Moon over Maalaea Bay (22 page)

“How would I know that? I’ve never done this before. But I thought I nailed the suggestive part.”

“Sometimes, Lee Brandt, I could kill you.”

“I haven’t heard
that
in a while. You used to say it all the time.” He stopped the car in the parking lot.

“That’s because lately I’ve preferred this.” Jennifer pulled him into a soft, sweet, enticing kiss. “Now let’s get the matter of the room settled because this is our wedding night.”

He opened the door. “Yeah, let’s do that. I didn’t particularly care for the dress rehearsal.”

“Only pleasant things, remember?” Jennifer said as they walked towards the registration desk.

He took Jennifer’s hand when they approached the young man working the counter. “Hi, I’m Lee Brandt and this is—”

“I know who
you
are. Excuse me, please. I’ll just be a second.” He turned towards an office behind the counter. “They’re here, sir.”

An older Hawaiian gentleman emerged from the office. He studied their faces and smiled. “Lee and Jennifer Brandt, I’m glad to meet you. I’m the manager here. We are so sorry you had such a terrible experience, but so thankful you’re all right. Everyone involved in tourism on the island is indebted to you for putting an end to that horrible organization. Besides that, if tourists are being abducted by human traffickers on Maui, it would be economically disastrous to us.” He chuckled. “Worse than the runway revision at the airport, and that’s costing us a cool half-billion dollars in tourist trade.”

Lee met the gentleman’s gaze. “Frankly, sir, we’re just glad to be alive and to finally begin the honeymoon we intended to start yesterday.”

“I know you didn’t get to spend the night there, but how do you like the room?”

“We love it,” Jennifer said, stepping close to Lee’s side. “You can hear the waves lapping right under the window. It’s…it’s perfect.”

The manager rubbed his hands briskly together. “That’s wonderful.” He focused on Lee. “How long are you staying on the island?”

“Three weeks,” Lee said. “We were supposed to move to a condo in Wailea tomorrow.”

The manager looked from Lee to Jennifer. “Would you like to have the room for three weeks?”

Jennifer gasped and looked at Lee. “We’d love it.”

“How much would it cost,” Lee added.

“Your room was broken into before you arrived, then after the events of last night and today—the room is free. It’s on us. Actually, all of the major hotels on the island agreed on this shortly after the news reported you two were all right.” He pursed his lips and stood waiting.

Lee frowned. “But doesn’t someone else have it reserved for at least part of the three weeks?”

“I’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse.” The manager grinned. “They’ll take it, and be glad to do it.”

Lee looked at Jennifer’s smile, the pleading look in her eyes, and shrugged back at the manager. “Thanks. We accept your kind offer.”

“Good. Gary here will get you registered for your three week stay. Enjoy the room. Aloha.”

The young man stepped up to the counter holding some already prepared forms. He laid the forms on the counter and focused on Jennifer. “So you were on the yacht that blew up?”

She gave him a tightlipped smile. “I was. But I escaped quite a while before the explosion.”

“We heard those guys were international criminals. Ma’am, would you mind telling me how you escaped?”

Jennifer sighed. “My granddad is a sixth degree black belt in karate. He taught me well.” She paused. “However, our daughter was on the yacht seconds before it exploded.”

The clerk scanned Jennifer and cocked his head. “Your daughter?” You mean they had a toddler on that yacht?”

“She escaped, too.”

“Did that blonde babe help your daughter escape?”

“The blonde babe
is
our daughter.”

“But you’re—”

“Older than I look.” Jennifer gave him another tightlipped smile. “And Katie is younger than she looks. She’s fifteen. We’re adopting Katie.”

Jennifer stepped up to the counter. “Where do we sign? Lee, I would like to go now, please.”

Lee put a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t want me to get us iced lattes first?” He signed the forms while Jennifer glared at him.

When they turned to leave she took his hand. “That wasn’t funny, Lee. For the next three weeks, I’m not letting you out of my sight for any reason.”

“Jenn, just before you disappeared, do you know what I was thinking?”

“With a guy who grew up hunting and fishing around Iron Mountain, crawling into flea-infested caves, driving at night without his headlights, one who teaches fifteen-year-old girls how to shoot AK-47s, who knows?”

