Ipo straightened in her chair. “In my day, I would have chased off any intruder who dared to come here. Now I must depend on the kindness of others.” She took a bite of food and looked away.
The old woman was proud. Bane didn’t know how to answer her, so he finished his breakfast in silence. He carried his plate to the sink, then squirted a drop of dish soap into his plate and washed up his utensils.
“How domestic,” Leia said, elbowing him aside.
“Now aren’t you sorry you broke my heart?” He grinned and put his dishes in the drainer, then leaned back against the counter.
“I might have had second thoughts if I’d realized I’d have a live-in maid.”
He was close enough to study the pink lobes of her ears that peeked out from the upswept sides of her hair. He leaned forward and whispered in those cute ears. “I have unplumbed depths of talents. You should reconsider.”
His all-out assault had the desired result: a tide of color swept up her neck and cheeks. She turned and faced him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
His smile faded. “I think we should talk about it. Pray about it together.”
“I told you, we’re not right for each other.”
“But you haven’t told me why.” If he had a reason, maybe he could help her deal with it.
She looked away. “That’s not important.”
He struggled to keep his voice even. Losing his temper wouldn’t help. “It is to me.”
She looked over his shoulder. “T?t?, are you ready to go?”
“Let me get my walking stick.” Ipo moved toward the hallway.
“This discussion isn’t over,” Bane whispered to Leia. Leia ignored him as she followed her grandmother. He sighed and went after the women. Ajax followed him.
Leia wished she hadn’t made a vow never to cry again, because the release of tears would be welcome about now. She knew she was reacting to the fear and stress of the past twenty-four hours, but Bane’s flirtation with her wasn’t helping matters. She stood in the haven of her room for a few minutes and clutched Kanda, the stuffed bear Bane had given her for her last birthday, to her chest for comfort. If only she could go back to that time, back to before she knew there was no future.
She reluctantly put down her bear and joined the others at the door. Pua came squawking to meet them when they stepped outside into the yard. She rubbed the goose’s head and fed her a handful of berries she’d filched from her grandmother’s refrigerator. Pua honked in appreciation and gobbled up the treat. Ajax kept a safe distance.
“Get out of here, Pua, you’ve had enough.” Her grandmother shooed the nene away. Pua honked in protest but waddled away toward the backyard.
“Where are we going, T?t??” Leia fell in behind her grandmother, who walked slowly with her hand on Bane’s arm.
“To the fishpond.” T?t? marched forward as though she knew exactly where she was going.
Leia almost stopped. There were no fishponds in this area. Bane glanced over his shoulder, and she saw the same awareness in his face. He gave a shrug and kept walking. Her earlier hope began to fade. She’d thought her grandmother was clearheaded today, but now she wasn’t so sure. Bane jerked his head slightly as though to urge her forward. She sighed and stepped out after them. It was going to be a wild-goose chase, so they should take Pua along.
She batted a large frond from a fern out of her face. An irate insect buzzed out. Leia swatted it away and plodded after Bane and Ipo. How far could her grandmother go in this jungle? It was slow-going with Bane taking care to help the older woman over rough ground and fallen trees. It was hotter here with the trees blocking out the trade winds and the moisture rising from the plants in an early morning mist. The humidity caused jungle scents to be more pronounced: the heavy fragrance of the red ginger that grew here in profusion and the light scent of lime that hung from the shrubs that snatched at her shorts as she passed.
Ipo paused and looked around. Her confused frown cleared, and she pointed at two monkeypods whose branches were growing together, leaving an arch underneath. “I remember this—it’s through here, I’m sure. Koma called it the wedding arch.” Her grandmother sounded almost girlish.
For the first time, Leia wondered if her grandmother had feelings for Koma. She’d been morose and irritable since his murder. Of course, she was that way sometimes anyway. But Koma and Ipo had been friends a long time, probably sixty years or more. Leia looked at her grandmother with new compassion.
Ipo was walking with more spryness now, leaving the security of Bane’s arm in her eagerness to get to her destination. Bane jogged to catch her. “Don’t try to go by yourself, T?t?. I don’t want you to fall.”