His eyes moved to Lani’s. And held for a long, humming moment. “I certainly hope so.”
Kalena nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Good. Now about Thomas’s painting,” she said briskly. “It undoubtedly has not escaped your notice that my husband, while being a delightful and intelligent man, as well as a wonderful physician, possesses absolutely no talent whatsoever.”
“His style is definitely unusual,” Donovan offered, trying not to offend.
“You don’t have to mince words,” Lani said. “My father and I just happen to be the only two individuals in this family who managed to be out to lunch when talent was being passed out. Unfortunately, while I accepted that fact long ago, Daddy continues to delude himself with the idea that he’s another Gauguin.”
“You’re quite talented, darling,” Kalena argued. “None of my friends’ children have nearly as many college degrees as you do. And everyone loves what you’ve done to the house.”
“Poor Mother.” Lani shook her head in mock despair. “She just can’t accept the fact that she gave birth to a child with absolutely no marketable artistic abilities.”
Kalena Breslin’s words reminded Donovan of Nate’s saying that Lani had stayed in school much longer than the average student, gathering a bouquet of degrees in history, comparative literature, philosophy, and library science.
“Design is definitely a talent,” Kalena countered. “One I’ve no doubt you could be very successful at if you ever decided to do it professionally.”
“Then it would become a job. Not fun,” Lani argued.
Her mother’s slight sigh suggested they’d had this conversation before. “At any rate, Donovan, my husband enjoys his little fantasy.” Her shoulders lifted in a graceful shrug. “So we all indulge him.”
“ All meaning the entire island,” he guessed, thinking back on the painting in the airport. Surely hanging it in a public place had to have required official approval.
“Of course,” Lani broke in. “Daddy’s treated everyone on Orchid Island at one time or another. Everybody adores him, so whenever he has a showing, people show up and buy out the gallery.”
Donovan tried to imagine such a communal act of subterfuge taking place in Portland, or even Honolulu, and found it highly unlikely. He felt as if his plane had somehow gone off course on the way from Oahu and landed in Oz.
“Don’t worry, Donovan.” Kalena’s laugh was deep and throaty as she patted his cheek. “No one expects you to buy anything.”
“Unless you want to,” Lani hinted broadly. “Who knows, Donovan, you might actually fall in love with Daddy’s latest artistic effort and simply have to have it.”
“It’s Lani’s turn to take a painting home,” Kalena explained.
“Well, I don’t think it’s fair,” Lani muttered, hands on her hips. “Just because I live on the island, I have to hang the stuff on my walls. Nate stores his in the back of his closets.”
“You don’t know that for a fact, darling.”
Lani shot a spear-like look straight at Donovan, who’d been trying to stay out of the dispute. “You’ve visited Nate at Sunset Point, haven’t you?”
“Several times.”
“So have you seen any Thomas Breslin paintings hanging around my brother’s haunted house?”
“No,” he admitted. “But I’m sure there’s a good reason.”
She folded her arms. “Name one.”
“Perhaps the captain took them.”
Lani snorted at that idea, while her mother appeared genuinely interested. “Oh, have you met Nate’s ghost friend, Donovan?”
Donovan was not nearly as surprised by the question as he might have been a few hours earlier. After hearing the story of Horatio, he had made the decision to simply go with the flow and not attempt to analyze anything having to do with this family whom he was beginning to remember being the most colorful he’d ever met. Which, having grown up with two workaholic, serious-minded parents, had left him envious of his best friend.
“No. He turned out to be pretty reclusive. At least during the times I was there.”
“I suppose I can understand that,” Kalena mused. “However, it’s not exactly the behavior you’d expect from a sea captain, now, is it? One would expect such a man to be far bolder and expansive.”