“Are you certain that you didn’t leave something out? Something that perhaps slipped your mind at the time?”
“Really, Lani, I think you’ve been spending too much time with that detective. Since when do you cross-examine your best friend?”
“Maybe when she neglects to tell me she slept with another man. After asking me to be maid of honor at her wedding.”
“I know it was wrong.” Taylor’s hands were shaking as she refilled her glass. “But Ford was spending more and more time away, which left me feeling lonely, ignored, and resentful. I was actually rethinking the whole marriage idea when Bob showed up out of the blue. And, well, like I said, things just got out of control.” She took a long gulp of wine. “I swear, I’m staying away from rum from now on.”
“There’s another thing that occurred to me on the drive over here,” Lani said, deciding not to point out that Taylor might have forsaken rum, but she was certainly making inroads on the wine. Another thing that was out of character. She’d always been a one-or-two glass drinker.
“What?”
“I was telling Donovan how the island has never really gotten into the tourism thing—”
“Ford wouldn’t make a living without tourists from the other islands.”
“True. But he’s the exception.”
“But not the only one who’d like to see more tourists,” Taylor said. “Not everyone has relatives to leave them inheritances.”
There was an edge to her friend’s voice that Lani hadn’t heard since she’d been packing to move away from the island. Looking back, she’d been going on too much about the new, exciting life opening up for her in California. It would have been only natural for Taylor to have felt resentful, and even abandoned, but she’d never said a negative word, had watched and texted about every episode of Beauty Tames the Beast , then welcomed Lani back with open arms and had even thrown a party for the occasion.
“I’m sorry if you have a problem with my family,” she said, a bit stiffly. It wasn’t as if the Breslins had done anything to become island royalty.
It had all begun when Lani’s great-great-grandmother on her mother’s side married a man who’d descended from the Kalākaua dynasty. Kalākaua was from Kauai and had ruled all of Hawaii for a time. It had been his sister, Queen Liliuokalani, who’d been deposed by a pro-U.S. group who overthrew the kingdom.
Lani’s great-great-grandfather had only been a distant cousin to the deposed queen, but being the only member left of the dynastic family on Orchid Island, he’d reluctantly accepted the crown after his father’s death.
Previous generations had tried to get rid of the royalty, but islanders revered their past kings and queens nearly as much as they did their ancient gods and goddesses, and each time the referendum came up for a vote, the majority would vote to keep the status quo.
“I don’t, really.” Taylor sighed. “Especially since you floated me that loan to get the Sugar Shack going in the first place.”
“We’re BFFs,” Lani said simply. “And it isn’t like I did anything to earn the money.” The inheritance, which admittedly allowed the family to indulge their interests without having to worry about paying the bills, had come from her great-grandmother. There would be more when Margaret passed. Which would be years and years from now, Lani assured herself.
“I know. And I sounded petty.”
“No, you didn’t. But would it make you feel better to know that I’ve been envious of you and Ford?”
“Seriously?” Far more interested in this conversational topic than Bob, the supposed FBI guy, Taylor topped off her glass. “Why? I didn’t think you even liked Ford.”
“All that matters is that you love him,” Lani said, hedging her belief that the diver was a little too laid-back even for island standards. She’d known when she’d made the loan that part of it, maybe even all, would be going into his business, but wanting her friend’s happiness, Lani had been happy to do whatever she could to help.
“Which is why I’m envious. My clock’s ticking, my eggs are getting older by the minute, and you know I’ve always wanted a large family.”
“I believe you settled on eight kids when we were in the fourth grade,” Taylor remembered. “Then adjusted downward to five in high school.”
“I’d settle for three now,” Lani said. Then refilled her own glass for the first time. “Hell, who am I kidding? I’d take one. But it’s hard to find a candidate on an island where I’ve known everyone all my life.”
“Which is why I jumped on Ford when he sailed into the harbor,” Taylor said. “He never knew me when I was chubby.”
“You weren’t chubby.”