Cassandra is thirty or thirty-one. Jacksons a little younger. Nearer your age. Girl, you owe it to yourself to at least go see what this inheritance is all about. Who knows, you may like Louisiana and Dukes family well enough to stay.
Never! If I have an inheritance coming, let them mail it. Depending on how much it is, maybe we can upgrade our equipment.
Noelani, youre not sinking money into my operation.
Why not? Youve been more of a father to me than Duke Fontaine ever was. Ive made no secret of the fact that I want to buy you out when you retire. Please, Bruce, would you phone Prescott and ask him to mail whatever I have coming from the estate?
The man across the desk sighed. All right. Ill ask. But then we have to talk about whats happening to the sugar industry in Hawaii, Noelani.
Five minutes later, shed heard enough of his one-sided conversation to know Prescott wasnt going to merely cut her a check.
Bruce confirmed as much after signing off. Dukes will states you have to be present at the property distribution settlement to inherit. His firms wiring you a ticket out of Honolulu for tomorrow. So youd better go pack. Your connecting flight leaves Kahului in five hours.
Forget it! Let them keep Duke Fontaines guilt money. I dont need anything from him. I never have, she blazed.
Noelani, do this for your mother. Anela never stopped loving him. Anyway, arent you curious? Over the years youve asked questions about your biological dad. This is your chance to get answers.
Vaulting from her chair, Noelani stalked to the door, angry tears glistening in her eyes. Thats dirty pool, she finally said in a hard-edged voice. Okay, Ill go. But the minute his affairs are settled, Im on the next plane home to Maui. Have Midoris son tend my computers while Im gone, okay? If it was up to me, I wouldnt touch a cent belonging to Duke Fontaine. I will, though, because I want to buy Shillers when you retire. Maybe this will allow us to be a contender in the world sugar market again.
Noelaniwait. Im thinking seriously of sell Bruce heaved his arthritic bones from the chair and hobbled around the desk. She slammed the door, cutting off a statement she didnt want to hear.
NOELANI OPENED ONE EYE and was relieved to discover that the 747 shed boarded at Honolulu International was safely aloft. This was her first ride in a jumbo jet. Not that shed care to broadcast her inexperience. Easing her death grip on the armrests, she tugged at the short black skirt of a linen suit shed worn to meet the family in mourning.
An elderly woman seated next to Noelani smiled. Im always nervous during takeoff and landings, too. Are you continuing beyond Dallas?
Uhyes, Im going to Louisiana.
A vacation, how nice. I hear New Orleans is having a mild fall.
Its not a vacation. Im visiting family. Near Baton Rouge. They grow sugar. Noelani shocked herself by referring to the Fontaines as family. Then, uncharacteristically, bared her soul to a stranger. Actually, theyre my fathers family. I lived with my mother, who was Hawaiian.
So youre hapa haoli. Your Caucasian half must account for the lovely auburn highlights in your hair. Theyre quite striking, my dear. Is your father Scottish?
I dont know. We never met, and now hes gone. Noelani shut her eyes. I was ten before my hair turned this funny color. My tutu, thats my moms mother, said I was born with jet-black hair like all the other Hawaiian kids in our villageon Maui. My mother kept the books for Shillers. The largest sugarcane plantation in the islands, she added proudly.
The womans face fell. Divorce affects so many families these days.
Noelani didnt bother to set her straight.
Its a shame, dear, especially as sugar mustve been something your parents once had in common. But Im sure your fathers relatives will appreciate that youve come so far to pay your respects.
Hmm. Noelani mumbled something noncommittal as she recalled her first glimpse of Duke Fontaines photo. Shed often seen Anela crying as she gazed at a snapshot of a stranger. Noelani recalled stealing into her moms bedroom to get a better look at the picture one day, after kids at school had taunted her about her lack of a father. Instinctively, shed known it was the man in the faded photograph.
Noelanis seatmate moved on to another subject. Hawaii is a wonderful vacation spot. I own a time-share on Kauai and fly over for two weeks every year. Is it boring, living full-time on an island?
Boring? Noelani was never bored. But then, she had nothing else with which to compare her life. Ours is a seaside town. Two out of three adults work in cane. Shillers office operates year-round, so my mother never really got time off, even though the mill shuts down for two months to overhaul equipment. Social life picks up considerably during that period. My tutu took me to all the luaus, hukilaus and huli hulis.
Im familiar with luaus, where they pit-roast a pig. Locals net fish, I believe, at a hukilau. Huli huli is beyond my scope, the woman said, and then laughed.
Mainlanders would probably call it a chicken barbecue. But we use a sweet molasses-based sauce. And islanders grab every opportunity to sing, dance and eat.
Ill bet you do the hula.
No way. Im a good kick-boxer, though.
My, that sounds more like something men would do for sport.
Because their lunch was served, Noelani let the subject drop. Her grandmother had believed it was a fitting outlet for a young womans pent-up hostilities. Shed signed her only granddaughter up for lessons at age thirteen, insisting itd help Noelani work through her grief and anger. A wise woman, her tutu.
Following lunch, Noelanis seatmate took a nap. The woman slept all the way to Dallas. Noelani barely had an opportunity to say goodbye, as she had to run to catch her connection to Baton Rouge.
Her arrival there was greeted by pouring rain. Thunder shook the baggage terminal. If this was mild weather, as her seatmate had intimated, Noelani hoped she didnt encounter bad weather during her brief stay in Louisiana.
And her stay here would be brief.
Gazing out at the ominous skies, Noelani was engulfed by a wave of homesickness. She watched people chatting with those whod come to pick them up and felt more alone than ever.
In Dallas, shed seen greeters carrying signs with the names of various travelers. She peered around, hoping to see someone displaying her namemaybe even one of her half siblings. Until now, Noelani hadnt realized how much shed counted on being met by someone from Dukes family.
What were they like, these relatives she hadnt even known about?
As the carousel began to empty it became patently obvious that Dukes kids werent imbued with the famous southern hospitality her mother had touted the one and only time Noelani succeeded in getting her to speak about the man she loved. She was always shuffled off to her tutu whenever she asked questions about her father, but on that one occasion Noelani refused to be ignored. In a rare unguarded moment, Anela described her absent lover as a dashingly handsome and charming southern gentleman. A hard man with a soft heart. Anela said then shed love Duke Fontaine until the day she died. Noelani was sure she had.