Banana Split (22 page)

“I’m sure,” Sadie said, still feeling horrible. “I wasn’t able to have biological children,” she blurted out, feeling the desperate need to explain her comments somehow.

“Biological?”

“We adopted.”

Bets’s smile remained forced. “That’s wonderful.” She didn’t expand on why she and Darryl hadn’t adopted, and Sadie kicked herself again.

Bets returned to the toppings while Sadie shook her head and decided to change the subject. “Your husband was telling me you two met Noelani through the outreach program.”

Bets nodded but added nothing more.

“I assume she joined your congregation after she left the outreach program?”

“Yes.”

“How long ago did she leave outreach?”

“About seven months,” she said, all business. “Will you grab the tray so we can take everything out?” She picked up the slow cooker and turned toward the door.

Sadie nodded and picked up the tray, following Bets to the backyard. The volleyball game had adjourned, and, just as Pastor Darryl had predicted, the leftover hot dogs and salads were being consumed by the famished athletes who laughed and ate in clusters here and there throughout the yard. Sadie quickly estimated there were nearly forty people at the luau.

They were a few steps from the buffet table when Bets’s step faltered slightly. Sadie would have steadied her if her hands hadn’t been full, but Bets quickly recovered and kept moving toward the table. Sadie scanned the ground for a possible hazard that could have caused Bets to trip so she’d be certain to avoid it, but there wasn’t anything obvious. Thank goodness Bets hadn’t spilled the hot fudge. That would have been tragic!

When Sadie looked up, however, she saw something else that might explain Bets’s misstep. Pastor Darryl was standing about fifteen yards away from everyone else, holding both hands of a young woman and staring at her face intently. They stood very close to each another, perhaps only a foot apart, their clasped hands at chest level between them.

The woman said something and smiled, causing him to squeeze her hands and smile back at her. If not for the fact that they were surrounded by people, chief among them Pastor Darryl’s wife, Sadie would have described the scene as intimate. She’d no sooner thought that than he pulled the woman into an embrace—a very close embrace—wrapping his arms around her back and holding her tight as she did the same, resting her cheek against his shoulder and closing her eyes.

Sadie averted her gaze and looked to Bets, who was watching the embrace in quick glances as she set down the hot fudge. Her mouth was drawn tightly and her posture was stiff, despite trying to pretend not to notice, or so it seemed.

“Bets,” Sadie said, coming up beside her. “Are you all right?”

Bets looked up, her cheeks darkened with embarrassment. “Thank you,” she said, smiling as she adjusted Sadie’s tray on the table. “I appreciate your help.”

Sadie nodded toward the embracing couple, but didn’t say anything.

“He’s a pastor,” Bets said, though her tone sounded too defensive to be trusted completely. “It’s his job to offer comfort to members of the fellowship. Could you get the ice cream please?”

Sadie nodded and headed back toward the kitchen, wondering if Pastor Darryl had ever offered the same kind of comfort to Noelani. It would explain the shadow that had crossed Bets’s face each time Sadie had said Noelani’s name. Sadie didn’t want to think it could also explain Noelani’s dive into the ocean that had taken her life, but once the thought had popped up, it wouldn’t go away.

Banana Splits

Pineapple Topping

4 tablespoons butter

1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in small saucepan on medium-high heat. Add pineapple. Mix well. Add sugar and salt. Bring to a boil while stirring continually. Stir until thickened. Allow to cool.

Great-Grandma Jensen’s Caramel Sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup butter (or margarine)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for exactly one minute. (The longer it boils, the thicker the sauce will become.)

Laree’s Hot Fudge

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 (15-ounce) can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup flour

Combine butter, sugar, and cocoa powder in a 2-quart saucepan on medium heat, stirring consistently until butter is melted. It will be very thick and chunky. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly until smooth. Add vanilla and flour. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Mixture will thicken as it cools. Serve while sauce is still warm. (You can keep the hot fudge warm in a slow cooker set on the lowest heat setting.) Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Chapter 24

Sadie ended up staying at the party until nine o’clock—much later than she’d expected. After dessert, a teenage girl suggested playing a game she called Banana Split. After the girl began explaining the rules to the group, Sadie realized it was the same concept as the game she knew as Fruit Salad. Enough chairs were set in a circle for everyone playing, except for one person who stood in the middle. Everyone sitting in the circle silently chose one of the five toppings Bets had offered for the banana splits—hot fudge, caramel, pineapple, nuts, or cherries. When the person in the middle called out a topping, those in the circle who had chosen that topping in their mind had to run for a new seat while the person in the middle tried to get there first. Whoever missed out on claiming a seat was now “It.”

The girl was having a hard time describing the game, and no one except Sadie seemed to understand what she was trying to say. As soon as Sadie mentioned her familiarity with the game, Pastor Darryl made her cocaptain with the girl, who looked relieved to have the help and quickly sat down, making Sadie “It” for the first round.

