Return to Paradise

Macey Parker followed her sister to the tables that were set outside on the restaurant, which overlooked the sea. all during the first week of Macey's reluctant holiday on the island. Bella had led the way eager to point out Kauai's spectacular attraction and to see that Macey was always seated where she'd have the best view. it was as though the natural sorroundings were being served up as part of the inducement for her to stay. Macey appreciated her sister's hospitality but she also realized she was being manipulated a subtle family pressure she was determined to resist.the waiter brought menus to bella turned to Macey. 'The view isn't gorgeous?' and it was. Macey let her eyes drift over the flawless sweep of the finest white sand and the azure sky that melted into dazzling sapphire water which created around blue cup of horizon and sea. Macey's smiling response was edge with tartness. "Beautiful, but resistable. I've told you this life is not for me." Bella leaned across the table. "when i called you in California I really meant it when i said that Mary needs you. she needs both us." Macey kept her face expression less. "I don't believe Mary needs anyone. we don't even call her Grandmother, do we?" The waiter brought the fresh fruit plates they'd ordered. Bella speared a slice of papaya. "She's not exactly the Grandmother type, I agree." Macey took a sip of a Tea and glanced warily at her sister. The two closely resembled each other both having the Parker height and Blond hair. Bella was sun bleached and wrapped in a smooth chignon at the nape of her neck. Macey was a darker blond, expertly cut to fall on either side of her face in a flowing line that curved to touch her shoulders. Bella eyes were a serene blue Macey a velvety amber, slightly up tilted at the cor ers a curious contradiction in her otherwise classically structured face. Since Bella was inclined to talk around a problem, Macey sensed that there was more to the Family story than she'd been told. "Tell me again how Mary got into such a financial mess with the property." "Well after Grandfather died and daddy drowned in that boating accident, she handled matters pretty well. I guess the trouble really started with the large combines absorbing the small plantations like ours." "Canneries are automated now, Addie, thats your real competition. driving around this island with you, i've seen that the pineapple fields have mostly disappeared and Kauai seems to be planted in sugarcane." Bella smile was smug. "you are interested, even though you pretend not to be. You've been thinking about our problem and you do understand." "I understand only what any observant outsider could see." "You shoudn't refer to yourself as an outsider." "But that's what i am. This isn't my home. i have my life and my career in california. My friends are there and my apartment, everything i like and everything i want for my future." "a man, i suppose." "there was, there isn't anymore. anyway, i found out he wasn't that important to me." Bella's blue eyrs shadowed. "mother did a terrible thing when she left the island and took you with her. i'm glad i was the older one so she left me behind with Daddy. where is she now do you know?" Bella asked in a resentful tone. "My stepfather seems to have his private sources for finding out anything and everything, especially about Kim. she's with her 3rd husband in netherlands." "Why is he still interested enough to keep up with her whereabouts?" "Because no one ever walked out on Arnold Jonhson except Kim. i think it was traumatic for him. he love her and he was so wealthy he thought he had a lot to offer her, but Kim took to her bare heels and escaped." "You were only about nine when Kim left you behind with Jonhson. do you supposed it was revenge that made him want to keep you with him in California? If Daddy lived, he wouldn't have tried to adopt you." Macey looked thoughtful. "it wasn't revenge. Victor and his sister were fond of me. the second blow to his pride was the Parker's stopping his adoption petition. at least he gave me a loving home and saw to it that i was educated. he have liked it i'd taken an MBA at harvard i think he wanted to make me an extension of himself. when your call came last month, we quarreled over my flying here but i came." Bella's eyes snapped with lively interest. "is he still mad at you?" "Not anymore. what does your Patrick think of all this?" "Patrick's an artist. he doesn't have any ideas about either commerce or pineapples." "Not everyone knows about pineapples. I certainly don't. Why do you think Mary would take anything i said seriously?" "You understand financial maneuverings and you know about saving properties, don't you? Jonhson must have taught you, or at least showed you by example. they called him a land tycoon in a magazine i read a few years back." Macey burst into rich laughter. "Media hype, thats all. you mustn't believe that stuff. He's a shrewd and successful business man am investor in commercial properties but doesn't put him in the tycoon class. and besides Arnold's successes don't have to do with pineapple growing. anyway, Bella, your husband and i share the same leaky artistic craft, which isn't much good in the seas of commerce. Patrick paints I design fabrics. I'm not knowledgeable about land development." Bella's eyed widened. "how could you use a term like that? i was leading up to it gently." "Leading up to what land developing? Most of Mary's land is gone except the hilltop property where the house is." Exasperated Macey sat back in her chair. "if there's something else you haven't told me, just say it straight out Bella." At that moment Bella to her feet, waving with both hands at someone in the restaurant's "It's Nikki. i haven't seen her for months. she'd be a great friend for you to know. I'll see if she'll come out here." Bella was gone, too abruptly. Macey was left alone with the view, certain that her sister's sudden departure was merely a tactic to put off disclosing something she should have been told earlier. one more week of this was about all Macey could take. There was nothing she could do about family's faltering financial situation. She certainly couldn't be expected to induce her stepfather to bail out her Parker relatives, either with his money or with his business acumen. Arnold hated the Parkers. Impatiently Macey swept her fair hair back from her forehead, then tucked its length behind her ears anything to cool off in this heat. The gesture outlined her finely etched profile with its straight nose, gracefully curved lips, and firm chin. Macey's tawny dark lashed eyes provided a startling contrast to her fair looks that made her appearance unique. The day was turning sultury. The island's only air cooler the trade winds, had stopped blowing and Macey could feel her skin growing moist with the rising humidity. The dampness was like a warm veil that caressed her bare arms and legs. She wore a simple cotton shift with almost nothing underneath. Macey sighed as she admitted to herself that there was a real serenity here. Still, it wasn't California. Nothing could be better. Glancing away from the sea, which went from the softest sapphire to the deepest green, she reached for her wide framed sunglasses. She put them on, then raised an index finger to adjust the bridge across her nose when her hand stopped in mid air. The man in the huge silverado off- road vehicle was extremely attractive. Any woman would give him a second look, and then keep looking. She peered around the cascading blossoms of a bougainvillea vine to observe him more closely. He'd parked in the narrow alley next to the restaurant and had come around to join his companion, who'd jumped out on the other side. Their shoulder and back muscles straining, the two men lifted several heavy boxes from the rear compartment. The other man lugged out a dolly and pushed off with the boxes while the driver waited, muscular forearms folded across his chest, powerful frame braced against the side of the truck. Her elbow on the table her chin in her palm, Macey lazily assesed the man in the roadway and decided he could have been captioned "Work man taking his Ease". The purely physical had never appealed to her, but she had to admit this specimen was impressive. There was a sheen to him as tough allbof his body had been bared n***d to the sun and bronzed by its strength. She wished she'd brought her drawing paf so she could sketch the prowling, formidable masculinity of him. This was something she didn't see in manhattan, where men were sometimes desirable but never this irresistibly male. At least not right out in the open this way. Amused at the unexpectedness of her response to a stranger, she observed him closely a visual souvenir of her trip. He stood well over six feet, his wide shoulders stretching the blue material of his shirt. Even from this distance she recognized the shirt's quality of mainland chic and this surprised her. Well fitted white cotton slacks flatteringly encased his long legs. He must spend all of his day's wages in some excellent men's shop in one of the high priced tourist hotels. Here was a hardworking island man who had more sheer presence than any male she'd seen in a long time. And she'd seen a lot, thanks mainly to Arnold's wide acquintance among the California elite. Of course, no one she knew would wear wide brimmed planters hat tilted at the rakish angle. Beneath the hat's shadow she could see only a well defined jaw that obviously hadn't been shaved that day. Whether or not his face was great didn't matter the resr of him was. Abruptly the man shifted position and raised a hand ti shive back his hat brim, displaying curly black hair above a deeply tanned face. The impression was one of strength combined with an impassive coldness. The glass paneled door behind Macey slid open and she turned to see Bella advancing animatedly. She presented her quarry, Nikki as though she were offering an especially delectable gift. "I want you two to get to know each other. I didn't realize Nikki was back from the mainland or I'd have called her earlier." Macey was aware of wealth and privilege staring at her from beneath the other woman's long eyelashes. More than that, shescented a whiff of what she recognized as the worlds most expensive perfume she'd tried a tester of it once at a boutique. Nikki smile was friendly sunburst behind which a more watchfull expression semmed yo be lurking. "Hello Macey how do you like our island? Bella tells me your planning to stay for a while." Macey glanced at her sister, who has even now challenging her. Tactfully she replied, "Nothing's been decided," and noted that Bella beamed at her discretion. No doubt Bella assumed she'd won the war. Macey went on "Were you in San francisco?" and sat back to study Nikki. The woman's native Hawaiian blood was more apparent than it was in Kim's daughters, who'd grown up tall and blond like their father, Dave Parker. Deep rusty brown hair that matched the color of her eyes curled thickly around Nikki's shoulders. Wearing smartly designed white jeans a green silk shirt, and matching green stilt heeled sandals, Nikki moved with gliding grace. She seated herself acrossed from Macey and ordered an iced tea from the waiter who quickly appeared at her side. Macey glanced quickly over her shoulder, but the intriguing island man was gone, she wondered at her swift jolt of disappoinment. Lunch finishe, Nikki suggested