out and reached up for Jane, who then held onto his shoulders and tested her land legs.
“I think I’m okay now,” she said. “I feel a little weak, but. . .okay.” She looked up at Mak. “Thank you,” she said softly, but her eyes, which were not big as a crocodile’s but were big enough to be interesting, held a guarded expression as if she didn’t know what to think of him.
Good.
He didn’t want her thinking of him.
At least her face no longer looked green. Not splotched either, although he had observed a few tiny freckles across her nose on otherwise flawless skin. She wasn’t bad looking. With that hat, he couldn’t be sure of her hair, but he thought it more a sun-gold than orange. And the few strands of her hair that had blown against his face had not come from a fourteen-year-old with her hair in pigtails.
He touched the brim of his hat and gave a slight nod. “I’d be grateful, Reverend,” he said, seeing that his mother’s carriage was at the side of the house, “if you would please tell Mother and Leia I’ll be at home.”
The reverend lifted his hand in response before he smiled at Jane and said, “Come inside. We’ve made some ginger tea for you. That will make you feel better. Maybe you can eat a soda cracker.”
Mak turned Big Brown as he saw Jane put her hand on the reverend’s arm and heard the man telling her to call him Uncle Russell. She walked with him up on the porch, where Leia came out.
“Are you coming in, Daddy?”
In a house filled with sickness and women and a preacher? “I need to go and check on Panai, Leia. I’ll see you at home, later.”
She lifted her hand and waved at him, then reached out to take hold of Jane’s free hand.
Mak adjusted himself better in the saddle, which felt rather empty now. He didn’t like the feeling of remembering when he and Maylea had ridden like that, nor did he like a woman being so close, the feel of his arms around her. Nobody should have been on this horse with him. It only made him miss Maylea even more.
Of course, the feeling had nothing to do with Jane; she had simply brought out emotions that were never far from the surface. He had nothing against her. He just didn’t need any woman invading his space.
Mak galloped the horse faster than usual, needing the wind on his face. He longed to feel free, to ride until all the distress was blown from him. It never happened. But he spent the rest of the afternoon tending to Panai, where his hope lay. Later, he spent time in the ring with the wild mustang he was in the process of taming. Being in control of something was a good feeling.
Hearing the clanging of the triangle, he had Kolani take the mustang into the stables. After washing up, he entered the kitchen as Coco was putting dinner on the table.
His mother’s blessing seemed shorter than usual.
“First,” he said, upon seeing Leia’s eyes light up and knowing she was about to go into a long spill about the day’s events, “before you tell all about the reverend’s relatives, how was Miz Pansy today?”
“Oh, so much better, Daddy. She just smiled and cried. She said they were happy tears.”
“I’m sure they were, honey.”
“Pansy has hung on for this, Mak,” his mother said. “She was so happy. But you know she’s been getting weaker.”
“Miss Jane got better.” Leia’s eyes widened. “She might could be my teacher if I could go to school. I like her, Daddy.” Her little shoulders lifted with her deep breath. “And I like Miss Pilar. She’s nice. And Miss Tilda, oh my.”
His mother laughed.
Mak glanced from one to the other. “Now what does that mean?”
Leia shook her head, and her gaze traveled around as if she were trying to see an answer. “I don’t know,” she said. “But I think. . .oh, I know. Miss Tilda is like a volcano.”
They all laughed. He had taken Leia close enough to see the fire that continually spouted up like a fountain, lighting up a night sky with red fireworks, literally.
“Oh, she is, Mak,” his mother agreed. “She is so full of life. I think we’re friends already.”
“Me, too,” Leia assured them. “And Miss Jane and Miss Pilar are my friends. Miss Jane might could be my teacher. I’m cleaning up my plate.”
Sure. . .that should do it.
His mother turned to him. “Oh, Mak. Jane is the one.”
“Mother, please,” Mak protested. “My one is gone.”
“Oh, I don’t mean for you.” Her laugh sounded like a scoff. “She’s the one for Leia. She teaches. . .”
He missed whatever she said next, but he was aware what she had said was a switch. At every ship docking, particularly the tourist ones, she would tell him of beautiful women, and because she was a generous woman, she invited most of them to their home. So now that one appeared who did get his attention by being green and obnoxious, she’d changed her mind about finding him a woman?
“Why is this one not for me?”
His mother smiled. “Oh, Miss Jane was modest about it, but Matilda blurted out the whole thing. Jane has been engaged to marry an oil tycoon’s son since the day she was born.”
Mak found that puzzling. “I didn’t know arranged marriages went on in America.”
“Oh, she doesn’t have to do it. It’s just that her daddy is a wealthy cattle rancher and has been friends with the oil tycoon family forever.” She waved her hand in the air and smiled broadly. “So you don’t have to worry about me trying to fix you up with this one, or about her being out to get you. She’s spoken for.”
“Good,” he said and kept eating.
She wasn’t finished. “And you don’t have to worry about her being after your money. Her daddy and her fiancé are filthy rich.” She looked at Leia. “Not filthy-dirty. That’s just an expression.”
Leia nodded and said seriously, “I need to go to school and learn things like that.”
“Yes, you do,” his mother said and looked triumphantly at him. “Did you see that girl’s ring?”
“What girl?”
“Miss Jane.”
“I think she was wearing gloves, and I think she might have thrown up on them.”
“Well, she didn’t hurt the ring. That diamond is big as. . .as. . .”
Leia stuck her hand out over her plate. “As big as a who–o–le finger.”
His mother’s eyebrows lifted. “Close,” she conceded.
This was a welcome change. As his mother said, he wouldn’t have to worry about her being after his money, and she was engaged to be married. He needn’t give her a moment’s thought. He wouldn’t need to make a point of keeping his distance.