Standing in front of the group was hard at first; she kept clearing her throat and having to consciously calm herself. She tried to take Dr. McKay’s advice and not focus on the anxiety she felt. By the end of the first round—she’d made sure to get a seat—she was barely aware of her discomfort. Still, she didn’t choose a topping for most of the game, not wanting to fight for a seat, but enjoyed the energy of the group all the same. She noticed Bets didn’t participate either. There was a chance she simply never chose the same topping the person in the middle called out, but Sadie sensed it wasn’t that. She sat there smiling and clapping from time to time, but still apart somehow. Lonely?

The woman Pastor Darryl had been embracing, however, was very into the game. She wrestled seats away from the teenagers and laughed and teased constantly. Her name was Mandi, and she was always in the middle of the action. After a few rounds, Sadie noticed that whenever a seat next to Pastor Darryl emptied, Mandi ran for it, even if she hadn’t immediately stood when the topping was called out. She wouldn’t exit the spot until he jumped up in pursuit of another seat himself. Because of her strategy, she and Pastor Darryl sat next to one another through most of the game. He often had his arm around her shoulders, though he put his arm around the shoulders of anyone who ended up next to him. Sadie tried to pay attention to whether Bets was watching them like she was, but she couldn’t be certain.

By the time kids finally started heading for home in the cars parked out front or on the bikes leaned against the back wall of the church, Sadie couldn’t remember when she’d had such a good time. Certainly not for several months; before coming to Kaua’i, for sure.

“I’m delighted you could join us,” Pastor Darryl said when Sadie headed for the chair where she’d left her bag. “You fit in as though you’ve always been one of us.”

Sadie smiled as she put the strap of her bag over her head, adjusting her bag so it rested against her hip. He put a hand on her arm, and she was glad to have noticed that he was equally touchy with everyone in his congregation. Consistency had to count for something, but she, personally, wasn’t comfortable with it.

“I appreciate you working so hard to make me feel a part of the group,” she said, moving away casually so that he dropped his hand. “I didn’t mean to stay so long.”

“We don’t usually go this late,” he said, waving toward the moon rising in the night sky. “We meet every week as an opportunity for the youth to have a wholesome activity. Today was especially
nani,
though. Maybe you were good luck.”

Sadie shook her head. “You’re a charming man,” she said, only hearing the accusation in her own mind.

“All in the name of God,” he assured her.

A yawn snuck up on her, but she tried to hide it behind her hand then frowned apologetically when he took note.

“We wore you out and didn’t finish our conversation about Noelani.”

“That’s okay,” Sadie said, smiling in hopes of assuring him that it really was all right. In fact, maybe it was optimal. Bets had avoided her after Sadie had spotlighted the embrace between Pastor Darryl and Mandi, but maybe she’d be more open tomorrow. “I’m actually staying in Kalaheo tonight. Perhaps I could come over in the morning and we could talk some more?”

“Are you staying with a friend here in town?”

“No,” Sadie said, shaking her head. “At a motel.”

“We have a guest room at our apartment that I’d invite you to use,” Pastor Darryl said, waving toward the square cinder block house located adjacent to the church. “But I’m afraid Sister Mandi’s staying there until she finds a more permanent place.”

Mandi lives here?
Wow.
Sadie tried to hide her surprise and quickly scanned the yard until she saw Bets and Mandi talking with another woman on the other side of the yard. At some point in the evening, Bets must have gone inside because she wore a pink sweater—more like a big knitted scarf with sleeves—in the cool night air. As in the game, Bets seemed a quiet participant in the conversation taking place, while Mandi and the other woman did most of the talking. Bets couldn’t be comfortable having Mandi under her roof. Never mind what she said about it being her husband’s job to comfort the members of the congregation, her body language betrayed the discomfort Sadie believed she wouldn’t easily put into words.

“That’s all right,” Sadie said. “I’ve already got a room at the Sand and Sea Motel. I understand Noelani worked there.”

“She did,” Pastor Darryl said with a nod, his expression a bit more somber. “God bless her.”

“Well, I ought to get going,” Sadie said, peering into the dark night around her. There were lights on buildings and such, and she could only hope they would light up the street enough that she could get back to the motel without having a panic attack. Maybe she’d run. Had she brought her pepper spray, or was it back at the condo?

“Let me drive you,” Pastor Darryl said. “There’s actually a trail that cuts through the back way, but it’s not well lit at night.” He gestured toward a low-growing hedge around the back of the property. Sadie could make out a gap in the bushes, but was grateful for the ride and thanked him for the offer. She really didn’t feel up to running.

“Let me get the keys to the Jeep,” he said.

He left Sadie and jogged across the lawn. As he passed Bets, he took hold of her hand and leaned in, presumably to tell her where he was going. Her eyes immediately snapped to Sadie, and although Bets’s smile didn’t falter, Sadie recognized the tightness behind it.

Wanting to keep things good between the two of them, Sadie hurried over to Bets as Pastor Darryl disappeared into the apartment. The other woman said good-bye, and Bets and Mandi hugged her. Mandi followed Darryl inside. Bets looked after them a little too long before turning toward Sadie.