Come and Talk to Me (23 page)

Her stomach was suddenly feeling queasy. “Self-inflicted ulcer no doubt,” she mumbled as she rubbed it. “Bri? You craving ice cream yet?”

“I don’t need to be pregnant to be wanting ice cream, hon. Let’s go.”

They went to the little ice cream shop in the Pioneer Inn and had huge waffle cones. Reggie wasn’t sure if she wanted the ice cream to soothe her stomach or to prove she could get past the memory of having ice cream there with Van.

Ben looked wide-eyed at the potion he was given, then at Reggie. She smiled and tip-toed up, whispering in his ear. “Don’t worry, Ben. If your crackery ass can’t finish it, I can.”

Reggie really did want to try to help him have a good time. He probably paid through the teeth for his tickets, as she had, getting a last minute flight. She both loved to look at him and found it hard to do so, but there was no reason for her to forget her manners. Despite her time away, she was finding out how easily island hospitality came back to you.

~*~

Ben laughed at her comment. He longed for her to pause in a kiss as she put her feet flat to the ground but she didn’t and he didn’t push it. He hated that, after the intimacy they shared, he was back at the ‘I’m longing for you to kiss me’ stage, but he wanted to give her the space she needed.

As they approached the row of various activity boats, Reggie turned to Ben. “The name is appropriate for a glass-bottom boat, don’t you think?”

“I suppose I’d say yes if I knew what that word meant. I’m not even going to try to say it.”

“Nielé means nosy,” she explained.

“Then yes, it is a perfect name for a glass-bottom boat. I just hope I’m not getting quizzed later.” He watched her walk toward the boat while waiting off to the side with Troy and Sabrina.

Ben was surprised at how his emotions toyed with him while he watched her being greeted by the man Troy pointed out as Keoni. For some reason, Ben expected an old ‘salt’ of a sailor, but he was a very young, handsome local boy. He picked Reggie off her feet and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He spun her around in circles in a tight hug.

Troy must have sensed the tension. “They’re just good friends. They never dated. It’s a little overly island-style greeting.”

“A little?”

“Easy there, cowboy,” he said, patting Ben on the back.

Reggie received hugs from two other crewmembers then talked with Keoni again. He was shaking his head in a ‘yes’ then she pointed over and his face dropped. He said something to Reggie and she playfully cuddled up to his chest. He laughed and kissed the top of her head then waved everyone over.

“I see why you needed her,” Ben said to Troy.

“I knew being Mr. Popularity was never going to be a part of my job.”

Reggie introduced everyone and they climbed onboard. Troy and Keoni shook hands, but exchanged a stern look; each was giving an unspoken ‘I’m keeping an eye on you.’ The girls went top deck so Reggie could get some sun while the guys settled into the benches, allowing Ben to see the reefs and all the tropical fish once the boat was on its way.

Ben turned to Troy. “What’s the whole song and dance with Reggie? Why not just buy a couple of tickets?”

“Because one, they’re over-priced for the tourists. And B, nobody pays for things around here when you know the owners and three—” he leaned in and whispered “—don’t let her fool you. Reggie loves getting away with it.”

Ben sat back surprised. “I really took her for a ‘hating using the advantage of her body’ thing.”

“Maybe to a point; like attention from guys when she…” Troy paused.

“I know she danced.”

“Okay, good. So you two aren’t just bed buddies. You do know a thing or two about each other.”

“She wouldn’t let me in her house,” Ben admitted.

“She had pictures of Van up?”

“Yeah, I saw them when I was looking for her the other day. With what I thought we had…” He didn’t want to finish his thoughts.

“Give it time.” Troy stood up. “Mai Tai?”

“I thought you busted them for that?”

“They can serve on their license for their trips. They’re actually free with the ticket. They aren’t allowed to sell booze and try to make an extra buck or weasel in on other businesses. They’re not licensed for night cruises…kind of like busting a pilot for flying without setting a flight plan.”

“And selling booze while flying.”

“Right.”

“I’ll take two.”

Troy laughed. “Anyway, back to the subject, Reggie has a lot of friends here. She knows a lot of business owners and everyone likes to give it away to her. Don’t go flying punches when you see her hugging half the town. I won’t have your back.”

