Bombshell - Men of Sanctuary Series, Book Three (24 page)

Mother, say thank you to the nice man. MacBride was one of the three heroes who rescued me.”

Aolina walked to the windows, turned to face them. Her delicate features always reminded Keko of an exquisite porcelain doll. About the same height, but even slimmer than Keko, the stunning beauty wore a tailored skirt suit, navy blue with gold stripes.

The skirt reached mid-calf which, when combined with navy blue nineteen-forties-style open-toed high heels, accented her tiny feet and slender ankles. Jet-black hair almost shimmered in an
über
-fashionable feathered cut that barely touched her shoulders. Her strikingly beautiful Kahlúa-colored eyes were not friendly.

“And why, Kailani, why did you need to be rescued? I understood you ended that horrid life after your father died. How could this happen?”

MacBride rose from his seat, took up Keko’s hand in a protective gesture.

Keko’s heart gave a little lurch of pride that MacBride would take on all comers on her behalf, including her daunting mother. However, she needed to deal with this, up front and personal. “Sheriff MacBride, would you give my mother and me a few minutes alone? Please.”

“Keek, are you sure?”

“I’ll be fine.” To her surprise, she actually believed what she said.

As soon as the door closed, Aolina turned on Keko. “I do not know why everyone insists on calling you that ridiculous name. Keek. It’s worse than Keko. That man acts as if he owns you. Much too possessive. I shall speak to him about his attitude.”

“Mother, there’s no need for you to speak to anyone. MacBride and I are … well .

. . involved.”

“Involved? Is that a polite way to say you’re sleeping with him?”

Keko sighed.
Okay, for the record, I tried to avoid this
. “Yes, mother, I’m sleeping with him. We have wild kinky sex. We shag like rabbits for hours. As often as possible.

In as many places as possible. There, do you feel better now?”

“Kailani, there is no need for you to be vulgar.”

Oh yes, there is. It makes me feel better
.

Her mother’s carefully cultured voice and mannerisms had annoyed Keko when Keko was younger. After meeting people from around the globe during the course of Larsson Demolition jobs, she’d finally realized it wasn’t a pretentious affectation on Aolina’s part—her patterns of speech were the product of an educated person for whom English was not her native language.

“What MacBride and I do is our own business. Believe it or not, I’m an adult—

and I’ve been an adult for a long time. Probably since I was twelve. I suppose you should be forgiven the gaffe, since you missed all those silly in-between years.”

“He is a sheriff. Law enforcement. As bad as the military.” Aolina’s voice rose, became shrill. Unusual for her.

She must really be torqued
. “Then you’ll be sorry to hear that MacBride
is
military.

A former Navy SEAL. A demolitions expert, as well.” She cocked her head. “Wow, I didn’t think of it before—he’s just like Dad.”

Her mother hurled an empty plastic water pitcher to the floor. “Why are you doing this to me? Why do you torture me?”

Damn. I haven’t seen her throw anything since I was about five
. Keko tried to sit straighter, but pain drained what little strength she had. “Why am I doing
what
to you, exactly? We rarely see one another. You didn’t attend Dad’s funeral. You do not acknowledge me as your daughter. We don’t even live on the same land mass. As a matter of fact, why
are
you here? I’m not dead yet.”

Aolina’s radiant golden color turned ashen, her brow furrowed. “How can you say those horrible things to me?
You
insisted on going to your father—I gave you what you wanted. How am I the villain?”

”
Jeez
, Mother, you still don’t get it, do you? I was five freakin’ years old and tired of being handed around like a piece of old luggage!”

“And you believed it caused me no pain to give you up? You were my own child.”

Keko needed to press the morphine button again before she could continue.

“Wow, your child? I do believe that’s the first time I ever heard you admit you gave birth to me.”

Her mother’s hand went to her throat. “Kailani, those are horrid, hurtful words.

Of course you are my child, my daughter.”

“No shit.”

“There is no reason to be rude.”

Exhaustion—or morphine—suddenly sapped Keko’s energy. “Mother, what do you want from me?”

“I came to see how you are.”