the two Parkers drive up to Hanalei to see her new condominium. Bella raised a questioning eyebrow. "I hadn't heard about that." " I can't live at home with the family forever, i want my own place here." "It seems to me that poipu beach is a lot livelier than beinh stuck up there with those avid golfers at hanalei oh, wait a minute. I know who else is up there." Bella complacently smoothed her hair, pleased at the accuracy of her guess. Nikki's white teeth flashed between full red lips. "You're so right," she emphasized. The two women exchanged knowing smiles. Macey knew it must be an insider's joke of some kind, but she really didn't care who or what they were talking aboit so she excused herself. "Could i see Nikki's condo some other time? I'd planned to return to the fabric shop at the market place in waipouli that i told you about Bella." It was evident by Bella's annoyed expression that she wanted Macey to accept Nikki's invitation, but Nikki herseld didn't press it. The other two went off in Nikki's porsche while Macey slowly drove the winding kuhio highway, careful to guide the quirky old station wagon at its own safe pace. Her destination was one of the tiny shops at the coconut plantation market place that offered an authentic collection of Hawaiian print fabircs. She'd visited the shop briefly a day or so earlier, and she was glad to return alone so she could take her time and let the shop's atmosphere start her creative ideas churning. The trade winds began to blow languidly and the palm fronds overhead moved gently, their surfaces glinting silver in the brilliant sunlight. The island air was fragrant with the natural scent of flowers and the sea. Macey parked the station wagon and stepped out under an over hanging hibiscus bush that was dropping its scarlet blossoms. She stopped to pick up one flower and tucked it behind her ear, its large petals spreading jauntily over her blond hair. As she walked along narrow path leading into the complex, she observed her reflection in a*****e window with real amusement. Would anyone think she was sending signals in flower language as to whether she was available or not available? She'd have supposed she wouldn't have found herself staring at the beautiful hunk of an island man back there in lihue. Glancing ahead toward the relics of an ancient sugar mill that marked the central point of the market place, she halted in astonishment. The man from Lihue was standing in the shade of a*****e awning adjusting a camera for a small boy. when the youngster darted to a couple waiting nearby, the tall man took a picture of the family, received their thanks, handed back the camera, and looked up to stare directly at Macey. She remembered to close her astonished mouth and glance away, but just as quickly she glanced back again. She could see that his eyes were darker than black sea coral and entirely without expresion. It was as though nothing could take him by surprise, not even the sight of a tall blonde woman intently studying him and blushing. She hadn't done that in too many years to count. Carl Douglas was as startled in his turn as Macey, though his emotion didn't show on the surface. He'd learned that lesson long ago and automatically masked whatever he felt. My God, he thought now . Charlotte. the resemblance shook him, recalling as it did the memory of his Father's second wife, the only mother he'd known, who'd reared him with a tenderness that he felt certain would never again enter his life. He'd lost her at age twelve, the boy comforting the father who was too dazed by his wife's death to see understand his son's deep grief. When Chris Douglas senior recovered from his own anguish, it was too late for Carl. The boy had grown up in the space of a few months with a harsh lesson imprinted in his mind and heart, One must never care too much for anyone or anything because death or life could snatch them away. His eyes followed the blond woman as she walked swiftly by. He was sure she was a new comer to the island, yet she was familiar to him on a way he couldn't fathom except for the rare resemblance to charlotte. Then he knew. Anger seared in him, a stab of sorrow and rage. He'd heard the rumor that another Parker had recently arrived on Kauai. This might be Bella's sister. worse, she must be Mary's granddaugther. Two strides and he'd caught up with her, controlling his first instinct, which was to wrench her around to face him. After all, she hadn't hurt him in any way exceptby having Parker blood flowing in her. Tentatively his hand reached out to touch her bare shoulder. Macey was as conscious that he was of her own breathing, which had accelerated. It was astonishing that this island workman was here at all. Had she rubbed some genie lamp in her imagination to make him materialize? As Macey turned, the man's immediate response was that he shouldn't feel this jolting reaction at the velvet gaze confronting his. No, these weren't Charlotte's blue eyes, but if she was Kim's Daugther, that explained the exotic, dark gold glance she sent him. Hiding the excitement he was beginning to feel, Carl smiled. Macey had come to a full stop. Staring at the man, she saw that his smile charming though it was didn't reach his eyes. Nit a good sign. And the steeliness in him she'd noticed earlier was still evident. Before she heard him say, "You must be Bella's sister." Somehow he'd recognized her and he knew her family which wasn't unusual. On this small island everyone knew everyone else. Beaides, in daylight she was safe here at the market place with all the shops and people. Safe, that is, if she wanted to be safe. That last was worth thinking about. She said coolly, "I'm Macey Parker," and waited for whatever would happen next.