A tropical breeze zipped through the open lanai to puff the gauzy pink ribbons draped, ceiling to floor, over the main table. Above a perky ukulele tune, low-pitched conversations were interspersed with soft laughter and the soft chink of silverware on china. A baby blanket full of pastel-wrapped packages dangled from the wooden beak of a giant stork as it stood guard at the far end of the gift table. From an inconspicuous corner of the Lanai ballroom, Kimo supervised the wait staff as they removed plates, poured coffee and refilled glasses.
“I’d like to propose a toast.” Danforth Brewster stood at the center table, dressed in sailor white, wearing a blue lei and a wide smile. “To my—” From the seat beside him, Babs tugged on his shirtsleeve and he bent to listen to her private whisper. With a nod, he straightened again and extended his glass. “In honor of the mother-to-be, I’d like to propose a nonalcoholic toast. To my son-in-law Mitch and to his son, my grandson, Carter. If not for them, I’d still be outnumbered by the women in this family.”
The applause spattered, the toast was drunk, Dan sat down and was replaced by Mitch, who had his hands full keeping six-month-old Carter’s fingers out of a tall glass of orange juice.
“I’d like to propose a toast,” Mitch said. “To my wife, Bentley, the extraordinary woman who gave birth to this future Pulitzer prize-winning journalist.” He held up Carter’s baby hand like a referee at the end of a boxing match. Laughter followed Mitch’s gesture and died down as he raised Carter’s bottle in a salute. “And I also want to toast the one person who made this all possible…Hurricane Bonnie!’’
Bentley tugged on his sleeve and he leaned down to hear her. Then, straightening, he hoisted Carter onto his shoulder.
“I’ve just been informed that Hurricane Bonnie is not a person and cannot be toasted. So I’ll amend my appreciation and say a hearty, ‘Hear! Hear!’ to my sisterin-law, Stephanie. If it hadn’t been for her eloping with Thomas on the eve of her wedding to Jack, Carter and I might not be here now. So, Stephanie—” he raised the baby bottle “—here’s to last-minute escapes! And to the diapers you’ll be changing for the next twentyfour months!”
Good-natured laughter swept the room as Stephanie pushed back her chair and levered her very bulky belly past the edge of the table. Her husband, Thomas, hovered beside her like a watchful mother hen.
“Thanks, Mitch,” Stephanie said. “I have a couple of toasts to make my self…if I can stay on my feet that long. I know I look like I could go into labor any minute, but the doctor assures me it’ll be another eight weeks.” She smiled at Dan and patted her stomach. “He also tells me to paint the babies’ room pink, so you’d better enjoy the next couple of months, Dad, because once the triplets arrive, you’re going to be seriously outnumbered all over again!”
She accepted the glass of juice Thomas handed to her and lifted it in a toast. “Two years ago this week, Thomas Calhoun walked into the Honolulu airport and changed my mind about marrying my good friend Jack Keaton. I guess Hurricane Bonnie had a little something to do with it, too,” she said with a smile for Thomas. “It took the full wrath of Mother Nature to bring about the happiness you see all about you today. And now, two years later, I’d like, to say thank you to a very special man in my life. I can’t begin to tell you what a wonderful person he is. He was always there when I needed a friend and I’ll be forever grateful that I didn’t break his heart. Jack, stand up.”
Jack stood reluctantly and smiled down at the woman beside him. “Since we’re being sentimental today,” he began, “I’ll toast the only woman in the world who could have broken my heart but didn’t. Dani, you’re one in a million and I love you.” He bent to give his wife an affectionate kiss before he continued. “And in case there’s anyone here who hasn’t met my daughter, Bonnie…” He lifted his little girl out of her mother’s arms and held her up like the proud papa he was. “Isn’t she the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”
There were oohs and aahs all around. Jack handed Bonnie over to the eager arms of her grandmother, Mona, then lifted his champagne glass in another toast. “When it comes to friendship, there’s one person I have to acknowledge. He’s been my partner, my conscience and my best pal for more years than I can recall. If he hadn’t been so stubbornly certain that I wasn’t in love with Stephanie or so doggone determined to talk me out of marrying her, I might not have met Dani. It was Rik’s harebrained idea to borrow a baby and hire a stork. I have to thank Lynn and Keanu—” he nodded across the room at the couple “—for the loan of Sam. Dani and I will always be grateful for the thirty-six hours we spent with the little guy. And just between you and me, I’m convinced he’s Cupid.”
“Hiya, Jack!” Across the room, almost three-year-old Sam balanced between his parents’ chairs and waved a model helicopter. “Wanna see my hopter?”
“Later, buddy,” Jack called back as he lifted his glass. “As I was saying, let’s drink to my friend through fair and stormy weather…Rik Austin.”
From her place at the table, Hallie watched, her heart bursting with happiness, as Rik acknowledged the toast with a modest smile. How could any man be so gorgeous, she wondered with smug satisfaction. Even the sunscreen he put on just to please her hadn’t dulled the golden tone of his skin. And his eyes were still the heart-stopping blue of Blue Hawaii He was successful, too. His tour business had exceeded even his high expectations, and her own event-planning service was thriving. Hawaii was home to her now. She’d even grown to love the ocean and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Sometimes she told Rik that the island climate had cured her allergies, but she knew in her heart that happiness was the real remedy.
She’d had no idea love would be so lovely the second time around. But, then, that was the great thing about love. You couldn’t believe in it until it happened to you…and then you couldn’t do anything except believe in it.
Rik made her life rich with love and laughter. He was her happiness, her heart. And in a little less than eight months, he’d be her partner in the adventure of parenthood—a joint venture he’d been anticipating for a very long time. She hugged her bliss as her husband accepted Jack’s tribute to their friendship.
“Thanks, Jack,” Rik said. “I’d like to make a toast, too. Not to my wife, although she deserves one for bringing together such a great baby shower.” His smile stole her breath away with its tenderness. “And not to the guest of honor, although I’m certain Stephanie would like a stiff drink every time she thinks about her impending multiple births. I’d like to toast all of the mothers and mothers-to-be in this room. May your children bring you joy and may love fill your lives.”
“Hear, hear.” The murmur moved through the room, and as Rik raised his glass to her, Hallie downed the orange juice in a long swallow.
“I’m sorry to interrupt.” Kimo stepped forward and cleared his throat. “But I just heard that the tropical storm in the Pacific is now officially Hurricane Nicholas. It poses no threat to the Islands, but the wind is picking up and I wanted to assure you—”
The scraping of chairs drowned out whatever reassurances Kimo offered, and in the general exodus from the ballroom, Rik caught Hallie’s elbow. “You weren’t thinking you could get out of here without me, were you?”
“Don’t be silly.” She smiled up at him, oblivious to everything except the swell of love in her heart. “You know my fantasy about being stranded in a storm with you.”
“I’ll bet you say that to all your husbands.”
“No. Only you.”
“Then I’m a lucky guy.” He reached out to give her stomach a reverent pat. “A damn lucky guy.”
“Yes, you are.” Hallie smiled at him, happier than she’d ever dreamed of being. “Now, if we hurry, we can be safe and snug in our favorite hotel room before the crowd reaches the elevators.”
“Mrs. Austin,” Rik asked. “What do you intend to do in the thirteenth room on the thirteenth floor of this hotel?”
“Ride out the hurricane…and maybe, if you’re lucky, try out a couple of new fantasies.”
“Cutting-edge fantasies?”
“Is there any other kind?”
“Not with you, Hallie.” He grinned and he swept her up in his arms and carried her quickly toward the waiting elevator. “Not with you.”