“Well, now you’ve see me. I’m sure Kamaka shamed you into flying out. Your guilt is assuaged. You can leave now.”

“Kailani, how could you say such things?”

Keko made the effort, sat a bit straighter. “Long years of experience.”

“What long years? You were five … .”

“Oh yes, I was five years old, the magic number.”

“It must be the drugs. You speak nonsense.”

“Mother, do you remember what happened before I was shipped off to Daddy?”

“Of course. You wouldn’t stop crying for days. Your
kupunawahine
, your grandmother, had no choice but to call the Red Cross to bring your father home on, what did they call it, hardship leave.”

“Yes, my grandmother. Your mother. My grandmother called the Red Cross because you were off again. Do you remember what you told me to do before you left?”

“Kailani, I have no patience for your games.”

“Yes, Mother, I know the drill, believe me, I know the drill. You have no patience for me now, as you had no patience for me then.”

“Kailani … .”

“Well, you may not remember, but I do. Even though I wasn’t quite five, I remember that evening like it just happened.”

“What evening?”

“The evening of the big party, a celebration of the first ever showing of your work at a mainstream art gallery.”

“What of it?”

“I hadn’t seen you for days and days. I missed you. You promised you would tuck me in at Grandmama’s so I could see your pretty new dress, before you left for the exciting party that everyone was talking about.”

“I still do not understand.”

“You finally came to me, but you were in such a hurry, you were worried only about being late for your opening, not worried about seeing me. I begged to go with you, begged you to take me.”

“That was silly. I couldn’t take a young child to the gallery showing.”

“You could, if you chose to. Instead, you sat on my little bed, and said you would tell me a magic secret.”

“A magic secret? What sort of secret is that?”

“The lying sort. You leaned down and said that you would always be there for your good little Kailani. However, I mustn’t cry and carry on any longer, or the magic secret wouldn’t work. When I wanted you, all I needed to do was whisper your name, quietly, so no one else could hear me. Just whisper your name, and you would come for me.”

Her mother stared at her, obviously not comprehending. “I did no such thing.”

“Yes, you did. You were in such a hurry to leave, you told me whatever it would take to shut me up and stop hounding you to stay with me.”

“Kailani … .”

“After you left, everyone else finally went to bed. When the house was really quiet, believing the magic secret was true, I began to whisper your name. I whispered and whispered and whispered, but you didn’t come for me. Then I whispered louder, but you still didn’t come. I got frightened. I thought I did something wrong, because the magic wasn’t working. That’s when the crying began. It’s tough for a little kid to whisper and cry at the same time, so I sobbed and hiccupped. The crying and hiccupping finally spiked out of control, which frightened me even more—that’s when I began to call for Daddy.”

“I have no idea to what you are referring. You were very young. You probably dreamed it all.”

“No, I didn’t dream that up, and you know it. You didn’t come back to the house, not even when Grandmama called you. That’s when Daddy came for me, and finally took me back to the States.”

Her mother’s hands were at her own slender throat, as if she were choking. “It isn’t true.”

“Yeah, it is. That’s when I became, as Dad called me, an independent little cuss.

No magic, no secret wishes. The only magic I knew was the trick of the disappearing mother.”

“I promised your father I wouldn’t speak of our arrangement to anyone. I kept my word.”

Keko’s jaw dropped, then her words came out as a croak. “You did what?

Arrangement? What arrangement?”

“John is gone now. It cannot matter to him.” Aolina stepped closer to Keko, both hands flat on the hospital bed. Her dark eyes blazed.

“I loved him so much. That’s right, I loved your father. Is that so difficult for you to believe? I loved him more than you can possibly imagine. Yes, I knew he was a Navy SEAL. I was young and foolish, too much in love to realize what that meant, him being a SEAL. In the end, I could not be the dutiful Navy wife he needed me to be. I did not have the strength to hold us together.”

The tears pooled, then raced down her flawless cheeks. “The panic every time he left. The panic when I was young, pregnant, alone at the Navy base. I could not be brave, could not be strong. I went home to my family. John understood. He agreed.”

Keko slumped against her pillow. Stunned. “Why didn’t he tell me any of this? I thought you dumped me.”

