that she’d been letting friends and family get close to her—so much that sometimes she felt overwhelmed. She even wished, thinking of the details of the dress that hinted at her Japanese ancestry, that her mother had been alive to see this day.
If she ’d lived, surely Maylene Matsumoto Texeira would have been clean and sober, and surely they would have healed the wounds of abuse and neglect by now. Lei knew it was progress that she could think of her mother with a different kind of grief—a bittersweet sense of what they might have shared if Maylene had lived, instead of angry, conflicted sorrow.
Once home, Lei called the numbers Tiare had given her and lined up the hairdresser and a makeup person. After that, she reported in to Tiare and enjoyed the other woman’s rare praise.
“ I know you think this is a lot of silly fuss, but someday you’ll be turning the pages of your wedding album with your child and you want to look your best for memories that will be with your family forever,” Tiare said. “I can’t wait to see you in that dress on your big day. It sounds amazing.”
“ The design is beautiful,” Lei said. She still wasn’t comfortable imagining a family with Stevens; the thought of a child looking at her album made her nervous. She got up to fill Keiki’s food bowl. “I’m supposed to have my hair up because of the dress, so I’m glad I’ll have someone to do it for me.”
They rev isited a few more details. Lei hung up and discovered that, for the first time, she was looking forward to the wedding. Knowing she’d be wearing the perfect dress had a lot to do with that.
She spent the evening alone, reviewing her notes . She’d called Stevens to tell him she had a very early manhunt on top of Haleakala to get to in the morning, and they both knew if Stevens came over, sleep would be the last thing on their minds.
Chapter 8
Lei was a little carsick from the long drive up to the top of Haleakala in Pono’s raised purple truck. It was almost enough to make her wish for the stomach-dropping ride to the summit in the helicopter, which at least had been over in a mere twenty minutes. She kept her eyes off the swaying pair of fuzzy dice and mock Hawaiian war helmet dangling from the mirror and on the view passing by as they climbed higher and higher.
Broad , grassy meadows, dim velvet blue in the predawn light, rolled away down the volcano’s slope into the expanse of ocean. The biggest town on Maui, Kahului, nestled in the waist of the island below, its lights sparkling like a belt of stars in the purple shadow of morning.
Dawn broke and cast a net of hot pink, lacy clouds over the vast bowl of sky as they pulled past the national park entry booth and turned left, following Takama’s pickup truck, to park in a small pullout lot at the head of a trail. Head-high yellow mamane bushes bloomed all around them, and Lei spotted a few of the bright native birds, out feeding on the flowers. She shut her eyes against the memory of the tiny, jewel-bright bodies in the evidence freezer.
“ No wonder you wanted to leave so early,” Lei said, hopping down to the ground and slamming the door of the truck. “The helicopter was faster.”
“ I asked to get flown up here. Captain said too expensive,” Pono replied. “Hope you wore your hiking boots.”
Lei looked down at her feet, clad in running shoes. “All I got. It’ll have to do.”
Takama and Jacobsen met them at a padlocked gate leading into the preserve, and Jacobsen handed them a plastic scrub brush. “Brush off your shoes. You might be carrying seeds into the preserve.”
Pono snorted but complied , bending over to scrub at the rugged soles of hiking boots as Takama went on. “We pack in and out anything we bring. No seeds or fruit pits, nothing that could grow in this environment.”
Takama unlocked the gate , and once all their soles had been scrubbed, they climbed over a barrier into the conservation area. Conifers of
If she ’d lived, surely Maylene Matsumoto Texeira would have been clean and sober, and surely they would have healed the wounds of abuse and neglect by now. Lei knew it was progress that she could think of her mother with a different kind of grief—a bittersweet sense of what they might have shared if Maylene had lived, instead of angry, conflicted sorrow.
Once home, Lei called the numbers Tiare had given her and lined up the hairdresser and a makeup person. After that, she reported in to Tiare and enjoyed the other woman’s rare praise.
“ I know you think this is a lot of silly fuss, but someday you’ll be turning the pages of your wedding album with your child and you want to look your best for memories that will be with your family forever,” Tiare said. “I can’t wait to see you in that dress on your big day. It sounds amazing.”
“ The design is beautiful,” Lei said. She still wasn’t comfortable imagining a family with Stevens; the thought of a child looking at her album made her nervous. She got up to fill Keiki’s food bowl. “I’m supposed to have my hair up because of the dress, so I’m glad I’ll have someone to do it for me.”
They rev isited a few more details. Lei hung up and discovered that, for the first time, she was looking forward to the wedding. Knowing she’d be wearing the perfect dress had a lot to do with that.
She spent the evening alone, reviewing her notes . She’d called Stevens to tell him she had a very early manhunt on top of Haleakala to get to in the morning, and they both knew if Stevens came over, sleep would be the last thing on their minds.
Chapter 8
Lei was a little carsick from the long drive up to the top of Haleakala in Pono’s raised purple truck. It was almost enough to make her wish for the stomach-dropping ride to the summit in the helicopter, which at least had been over in a mere twenty minutes. She kept her eyes off the swaying pair of fuzzy dice and mock Hawaiian war helmet dangling from the mirror and on the view passing by as they climbed higher and higher.
Broad , grassy meadows, dim velvet blue in the predawn light, rolled away down the volcano’s slope into the expanse of ocean. The biggest town on Maui, Kahului, nestled in the waist of the island below, its lights sparkling like a belt of stars in the purple shadow of morning.
Dawn broke and cast a net of hot pink, lacy clouds over the vast bowl of sky as they pulled past the national park entry booth and turned left, following Takama’s pickup truck, to park in a small pullout lot at the head of a trail. Head-high yellow mamane bushes bloomed all around them, and Lei spotted a few of the bright native birds, out feeding on the flowers. She shut her eyes against the memory of the tiny, jewel-bright bodies in the evidence freezer.
“ No wonder you wanted to leave so early,” Lei said, hopping down to the ground and slamming the door of the truck. “The helicopter was faster.”
“ I asked to get flown up here. Captain said too expensive,” Pono replied. “Hope you wore your hiking boots.”
Lei looked down at her feet, clad in running shoes. “All I got. It’ll have to do.”
Takama and Jacobsen met them at a padlocked gate leading into the preserve, and Jacobsen handed them a plastic scrub brush. “Brush off your shoes. You might be carrying seeds into the preserve.”
Pono snorted but complied , bending over to scrub at the rugged soles of hiking boots as Takama went on. “We pack in and out anything we bring. No seeds or fruit pits, nothing that could grow in this environment.”
Takama unlocked the gate , and once all their soles had been scrubbed, they climbed over a barrier into the conservation area. Conifers of
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