Anna
Edmond and Anna were just coming back from an exciting whale-watching trip, where they’d seen humpbacks breaching and slapping their tails and all sorts of things, when her cell phone rang.
“Whale-watchers anonymous,” she joked into the phone. “I’m officially an addict now.”
“Hey, Anna,” said Megan’s voice. “A little emergency here.”
“What?” Anna imagined her brother being attacked by a shark. “Is it Gil? Is he okay?”
“No, it’s not Gil. But I’ve tried to call both him and Marcus, and I’m guessing they’re on the water and that their phones are on the beach.”
“What is it?” Anna’s heart was still pounding and now Edmond was looking on with concern. “What happened?”
Then Megan told Anna that Lelani had gone missing. “She was talking with her dad, which we assume didn’t go well. And, man, you should meet her mom. She makes my boss Vera look good.”
“Oh, no.”
“Anyway, Kendall and I looked up and down the beach for Lelani but didn’t see her anywhere. Of course, she doesn’t have her phone with her. I thought maybe Gil could help look, but I don’t even know where they went. Maybe you or Edmond might—”
“We’ll get right on it, Megan. I’ll start calling Gil.”
Anna quickly explained to Edmond and they both tried to call the guys. “Poor Lelani,” said Anna as she closed her phone. “Her mother sounds horrible.”
“Even worse than yours,” teased Edmond.
Anna smacked him in the arm.
“Sorry.” He smiled sheepishly. “How about I get us a taxi?”
“How about it.” She gave him a warning look. It was one thing to make fun of your own mother, but Anna had to draw the line somewhere.
Just as they were getting into a taxi, Anna’s phone rang.
“It’s Gil,” he said. “What’s up?”
She quickly filled him in.
“Where did they last see Lelani?”
“On the beach behind her house.”
She could hear Gil talking to Marcus now. “We’re on our way,” he assured her.
So as they drove, Anna called Megan back. “Gil and Marcus are on it. We’re coming home.”
“Poor Lelani,” said Anna as she leaned back into the taxi.
“Do you think she’s okay?”
Anna considered this. “Well, Lelani is a pretty levelheaded girl. I doubt that she’d do anything stupid.”
“Maybe she was abducted.”
“Oh, Edmond.”
“I’m just saying. A lone girl in Maui—”
“Maui is Lelani’s home. I’m sure she’s knows how to be careful.”
He nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
Still, Anna wondered. She also wondered how devastated her brother would be if anything happened to Lelani. Not that Anna wouldn’t be crushed as well. They all would be. Good grief, everyone loved Lelani. Who couldn’t?
Apparently her parents.
The yellow Jeep was in the driveway when they pulled up. Marcus came to meet them. “Everything’s under control,” he assured them. “Gil and I found Lelani on the beach.”
“Is she okay?” demanded Anna.
“She just took a swim—probably she was out there when the girls searched for her—and then she fell asleep.”
“Where is she now?” asked Anna as they got out of the taxi.
“With Gil.” Marcus shook his head. “Her mother sounds like a monster.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Megan said she tried to have a private conversation with her dad, hoping that he would understand.”
“But he didn’t?”
“Apparently not.”
“Poor Lelani.”
“She actually seemed in pretty good spirits,” Marcus said as the three of them went around to the guesthouse. “She keeps saying that everything is going to be okay.”
“That’s a relief.”
Everyone gathered in the guesthouse. Lelani apologized for worrying them. “I just needed some space,” she said as she handed out sodas and water to everyone. “I needed to clear my head. It seemed like no big deal. But I’m sorry I worried you guys.”
“Guess we should know that the local girl can take care of herself,” said Gil.
She smiled at him. “Not completely. I do appreciate the moral support.”
“So what are you going to do now?” asked Kendall. “I mean about your baby?”
“There’s not much I can do right now,” said Lelani. “Except maybe get a late lunch. Is anyone else starving?”
All hands went up. So Lelani told them about a nearby barbecue place with pulled-pork sandwiches. “It’s only take out, and only the locals know about this place,” she assured them as they headed for their cars. “There’s a great beach nearby where we can eat.”
