I'm Kona Love You Forever (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series Book 6) by JoAnn Bassett Read Free Book Online Page B

take.”
    Keahou loaded us up with a coffee cake, a jelly roll, a coconut cream, or haupia , pie with a tall pile of meringue, and six cupcakes.
    “How many folks you got in your ‘ ohana ?” Keahou said to Kaili.
    Kaili looked puzzled.
    “There are five people at Doug’s now,” I said. “Kaili and her two keiki cousins, and her Uncle Doug and Auntie Lani.”
    “Okay. Then you need two more cupcakes.” She piled them on. “That makes eight. Five for Doug’s ‘ohana and one each for you, Steve, and Hatch.”
    We juggled the treats out to my Mini Cooper and I secured everything on the small ledge in the hatchback.
    “Who was that lady again?” said Kaili.
    “That was Keahou, my wedding cake maker.”
    “But she never talked about wedding cakes,” said Kaili.
    “Do you think I’d ever take my business elsewhere?” I said.
    “Probably not.” Then she nodded as if she’d just solved the riddle of the Sphinx.
    ***
    I dropped Kaili off at Doug’s right at five o’clock. That gave me just enough time to dash down to the Gadda and grab a couple bottles of wine before heading home. Farrah raised an eyebrow as she rang up my choices. I wasn’t sure if the eyebrow was because I’d spent too much or not enough, but I was in too much of a hurry to care.
    I roared up Baldwin Avenue toward home, pushing the Mini until the little engine whined in annoyance. I kept an eye out for Maui’s finest. Now that I knew being a local wasn’t going to necessarily grant me a “get out of jail free” card I’d need to be more observant. I made it home in twenty minutes flat.
    Steve was in the kitchen when I came through the back door.
    “I thought you’d be down at the Ball and Chain,” I said.
    “And good evening to you as well,” he said. He was tossing a salad with wooden salad servers that looked like hands. “I’m finishing up this salad for your party and then I’ll be heading out.”
    “How’d you know I was having a dinner party?”
    “I’ve got ears, don’t I? Don’t you realize anything that’s said at the Gadda might as well be broadcast over loudspeakers? Farrah can’t sneeze without half of Pa’ia yelling ‘gesundheit’.”
    “ Mahalo for the salad,” I said. “So I suppose you know what she’s bringing for dinner?”
    “She’s picking up a couple of pizzas at ‘Pi R Squared.’ You can bet they’ll be vegetarian.”
    “Which Hatch hates.”
    “Yeah. That’s why you’ll find some pre-cooked turkey sausage—the Italian style—in the refrigerator. Throw some on his side of the pizza before you put it in the oven.”
    I gave Steve a quick peck on the cheek but he swiped it away. “Let’s not get sentimental over chopped lettuce and turkey scraps. I’m leaving now but I’ll be back by midnight.”
    I took what Auntie Mana called a ‘spit shower,’ a quick wash-up at the bathroom sink. It hit the high points but didn’t get my hair wet. I slipped into a clean pair of crop pants and was buttoning my favorite teal-colored shirt when the doorbell rang.
    “Coming,” I said. I checked the kitchen clock as I hurried to the door. Ten minutes ‘til seven. Since when had it become fashionable in Hawaii to show up early?
    I opened the door. “Hey, you’re—”
    I stopped right there. The person glaring down at me from the other side of the door wasn’t anyone I was expecting for dinner.

     
    CHAPTER 9
     
    The guy looked about seven feet tall. In his lifetime he’d pro bably heard every variation of “How’s the weather up there” and “I bet you play basketball,” so I politely chose not to comment.
    “Can I help you?” I said.
    “I’ve come to get my daughter.”
    “And you r daughter would be…?”
    “You know damn well who my daughter is. You’re helping her marry that hula dancer kid.”
    I was unclear about the hula reference, but it didn’t take a Sherlock to figure out his daughter was Lili.
    “You mean Lili Kapahu?”
    “Yeah. I’m here to take her