“Narcotics are kept in a locked cabinet and inventoried. Detective Ono has asked for the hospital to check stock. We’ll see if there’s anything missing.” He glanced at his watch. “I hate to run away, but I have an appointment. Let me know if you hear anything. I’m interested in the case too.”
“Mahalo, Dr. Kapuy.” She rose and went to the door. The drugs that he suspected weren’t easy to obtain. For a moment, her mother’s face rose in her mind, but she pushed it away. Her mother would be the last person to murder Tony Romero.
Seven
Leia, Eva, and Malia worked quietly in Leia’s backyard. Malia’s mother, Luana, had joined them, her head bent over a fine white piece of kapa. Still in her late forties, Leia’s aunt was nearly as round as she was tall. Dressed in a muumuu and slippers, she looked like any other Hawaiian resident, but she had a warmth that drew everyone to her.
Leia examined the marks in the cloth she was working on and sighed with satisfaction. Using her grandmother’s kua kuku, she had reproduced the same watermark that appeared in the kapa her grandmother made years ago. The texture and color had turned out to her satisfaction as well.
“You’re looking content,” Luana said. “Malia told me Bane has come back.”
“I’m just in a good mood, Auntie. Why does it have to be Bane? A more aggravating man never walked the earth.”
Luana smiled. “You only feel that way because you’re still in love with him.”
If only her own mother cared enough to talk to her like this. Leia bent her head over the cloth again. She was ready to begin painting the designs. “Bane is in the past. He’s here to do a job, that’s all.”
“You know I’m right. You need to both say you’re sorry and kiss and make up.”
The idea of kissing Bane brought back feelings Leia didn’t want to explore. She looked away from her aunt’s astute stare. “I had to do what I did. He should have understood.”
Malia shook her head. “None of us thought you should give it all up, Leia. Why take it out on Bane when you don’t hold it against the rest of us? You have to admit it sounded nuts to give up your career to make bark cloth and administer herbs.”
Eva began to hum and fidget. “Don’t fight,” she muttered with a worried frown. “You’ll scare Hina.”
“Sorry, Eva. We’re not arguing. We’re just—discussing.” Leia smiled, then turned around and ruffled her sister’s hair. “Want a snack?” Food always distracted Eva.
“Do you have Cheetos?”
“Sure do. Just for you. They’re in the kitchen cabinet.”
Eva started toward the house, then stopped. “Pua was in my dream last night,” she said, referring to their grandmother’s pet goose. “She built a nest in the big tree behind Koma’s house.”
“Pua doesn’t fly into trees,” Leia pointed out.
“I know, but she was there anyway.” Eva went on to the cottage.
Eva and her dreams. Leia gave her sister an indulgent smile then turned back to Malia. “If I can win the kapa trophy at the festival, maybe Mama will take my talent seriously. Pete thinks I have a chance.”
Her aunt answered her instead. “Never sell your kapa, Leia. It’s too precious to be sold. So what does your future hold? You can’t keep hiding on the peninsula. What do you really want out of life?”
Leia looked down at her hands. “Dr. Kapuy gave me some information about a natural-medicine residency in Honolulu. I’m thinking about it.”
Malia gave a tiny gasp. “Really? That’s wonderful, Leia.”
“Mama will have a fit, but at least she’d see I’m going to follow my own path.”
“Are you sure you’re not going that direction just to aggravate your mother?” her aunt asked in a quiet voice.
Leia’s first reaction was to deny her aunt’s comment, but she finally shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not sure anymore why I became interested in natural medicine. Mama’s hostility to it might have had something to do with it in the beginning, but not now.”
Malia nodded. “Your mother isn’t capable of the love you want from her. You need to face it. Just take the job and follow your heart.”
“It will take a lot of time away from my kapa. And I’d have to leave Moloka’i. My patients are depending on me here. I hate to leave them.”
“You cling too much to the past, Leia. I think that’s why you love kapa,” Malia said.
Leia bristled. “You make flower leis. How is that different from what I do?”
“I make a living at it. Leis are used for everything here. Kapa isn’t used for anything but display and ceremony.” Leia touched the scar on her lip, and Malia’s gaze touched it. “Clinging to the past won’t make your scar go away. You’re beautiful, why can’t you see that? The scar is gone.”
“You’re perfect. You don’t know what it’s like to live with stares,” Leia said. Malia exchanged a long look with her mother, and Leia realized this was something the two had talked about privately.
“There are no stares now, Leia.” Malia’s gaze locked on Leia. “That’s the real reason you broke up with Bane, isn’t it?”