Maui Widow Waltz (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series) by JoAnn Bassett Read Free Book Online

gold
diggers.”
     I stood up and pushed my
stool back. “Okay, I get it. But I sure can’t talk. She’s marrying him for the
money? Well, welcome to my world. You think if I wasn’t dodging creditors left
and right I’d have signed on to do this crazy gig?”
    Farrah took my hand. “Hey, sorry.
This crappy weather’s making us all go a little pupule . Guess what? This
morning I got my first collection call—from my dairy supplier in Honolulu. He
wouldn’t cut me slack even when I told him I had to toss out most of it. With
nobody buying nothing, I had a zillion gallons of milk still sitting here after
the sell/by date.”
    We sat in silence. I watched Felix
the Cat’s tail flick back and forth on the wall clock.
     “We need this wedding to go
off as planned,” I said. “Lucky for us Lisa Marie’s hell bent on spending as
much as she can, as fast as she can. Who cares whose money she’s using? Once we
get paid, the collection calls will stop.”
    “ Da kine, I seriously need
to mellow out.” Farrah said. “I guess if the little gold digger’s gonna toss a
little moolah my way, the least I can do is hold her in my heart with aloha .”
    I couldn’t agree more.
     
     

 
     
     
    CHAPTER 5
     
    I ’d
promised my suppliers I’d be back to them that afternoon about the wedding
location, but I balked at taking the time to track down where Lisa Marie was
staying. It wouldn’t have been that difficult since I know staff people at
nearly all of Maui’s oceanfront resorts, but I simply wasn’t in the mood to
play detective. I thought about heading down to the kung fu studio for some
kicking and screaming but then realized an hour of physical release would only
postpone the inevitable. I wanted to get home and learn what five hundred bucks
a week was going to cost me in aggravation.
    When I pulled into the driveway
Steve’s black Jetta was parked off to the right near the back door. Evidently,
he’d wanted to avoid the steep front porch steps. I parked out front and
trudged up the stairs, practicing a welcoming smile as I went. It felt bogus,
like when someone’s taking your picture and they fool around with the camera so
long that by the time they click the shutter you’re wearing a tiki god grin.
    The front door was unlocked, which
is the way we usually leave it. I pushed it open and saw Steve in the living
room crouched down next to the sofa. The new guy was stretched out, his head
propped up by pillows at the near end and his body covered by a tucked-in
blanket. From the bumps in the blanket, it appeared that he took up the full
six-foot length of the sofa and then some. He had wide shoulders and a
well-muscled neck. His dark brown hair stuck up at odd angles. Most of the guys
in Steve’s inner circle would’ve rather been boiled in oil than be seen with
their hair askew, but probably the guy’s hospital stay had taken a toll on his
personal hygiene routine.
    “Hey, you’re home,” Steve said
looking up. “This is Hatch Decker, our new roommate.” He stood and moved out of
the way so I could make eye contact with Hatch. “And, Hatch, this is your new
landlady, Pali Moon.”
    Wow, what a face.
Look-right-through-you brown eyes smoldered under thick macho man eyebrows. Why did all the gorgeous men prefer other men? He smiled and pulled
his right arm out from under the blanket and held it straight out. It took me a
couple of beats to realize he was offering to shake hands.
    “Oh, sorry,” I said, hustling
across the worn carpet. I got a static shock when we touched, and my hand
recoiled in reflex. When we reconnected, I felt a warm palm and firm grasp. I
didn’t want to let go. It’d been weeks since a man—any man—had laid hands on me
and his touch caused my shoulders to lift in a little shudder.
    “Hatch is a new firefighter with
Maui County Fire and Rescue,” said Steve. “He broke his leg at work.”
    “You fall through a burning roof?”
I said. It seemed the logical way a