“Lily, this is Wang Ho.”
Almost two weeks after Lily was burned, Evan introduced her to a small, older gentleman who had come unannounced into the kitchen.
“He’s our cook at the Little Bay Restaurant. Wang, this is Jeff’s sister, Lily. She’s staying with us all the way from Kashien.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Lily said, her eyes down. She had been getting better about eye contact, even with Evan and Ashton, but this man looked like the men from her corner of the world, and long-taught habits die hard.
“Lily Walsh,” Wang said softly. “This is not a Kashienese name.”
“No, sir.”
“And your eyes are not Kashienese, but they are down.”
Lily nodded, a smile coming to her mouth—one that matched the smile she heard in his voice.
“You are in America now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lily made herself look up, and although eye contact was very brief, it was long enough to see that he was smiling.
“Now listen, Lily,” Evan went on. “Wang is family. The only reason you haven’t seen him before is because he’s been on vacation. He’ll be in and out all the time, and if you’re smart you’ll visit him in the kitchen of the restaurant often. He always has something to offer, all of it mouthwatering.”
Lily smiled.
“I’ll plan on that.”
“Today,” Wang said. “Come today.”
“All right. I will.”
“Are you set, Lily?” Ashton now came through, Celia on his back.
“Yes, I am.”
“Wang!” Ashton spotted him, swung his niece around until she was in his arms, and went to give Wang a great, one-armed hug. “How was your trip?”
“Very good. I took pictures.”
“I want to see them.”
“You shall.”
“Good. Right now Lily and I are off to check on the cottages. She hasn’t seen them yet.”
“Do you have sunscreen on?” Evan asked.
Lily assured him that she was covered. She also had her bamboo hat along, and in just a few moments she was headed out the door with Ashton. Talking all the while, explaining almost more than Lily could take in, Ashton took Lily around to the large garage area and toward a small four-wheeled vehicle.
“Climb in.”
Lily did as she was told, and in no time at all they were scooting out onto the beach. Ashton took it easy, as Lily was still somewhat sore, but it didn’t take long for Lily’s skin to recede to the back of her mind. Since Sunday Lily had made a point to come out and see the ocean every day. She knew she would never grow tired of it. It was too glorious for that. But today was even better. Today she was off the veranda. With the wind blowing in her face and the glorious smell of the salty air filling her senses, Lily couldn’t find the words to describe what she was feeling.
“I’ll show you the nicest one,” Ashton told her as he drove past other cottages to a small house with a number six over the door.
After first going onto a spacious covered porch that sported bamboo chairs and a table, they entered the small structure, and Lily saw just what he meant. The door opened immediately into a nice-sized living room, dining room, and kitchen area. Everything was clean and neat, and Lily saw that a person could live there permanently and in remarkable comfort. Large windows in the living-room area looked out over the sea.
“And back this way are the bedroom and bathroom.”
Lily was impressed with all the space and wondered what a night in such a cabin would cost.
“And you say this is the nicest one?”
“Actually, they’re all very nice. This just happens to be my favorite.”
“Are they all the same layout?”
“No, they’re very diverse. Some even have two bedrooms.”
“So more than two people can sleep there?”
“Actually, this cottage sleeps five, because the sofa becomes a bed, and there’s a roll-away in this closet.”
Ashton was opening doors and showing her everything as he talked.
“The two-bedroom units have the same amenities and then some, so they can sleep up to eight.”
“And did you and Gabe and the others build these?”
“No, our grandfather did. He started the resort in 1951.”
Questions flooded Lily’s mind, but she didn’t wish to be presumptuous. Instead she centered on the things in the cabin, hoping that Ashton would not grow frustrated with her.
“Ashton, could I possibly see how a sofa becomes a bed?”
“Sure. I’ll show you.”
After the demonstration, which Lily found quite wonderful, Ash showed her the small back porch where a grill and a compact clothesline for hanging wet items were provided.
Once outside, Ashton patiently stood back, smiling a little over her wonder, and watched as Lily thoroughly examined the clothesline. It was the type that folded down into itself when not in use, and he could see that she found the mechanism utterly captivating.
That inspected, Lily looked around at her surroundings. She didn’t say so, but what most impressed her was the privacy. The ocean was visible from almost all the windows of the cottage and of course the porch, but with the way all the small dwellings had been set back amid the foliage, she had the feeling she was alone.
“And how many did you say there were?” Lily asked as they headed back out front.
“Cottages? Thirteen.”
“And what do you call this vehicle?” Lily asked as they climbed back in.
“It’s a large golf cart. We have four of them.”
Lily had read about the carts that golfers took around the course. It made her wonder how many acres the Kapaia Resort was. Ashton drove her past the rest of the cottages, telling her different aspects as he thought of them. More questions occurred to her, and Lily kept Ashton talking until they suddenly stopped at the rear of the Little Bay Restaurant.
She watched her host get out of the cart but did not presume to follow.
“Come on,” Ashton urged her. “We’ve got to check out what Wang is cooking.”
Lily finally knew where she was. Not having seen this building from the rear, she had not been able to guess.
