Lana'i of the Tiger (The Islands of Aloha Mystery Series) (5 page)

“You’re very observant. I take
the shuttle if I need to get anywhere in a hurry or if I need to go down to the
ferry at Manele Bay. Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ve got it pretty much covered
for a while.”

“Okay. Well, if you think of
anything, let me know,” he said. “I’ll be meeting a three o’clock flight.”

***

When Tyler returned at four he
wasn’t alone. A strikingly-beautiful young woman accompanied him up the steps.
She was one of those people you try not to stare at, but you can’t look away.
Her coffee-with-cream-colored skin glowed like amber, her high cheekbones were
a sculptor’s dream, and her long lithe legs reminded me of a giraffe—without a
giraffe’s knobby knees.

“Penny,” said Tyler as he and
the giraffe-woman came inside, “I’d like to introduce you to my girlfriend—”

“Fiancée, remember sweetheart?”
She flashed me a diamond on her left hand that would’ve put the sun to shame.

“Oh, yeah, my bad,” he said,
feigning a little boy’s pout. “My
fiancée
, Desiree Diamonte.”

“Call me Deedee,” she said. “Everybody
does. You may have heard of my lingerie line—Double D Designs? Once it really
takes off I’m going to be branching out into handbags, jewelry, and hopefully a
fragrance someday.”

 So, Deedee Diamonte was a
wannabe entrepreneur? Well, good for her. I’m all for women taking charge of
their own lives, and livelihoods.

“Pleased to meet you, Deedee.
And welcome to the White Orchid.”

Deedee looked around the great
room and as she did, I could see clouds building behind her espresso-brown
eyes.

“Sweetcakes,” she said grabbing
Tyler’s wrist. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Outside?”

They went out the front door
while I huddled at the desk in the great room. The walls of the
plantation-built houses on Lana’i are thin, like paper thin, because the
pineapple company didn’t use plaster-board or insulation when they built homes
for their workers. The thin plywood walls acted more like speaker bellows than
sound-dampeners so everything resonated.

“No way,” said Deedee. “I mean
it. I am
not
staying here.”

“You’re being…” Tyler’s voice
had a desperate tone. “Okay, what do you want me to do?”

At this point, Deedee lowered
her voice and I heard only the
sss-ssst
of her urgent whisper.

Tyler came back inside, alone.
“I’ll be back in a little while, Penny,” he said. The screen door slammed and
he was gone.

***

When Tyler returned it was after
eight o’clock that night. I’d eaten a quick dinner of stir-fried veggies and
rice and I was reading in the great room when he came in. He looked guarded, as
if he was keeping a secret.

“Oh, you’re out here,” he said.
It’d taken him a couple of seconds to notice me in the meager glow of the floor
lamp.

“Did you and Deedee already have
dinner?” I said. Then I thought,
Uh-oh, maybe that sounded like prying
.
“Uh, what I mean is, do you need me to fix you anything to eat?”

“Thanks, but I’m good. We had a
great dinner up at the Lodge at Koele. Pretty much gold-plated everything.”

“Yeah, that’s how it is up
there. The locals call it the Bank of Koele, because that’s where tourists
deposit their money. Anyway, welcome back.”

“I feel I need to apologize for
Deedee’s behavior,” he said.

I started to object but he cut
me off.

“No, really, she’s kinda
spoiled. Her daddy’s a major player in the financial industry so she was
brought up in privilege. He gave her a wad of cash to start her business, but
since then he’s pretty much told her she’s on her own. The good news is it’s
made her resourceful. She’s gone out and hustled. Right now she’s waiting for a
call-back from HSN to pitch her lingerie.”

“HSN?”

“Yeah, you know,” he said. “The
Home Shopping Network. Deedee’s bound and determined to be the next Jessica
Simpson.”

I nodded even though I wasn’t
exactly sure what he meant. Did Deedee dream of playing Daisy Duke in the next
remake of ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’? That seemed odd, but that’s the last I’d
heard of Jessica Simpson.

“Anyway,” he went on. “I’m sorry
she chose not to stay here. I hope you aren’t offended.”

“Thanks, but there’s no need for
an apology. Deedee seems very nice.”
–to look at
, I wanted to add, but
didn’t.

