Parker's jaw was grim when he listened to the pinging phone for the second time. He'd gone through this with Kiki a hundred times. His blood ran cold when he remembered the threat at the end of the conversation. That was new. So was the credit card and purse shopping.
Much to his own disgust Parker found himself dialing Tom's number in North Carolina. He broke the connection the moment he heard Tom's voice. Fifty cents a pound wasn't going to put him out of business. Suck it up. It was the six-month contract that was going to kick his ass. He needed a long-term contract with the Daisy Shops or his caffeine-free coffee beans would go down the hopper.
Make some peace with Kiki, or you're going to be working sixteen hour days again
. For all he knew they'd all hire a bus and go shopping for Chanel pocketbooks.
Parker called the office a third time. He was stunned when Kiki's assistant Mary informed him that Kiki had typed up her resignation and had taken off with the company credit card saying she would return it by mail when she was done shopping.
“Son of a bitch!”
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Parker rolled over, one eye squinting at the clock. Damn, he'd slept fourteen straight hours. He needed to get up and get a move on or he was going to end up behind the proverbial eightball. As he brushed his teeth, showered, and shaved, he ran his itinerary over and over in his mind. He wasn't happy with Plan A, Plan B, or Plan C. While he was scrambling an egg the phone rang. Probably Kiki calling to apologize. Well, he knew how to be magnanimous.
“Tom, how are you?”
“Great. Feeling better each day. Listen, I'm calling to ask what the hell is going on. A fax came into the office from Kiki that's a little confusing. Actually two faxes came in. One was the contract for a six-month deal and the other was canceling the deal. So does this mean we don't have a deal? Annie called late last night and said she clinched it with Kiki on a handshake. Annie thinks we have the deal. Are you guys reneging? Annie said she won't deal with anyone but Kiki. I'd just like to know what the hell is going on.”
Parker dumped the scrambled egg in the sink. Suddenly he'd lost his appetite. He eyeballed the coffeemaker, willing it to drip faster. “Kiki quit yesterday. She was pissed when I said something she didn't like. I don't know what to tell you, Tom. As far as I'm concerned we have a deal. I'm not real happy with it, but I can live with it. Grayson Coffee has never done a six-month contract. The only reason I would agree to it now is because you're an old and valued customer. There won't be another one. Remember that. There's no way in hell I'm stepping on Kiki's toes again today. I'll give you her home phone number and you can call your sister to give it to her. One of you needs to call her.”
“Boy, you really don't know much about women, do you? You guys need to get your shit in one sock.”
“You're right on that, Tom. As the days go by I know less and less. I did find out where Annie is staying, but I missed her. I'm going to give it another shot today, then I'm giving up. Right now I feel like giving up the coffee business for good.”
“That's rather extreme, isn't it?”
“Not from where I'm standing. I'll call you later.”
“I'll be here. Just for the record, Parker, I'm not calling Kiki. The last thing in the world I would do is step on Annie's toes. She drew the line in the sand a long time ago, and I'm not crossing it. If you want some advice, and I know you didn't ask for it, I would go to my sister with my tail between my legs and apologize. Get her one of those damn pocketbooks. Gifts always help. If you're going to apologize, sound like you mean it.”
Parker hung up the phone, his head buzzing. Maybe Tom was right. Maybe the pocketbooks had something to do with this whole mess.
He hopped in his jeep for the short ride to the airport and his private plane. Forty-five minutes later he set down on the Big Island and stepped into his waiting jeep, driven by one of the workers from the coffee plantation.
“Drive me to the mall, Andy. E. Puainako at Highway Eleven. Park in front of Liberty House.”
The minute Parker stepped into the department store he knew he was out of his depth. His gaze swiveled around the store. “Can I help you, sir?”
Relieved, Parker nodded. “I need to buy a . . . Chanel pocketbook.”
The clerk smiled. “Straight down and make a left. Someone will help you in leather goods.”
Parker eyed the purses on the glass shelf. Brown, black, white, beige. “Is this all you have?” he asked the clerk.
“Yes, sir. What were you looking for?”
“A pocketbook,” Parker said brilliantly.
“Do you have a color preference?” the clerk said.
Did he? Did Kiki? Probably, but since he didn't know what it was, he had to make a decision. “I'll take them all.”
“You want them all?” the woman gasped. “Are you sure, sir?”
“I'm sure. Could you hurry it up?”
“I have to get the boxes and wrap them. It's going to take a while.”
“I don't have a while. Can't you just put them in bags?”
“Women like the Chanel boxes, sir, and the felt bag to store the purse in. These are not Woolworth plastic bags,” she said huffily.
“You can send the boxes and the bags later, can't you? I'll leave the address and pay for the delivery.”
“I suppose we could do that. It's highly irregular. Your credit card, sir.”
Parker thought his head was going to spin off his neck when he saw the total price, plus the tax, before he signed his name.
A shopping bag in each hand, Parker made his way to the jeep waiting for him outside the front door. When he dumped the bags unceremoniously in the backseat of the jeep, he saw the clerk wince and shudder. “Thank you, ma'am.”
“Andy, take Queen Kaahumanu Highway and I'll tell you where to turn. We're going to Kiki's house. Do you by any chance know if she went to the office today?”
“No show today, boss.”
