4 Maui Macadamia Madness (6 page)

As Ethan drove, with
Joe navigating, I took the time to drink in the scene outside the van window. I
wanted to see all Maui had to offer before we headed home.

On the passenger
side of the van, lush greenness rose, hugging us with tropical beauty. On the
driver’s side, a steep cliff fell to an ocean lapping a boulder-strewn shore
interspersed with pristine beaches. There didn’t seem to be any worry about the
beauty disappearing. Not even a mountain goat could make it down there.

No matter where I
looked, the scenery calmed, inspired, and coaxed me to stay and rest a while.
Maybe I shouldn’t have planned each moment of our stay to include sightseeing
or a thrill. I probably should have planned time to sit on the beach, Ethan beside
me, and let the water lap my legs. Other than watching the sunset each night, I
had us on the go from breakfast on.

“Are you still mad
we’re here?” April leaned to speak soft enough the others wouldn’t hear.

“No. Especially now
that Joe can help Ethan
find
out why someone wants to
frame me.” Or at least has threatened to. “It isn’t like y’all are sharing a
cottage.”

“Aunt Eunice wanted
to suggest you check out of your room, and we all get one large cabin. Joe put
a stop to that idea right off the bat.”

“Remind me to thank
him.” I caught Joe’s glance through the mirror in his visor. My parents died
when I was five,
cousin
Joe was the closest thing I
had to a sibling, and he fit the role of older brother very well. He was bossy
and kept an eye on me. I thanked God for him every day, even when I grumbled
about Joe’s heavy handed ways.

The van pulled as
far to the side of the road as possible, and Ethan cut the ignition. “There’s a
small waterfall, if y’all want to take pictures.”

Did I? I wanted to
snap a memory of every second. I practically crawled over April and Aunt Eunice
in my excitement.

Ethan’s waterfall
was more like a trickle over moss-covered rocks on a hillside, but I took the
picture anyway. A trickle on Maui is different than a trickle in Arkansas.
More romantic for one.
I grinned at Ethan.

The sun highlighted
his hair with gold. It really wasn’t fair how a few days in the sun gave his
dark blond hair highlights that cost a pretty fortune for someone at a salon.
My own hair would sport brassy red streaks by the end of our Hawaiian stay.

“All y’all stand
against that greenery. It will make a gorgeous picture!” I hadn’t planned on
others being in our honeymoon snapshots, but it couldn’t be helped now, so I’d
make the best of things.

“Let me take one of
you and Ethan first.” April took the camera. “After all, we’re the ones
imposing.”

True. I grabbed
Ethan’s hand and dragged him to stand in front of our ‘waterfall’. I had a
feeling that we would see real falls of water within a day or two. Rip-roaring,
cascading streams that thundered to a crystal pool a hundred feet below.

Once April finished,
we took turns taking shots of each couple. I aimed the camera at Aunt Eunice
and Uncle Roy,
then
backed as far across the road as I
felt safe. I had no desire to topple over the cliff.

“Say Hawaii is
heaven.” I lifted the camera to my eye.

A breeze sprang up,
teasing the hem of my dress and flirting with my hair. If I could fly, I’d take
that two more steps and sail off into Hawaii’s heavenly sky.

“Summer,
freeze!”
Ethan leaped out
of the road and in my direction.

I caught my breath,
afraid to move. Kind of like the time an African lion snuck up behind me. I
learned very quickly to listen when Ethan gave the order not to move.

A silver Nissan
Maxima with dark tinted windows sped past us on the narrow road. There was
barely room for one vehicle, much less two.
Definitely no
room for a pedestrian on the side of the road.

I gasped, hugged the
camera to my chest, and fought to keep my feet from slipping on the loose
gravel. I glanced over my shoulder to the turquoise ocean far below. The world
spun. Spots swam before my eyes. I tottered. I couldn’t breathe.

Somebody screamed.
Maybe either me or April.
Maybe both.
I slid farther and closed my eyes.

Ethan grabbed my hand
and slammed me against his chest, taking us both down hard to the warm asphalt
road. “This is beginning to be a habit.”

“Not funny.” I
opened my eyes. “Did that car deliberately try to run over me?”

“I’m sure they were
just in a hurry,” Uncle Roy said, lifting me off Ethan. “Right, Joe?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”
Joe stared in the direction the Nissan had sped. “There’s nobody on earth that
wants to do away with
Summer
.
Now or
in the past.”

“That’s enough.”
Ethan swatted dirt from his backside, gave me a quick kiss, and then stepped
over to whisper something to Joe. Soon, the two were deep in a secret
conversation. After a few seconds, Uncle Roy joined them.
My
own little security detail.

I didn’t need to be
a genius to know I was the topic of their conversation
and
the target of the speeder. Why couldn’t I just have an
enjoyable honeymoon? Why does somebody always die when I was around?

Slumping against the
car, I allowed Aunt Eunice and April to fuss over me. After all, I almost fell
to my death.

“That was very
frightening.” Aunt Eunice smoothed my hair from my face. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” I
glanced to where the men talked. Why couldn’t it be Ethan comforting me?
“Just feeling sorry for myself.”

“As
you should.”
April
crossed her arms and leaned against the car with me. “Wonder what my buffoon of
a brother and future husband
are
cooking up now.”

“That buffoon is my
husband, and I’m asking you to treat him as such.”
My mouth
quirked.

“As
a buffoon or as your husband?”
April giggled and hugged me. “I’m so glad we’re sisters now.”

“Even if being
around me might get you killed?”

“Even
then.”
She bumped me with
her hip. “Besides, whoever was in that car was after you, not me.”

“So you noticed it,
too.” Obviously Ethan and Joe thought the same thing. So, what were the two
cooking up? Occasionally, Uncle Roy would glance over his shoulder like a
naughty boy telling a secret. “I think I’m going to ask Ethan for a second
honeymoon. This one isn’t what I had planned.”