“Fair enough. You really going to drink the dude’s booze when you didn’t buy a ticket?”

“Okole Maluna, my friend.” Before Ben had a chance to ask, Troy said, “Bottom’s up.”

A
FTER
T
HEY
A
RRIVED
back at the pier, the four meandered in and out of art galleries, had a great late lunch at the Hard Rock Café, and walked into a few bars for a drink when they were thirsty.

“I wish this place was like Key West, Reg,” Sabrina said. “It was so much fun walking bar to bar with drinks in hand. Of course, it would be more fun for me if I could actually drink.”

“But you’re my good little mama, aren’t you?” Troy said with a hug.

“Bite me, white boy.”

“Anytime, baby.” They shared another long kiss. Reggie and Ben looked away, trying not to get embarrassed over it.

Reggie did hug a few people in the various shops. She knew quite a few of the local artists. Ben was amazed at the price tags set for some of the work.

“You sure know a lot of people, Reggie,” Ben said, trying to tone down the hint of jealousy.

“It’s just like your town, Ben.”

“Our town,” he corrected.

“Everyone knows everyone,” she continued. “I did a lot of material orders for these places. These buildings are all restored. Where I worked was the biggest outlet for the finer hardwoods and marbles.”

“You measure up counters and stuff, too?”

“Yes.”

“’Cause I’ve been wanting to re-do my kitchen.”

“Nice try.” She ducked into an ABC store for a snack. She came out with a bag of something shredded and orange.

“What’s that?”

“Li hing mui. It’s a seasoned plum. Try it.” She held a piece up to his mouth and he took a bite. He made a face and spit it into a trashcan. Everyone laughed.

“That’s disgusting.”

“It’s an acquired taste.”

“You are pure evil, Reggie,” Troy said as she walked ahead of them.

“If the foo shits…” Reggie waved her hand as she walked ahead. Sabrina ran to catch up with her.

~*~

Troy and Ben stayed behind a few paces.

“Foo shits? More Hawaiian?” Ben asked.

“Shoe fits. There’s no ‘F’ in the Hawaiian alphabet.” Ben turned around. “Where you going?” Troy asked.

“Back in that store to look for a friggin’ Hawaiian dictionary.”

They drove to Kaanapali and wandered through the various hotels playing tourist. Reggie wanted to show Ben the tropical penguins at the Sheraton and the exotic birds that filled the lobbies of all the hotels. They stole a quick dip in one of the pools to cool off after Troy carefully looked around for security guards and wait staff that weren’t occupied slinging drinks and food to the guests.

Ben understood now why Troy said to wear a pair of swim trunks rather than shorts. Afterward they walked down the beach, watching the tourists on the various water toys. Troy even swam out to help a young girl who had gotten frightened as she had gone out too far on her boogie board.

“He’s never off duty.” Sabrina laughed as she hooked Ben by the arm.

They went home after dark after a simple meal of pupu’s over a last round of drinks. No one was terribly hungry after their big, late lunch.

“Pupu’s…hardly an appealing word for appetizers if you ask me.” Ben shook his head.

They swung by to get Reggie her pokè on the way back. Ben declined a taste of it.

When they pulled up back home, Reggie went out into the backyard instead of going in with everyone else. She stood in the middle of the yard with her eyes closed. Ben watched her from the window.

“Reggie said she missed the smells of home,” Bri explained. “Why don’t you put on some music.” She pointed to the stereo and large rack of CDs. “The speakers go out into the yard.”

He looked through them and pulled one out. “No way.” He held up the
Dirty Dancing
soundtrack.

“Oh, she knows it,” Sabrina said with a grin.

Ben put it on and walked outside. Sabrina turned the yard lights on as the music played. Ben walked over to Reggie in true Patrick Swayze fashion, waiting for Jennifer Grey to walk over to him. To his surprise, Reggie smiled and claimed her place at his chest. He pulled her close and they began to dance after the gentle rocking of her head. They flawlessly completed the routine as Troy and Sabrina stood at the sliding glass door watching them. At the point where Patrick would have gone off in a solo routine on his knees, Ben stayed, holding Reggie tight. He leaned down and kissed her.

When their lips parted, Reggie wiped away a tear. “I’m sorry, Ben. I just can’t.” She ran off toward the beach.

