Lana
R.K. Lilley
CHAPTER ONE
I felt overdressed the second I stepped off the plane. My simple white dress shirt, teamed with my tailored pale gray suit jacket, and its matching pale gray pencil skirt, had seemed wholly appropriate when I’d boarded the plane. But one second of breathing my beloved island air, and my outfit was all wrong. This was a business trip, so I hadn’t even packed anything appropriate for the paradise of my childhood. I didn’t even own anything like that anymore. The thought was demoralizing.
It wasn’t even a particularly hot day. A cool breeze wafted across my skin as I stepped outside. I shrugged out of my blazer anyway, unbuttoning an almost indecent amount of buttons at the collar of my shirt. But cle**age didn’t feel wrong here. I was now in a place where my typical wardrobe was usually a very tiny bikini. Had I even packed one of those?
I had resolved to set up meetings as soon as I arrived here, and so had dressed accordingly, but my resolve blew away with the gentle Maui breeze. I took deep breaths, loving the smell of the island air, which was divine, even mixed with jet fumes.
A car was already waiting for me at the curb, and a driver hustled out to take my sparse luggage. I towered over him in my red Jimmy Choo’s. At five eleven, though, I would have towered over him even if I were wearing flats. “Ms. Middleton, how was your flight?” he asked.
I smiled at the familiar driver. He worked for my family’s Maui resort. I quickly recalled his name. “I’m doing well, Thomas. How is island life these days?”
He flashed a grin at me. He was close to my own age of twenty-six, with a slight build and a quick smile. “Still can’t tear myself away from this rock, so good. Bet you miss it.” He gave me a sympathetic look. It was a look reserved for anyone crazy enough to leave this paradise behind for the mainland.
I sighed heavily. “You have no idea,” I told him. My voice betrayed far more of my sorrow than I had intended. I mentally berated myself for being a downer at his crestfallen look.
He opened the car door for me, and I slipped in, sending him a reassuring look. “Sorry. I do miss it here, but it’s not as bad as that.”
He was behind the wheel before he asked, “To the hotel, Ms. Middleton?”
I started to say yes, but my heart took my mouth over suddenly. “To the Kalua shops.”
He looked a little startled, but just nodded and started to drive.
The shops really weren’t far from the hotel, I reassured myself. And I could pick up some island necessities for myself.
I rolled the window down as we drove. The wind quickly messed up my braid, and I pulled loose my wavy, streaky blonde hair in relief. It only hung to my mid-back now. When I had lived in paradise, it had hung all the way to my butt, with some streaks bleached nearly white by the sun. My skin was almost pale now, not sun-kissed, as I liked it. I’d had to grow up when I left paradise, and I looked it nowadays. Years off my beloved rock had taken their toll.
Thomas dropped me off at the Kalua shops with some reluctance. I waved him off, asking him to have my luggage taken to my room at the hotel. I reassured him that I would call him if I needed a ride. I knew that I wouldn’t. One of the Kaluas would give me a ride; I was sure. They were my second family. I spoke to Tutu and Mari every week, in one form or another.
I had a death grip on my large handbag as I entered the surf shop. I wasn’t brave enough to venture into the bar or the café just yet. I was still taking in the changes in the shop when I heard a shrill shriek from behind the counter. I was being hugged by a short, shapely woman in a flash. I hugged her back tightly, feeling unexpected tears prick my eyes. I felt instantly guilty that I had even considered going to the hotel first. Someone had been missing me, after all. I ran a hand down her thick black hair, affectionate with her in a way that I could never be even with my own mother.
“I didn’t think you’d ever come back,” she whispered, pulling back. Her eyes were a brown so dark they looked black. They were lovely and mysterious. She was lovely and mysterious. She was in her mid-forties now, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. She was shapely, taking care of her body meticulously, and her face was a golden brown that time hadn’t yet managed to so much as line. Her face was a lovely combination of her mixed Japanese-Hawaiian heritage. Her lips were full, her nose small and pert, her eyes large and almond shaped. She was petite, but by no means slight. Not one part of her was thin, nor was it fat. She was just…shapely, down to her perfect ankles. She wore a half-shirt, and tiny shorts, just like I remembered, and she still worked them better than any twenty-year old I’d ever met. She wore a white plumeria in her hair, as ever.
“We talk every week, Auntie. You can hardly say I don’t keep in touch.”
She just smiled at me, but it was a sad smile. “I know, but it’s not the same. When are you coming back home, Lana?”
I bit my lip, feeling strangely adrift at the question. This was home, but I couldn’t come back. It hurt to even think about it. “Well, I’m here for now. I came for business, but I realized that I didn’t bring anything appropriate outside of work clothes.”
She just smiled, eyeing me up. “Well, you do look kind of hot in that, but yeah, you need to get your island back on. Go say hi to Tutu. I’ve got you covered, pretty girl.”
I gave her a grateful smile, moving to the door that joined Tutu’s café with the surf shop. Mari stopped me with a word. She rushed to me, putting a plumeria in my hair, just over my ear. I fingered it, smiling.