“Oh yes,” Jane said truthfully. “The oil keeps gushing out like there’s no end to it. It’s exciting.”
“Sounds as if you have a substantial future ahead,” Mak said.
“Yes. I’ve been. . .very blessed.” She gave him a quick look. That was nothing to be ashamed of. “My father has worked very hard to make the cattle ranch successful. His father started with almost nothing.”
“What’s your fiancé. . .what’s his name?”
“Austin Price.”
“What’s he like?”
“Slippery when wet. . .with oil.”
He laughed with her.
She looked out ahead, having a warm feeling talking about Austin. “He’s very handsome. Has dark hair, warm gray eyes, tall, nice physique. About perfect in looks. And he’s the nicest, kindest, finest man anywhere. We could talk about anything and everything. And most important, he’s a committed Christian. Very generous with those less fortunate.” She smiled over at Mak. “And a lot of fun.”
“He sounds perfect,” Mak said, and she noticed the lift of his eyebrows as if that were unbelievable. But he asked, “What does he do for fun?” He chuckled. “Other than debate with you.”
She wasn’t sure how to take that. “Oh, we have our card games and board games and charades. He’s just good at conversation and making other people feel good. Never a negative word about anyone or anything. And the best thing, we would race each other on horseback.”
“Who won?”
“Usually me.”
“Did he let you win?”
She scoffed. “You are the most chauvinistic man. No, he didn’t let me win.” She leaned forward in a jockey stance. “I challenge you to a race.”
“That horse doesn’t stand a chance against Big Brown. She can hardly gallop.”
“I thought as much,” she said. “On foot, I could race this horse
on foot
and win.”
She loved making him laugh. “Let me race you on Panai.”
“Never.”
The way he said that made her think she’d better change the subject, but he did first. “This thing bothers me,” he said. “You were promised to Austin? I don’t understand that.”
“Oh, it was a pact between our parents. Or a hope, I guess would be more accurate. No one would hold us to that. I mean, neither of us ever found anyone who suited us better. Austin and I are different, but we complement each other.”
“Is he your age?”
“Four years older. I’m twenty-three, twenty-four in March.”
“Isn’t that a long engagement?”
She looked out over the ocean, seeing surfers riding the waves far out. “Yes. I think it’s about twenty-three-and-a-half years.”
“Apparently you’re in no hurry, if I’m not being too personal.”
“Don’t worry about being personal. I could lie at any time.” she jested.
He punctuated his concurrence with a nod.
“But I did accept his ring on my eighteenth birthday. My friends were oohing and aahing. I became very excited about a big wedding. Then Aunt Matilda gave me a long talk. What I remember most was that she said it was fine to be excited about a big wedding. But just be sure I was planning a marriage, not simply a wedding.” She glanced at Mak. “She wanted me to be sure I was in love with Austin and not just the idea of being in love and that I was ready to settle down.”
“Sounds like a wise woman,” he said.
“Very. I tried to visualize myself settled down.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t ready. I decided I wanted to be independent, travel like Matilda without asking my daddy or a husband for money and knowing he might refuse. So I began to teach horseback riding and equestrian classes. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a free spirit. I wasn’t ready to be. . .tamed.”
“Perhaps you shouldn’t be. Like a racehorse. They need to be disciplined and trained, but not have their spirit broken.”
“Oh,” she said saucily, “and how do you train a girl like me?”
“That part is up to you, not someone else. One should not force another into some kind of mold but encourage them to recognize their strengths and weaknesses.”
“That’s how Austin feels. It’s why he doesn’t pressure me.”
A hard look came over Mak’s face. “That’s something Maylea didn’t understand. I wanted her to be herself. I loved who she was. But she wanted to be what she thought I would want, although I denied that. That’s why she rode the spirited horse that day, against my advice, trying to prove she was brave enough. I was always busy training my horses and taking care of the ranch, so she decided to teach Leia.” He shook his head. “Of course, the horse sensed her lack of confidence. Leia might have been fearful, too.”
Jane realized she hadn’t said this before. “I’m so sorry.”
He nodded. After a long silence, she asked, “What happened to the horse?”
She wondered if he’d ever reply. After a heavy sigh, he said, “The horse is Panai’s mother. After the funeral and while Leia was still in the hospital, my foreman and paniolos had to hold me down to keep me from killing that animal. I threatened to fire them all, but they wouldn’t let me go. Somebody took the horse away, and later, I found out the king bought her. He’s raced her and won for the past three years. It’s like having the horse laugh in my face.”