~*~

“Damn her!” Sabrina cried as she turned into Troy. Frustrated, she went to bed and Troy joined Ben outside.

“Those are some fancy feet you have there, my friend.”

“Whatever,” Ben replied, again running his fingers through his hair.

“She always tried to get Van to dance; he just didn’t like it.”

“So is that in my favor or against it?”

“Don’t go trying to figure out a woman’s mind. It’ll make you batty.”

“Pupulè,” Ben said with a straight face.

Troy laughed. “You do catch on quick.”

Ben turned to him. “Will you please tell me what happened to her?”

“Don’t ask me that. It ain’t my place and it really has nothing to do with what’s going on. Trust me on that.”

“She wigged out one night when I was reaching up for her cat. She hit the deck. I know somebody hit her,” Ben said, firmly. “Was it Van? Is she carrying some kind of sick ‘I’m not good enough for anyone ’cause the one I really loved abused me’ trip? ’Cause I can’t compete with that, man.”

“It wasn’t Van that hit her so get that outta your head before I plug you myself.”

“Who then?”

Troy let out a long breath. “Don’t you think, if I knew who it was, that I’d have killed the bastard long ago?”

“You knew about it though.”

“Yes, I knew about it, not until years after the fact. Look, I’ve told you; I didn’t even tell Van about it. That’s Reggie’s business. If she wants to leave it buried, leave it buried.”

“It has something to do with her not being able to have kids, doesn’t it?” The look on Troy’s face told him he was right. “Tell me, Troy. I want to be able to help her.”

“You can’t help her by digging up bad memories.”

“I’m not going to dig anything up; I just want to know what I’m dealing with.”

Troy stared at the ground for a long time. “Buy me a shot and a beer,” he finally said, looking up at Ben.

The two men left the house and walked to the bar at the harbor. Two shots and a beer later, Troy finally stopped fidgeting with the label on his bottle. “Van wasn’t her first husband.”

“He wasn’t?”

Troy shook his head ‘no.’ “The first one didn’t last long. She got married right after she graduated.” He paused and took a swig of beer. Ben patiently waited for the story to continue. “Her parents split the islands almost the second they handed her the diploma. She had two month’s rent paid for as a graduation gift and not much money of her own in the bank. Working part-time at a clothing store in the mall doesn’t do much for your wallet around here. Anyway, she fell in love with a rich California boy with a big fancy house and car, making her all kinds of promises. They married after a month of dating and she got pregnant right away.” He downed the rest of his beer and looked around as if he was afraid of being overheard. Ben signaled the bartender for another round.

Troy finally continued. “What she didn’t know was that he had a taste for the finest drugs money could buy. He was a dealer. She found out and left him, but he came her after, vowing to beat the kid out of her if he couldn’t have it.” The two men locked in a stare. “He succeeded.”

“Jesus.”

“What he did to her also fixed it so that she could never have another.” Troy paused for a moment, as if he wanted to let that sink in. “It had to have been bad. I imagine that’s why she can’t take the sight of blood. I’ve seen some bad shit, but I can’t even imagine…”

Ben’s elbows went to the bar and he sunk his head in his hands in frustration. “And where is this prick now?”

“No one knows. He fled the island and hasn’t been heard from again. She received divorce papers in the hospital. We didn’t meet her until a few years later. Trust me; I did what I could to try to find him.”

“Van never knew about this?”

“Nope. He knew she’d been married for a few months after high school, but that’s it. I promised her I’d never tell him and I didn’t. They were good for each other. She really did okay.”

“Where are her parents?”

“In Florida with her brother. Nice enough people, but some parents just pick a favorite kid sometimes. She was left here to fend for herself. She’s a tough nut and they figured she’d be okay, I guess. They didn’t even go to Van’s funeral. They were off in Paris or something.”

“Greece.” The two men spun around in the direction of the voice. “If you’re going to talk about me when I’m not around at least get the facts straight. It was Greece.” Reggie turned and ran out of the restaurant.

“Ah, shit.” Troy jumped off the bar stool.

“No.” Ben grabbed his arm. “Let me.” He ran out the door after her. “Reggie, would you stop, please?”

