The Ohana (36 page)

“Your parents were a good example.”

Christina sighed before speaking. “So my step-father is the governor of Hawaii? I thought I’d be met by a chauffeured limousine.” She laughed again. “To tell you the truth, I was kind of looking forward to it. I’ve never been in one.”

“You will before this trip is over,” Meg promised. “Jackie and I wanted to be alone with you. Even Sean was kind enough to respect my wishes. He’s very anxious to meet you, by the way.”

“What’s he like?” Christina asked.

“Handsome, charming, and successful,” Jackie replied from the front seat. “What else did you expect?”

“And he’s married to my aunt, your sister?” Jackie asked Meg.

“Yes. I know it sounds kind of kinky, but we were together before he started dating Katherine.”

Jackie glanced at the mirror in time to see her half-sister’s eyes widened. “I thought Honolulu was a big city? It sounds just as complicated and entangled as any small town. Of course, Durango has become a big small town.”

“What's it like living there?” Meg asked.

“Its home for me; I was raised there.” Christina shrugged. “It’s a mountain town. Scott and I raise Paints and Arabs. We’d love to have you over there. My folks were third-generation ranchers. About twelve years ago they decided it was too much for them and handed it over to us. At the time, Scott was a lawyer in Denver and we decided we had enough of the city and moved. It’s a real working ranch and although it’s a lot of work, we love it.”

“What about your children?” Jackie asked.

“Tyler and Amber are in high school. It’s a great place to raise kids. By the way, they’re being tested as we speak. They volunteered before I asked them. They’re great kids, we’re really lucky,” Christina replied. “They really want to meet you, but I wanted to spend some time alone with you first.”

“Wanted to make sure I was okay?” Meg smiled.

Christina grinned. “Something like that.”

“I can’t wait to meet my grandchildren.” Meg sighed. “And I’d love to see your ranch. I’ve never been to Colorado and I’ve never been on a working ranch.”

“You’re in for a surprise,” Christina told her. “We’ll make a real cowgirl out of you yet.”

Looking at Christina was like looking at a young Meg.

Sean was thrilled when Christina hugged everyone at the party in her honor, including Katherine, Patrick, and Sheryl. Christina was so expansive and relaxed, she was a pleasure to be around. She had no pretensions about her; she was who she was. She had Bridgett's effusive personality.

After embracing the entire family, Christina beamed at them with tears in her eyes and said, “I’ve always wanted a family as I was an only child of two only children. I can’t believe how lucky I am. I not only have a family, I have a clan!”

Everyone laughed.

“Now that you’re in Hawaii,” Danny told her, “you better learn the Hawaiian word for family.”

“Okay,” Christina said with a sweet sigh. “What's the word for family?”

“
Ohana
,” Sean said with a smile. “This is our
ohana
.”

Honolulu: 1979

The bone marrow transplant was successful. Sean sat next to Ashley’s bed six weeks later and held her hand. She smiled.

Sean lifted her hand to his lips. The first crucial six weeks after the transplant was finally over. During that time Ashley had lived in a bubble, unable to have human contact of any kind. After the transplant, the doctors explained, she would have no resistance to infection. Because of it, she had to be kept in a sterile environment until she built up her resistance.

“Thank you Grandpa,” she said to him. “I love you.”

Tears came to Sean’s eyes. “I love you too.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m kind of tired.”

“Don’t apologize. You just get some rest.” Sean got up to leave.

“Please stay here,” Ashley begged. “I can’t talk right now, but I don’t want to be alone.”

“Someone will be here at all times. We’re all taking turns.” Sean returned to his chair.

“Thanks Grandpa.” Ashley’s voice trailed away. “Grandpa?”

“Yes?”

“Thank Tyler for me. He saved my life.”

“He knows. I’m so proud of both of you.”

Ashley closed her eyes, a little smile on her face. She looked vulnerable and pretty lying on the white cotton sheets. Her hair had started to grow out; it looked like an aureole around her face.

“How is she?” Mary asked as she walked into the room a few hours later.