Parker adjusted his Padres baseball cap until it covered his dark glasses. With his feet propped on the dash, he fired up a cigarette. He thought about his sister and how well she'd done over the past few years. She'd taken his blistering criticism without blinking, intent only on learning the business. She'd been an asset, too. The last two years he knew he could leave the business in her hands and not worry. But the big plus was he'd become close to his sisters and their families. He knew the kids now as well as their friends and all the dogs and cats. If Kiki was truly, truly angry, he could lose it all. He realized in that one heart-stopping moment that he didn't give a hoot about the business. He didn't want to lose the closeness he'd established and found so comforting. He liked going to birthday parties and graduations, liked picking up the phone to hear a childish voice say, “Hi, Uncle Parker.” Because of one thoughtless remark he could well be back to square one. No family, no business, no Annie, no prize contract that he needed so desperately. He shuddered.
“Turn here, boss?”
“Yes, it's the third house on the left.”
“Let me go in first, Andy, just in case Kiki starts throwing things. Give me five minutes and bring up the bags. Okay?”
“Okay, boss.”
Parker walked up a neatly trimmed brick path to the front door. There was always a fresh plumeria wreath hanging on the front door. His other sisters had wreaths on their front doors, too, the same way his mother had them. Like mother, like daughters. He rang the bell.
Kiki opened the door, still in her robe. “What do you want, Parker? Oh, I get it, you came for the credit card. Wait here, and I'll get it.” Parker stepped back when his sister slammed the door in his face. He opened it boldly.
“I didn't come for the damn card. I came to say I'm sorry.” He motioned for Andy to bring the bags into the house.
“You're too late, Parker. Get out of my house. I don't want you here. Here's your card. You know what you can do with it, don't you?”
“Look, Kiki, I'm sorry. Old sayings, old habits die hard. I told you it wasn't going to be easy. I told you I'd slip and for you to bring me up short. I can accept criticism, and I can accept you telling me off. I don't want you to quit. You're doing a hell of a job. Customers like you. That thing about Tom and the handshake came out of left field. What can I do besides say I'm sorry.”
“I could accept that if you were sincere. Sometimes, Parker, you just mouth words and don't know what you're agreeing to. You agree because you think it's what I want to hear. If you don't understand it, what's the point?”
“I want you to come back.”
“Why? So you can get the Daisy Shop contract? I canceled it.”
“I know. I don't care about that, Kiki. I care about us, the family. Annie Clark can buy her coffee wherever she wants. I brought something for you. I didn't know what color to get, so I bought them all. They're going to deliver the boxes and some kind of bags. The clerk said women want the boxes and the bags, and I didn't want to wait for them. Why would you want empty boxes and bags?” he asked fretfully.
“How many . . . You bought them all! Parker, this is ridiculous.”
“I know. It's my point, Kiki. You and the others are worth more to me than these silly pocketbooks. I hate it when we squabble. I hate it when you're right, and I'm wrong. If you want, Kiki, I'll turn over my share of the business to you and the others. I won't interfere. Not the lab, though,” he said as an afterthought.
“The coffee business is your life, Parker. What in the world would you do?”
“I don't know. Maybe a tour guide. Sell shells on the beach.”
“You need to take these handbags back to the store.”
“Oh, no. That woman thought I was nuts as it is.”
“You are nuts, Parker. I love you anyway. By the way, I didn't use the credit card. Even though you pissed me off big-time.”
“I know, and I'm sorry. Okay, I have to get back to Maui. I still haven't located Annie Clark. I know where she's staying, but I can't hook up with her. Is it settled, then, you go back to work tomorrow?”
“Yes, Parker. I'm not calling Miss Clark, though. That's something you're going to have to take care of.” She smiled and stepped closer to her brother. “I hope you find her, Parker. The island isn't that big. Camp out by her front door. Sooner or later she has to come in or go out. If she calls me, I'll let you know. Thanks for the handbags.”
Kiki put her arms around him. “See, the world didn't come crashing down on us. It's okay to admit you're wrong as long as you try to make it right.”
“You sounded like Mom just then, Kiki.”
“That's one of the nicest things you ever said to me, Parker. You aren't tough and narrow-minded like Pop was.”
Parker laughed. “Now that's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me. I'll call you, Kiki.”
“Make sure you do.”
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Exhausted, Annie crawled into bed. She knew if she closed her eyes she would go to sleep instantly. She wondered if she had the energy to return Tom's calls and Elmo's calls. She also had to decide what to do about the note she'd found on her door along with Parker's six phone calls. It was Elmo's three calls that worried her. Maybe her dogs were sick. She looked at the clock. Elmo was always an early riser, getting up at five, puttering around for an hour or so before opening his store at seven. A man of habit. She placed her call.
“Knew it would be you, Annie. Listen to me, girl. I have some news. As you know I still get my periodicals and the local newspaper as well as the campus paper. Most times I let them pile up, then read them when I can't sleep. It seems in January the guy that was in prison was released. He'd been in a halfway house for a year. They released him early for good behavior and all that garbage. It seems he has aligned himself with Peter Newman, the insurance investigator. They never closed the case, Annie. I didn't know that. Did you?”
Annie's heart fluttered in her chest. Of course she knew that. They couldn't close the case until all the money was returned. Something she was going to do as soon as she returned home. She was wide-awake now. “If they couldn't find any proof in thirteen years, what do they hope to gain now?” How calm her voice was. She shivered under the light blanket.
“The insurance investigator had rules and regulations he had to abide by. He backed off when we all called the company and said he was harassing us. The boy, he's a man now, doesn't have those rules and regulations. I just think it's strange that he would sidle up to Newman. Don't you, Annie?”
“It doesn't make sense, Elmo.”
“When I tell you this, it will make sense. I got a letter today, mailed from the town where the money was returned.”