“We agreed never to speak of it. After you were born, I continued my art studies with the full support of my family—as well as John’s support. We didn’t divorce while he stayed with the SEALs, so you and I would receive benefits. When he finally left the Navy and joined the private sector, I agreed to send you to him. Then we divorced, and I signed over full custody. That was our deal. I kept my end of the bargain.”

“And I was the chess piece?” Totally deflated by her mother’s admission, Keko felt no emotion. “Perhaps the pawn? Mother’s bargaining chip against future needs?”

Aolina moved to Keko’s bedside, gently took her damaged hand. “Kailani, darling, it wasn’t like that. We loved you, hoped to do the best we could for you. You wanted to be with your father. So young you were, so stubborn. You would accept no compromise—so much like your father. He promised to leave the SEALs, to keep you safe. He kept part of the bargain by leaving the Navy. I did
not
agree to allow you to be brought up with demolitions and devastation. That was
not
part of our arrangement.”

“You can’t blame Dad for that; that’s how he made his living. That’s how he paid for a beautiful home for me, paid for the finest tutors. I had an aptitude for his work; everyone said I was a natural.”
At least, that’s what I’ve been told since I was twelve. By
everyone who mattered to me
.

“So, now you lay in a trauma unit after a bomb blast nearly takes your life, and may leave you permanently crippled. Excuse me if I don’t consider that to be a fair trade.”

What the fuck? Permanently crippled? MacBride forgot to mention that part
.

“Mother, do you have any real notion of what that bomb blast accomplished? No, of course not—and I am not permitted to tell you. Just understand that I would have gladly given my life, if that’s what it would have taken to stop the horror intended if those bombs reached their targets.”

Keko was fading, fast. “Don’t you understand? I
need
to do what I do. I’m good at it. Actually, I’m great at it.”

“And your
kane
, Kailani, your young man? Where does he fit in? An officer of the law? Every time he leaves, it could be the last time you see him. Are you prepared for that? And your children? Imagine telling them, through your tears of grief, that their father was gunned down, he will not be coming home ever again. Or imagine your sheriff gathering up your own daughter, your own son, in his arms. ‘Oh, I am so sorry, your mother will not be coming home. She was just blown to bits, and I am afraid there are not enough pieces to bury her decently. Closed casket, of course.’”

Aolina had worked herself into a real frenzy, her usually soft, melodic voice oddly sharp, harsh. “Do you love him enough? Will he love you as much when he realizes the both of you cannot stay in bed forever? The sex and passion will wane; reality will rear its hideous Hydra heads. Will the love be strong enough to hold you together in the harsh light of truth?”

The door opened. MacBride closed it quietly behind him. He moved to Keko’s side, laid his hand gently on her shoulder. “Sorry for eavesdropping. Ma’am, I think those are our decisions to make. And yes, I love your crazy daughter enough to make our weird relationship work.”

Aolina backed away, wiped the tears from her face with a delicate handkerchief.

She gazed at the pair before her, shook her head once, then went silent.

“Mother, I believe our discussion is over.
Aloha
, I wish you well. May your trip be peaceful and uneventful. I don’t believe we need to see each other again.” The pain ramped up, the morphine drip kicked in, then Keko began to sink once again into blessed oblivion. “MacBride, did you just tell my mother that you love me?”

“I thought I should, since you admitted it first when you tricked me into leaving you. As my ass bolted from the shed you deemed necessary to destroy.”

“I couldn’t remember if I said it out loud. The words needed to be released into the universe, if I was going to be blown to kingdom come. Although I’m sure one device would have done the job, I sorta had to use what was at hand, in case the bad dudes split up the bombs. Both or none.”

Aolina Hualami—acclaimed artist, brilliant sculptor, failed mother—shook her head, her expression sad. “Both of you are insane. As was Keko’s father, who shall remain, for eternity, the love of my life.”

She gently took Keko’s hand and kissed her daughter’s abraded fingers. “I hope it will be enough to see you through when the passion fades.
Aloha
, my child.”

She removed herself gracefully from the room.

Aloha, Mother
.
Goodbye
.