Sean turned. “She was up for just a bit, but she’s resting now. She’s very tired.”

“You must be too.” Mary put her hand on his shoulder, and he patted it. “Thank you, Sean. I’ll take over now.”

“You don’t have to thank me. She’s my granddaughter too.”

“You’ve been a terrific grandfather.”

“I’m surprised myself. I’m a better grandfather than I was a father. I regret not having spent more time with my sons.” Sean looked at Mary for a moment. “You look lovely, Mary.”

Mary smiled. “For an older woman.”

Sean raised his brows. “If you’re old, what does that make me?”

“Unfortunately, it’s still a man’s world. I suppose they would label you distinguished. Women are just old.”

“I’m feeling old these days.”

Mary searched his eyes with her own. “Is anything wrong, Sean?”

Sean sighed. “Katherine wants a divorce.”

“But you’ve been married for such a long time.” Mary shook her head. “It seems silly to get a divorce at our age. At this point in our lives, most people settle into their situation. They either resolve it or at least learn to live with their differences.”

“I'm entirely at fault. First of all, she loved me but I married her for all the wrong reasons. I didn't love her the way she wanted to be loved. In the beginning, I was proud of her and the status she brought me. I loved her for that and for giving me two sons. Maybe I never really loved her. When she found out I had two daughters by two different women, one of them her sister, it too much for Katherine. I can’t say I blame her.”

“I’m sorry Sean.”

“Don’t be. It was twenty years late in coming.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

They were silent for a while.

Sean asked suddenly, “What about you? I haven’t seen much of Mark through this ordeal. Have all these revelations affected your relationship?”

Mary hesitated.

Before she could answer, Sean leaned back in his chair. “Mary, are you happy with Mark or have you, as you put it, just settled in and resolved your differences?”

Mary walked over to the window that looked out onto the courtyard. “I don’t know what happiness is. I’ve grown accustomed to our relationship. My marriage is like an old shoe I’ve worn for many years. It may not be wonderful, but it serves its purpose.”

“Didn’t you ever want more than that?”

“Of course.” Mary turned to face him. “I once thought it was possible to have a marriage where passion never died.”

“I think we all did.” Sean stood. “We had passion together, even if it was only for a night.” He searched her eyes. “I’ve never forgotten our night together. We’ve never talked about it, but I want you to know it was special for me. Not just a one night stand.”

Mary flushed. “Thank you for telling me. I thought we had magic together.”

Sean took her chin in his hand and lifted her face to him. “You’re still as beautiful as you were then. Nothing’s changed.”

Mary bit her lip. “And you’re handsomer than ever.” She looked down. “I still have the music box.”

Sean kissed her then, a gentle, yearning kiss. When Mary stepped back he said, “If I offended you, I’m sorry.”

“No,” she shook her head. “It was an innocent kiss. It made me think of how we were once young and full of hope. Everything was possible then.”

Sean released her. “When we were young, we still had our dreams.”

“Dreams of love.”

“Dreams of passion,” Sean continued.

“What happened to all those dreams?” Mary asked.

Sean shrugged. “We grew up.”

“That’s the pity of it,” Mary replied.

Hawaii 1995

Mary sat on the sandy beach and watched the surf break on the coral reef a hundred feet back from the shoreline. It was an idyllic Sunday on Kahala Beach. The kind of warm, sunny day that made her feel good about the world and at peace with herself and mankind. People strolled on the beach. They smiled as children busied themselves with seashells, sand crabs, fish, and other fanciful creations they created out of the wet sand. Watching the children at play made her think about how much she adored her grandchildren. She discovered being a grandmother was somehow different. The tension of being a parent and having to do everything right no longer existed. A grandparent could relax and enjoy their grandchildren without worrying about ruining them for life because of something they did or didn’t do.