“Yeah unfortunately, her idea of
roughing it is a hotel without towel warmers and an in-room masseuse.” He shot
me a smile that looked phony as all get-out.

“Understood. Bed and breakfasts
aren’t for everyone.”

“I got her a room—well, actually
a suite—up at the Lodge.” And then as if reading my mind, he went on, “But I’m
still going to stay down here. I prefer it.”

“I guess congratulations are in
order,” I said.

He looked puzzled.

“You’re getting married.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, well that’s
something I’m trying not to think about.”

Now it was my turn to look
puzzled.

“No, no, that came out wrong,”
he said. “What I mean is, the damn paparazzi will have a field day with it. I
hate stuff like that. It’s my
life
we’re talking about here, not a big
payday for some stalker lurking in the bushes. If I could, I’d make it a crime
for scumbags like that to get within five hundred yards of me and Deedee. And
those long-lenses they’ve got on those cameras? I think they should have to
register them like handguns.”

I gave him a small nod, but we
both knew I’d never experienced anything remotely close to what he was talking
about.

“Can I ask you a question?” he
said.

“Sure.”

“Do you know of anyone around
here who could put together a simple wedding on the sly?”

I went to bed that night with a
smile on my face. Maybe I was finally getting some good
karma
payback
for doing the right thing last month. Or maybe it was merely a case of being at
the right place at the right time. But whatever it was—dumb luck or hard-earned
karma
—I didn’t care. I was putting on a wedding!

CHAPTER 6

The next morning I called Darryl
on his cell. “How’s everyone doing over there?” I said when he answered.

“Great, if you don’t count
hanging out in this creepy hospital all day. Ewa says she loves being a mom,
but since we’re still here I think the jury’s still out. I mean, the nurses
bring her meals, put plumeria blossoms on her pillow after her sponge bath, and
take care of the baby. Who wouldn’t love it?”

“Have you named your little boy
yet?”

“Yeah. His name’s Ethan. It’s
Ekana
in Hawaiian. We’re still deciding which way we’ll spell it on the birth
certificate. Ewa’s folks would definitely vote for the Hawaiian way, but my
folks think you gotta go All-American.”

“Well, either way, it’s a great
name,” I said. “Say, I need to ask you about something.”

He quickly broke in. “You got a
problem? That Hollywood dude givin’ you grief or somethin’?”

“No, in fact, quite the
opposite. He’s really a nice guy. Even insists on bussing his own table after
breakfast.”

“So, what’s up?”

“He wants to get married.”

“To you?”

“No, no,” I laughed at the mere
thought of Tyler picking me over his own personal Miss Universe. “His fiancée
arrived on the island yesterday and they want to do a quick, quiet ceremony. No
reporters, no fans, no news cameras.”

“I thought Ewa said he was a
movie producer. Why would reporters show up?”

“Well, I guess he’s a major
player in the business. From what I’ve gathered, if you’re a mover and shaker
in Hollywood there’s bound to be buzz about your private life. Comes with the
territory, I guess. And he’s a major supporter of African-American causes.”

“So, he’s a celebrity but he
doesn’t want to be?”

“Something like that. The way he
explained it to me is, in the entertainment
world
fans are focused on
the actors because they’re the ones they see. But in the entertainment
business
,
the producers are much more important. They determine which movies get made and
which don’t. That makes them the kings of the hill.”

“Okay, so then why does this
king
need my permission to get married?”

“He wants to do it here, at the
White Orchid.  He wants to hold the ceremony in the greenhouse and then have a
small champagne reception in the great room. We’re only talking a few people,
maybe four or five besides the bridal couple.”

“Sounds okay to me. Do you think
we should charge him anything?”

“Of course. I’ll need to get the
gardener to completely clean out the greenhouse. He’ll have to move tables and
plants around, bring the blooming orchids up front, clear out a place to hold
the actual ceremony, and then…” I stopped, realizing Darryl probably didn’t
need to hear every detail of what had to get done to make the place ready for a
wedding. “Stuff like that.”

“I don’t know how much to
charge,” he said.

“Look, Tyler and Deedee have been
eating all their meals at the Four Seasons so they’re used to paying through
the nose. Whatever you want to charge will be fine. I’m handling getting
everything ordered and when it’s over I’ll give them a bill for the whole thing.
The cost for using the White Orchid will be included.”