The two walked through a rear door that put them almost immediately in the kitchen. Everything was impressively clean, and Lily thought the aromas that filled the busy room were marvelous. Wang greeted both of them with tremendous grace, and before Lily planned on it, she was sitting at a huge steel island amid the hustle of workers, a bowl with some type of pineapple mixture in front of her.
“Eat this, eat this” was the order, and she obeyed.
“How do you like it?” Ashton asked around a mouthful.
“It’s wonderful.”
Wang had wandered off, but Lily suspected he knew she enjoyed it.
“Your eyes are starting to look green again.”
Lily stopped eating and looked at the man next to her.
“Can you explain that to me?”
Ashton smiled.
“For a few days there, the burn was so intense that your eyes didn’t look as green. Now the color is coming back.”
Lily nodded in a way that was becoming familiar to them all. Her head would nod a little, and her mouth would make an “oh,” but no sound would come out.
“I take it you didn’t notice?”
Lily’s eyes dropped, and she admitted, “I don’t care to look in the mirror much right now.”
“You don’t look bad, Lily—just a little toasty.”
His wording and the tone of his voice made her smile before she went back to eating, but he had not understood. It wasn’t her looks. It was the reminder of what had happened to her skin. When she caught sight of herself in a mirror, she felt something akin to horror, and even though it might be in her head, the pain would return.
“Tell me, Lily. If I left you here, could you find your way back?”
“I think so,” she answered, even as she thought fast about the direction from which they had come.
“Well, I don’t really want to do that, but I just remembered a phone call I need to make.”
“I can finish quickly,” she said, setting her spoon aside.
“No, don’t do that. Wang would love to show you the workings of the kitchen. Stay as long as you like.”
The offer was too tempting by half. Lily glanced around. The room was full of gadgets and appliances she had never seen before.
“Thank you, Ashton.”
“You’re welcome. Are you sure you can get back?”
“Why don’t you just tell me the way, and then I’ll find it.”
The youngest Kapaia gave her clear directions, thanked Wang as well as told him that Lily wanted a tour, and went on his way.
It took some time for Lily to feel comfortable alone with Wang and his staff, but in a very short time she was gaining knowledge about the kitchen such as she never had before.
“Where’s Lily?”
Having tracked some of his family down at the pool a few hours before dinner, Gabe asked the question. He wanted to check with Lily about some ideas he had to further her education.
“Last I knew she was with Ash,” Bailey told him.
“They went to see the cottages,” Peter added.
“That was right after breakfast this morning,” Evan said, just as Ashton made an appearance.
The younger brother had some business to talk over with both Evan and Gabe, but eventually Gabe was able to ask his question.
“I left her with Wang. Isn’t she back yet?”
“I don’t think so. How was she getting here?”
“I gave her directions, and she was going to walk.”
“You should check her room before you go looking, Gabe,” his sister suggested. “She might have come in when no one noticed.”
Gabe did just that, but not five minutes passed before he was in his own golf cart and headed to the restaurant. He slipped in the back, much as Lily and Ashton had done earlier, but was met with an entirely different scene.
Lily Walsh, flour covering her hands as she rolled out piecrust, was conversing with Wang and the day manager, Rick Wong, in Chinese. Gabe, who had a fairly good command of the language, approached.
“Gabriel,” Wang said softly, turning to face him and switching to English, “you have come for Lily.”
“Not exactly. We just wanted to make sure she was all right.”
Lily was still speaking to Rick. She was asking the man about shipments of produce and vegetables, which were locally grown, and how they worked their delivery schedule, so it took a few seconds for her to notice Gabe. She was so focused on Rick’s answers that she didn’t realize at first who it was.
“Hello.” Gabe smiled when her eyes came up, and Lily beamed at him.
“I’m learning to run a restaurant.”
Gabe chuckled.
“Let me know when you go on the payroll. How are you, Rick?” Gabe now said, extending his hand to shake the other man’s.
“I’m doing well, Gabe. How are you?”
“Enjoying my time off.”
Rick nodded. “It’s the same here. We get plenty of outside business in the evenings, but I can tell that the cottages are empty when I can shoot a cannonball through here during breakfast and lunch.”
“May I ask a question?” Lily put in, surprising even herself.
“Yes.”
“People have kitchens in their cottages, but they still eat breakfast and lunch here?”
Rick explained the preferences of different people, and Lily listened intently. There wasn’t a single aspect of this business that was new to Gabe, but he still enjoyed Lily’s fascination.
“Gabriel has come for you, Lily,” Wang said as soon as Rick was done.
“Oh, I’ll wash my hands and come right now.”
Gabe was opening his mouth to tell Lily she didn’t have to leave but then caught Wang’s eye on him. After Rick had gone his way, the older man spoke.
“You did come for Lily, did you not, Gabriel?”
“I just wanted to talk to her about something, not interrupt.”
“But she is easy to talk to, do you not find?”
Gabe smiled before saying, “In truth, Wang, I don’t know her well enough to answer that.”
It was Wang’s turn to smile.
“We shall have to see that this situation changes.”
Before Gabe could frame a reply, Lily was back. “Thank you for everything,” she said to Wang.
He bowed his head to her.
“The pleasure is all mine. We will do it again.”