This generation was obsessed with doing everything perfectly lest they traumatize their children and ruin their chances of becoming successful. They were too worried about building self-esteem. They kept their precious charges relentlessly over-scheduled so they could become well-rounded individuals who wouldn’t fall behind their peers intellectually, athletically, or emotionally. Not everything had to be a learning experience, Mary thought. Life had a way of making you learn through experience—whether you liked it or not.

As she enjoyed the sun, she reflected on her life and how much things had changed in Hawaii. It was ironic the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 in order to take over the islands and succeeded in taking over the island economy in 1985.

The Japanese came in droves and snapped up prime real estate all over the islands, driving prices to dizzying heights. Prices of prestigious properties in Diamond Head and Kahala tripled and quadrupled in less than a year. It got so crazy a tear down in interior Kahala on a 10,000 square foot lot sold for over a million dollars. People sold their properties, retired, and moved to the mainland with their newfound wealth. Kahala Avenue, the crown jewel of Hawaiian real estate, once the exclusive enclave of
haoles
, was now heavily populated by Japanese nationals.

Then came the sobering nineties when real estate prices crashed and Hawaii went into an extended recession.

The invasion of the Japanese prompted thoughts of Mitsuo. She thought her heart would break in two when he married Sadako. Looking around at her surroundings, it seemed as if it had happened in another life, another time.

Funny, she ran into Mitsuo a few years ago and he gave her such an odd look. Although he had aged terribly, his dark, sparkling eyes were still the same. Sadder, older, wearier, but still unmistakably Mitsuo. They looked at each other from across the years and Mary thought of all their unfulfilled promises. She once thought he was the great love of her life, and in that moment, frozen in time forever, she realized she had been his. A year later, she read his obituary in the paper, and cried over all those unrealized promises. If she and Mitsuo had been braver and less dutiful and demanded their happiness, how different her life would have turned out. But it wasn't meant to be.

She wondered, no, prayed, Mark was happy. George had died of lung cancer soon after Ashley’s operation. Surprisingly, he left a small fortune to his younger brother and money to his sisters. It enraged Sarah and her children, but they ultimately decided fighting the will would be too expensive. In any case, they inherited a huge fortune of their own.

The money changed everything. Mary gave Mark the divorce he wanted and he married a beautiful thirty-year old Korean bar girl and went to live in Vegas. At first, Mary resisted the idea. It seemed foolish to get a divorce after so many years of marriage. But, it turned out to be an easy divorce; Mary took the restaurant and gave Mark everything else. Every now and then she heard about him through their children. But he, too, seemed like a distant memory.

At least the children were okay. Susan and Steve had a wonderful marriage. The demons from the Vietnam War were finally exorcised.

Someone once told Mary life was like embroidery. When you looked at a piece of embroidery from one side, the colored threads formed a chaotic mess. That was how people often saw their lives. But when the cloth was turned over, the jumbled threads became a beautiful picture. That was how God saw our lives. There was no confusion from God's perspective.

Funny how God put the pieces of their lives together in such a way that what appeared to be inconsequential and coincidental worked to change one's life and perspective. Susan told her mother how Steve was freed from the torment and guilt his memories kept him in bondage to by her Vietnamese manicurist, Cong.

When Susan told Cong her husband had fought in the war and because of it they both became anti-war demonstrators, the normally talkative and jovial Cong became unnaturally serious. Lifting sad eyes from her nails to her face, he told her how the Communist had confiscated their family home and refused Cong and his brother higher education because their father was considered an American sympathizer.

  "I know a lot of people back in America were against the war. But we didn't expect the United States to pull out so suddenly. Because of the Americans, I was able to grow up in freedom.  Americans don't know what it's like to live under communism.  I want you to thank your husband for making it possible for me to live in freedom as a child."

Susan told her mother it was a sobering moment for both of them. They had been caught up in the horror and for the first time they realized freedom came with a price. Sometimes it was ugly and terrible things happened because people didn't always do the right thing. But even the Vietnam War produced some beautiful pictures created by chaos. This revelation set Steve free.

Susan and Steve kept their home in Hana as a retreat. But they wanted their son and daughter to attend school in Honolulu so they bought a place in Kahala where they now lived most of the time. Mary was happy because she got to see them more often.