“Okay, but let’s keep this
between you and me. If Ewa finds out we’ve got a Hollywood hotshot getting
married at our house, there’s no way she’ll agree to stay a week at my mom’s
house. No way.”

“I understand. It’s probably
best to not say anything anyway. The guy wants to keep everything hush-hush.
I’ve promised to only divulge details on a need-to-know basis.”

“Roger that. It’s a total black
op.”

I smiled at his goofy
military-speak. “
Mahalo
Darryl. I’ll keep you up to date on what’s
happening.”

He started to say ‘
aloha
’
and hang up, but I stopped him. “Darryl, now that I think about it, I think you
should charge a thousand dollars for the use of the White Orchid.”

“A thousand bucks! Are you
pupule
?”

“No, I’m not. I think Tyler
Benson would be happy to pay a thousand dollars to guarantee his privacy. And,
I think when I point out that your new son will be needing money for school in
about twenty years, he’d be honored to make the first deposit into Ethan’s
college fund.”

“Wow, when you put it like that….
Mahalo
, Penny. I don’t know where Ewa found you, but I’m sure glad she
did.”

***

Tyler didn’t disappoint me.

“You’re right. They have a new
baby. It’s the least we can do. I can hardly wait to tell Deedee that we’ll be
the first people to contribute to the little guy’s college fund. She loves
kids.”

But Deedee didn’t prove to be
the Angelina Jolie that Tyler had hoped.

“A thousand dollars? For using a
greenhouse? That’s ridiculous,” she said when she came to the White Orchid the
next morning. “For that kind of money we could rent an upscale venue like the
library at the Lodge at Koele, or even the ballroom at the Four Seasons Manele
Bay. Darling, I agreed to keep our wedding low-key, but that doesn’t mean paying
Park Avenue prices for a trailer park setting.”

Tyler looked stricken. “The
White Orchid Bed and Breakfast is a labor of love for these people, Deedee. Not
only have they put a ton of money into it, but they’ve invested their time and
talents. It’s got way more ambiance than the cookie-cutter hotels you’re so
fond of. Believe me, sweetheart, you won’t regret getting married here. It’ll
make a great story for our children, even our grandchildren.”

“Whoa, whoa. Don’t you go getting
ahead of yourself, Mr. Tyler Benson. I agreed I’d
think
about having kids.
No promises. For the foreseeable future my focus will be on making Double D as big
a brand as Victoria’s Secret.” She shot him a sultry smile, and ran a
well-manicured fingertip up his chest, his neck, and finally his chin. When her
finger reached his lips, he kissed it.

“Baby-doll, I’m one-hundred
percent behind you,” he said. “What makes you happy, makes me happy. But believe
me, having a small private wedding here will be great. It’ll be as cozy and
romantic as getting married in our own home.”

 “Sweetie, our home is at least
ten times bigger. And about a
thousand
times more elegant.” She paused
and batted her ridiculously lush eyelashes. “I’ll let you win this one, lover.
But you’re going to owe me, big-time. And you know what they say—payback’s a
bitch.”

Tyler Benson’s narrowed his eyes.
It looked to me as if he wasn’t used to being threatened. Especially in front
of an audience.

***

Tyler and Deedee left to go up to
the Lodge at Koele for lunch. I got busy with the wedding preparations. I
snagged Mr. Shu, the gardener, as he arrived in his beater truck.

“Mr. Shu,” I said. “I’m Pal—er,
Penny Morton. I’m helping Darryl and Ewa with the bed and breakfast while
they’re over in Honolulu with their new baby.”

“Baby? What day she have the
baby?”

“She had it two days ago, on
Thursday. It’s a boy. They’re both still in the hospital.”

“Something wrong?”

“No, they’re both doing fine.
But the law says the hospital has to allow a new mother to stay at least two
days past the delivery date if she wants to.”

“Why she want to stay in
hospital?” He wrinkled his face up like he’d just taken a whiff of something
foul.

“I don’t know. I guess because
it’s her first child, and they’re helping her learn what she needs to know to
be a good mother.”

“
Pfft
,” he snorted. “That
like telling a seed how to make root and leaves.” He shook his head in scorn.

“Anyway, I wanted to talk to you
about the greenhouse.”