Jane didn’t know if she should say anything. They reached the end of the beach, and she turned Cinnamon back around when Mak turned Big Brown.
Bitterness was in his voice when he spoke again. “The horse didn’t care that my wife and unborn baby were killed. That Leia was hurt and lost her mother. That her parents are without their daughter. The world is without a beautiful, kind woman. The horse doesn’t care. That’s why Panai has to win that race. It’s my revenge on the horse.”
Jane asked tentatively, “You think the horse will know?”
He glanced at her. “I will know.”
Jane wanted to reach over and touch his hand, make some physical gesture to show she cared. But he might resent that touch. He did not look receptive to any overture. What could she say, do? She uttered a silent prayer for guidance. But an answer did not form in her heart and mind.
“You’ve probably heard all kinds of explanations of why you shouldn’t feel that way.”
“Oh yes. Every possible reason—life, Satan, choices, one’s time to go, accident, a better life in heaven.” His voice was bitter. “You name it, I’ve heard it. But it doesn’t make the pain go away. So you see, I have nothing of value to offer a woman. I only have. . .needs.”
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll try and fulfill your need for a woman friend.”
He sighed heavily. “I can’t even be a friend in return. I’ve turned into a grouch who I hardly recognize.”
“Yes, you can be a friend. You have already, Mak. You’ve shared your home, your family, your
gentle
horse.” She challenged him with a glance. “We could continue with you showing me the island.”
Maybe he didn’t want to show her the island. After a long moment, however, he said, “You’ve already made me realize I should talk to my daughter about her mother.”
“Have you told her why she’s afraid?”
“No, I wouldn’t want Leia to blame her mother for putting her in danger.”
“Mak, I heard that Maylea saved Leia’s life.”
It took a while before he acknowledged that with a nod. “Perhaps you could fill me in on how you would go about teaching Leia to ride. Was it your dad who taught you?”
“Oh, yes. I was riding before I was walking, so I’ve been told. My mom tried to teach me to be a lady.” She wrinkled her nose, and Mak grinned. “My dad wanted a boy, so that may be why he taught me to care for animals and ride like a man. I needed those equestrian lessons to teach me how to ride like a lady.”
He laughed when she said
lady
as if it were unsavory.
Then he surprised her by saying, “How do you go about teaching that to a child?”
“Easy,” she said. “Sit erect and wear a stylish riding habit.”
At the skeptical look he gave her, she laughed. “That’s the lady part. The first thing I do is lead the children to the stall, have them take a rake, and go apple-picking in the straw.”
“Apple-picking? Why would apples be in the stall? The horses would eat them.”
“That’s the word my daddy used for cleaning out the stall. The horse’s apples would be chucked into a pail.”
He grimaced. “You’d have a child do that?”
She looked him in the face. “Of course. A rider needs to know how to keep his horse’s stall clean, even if they have their own stable boys. That’s the first lesson. If parents aren’t willing to have the child learn complete care of a horse, then I won’t take the child on as a student.”
He looked away, and she figured that was the end of that. “You see, after a child does the dirtiest, smelliest job, then keeping the animal clean is not at all a dirty job, but a pleasure.”
The lift of his eyebrows and a brief nod indicated he agreed.
“Next,” she said, “I have the child learn to feel the horse, get used to him, and allow the horse to get used to the child’s touch and voice.” Remembering that his wife was thrown, she said, “I also teach a child how to fall, to be prepared to hold onto the reins or grab the saddle horn, anticipate that even the most gentle horse can be frightened, perhaps by a snake in the road.”
His quick laugh made her think he didn’t care for her methods. The grin stayed on his face when he said, “There are no snakes in Hawaii.”
Shocked, her jaw dropped. “No snakes? Not one?”
“Nope. The only things here are what people from other countries have brought in. None have brought any snakes.”
While she was trying to recover from that disclosure, he said, “If you could get my little lady to. . .pick apples, you could get her to do anything.”
Pilar squealed, “No!”
Uncle Russell said, “Well, well.”
Matilda nodded while she stared at Jane.
They’d each gotten mail. Jane hadn’t read her second letter yet.
“Bet I know what this is about,” Matilda had said when Uncle Russell brought the letters home. Letters didn’t usually come for all of them at the same time. They’d settled at the kitchen table, each looking at the envelopes until Matilda had said, “We have to open them sometime.”