It was close to four by the time they had everything they needed and were settled on a private and pretty strip of beach. It seemed like everyone was tired and hungry. After the food was gone, and after a brief argument about whether swimming too close to eating caused cramps or not, the boys and Lelani went to play in the water and Kendall took a nap.
Anna and Megan (both still unsure about the cramp thing) cleaned up their picnic area. Megan filled Anna in on how the day had gone so far with Lelani and her parents.
“It was so sad to see Lelani trying to reason with her mother,” said Megan as she crushed a paper cup. “I finally couldn’t stand it and stepped in and went a few rounds with her myself.”
“Who won?”
Megan just shook her head. “Mrs. Porter acts like she wins every time. She’s so smug and sure of herself, like everyone else is a complete fool. Really, it’s like she’s delusional.”
“Sad.”
Megan frowned. “I probably shouldn’t have said that about Mrs. Porter. I mean it wasn’t very Christian of me. But seriously, I’ve never met anyone like her—or anyone so polar opposite of Lelani. And yet Mrs. Porter acts like Lelani is some kind of evil, devil girl.”
“Our Lelani?”
“For a minute, I wondered if maybe we don’t really know Lelani. But then I realized we’ve been living with her for months. She couldn’t hide her real self.”
“Sounds like her mother didn’t hide her real self very well.”
“Except that she did sometimes,” Megan admitted. “Like when Mr. Porter and Kendall were there, Mrs. Porter was very polite to everyone. Okay, she was like the Ice Queen too. But she smiled and offered us drinks and was Mrs. Congeniality. Even when she realized that Lelani took off with her dad, which I know really made her mad, she covered it fairly well. Kendall almost bought into it. But then Mr. Porter came back, and Kendall and I excused ourselves, but before we were out of earshot, we heard Mrs. Porter laying into the poor guy.” Megan squinted out to where the swimmers were playing. “Do you think it’s been twenty minutes yet?”
Anna checked her cell phone’s clock and nodded.
“You coming?”
“Not yet. I need to call my mom.”
“Yeah, I should do that too,” said Megan. “Maybe you can remind me later.”
Anna nodded as she hit number three on her speed dial. Edmond had moved to the number-one spot and Gil to second.
“Anna!” her mother said. “Is something wrong?”
“No, Mama. Just calling to say hi.”
“My, my,” her mother sounded pleased. “Do you know, mi’ja, this is the third time you’ve called me in two days? I think you should go on vacation more often.”
“Very funny.” Anna sighed. “Mama?”
“Yes, mi’ja? Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m—”
“And Gil, he’s okay?”
“Yes. He’s swimming right now.”
“Not with the sharks?”
“No, he’s swimming with his friends, Mama.”
“What is it then? I can hear something’s wrong in your voice, mi’ja. Aren’t you having a good time? Did you and Edmond have a fight?” She gasped. “Oh, no! Tell me you didn’t really get married, Anna?”
“No, I did not get married. Good grief!”
“What then? I am dying of suspense.”
“It’s Lelani, Mama.”
“Something has happened to Lelani?”
“Not exactly. But her parents, particularly her mother—she’s a beast, Mama. And poor Lelani. No wonder she’s been so sad since she moved to Oregon. I think her own mother has broken her heart.” And then Anna spilled out the whole story, at least all that she knew. “I just feel so sad for her, Mama. And I wanted to talk to someone.”
“Poor Lelani.” Her mother made a tsk-tsk sound. “I never knew.”
“No one did.”
“Maybe Gil?”
“Maybe.”
“But what can you do about it, mi’ja?”
“I don’t know. I just needed to talk.”
“Well, you just keep being her good friend, Anna. I know she has several good friends, but someone whose mother is—well, you know. She needs all the good friends she can get.”
“I know.”
“Give Gil my love, mi’ja.”
“I will.”
“And Lelani too.”
“Really, Mama? Do you mean that?”
“Of course. What do you think I am? Some horrible witch?”
“No, not at all. I think you’re my mama.” Anna smiled and told her adiós, then hung up. Really, her mother seemed to be getting nicer by the day. Or maybe it was just that old distance-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder thing.