Perhaps her fiancé would arrive. He understood his mother’s excitement over having some new women to talk with, to find out about America. Just as Mak’s mother enjoyed the friendship of women who visited Hawaii from other countries, he enjoyed interaction with men.
Mak was beginning to feel good about the situation when Leia said, “Daddy, I’m going to ask the Little People to make Miss Jane be my teacher.”
“How are you feeling, dear?” Matilda asked when she and Jane walked out of Rev. Russell’s two-story white clapboard house after having a light supper in Uncle Russell’s kitchen. They stood on the porch.
“Ashamed,” Jane said, taking hold of the banister.
Matilda scoffed. “What in the name of wild horses do you have to be ashamed of?”
Jane groaned. “Oh, Matilda. After seeing Aunt Pansy so frail, I realize all my fuss about getting sick was wrong. I have nothing to complain about.”
Matilda scoffed. “Oh yes, you do. We’re puny little human beings who have enough of the divine in us to want everything to be perfect. I think God put that in us so we’d keep trying to be better people.”
Looking at the warmth in Matilda’s smile reminded Jane of just how precious that woman was. On the outside, she was all fire and energy, but inside, she was a million times more valuable than those gold pieces she carried around in the purse against her bosom.
“Pansy cared about how you were feeling,” Matilda said softly.
“I know, and that makes me feel bad. The attention should not have been focused on me.”
“Oh, honey. We all told our seasick stories. Even Pansy joked about never being able to leave Russ because she’d be too seasick going back to Boston. We were all trying to make you feel better.”
“I know. And the laughing brought on Pansy’s awful coughing spell, and we had to get out of there so the nurse could take care of her.”
“But that was good for her. The coughing helps clear her lungs so she can breathe better.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
“Maybe?”
Seeing Matilda take a step away and plant her hands on her hips, Jane laughed. “Okay, you are right.”
“I really am in this, Jane.” Matilda stepped up next to her and placed her hands on the banister, displaying her jewels and causing Jane to be aware of the single ring she wore, the diamond that sealed her commitment to Austin.
Matilda must have noticed she was looking at the ring. “That is a beautiful diamond, Jane.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Are you missing Austin?”
Missing him? Austin had always been in her life, and she’d accepted the fact he always would be. She didn’t really take anyone for granted after her mother died, but she accepted that both her dad and Austin were there for her.
She supposed one missed whoever wasn’t there when you’d been used to their presence. She’d missed Austin when he went away to college. Then she’d missed him when she went to college. She missed him after he joined his dad in the oil business.
So she looked at Matilda’s waiting face and said, “Sure. Now that you mention it. I miss Austin and Daddy and Texas. Even Inez.”
Matilda smiled and patted her hand, the one with the ring on its finger.
Jane looked at the rose-blue sky that was fast turning to magenta. “Like you always told me, Matilda. Life is full of wonderful adventures, and that’s where we need to focus our attention—never brooding about what we don’t have.”
“That’s right, Jane. Russ has told us of Pansy’s rapid spiral downward, yet she has stayed alive to see us. She so enjoyed this evening. But she’s ready for her adventure into eternity.”
“So we’ll just make her as happy as we can.” Jane tapped the banister for emphasis. “Later we can focus on. . .adventure.”
“Exactly.”
Jane sighed. Well then, she never should have taken that unexpected adventure of a horseback ride on the beach with that sullen cowboy. But that was different. He hadn’t wanted her on that horse, and if she hadn’t been queasy, she wouldn’t have ridden with him. But. . .no more adventures. She would be right here for Pansy and Uncle Russell.
❧
For the next few days, the women unpacked and settled into their individual upstairs rooms. A wide porch formed a balcony over the one below.
“I’m surprised, Uncle Russell,” Jane said during the lunch that Pilar had prepared for them from food the church members brought in. “You have such a big house. Not that you shouldn’t, but I mean. . .I expected it to be more. . .”
“Modest, I think you mean,” Matilda interjected.
“I suppose so.”
His eyes lit up with a smile. “Pansy and I are blessed. But you see, a preacher and a teacher have a community full of children—and adults, too—who often need a place to stay. But,” he explained, “this was a missionary house when it was first built. Four couples lived in it. As time went by, they left, went to other islands, or built their own new homes.”
“So you’re really living more modestly than those who built new homes, aren’t you, Russ?” Matilda said.
“To be honest, sister,” he said. “It’s not modesty that kept us here. We happen to like it, and it works to our advantage when there’s a visiting pastor. Also, we can invite people who come here for a short visit and even have room for Pansy’s Bible studies. We don’t have to leave and go somewhere else.”
Jane had the feeling that was not a lack of modesty or convenience on his or Pansy’s part. They wanted to share their faith and whatever they had with others. “Thanks for sharing your home with us,” Jane said.
“My pleasure. Each of you is a great blessing, especially to Pansy.” His smile at Matilda was affectionate. “Matilda has the best bedside manner of anyone in the world. Many a time, Pansy and I have talked about the poor and downtrodden—”
“Oh, Russ,” Matilda scoffed. “Let’s talk about something uplifting.”
Yes, Jane was thinking. Matilda was always the spark of life in any setting. Her telling about her many travels and adventures was better than seeing a stage play. Jane had wanted to be like her for as long as she could remember—at least, like the exciting, adventurous side of her.
During the days that followed, Matilda relieved Uncle Russell of his almost constant attention to Pansy by taking turns with him reading to Pansy while she rested. Matilda spent as much time with her sister-in-law as the nurse would allow.
Jane took over the job of accepting the food church members and friends brought in, glad she didn’t have to cook it. She took over the dishwashing, something she had rarely done, so she could organize and get the proper dishes back to the right people.