Ashley grew up to become a children’s advocacy lawyer like her cousin Megan who she had gotten to know and admire when she went to college in Boston. Ashley’s parents, Jackie and her husband Gerry, divorced years ago. According to Jackie, the pressure of Ashley’s illness forced them to re-evaluate their lives. The divorce was the inevitable conclusion of a relationship not strong enough to withstand trials and tribulations.

“I want to be happy and feel passion once more before I die,” Jackie admitted during lunch at the Kahala Mandarin, once the Kahala Hilton. “I want to feel again the way I felt about Stefano.”

Conflicting feelings ran through Mary. She understood the yearning in Jackie but she also felt family came first. “Life isn’t all about romance and passion.”

Jackie lifted her eyebrow. “I can’t believe you, of all people, would say that. I mean, who gets divorced and re-married at your age?”

“Our relationship isn’t only about romance and passion,” Mary said. It had been fifteen years since her second marriage. How different it was from her first.

“What was it about, then?” Jackie asked.

“At our age, it's more about respect and companionship. In a way, it was like we both finally came home.”

“What about love?”

Mary considered the question carefully before answering. “We love each other with the kind of deep commitment a marriage demands.” She put her hand on Jackie’s. “I won’t lie to you. We do have passion, as old as we are. But it’s not the roller-coaster kind of passion you had with Stefano. It’s steady and deep because it comes from understanding and accepting one another just as we are. Yes, there are times when we are like giddy teenagers. But the love we have for each other is powerful because we know who and what we are. We have no false expectations of one another and we appreciate each other. Above all, we're best friends.”

Jackie shook her head. “Maybe I don’t understand, but maybe you don’t either. Let me put it this way; I want what Steve and Susan have.”

Mary didn’t disagree or agree. She wanted to tell her not everybody gets lucky. She didn’t want Jackie to throw away a good man who worshipped her because it was hard to find love like that. She was certain if Jackie hung in there, the marriage would mellow into the kind of relationship both Danny and Meg enjoyed. Meg tried to tell Jackie exactly that, but Jackie was stubborn. The Japanese invasion of the islands drove Gerry’s fortune so by the time their divorce was final, Jackie settlement amounted to twenty million dollars.

Jackie bought a place in Aspen and spent most of her time there. Mary hoped Jackie would find what she was looking for.

Life was full of interesting twists. She and Meg were now good friends. Since losing the election to Diana Towle, Meg and Danny spent most of their time on their ranch in Kamuela. Meg and Christina were close and Amber and Tyler visited the Big Island ranch frequently. They also developed a wonderful, loving relationship with Sean and spent time with him in Honolulu. Christina’s brood even got to know their Irish relatives in Boston. Ashley’s illness had brought the family together in the most amazing way.

“Isn’t it a gorgeous day?”

Mary looked up and saw Sean standing next to her beach chair. Easing himself down next to her, he leaned over and kissed her.

“Aren’t we lucky?” Sean said.

“Could be we’re the luckiest grandparents in the world.” Mary rubbed his back with one hand.

“More than that,” Sean winked. “We could be the two luckiest people in the world.”

“Steve and Susan would have something to say about that,” Mary said as she laughed.

“Then we’re the two luckiest
old
people in the world.”

Mary grabbed his hand. She was so lucky to have this man by her side for the rest of her life.

Sean stroked her cheek. “If only we had stayed together back then, how different our lives would have been.”

Mary shook her head. “We were two different people who had to go down different roads in order to appreciate the happiness God gave us in our twilight years.”

Sean frowned. “Why do you call it that? I prefer to think we’re in our afternoon years.”

“You’re an eternal optimist,” Mary looked at him in the bright sunlight. She loved every imperfect, aging part of him.

Thank you God for this wonderful gift you’ve given me
, she prayed silently.

She touched his silver hair. “I changed my mind. I think maybe we could just be the two luckiest people in the world.”

PAU