Aunt Eunice laughed
and playfully slapped my arm. “This one isn’t over yet, and you can guarantee
this is one you won’t forget anytime soon.”

I most likely
wouldn’t forget even without a murder and someone trying to frame me. A girl’s
honeymoon was like her wedding.
Unforgettable.
Or should be, even without drama and intrigue.
I squared my
shoulders. “Let’s get moving. Who knows? Maybe we’ll run into the Nissan in
Lahaina
.” I hoped so. I’d like to find out who the speeder
was and maybe push
them
over a cliff.

Ethan tossed me a
thin-lipped smile and climbed behind the wheel of the van. Joe squeezed past me
on the middle seat and motioned for me to sit beside him. I rolled my eyes and
shook my head.

“I insist.” He
tipped his head and patted the seat.

Uncle Roy climbed in
next, sandwiching me between them, and leaving the far backseat for April and
Aunt Eunice. I gave thanks for a day of mild weather and hopefully very little
perspiring.
Neither Uncle Roy or
Joe were small men. I
sat with my elbows pressed into my sides and fumed. In that position, I couldn’t
take pictures of the scenery.

“Scrunch over!” I
jabbed Joe.

“There’s no room.”
He shoved back.

“Uncle Roy, sit in
the back. There’s more space.” I crossed my arms. Finding that position no more
comfortable, I exhaled and let my hands drop to my lap.

“No, little girl,
I’m fine right where I am.” He succeeded in crossing his arms, taking up more
room, putting his elbow in close contact with my nose.

Mercy! It was going
to be a long vacation.

Chapter
Seven

We drove by the cutest church. White weathered paneling on the outside.
Bright red double doors, shadowed by two massive palm trees.
Organ music drifted from the open door and windows. So engrossed was I in the
sight and sound of worship in paradise, that we had passed before I opened my
mouth to suggest we attend a service. We did have plans to walk through the
gardens of a Buddhist temple, though, only because I’ve never been in one, and
curiosity won out.

Out the van window
to my left, I made out the sails of a whaling ship. “Find a place to park.”

“I will.” Ethan
steered them into a gravel parking area. “I’m aware of your list of sights to
see.”

“I don’t want to go
on the vessel, if we can’t sail,” I said, climbing out after Uncle Roy. “But I
would love to get a couple of photos. I’m more interested in the art
galleries.”

Uncle Roy groaned,
eliciting a glare from me. “What’s wrong? You don’t have to go. I’m sure you
and Aunt Eunice have things you’d rather see.”

He connected gazes
with Joe,
then
turned to Ethan.
“That
all right with you?
I think Eunice wants to hit up some Hawaii yard
sales.”

“Flea market,” Aunt
Eunice corrected.

“Joe?” Ethan raised
his eyebrows.

“We’ll go with you.”
He sighed.

April and I frowned
at each other. I shrugged. There was no way of knowing what went through the
minds of the men in my family. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. With Ethan on my
right, April on my left and Joe next to her, we set off down the sidewalk
squashed together like too many people on a bus.

I expelled my breath
with enough force to blow my bangs. “Joe, you and April walk behind us. This is
ridiculous. One false step and Ethan is in the street.”

“Well, I, uh…” He
cocked his head in Ethan’s direction as if to ask ‘what now?
’.

Seriously?
“You men are protecting me? You think that
by having one of you on each side of me each second of the day will keep me
safe?” Good grief. “I’m not going to let an idle threat, or a maniac speeding
down a road, ruin my honeymoon.” I grabbed April’s hand. “Come on. The men can
walk together.”

“Summer.”
Ethan took my other hand. “We care about
you.”

“I understand that.”
Tears stung my eyes. “I have never, nor will I ever, allow some sick minded
fool to dictate my life. I did not ask to solve this murder—”

“Yet, you’re smack
dab in the middle of it,” April said. “So, let’s solve it.
All
of us.
There’s nothing from stopping us from sightseeing and having fun
at the same time. Look!” She pointed at an outdoor café. “There are some of the
hotel’s guests, and
it’s
lunchtime anyway.”

Susan Wood and David
Hatcher sat cozy at a bistro-style table under a sun-shine yellow umbrella.
Instead of sitting across from each other, they sat with shoulders touching and
heads bent. At a different table sat the
Wahine
siblings, along with who I thought might be the maid, Malia. All of a sudden, I
found myself very hungry. “I agree.
Time to eat.”

I led my entourage
to the table between the others, smiled at everyone, then hid behind a
laminated menu. Maybe, if they thought I was engrossed in ordering, someone
might divulge some useful information.

Ethan leaned close.
“Maybe if we make out, they won’t think we’re listening.”

Mercy! I grinned.
“Not in public, dear husband.” One look from his stormy eyes always melted my
insides. If I hadn’t been raised better, making out in public might have a
certain wild allure to it.

“It’s always worth a
try.” He straightened. “You might as well order. I doubt you’ll be able to hear
anything. Those two seem to be intent on whispering.” He nodded at Susan and
David.

With April and Joe
laughing, the waiters taking orders, and seagulls squawking from the patio
railing, there would definitely be no eavesdropping. When Susan grabbed her
cell phone and disappeared inside the eatery, I had the sudden urge to find the
restroom.

Dropping my menu
beside my rolled silverware, I trailed my hand along Ethan’s back and followed
Susan. Experience had told me to play as dumb as I needed to in order to garner
information. Looking for a restroom worked as well as any other excuse.

Susan ducked into a
small hallway under a sign reading ‘Women’, then through a door. I counted to
three,
then
followed. Hallelujah, she was in one of
the two stalls. I locked myself in the other one.