He pulled her close. “Weren’t we going to forget the bad history? When you were looking into that jewelry case, I was thinking I’d never seen any woman anywhere as beautiful as you.”

“Look at me. I just spent the night tied up, drugged, and then swam five hundred yards through salt water. I haven’t had a shower. My hair is stringy and salty and I—”

He stopped her diatribe with his lips. After their kiss, he held her close and spoke softly. “Right now, just the way you are, I could stand you next to any woman on the planet, and every man would agree with me. I don’t know how or why God gave me someone like you. I’m just an ordinary—”

She pressed her hand over his lips. Jennifer’s heart ached from Lee’s words. How could someone as wonderful as Lee think he was ordinary, somehow not worthy of her? She was the one with a bad temper, the unforgiving one, the one who had trouble trusting God. “Stop it, Lee Brandt. There’s nothing ordinary about you. From the way you think to how you’ve risked your life for mine. In you God gave me the man I needed to lead me to Him, to be my partner in life, to be my husband.” She pressed her cheek into his chest listening to his heartbeat. The rhythm of her life. “I think it’s time to go to our room now, before anything else happens.”

“Before anything else happens? It’s not like we might—”

“Yes, it is. Knowing you is dangerous. Do you realize since I met you I’ve been chased and shot at by terrorists, chased and shot at by human traffickers, nearly drowned in a flooding river, washed off the beach in a storm surge, captured to be sold into slavery twice, and chased by Iranian undercover agents who had some really bad plans for me, all this in only nine months? Am I going to survive this marriage?”

“It’s not fair to blame me for all that. You’ve put a little spin on things. The story needs to be put into perspective.”

“Perspective? I’ll give you perspective. I was terrified over and over again. What perspective can you give that’s going to change all that?”

“You.” He slowly scanned her face and continued down her body to her feet. “The perspective is you. The terrorists and Iranians wanted you because of your mind. The traffickers wanted you…well, for all the rest. The storm surge nearly got you because of your pigheaded stubbornness. It all happened because of you, not me. Let’s face it, you need me, Jenn, to protect you from yourself.”

Her eyes burned through him like lasers. “Of all the arrogant—”

Lee’s growing, coy smile stopped her words, but not all the feelings boiling inside.

He put his hands on her shoulders. They were warm, strong, and inviting, but she wasn’t going to step into his arms. Not yet.

She met his gaze. Like his hands, his eyes were also warm and inviting, unlike his words a few seconds ago. He was teasing her, probably like he did his younger brother and sister growing up. Teasing was part of who he was.

He continued. “I need you…for life…for love…for…”

She didn’t hear the rest. She was in his arms, wondering why she started the stupid, distracting conversation.

You’re an idiot with a 200 IQ, Jennifer Brandt. And that’s the worst kind.

“Lee,” she whispered, “it’s time to go to our room. Let’s leave the car here and walk down. By the way, what was the secret idea you wouldn’t tell me?”

“I don’t have to tell you. The guy at the hotel did it for me.”

“Do you mean you were going to try to get the room for the rest of our time here, and you didn’t even ask me?” She gave him her mock frown.

“I asked you if you liked the room.”

She smiled knowingly. “Yes, you did.”

When they reached the door, Lee unlocked it and scooped her off her feet. He draped her across his arms, and carried her into the room.

“You already did this once, remember?”

“We’re starting fresh tonight. A complete do-over, remember? After all,
this
is our wedding night and I want it to be perfect.” He stood her on her feet and took her hand. “Come on, Jenn.”

He tugged gently on her hand, and she followed him up the stairs.

When they stepped into the loft bedroom, Jennifer stopped. They hadn’t gotten this far yesterday. As she studied the room, a smile spread across her face.

This was a ‘60s resort which hadn’t had a facelift in thirty years. Regardless, this room was special. It was open to the air, with screens at the east and west ends. The trade winds, slowed by the surrounding trees, passed through creating a gentle, refreshing flow of air.

The large window on the beach side looked out across Maalaea Bay. In the distance, at the south end of Lanai, the sun was a brilliant red ball, nearly on the horizon. Waves splashed gently below the window, creating an atmosphere that combined the sensations of sight, sound, temperature, and humidity in ways no one could possibly imagine by looking at the old building from the outside. Palm fronds waved gently in the breeze at the top of the picture window.