Lily smiled before dropping her eyes, glad that Gabe was waiting and she could exit. Wang was too like the men from home, and finding him here, Lily felt utterly out of her element on the issue of looking men in the eye.
At the door Lily slipped back into her bamboo hat, tying the strings below her chin.
“That hat must be from home,” Gabe commented.
“Yes, it is. How did you know?”
“I’ve never seen one like it here.”
“I made it,” Lily admitted quietly.
“I’m impressed.”
Lily could have told him it was not a great effort, but she was quiet as she climbed into Gabe’s cart. The silence didn’t last too long.
“May I ask you a question?” Lily asked just after Gabe shifted into gear and set them in motion.
“Certainly.”
“Do you know the etymology of the word payroll?”
“Offhand I don’t, but we can check out the dictionary when we get back.”
“Will the history be in there?”
“Not necessarily all the particulars, but the date and origin of the word will be.”
Lily’s dictionary at home in Kashien could not boast these features, and she wondered if Jeff would be willing to help her to find one like Gabe’s before she flew home.
“How’s the burn?”
“As long as I stay out of the sun and away from the oven, it’s fine.”
“You don’t look burned anymore.” He glanced sideways as he spoke. “You’re tan enough to be a native.”
Lily laughed because she knew how far that was from the truth. Her skin was tight and already starting to peel in places.
Lily wondered why Gabe needed her. She wanted to ask him but kept quiet, hoping he would volunteer. Gabe, on the other hand, thought she knew. He forgot that he had told Wang he didn’t mean to interrupt before Lily returned.
He swung the cart into the wide garage and then asked to talk to Lily on the shady veranda. Lily hoped that nothing was wrong and tried to ignore the tenseness she suddenly felt, but of course nothing showed on her face.
Not at all aware of her thoughts, Gabe started right in.
“Lily, would you say you’re up to doing some things, or would you rather wait awhile longer?”
“No, I can do anything you want me to.”
Warning bells went off in Gabe’s mind even as he nodded. Lily volunteering to do anything he wanted wasn’t quite what he had in mind. He continued, but his eyes were watchful.
“The whole plan was to teach you the things Jeff had on his list, but I don’t want to rush you.”
Lily didn’t know if there was an actual list but still said, “We can start on the list anytime you like.”
Again Gabe nodded, choosing to take her at her word.
“If you think you can move your arms without pain, we’ll head to the tennis courts tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“That’s fine.”
“You’re certain your arms don’t hurt?”
“Yes. I should be fine.”
“Okay. Do you have any shorts you can wear?”
“Jeff bought some for me.”
“Okay. I think you’ll be the most comfortable in those, and tennis shoes, of course. Be sure to put sunblock on all exposed skin. We’ll head out early and try to beat the heat.”
Relieved that nothing was wrong, Lily nodded but wondered if tennis would be the disaster swimming was. Her gaze dropped with the memory.
“Lily, would you mind looking at me?”
Lily complied.
“Are you sure you’re up to this?”
She forced herself to keep eye contact and admit, “I was just thinking about how poorly my swimming lesson ended. I don’t want to fail in tennis as well.”
“But you didn’t fail in swimming. In fact, Ash told me you amazed him with how well you did and how fast you caught on.”
“He said that?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Oh, my,” Lily said rather weakly.
“What’s the matter?”
“I just wrote and told my father what a mess I had made of things.”
Not understanding the seriousness of the situation, Gabe laughed.
“You’ll just have to get another letter off to him, telling him you did great.”
Lily managed to smile and nod, but a knot of dread had formed in the pit of her stomach. Her father would not understand if she wrote and changed her story. She knew that the burn had not been anyone’s fault, but she also knew her father wouldn’t see it that way, so she had made a point to take whatever blame there was. She hadn’t really mentioned learning to swim.
For a moment Lily thought about her time in the pool. Until her shoulders had started to hurt, Lily had felt very good about what she had accomplished. The thought of getting in the deep end, even after she had gone under and been afraid, was no longer an issue. Nevertheless, it was a little late to mention that to her father.
“Sometimes I wish he had a telephone so I could just call.”
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Gabe agreed, coming to his feet and thanking Lily for her time. He had things to do, so as soon as he established a time for their tennis lesson and asked if Lily had any more questions, he left her to her own thoughts.
Lily watched him go on his way, even as she remembered placing the letter where Bailey had directed. It was a common spot in the kitchen that everyone used. The first one to head out mailed whatever letters had gathered.
Moving swiftly, Lily made for the kitchen, hoping the letter might still be there. The basket was empty.
Lily sighed. She so wished she could tell Jeff what had happened. Maybe he could write and explain it somehow, but spending the money on a long-distance call over such a trivial matter seemed wasteful to Lily.
It didn’t take long for Lily to realize she was fretting. On her way back through the great room, she walked to the patio door and looked out at the sea.
You’re such a huge God that You can create an ocean, but I don’t think You can handle my problems. Help me to know what to do, Lord. Help me to know the best path to take. Let Jefferson call or open up some other option that only You would think of to clear this up with my father.
And please, Lord, Lily ended the prayer, help Father not to be too upset. Help him to trust You too.