She slowed to a walk, but kept going. “I didn’t ask you to come here. I didn’t ask for you to go digging up my past.”

Ben stopped her. “Stop running away from me, Reggie. Bad things happen to good people every day. Why are you punishing yourself for something you had no control over?”

“I’m not punishing myself.”

“The hell you’re not. You run away from everyone who loves you.”

“Everyone who says they love me hurts me!”

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’d never hit you; you know that. I don’t care if we can’t have kids. I want you, Reg.”

“Can you promise not to die, Ben?” she said with tear filled eyes.

“No one can promise that.”

“I just want to be left alone.” She shook herself free and went back toward the house.

~*~

The next morning, Reggie joined Troy on the lawn for coffee. “Where’s your friend?” she asked as she sat down.

He didn’t look at her; he drank his coffee and said, “He split.”

“What?”

“Whatever you said to him last night worked. He left.”

“When?”

“I don’t know. He must have called a cab. I didn’t take him. The room was empty this morning and his bag is gone. Seriously…do you even care? You’ve been nothing but a bitch to him since he showed up.”

She was taken aback. He’d raised his voice at her and even given her the ‘what for’ a time or two, but he had never talked to her quite like that. “He deserves to have a family with someone who can give him one.”

“Cut the crap, Reg.” He stood up and tossed what was left of his coffee into the grass. “Stop playing that card.”

“How about the ‘every time I look at him I’ll see Van’ card, then? Van’s dead because he’s alive. How am I supposed to live with that?”

“That’s right. Van’s dead. You know he’d do exactly the same thing again in a heartbeat, too. I don’t think you miss him near as much as it pisses you off that he was willing to lose his life to save someone else and not just stay home to play house with you. It’s what he did, Reg! You know damn well he hadn’t been happy since he left the Guard. He sure as hell didn’t want to live in a wheelchair and be taken care of the rest of his life. He’s dead, Reggie. He’s gone and it seems to me he saved a mighty fine replacement of himself for you.” He shouted, “Dammit!” as he picked his cup up and threw it at the wooden fence. It shattered on impact. He walked off toward the beach as Sabrina came flying out the door.

“What is all the shouting about?”

Reggie dropped to her knees in tears. Sabrina hurried to her side.

After another draining tear session and Reggie’s take on the conversation, Sabrina finally spoke. “He’s right, you know.”

“About what?”

“All of it. I love you, Regina, but all of it. You can’t keep punishing yourself.”

“I’m not! Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“You are, hon. You didn’t ask to be abandoned by your parents. You didn’t ask to be beaten. You certainly didn’t ask for your husband to die. You can’t keep punishing yourself by continually pushing everyone away.”

Reggie dropped her head onto Bri’s shoulder. “You’re lunatic husband said Van gave me Ben.”

“In a way, he’s right.”

“Not you, too.” Reggie sighed.

“I’ve heard of some strange coincidences, hon, but this takes the cake. What made you go to that dinky town of all places? You had no ties there. How did you happen to buy a place right next to the very guy your husband saved? Call it fate or call it the Lord works in mysterious ways. Call it whatever the hell you want, but for crying out loud, stop fighting it. He loves you.”

“Well, I’m sure I fixed that.”

“I doubt it,” Bri said with a hug. After a long silence she asked, “Do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Have a Long Island and breathe it on me. You’re stressing my pregnant black ass out.”

~*~

The girls were sitting on the lounge chairs when Troy walked back into the yard after lunch. Reggie had a Long Island iced tea and a small battery-operated fan, blowing the scent toward Sabrina, who chuckled with glee at her attempt. Reggie stood when she Troy got closer. He closed the distance to her in a few paces and picked her up off the ground with a bear-hug.

“I’m sorry,” he said with his head buried in her neck.

“No, I am. You were right about everything. I have been a horrible bitch.” He held her face and kissed her cheek. “Will you do one more thing for me?”

“What’s that?”

“Take me to the airport tomorrow.”

“You sure you’re ready to go?”

“I’m sure.”

“You want me to go with you?”

“Thanks, but no. I have to stand on my own feet sometime. Besides, you need to take care of prego over there.”

“I’ve already done my part.” That brought him a smack on the arm from her that he welcomed with a smile.