Her gaze moved back to the red sun. It painted the lowest clouds various shades of yellow and orange, while above them the higher clouds remained tufts and striations of white painted on a deep-blue, tropical sky.

She backed up to the end of the bed and sat down staring out the window at the sunset. “This is absolutely beautiful, Lee.”

He looked towards the setting sun for a few seconds and gave her his warmest smile, then pointed upward, out the window. “Tell me about the clouds. What do you see?”

Our wedding night and he’s giving me a quiz on Meteorology 101.
“There are cumulus clouds hugging the hills. Patches of altocu above that and, let’s see…some wispy cirrus at about thirty thousand feet.”

“More like forty thousand feet.”

“But, Lee, sunset in the tropics is sixty seconds of blazing glory, and then nighttime.”

He shook his head. “Just watch. Tonight this will go on for at least forty minutes. The sun has clouds to light up all the way to forty thousand feet.”

He sat down beside her and slipped his arm around her waist. “This is why I pulled you up the stairs. When we came in, it was just beginning.”

Her gaze was glued to the sunset beyond the big window. “I wouldn’t have believed you even if you tried to describe this to me.”

“There’s no way you can describe this. Not with words. God painted it, and He gave us eyes to see it. All we can do is sit here and enjoy it.”

She smiled warmly at him. “For now, that’s enough, sweetheart.”

“For now?”

“Yes, for now. Let’s just watch the sunset unfold. Every few seconds the colors change. Look, Lee, the second layer of clouds is turning from white to golden.”

“Am I forgiven for my secret plans about the room?”

“I think so.”

He pulled his head back. “What do you mean, you
think
so?”

“To everything there is a season. A time to forgive, a time to talk, and a time to just look and enjoy…and a time for love. Let me give you a hint. This isn’t the time for talking.”

“I see.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Now you’ve got it, sweetheart.”

He pulled her head close, kissed her forehead, and they watched the cirrus at forty thousand feet begin to show color.

Thirty minutes later, she sat by Lee’s side on the foot of the bed and watched the highest clouds turn from crimson to pink and gray, against a cobalt-blue sky. A bright silver moon hung over Maalaea Bay. The green palm fronds in the big window had become dark silhouettes waving gently to them, inviting them to enjoy the evening. Waves splashed below the window and their soothing melody filled the room with tropical delight. Even the humidity added to the delightful, sensual feeling.

Lee turned and looked into her eyes. “It was spectacular.” He sighed. “But it’s ending.”

She looked into his eyes and saw enough love to fill a lifetime. “Lee, I shouldn’t have to prompt you. This is the part where you kiss me and—”

He pulled her close, to that place of security against his beating heart. Their time had finally come.

When his lips joined hers, she melted into his kiss like the chocolate truffles she often stirred into her steaming hot lattes. The milk and chocolate swirled together until they became one, producing a rich, sweet, delightful drink she could never tire of. Like their life together…which was only beginning.

Author’s Notes:

Maui was a wonderful place to send my first main characters, Jennifer and Lee, for their honeymoon. But with its gentle waves, warm sun, a surfeit of sandy beaches, spectacular sunsets, warm water teeming with colorful fish begging me to slip on my snorkel and mask, and people wagging the hang-loose sign if I get too uptight, how could I possibly set a thriller on Maui? Since I’m not into man-eating sharks, there’s only one way. You have to import the bad guys. When I was done with them, I had to deport the criminals, either to crypts or to the cooler.

If you haven’t guessed by now, the setting of this third book in the series is my favorite vacation spot. Since 2008, my wife, Babe, and I have been blessed with opportunities to spend more than 14 weeks on Maui. We’ve taken more than 18 GB of digital images, including panoramic shots of all our favorite beaches on the island.

Knowing the island well minimized the research for this book, and it permitted me to adapt the story to the setting. I only had to modify a few small things to accommodate the story. So, in
Moon over Maalaea Bay
, you get Maui like it really is…well, after you subtract the bad guys. For example, the sunset description at the end of the book was borrowed from the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, one that Babe, and I watched and photographed in 2010 from Keawakapu Beach in Kihei.