“They’re coming?” Pilar said. “Is that what your letters say?”
“They’re already on their way. They should be here in February.”
Pilar began to wail. “I don’t want to go back. I don’t ever want to leave here. I mean. . .” She stood and held onto the edge of the table while they all stared at her. “I can’t go back to being my mother’s helper, anymore. Jane, you’ll be married. Matilda won’t be there. I have plans. I have friends here. It’s not like in Texas.”
She threw her letter on the table and ran from the room.
“I’ll talk to her later,” Matilda said.
“I understand her wanting to stay here,” Jane said. “But I can’t see Inez allowing it. Where would she stay, anyway?”
“She’s welcome here,” Uncle Russell said. “But although I’m a preacher, her mother doesn’t know me and might not agree.”
At suppertime, Pilar brought the subject up again. “I’ll have to do what my mother says, won’t I? After I graduate from school, I could get a job. Maybe in the sugar fields.” She shook her head. “That wouldn’t work. Susanne wouldn’t be my friend if I worked for her parents.” She looked quickly at Jane. “I don’t mean that you’re not because I worked for your dad.”
“I know that, Pilar. There’s six years difference in your age and mine, so the situation isn’t the same. Maybe your mother will fall in love with Hawaii, too, and want to stay.”
Pilar exhaled heavily. “My mother doesn’t fall in love with anything. She just wants to stay a cook and a housekeeper.”
Matilda reached over and laid her hand on Pilar’s. “Your mother takes pride in her work, Pilar. That’s about all she has.” She patted the girl’s hand. “I’ll reason with her.”
“But she doesn’t. . .I mean. . .”
“I know what you mean,” Matilda said. “Your mother feels stuck in a kitchen while I gallivant all over the world. It’s not really me she dislikes. I mean, if my husband hadn’t left me a pile of money, I’d be spitting on his grave twenty-five times a day.”
A hopeful look came into Pilar’s eyes. “You can make her understand about me. You can do anything.”
“Pretty much,” Matilda agreed. “Now stop your worrying.”
After supper, as Jane and Matilda walked toward the church, Jane remembered what Matilda had implied before they left Texas. “You don’t think Inez. . .and my dad. . . ?”
“Oh yes, I do. I have a feeling they’re going to make an announcement, and Pilar’s plight will be secondary. Oh, I don’t mean they won’t care, but if there’s some reasonable way they feel Pilar has a better future in Hawaii than in Texas, they’ll likely consent. I’m sure I can help in some way. There’s no place I have to be in a hurry.”
Jane threw her arms around Matilda. “I love you, Matilda. It’s amazing how you can be so independent and yet care enough to be right there to help when someone needs it.”
Matilda smiled. “Did you ever stop to think, Jane dear, I need it, too? I need your love. I need the feeling of being wanted and needed. I think that’s why the good Lord admonished us to help each other.”
“I’ve always known that,” Jane said. “But I’ve mostly been on the receiving end. I don’t want to be selfish, and I like the feeling of having been some help to Pansy and to Uncle Russell.”
“You were always just fine, Jane. But you have matured in many ways since we’ve been here. We aren’t born wise; we grow into it.”
“I hope so. And you know, I think I can be a real help to Mak. He’s opened up to me a little. And after things I’ve heard from you and Rose and Uncle Russell, he hasn’t done that since his wife died.” She stopped and caught hold of Matilda’s hands. “I’m going Saturday morning to talk to him about how I would teach Leia. I know he’ll be testing me, but I think this is a big hurdle for him to overcome. I so want to be helpful.”
“That’s good, Jane,” she said, giving her hands a squeeze, then letting go. “But in the meantime, don’t you think you need to give your dad and Austin some thought? In about three months they’ll be here.”
“Three months,” Jane mused. “That’s enough time to get Leia riding like a girl her age should. Time to get Mak to realize he needs to accept his wife’s death and move on with his life. You know, he’s stuck in the day she died. He just can’t let it go. Maybe we can even get him back in church.”
“Jane.”
Jane turned her head to stare at Matilda.
“In three months, your dad and Austin will be here.”
“Oh my,” Jane said. “I feel like I’m just getting a good grasp of my land legs. Now I have to start thinking about my sea legs?” Of course, her attention would need to revert from Mak’s needs, to Austin.
As if reading her mind, Matilda said, “Now, dear. Do we plan a Hawaiian wedding. . .or what?”