Donovan thought it was interesting that Lani did not mention her belief that he’d been sent here to seduce her. She certainly hadn’t had any qualms about telling her parents.
Margaret gave her granddaughter a very knowing look, pausing just long enough for dramatic effect. She was still quite an actress, Donovan reflected with appreciation for the outlandish scene Margaret Breslin had cast them all in. Of course, when you considered the other members of the Breslin family, the elderly woman seemed merely entertainingly eccentric.
“You’ve always been a terrible liar, young lady,” Margaret retorted. “That’s not what your mother told me during our morning call. Besides, I didn’t just fall off the pineapple truck, you know.”
She waved her hand dismissively as Lani opened her mouth to protest. “However, since neither of you seem prepared to make an announcement quite yet, we’ll overlook the matter. For now.”
“Grandmother, you are incorrigible.” Lani’s tone was firm, but a smile teased at the corners of her mouth as she sat down in a cane chair, its cushion covered with a colorful parrot print.
“I certainly hope so, my dear,” Margaret agreed. “It’s just about the only fun left to an old lady. Speaking of aging, my mind must be going soft: I haven’t offered your young man refreshments. Which reminds me that I’ve also failed to introduce Kai, who’s in charge of my Island Girl Organic Tea. Donovan, this is Kai Fletcher, whose family coincidentally dates back to that same group of whaling mutineers as ours. Kai, this is Donovan Quinn, a friend of Nate’s.”
“Kai has his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii in tropical plants and soil sciences,” Lani volunteered.
“Nate told me his grandmother had hired someone to take over a failing tea plantation,” Donovan said to Kai. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Donovan also knew the story of a dozen mutineers who’d abandoned ship in order to get medical help for the ship’s cook, who’d been badly beaten by an overly abusive captain. Once the whalers had been welcomed warmly to the island, they’d refused to return to the ship and had become farmers, storekeepers, and traders who subsequently supplied other whaling ships.
“You, too. Nate claims you’re the Steve Jobs of tea,” Donovan told Kai.
Kai laughed at that description. “Nate’s a writer. He enjoys hyperbole. In reality, tea plants were first brought to the islands in the 1800s. But Asian tea pretty much had a monopoly on the market, and since pineapple and sugarcane proved more profitable, farmers developed those crops instead.
“It wasn’t until the 1980s that a new generation of farmers re-explored the idea of commercial tea farming with help from the local USDA office and the university. More recently, as people became more interested in eating local, a few of us formed a collective to share what we learn. To farm tea, you need acidic soil, good drainage, a higher elevation—”
“Island Girl Organic Tea Farm is at four thousand feet on the side of Mt. Waipanukai,” Margaret broke in.
“The rain forest at that elevation provides a steady seventy-five to ninety percent humidity,” Kai explained. “We also have steady sixty-to-eighty degree temperatures, which creates a sweeter tea and ample sunlight. Also, being grown on volcanic soil, our leaves take on a distinct flavor that stands out because of its brighter, clearer flavor profile…
“Let me get you a cup and you can taste for yourself.”
“Thank you,” Margaret said. “And please bring us some of that coconut pie. We’re going to put some meat on this boy’s bones before we send him back to the mainland.” The elderly woman peered at Donovan with bright, inquisitive eyes. “I’ve heard Lani’s feeble explanation. Now why don’t you tell me the real reason you’ve come to the island.”
“Nate sent me here as a Christmas present for Lani,” Donovan answered easily as he sat down on a matching chair next to Lani’s. “I’m supposed to seduce her.”
“It’s about time someone did.” The still-bright button eyes swept over Lani, subjecting her granddaughter to a long, studied appraisal. “Given that Lent has long passed… My grandson always did have exquisite taste in gifts,” Margaret acknowledged, echoing Thomas Breslin’s words of the previous evening. “I may just forgive him for not visiting me more often.”
“Donovan is only kidding, Tutu,” Lani insisted. “Tell her that you’re joking,” she demanded, shooting him a stern look.
Donovan enjoyed seeing her flustered. The soft pink color infusing her cheeks was decidedly attractive, and her sea green eyes flashed with passion that he’d already discovered.