Spoils of Eden (6 page)

“About Zachary.” He looked down at her. “Did you notice he’d hurt his leg?”

“I can’t help noticing such things. It’s the nurse in me,” she jested. “But he didn’t say how it happened. Why do you ask?”

“Perhaps it’s nothing. As I mentioned, Rafe dropped by this morning. He merely asked if Zachary had been here last night.”

She paused on the pathway, and searched his gaze, wondering what was on his mind.

“Why would Rafe ask such a thing? Zachary lives at Kea Lani, so he would come by almost every day.” She stopped, remembering how Zachary hadn’t stopped at the church to see Ambrose since April. Even so, Zachary lived at Kea Lani, which was within walking distance of Ambrose’s house and Rafe’s new pineapple plantation.

“True, my dear, but Zachary isn’t usually in the habit of prowling about after midnight, then running when a member of the family recognizes him.”

“Is that what happened?” Her curiosity sparked to life.

“It’s likely inconsequential, but, yes, Candace thought she saw him last night on the lanai near your Great-aunt Nora’s guest room. When she called to him, he left in a hurry. She mentioned it to Rafe at breakfast and thought Zachary might have injured himself. Rafe knows I’m often up late at night working, so when he stopped by this morning with the Kona beans, he asked if Zach had come by to see me last night on his way back from Hanalei.”

She considered as they came to the bungalow. “Did Rafe think Zachary hurt his leg leaving the lanai?”

“Candace did, I gather from what she told him. I don’t know what any of this means.”

She glanced at him. He wore a troubled look, so she remained silent as they walked on together. Zachary’s behavior made no sense, and when they arrived at the comfortable bungalow, the puzzling incident was dropped.

Ambrose’s horse and buggy were still out front from some earlier calling. Her favorite hibiscus bushes were growing vigorously beside the wooden steps that climbed up to the latticed lanai. She remembered them from childhood, when shed lived in this love-filled home.

Even though she now lived at Kea Lani as a Derrington, there were still so many prized memories here that whispered to her heart. Shed grown up believing her mother had died, and Grandfather Ainsworth and Great-aunt Nora had told her there was no one in the family to properly care for her at Kea Lani. Jerome had taken Rebecca’s death extremely hard, it was said, and he had left Oahu to voyage to Tahiti, Bora Bora, and eventually as far away as India until his loss was assuaged. Shed accepted this story as a girl, but even then it hadn’t been satisfying. “Why couldn’t Jesus heal his hurting heart?” she’d asked as a child, and received only a sad silence and the admonition that her father thought it best that she be cared for by Ambrose and Noelani.

Noelani, who had worked for Rebecca at the Hawaiian Royal School, had been pleased to become Eden’s nanny. Even after Eden reached her young teens, the family had appeared in no hurry to bring her to Kea Lani to be raised with her two cousins, Candace and Zachary.

“You fit in so well with ‘Uncle’ Ambrose and ‘Aunt’ Noelani,” they had commented, although Ambrose and Noelani were not actually her blood uncle and aunt. They were Eastons, which meant that Ambrose was Rafe’s blood uncle, while Townsend was Eden’s. Eden had wondered if she would ever move to the plantation house.

Then, when she’d turned fifteen, Grandfather Ainsworth, without advance notice, sent for her by carriage and brought her to Kea Lani as a rightful member of the prestigious Derrington family.

Eden had never resented those early years with Ambrose and Noelani, for they’d been happy ones. She loved them as fully as any Derrington and, in some cases, perhaps even more. It was through Noelani that shed learned to love the native Hawaiian people and to understand their Polynesian culture. And Ambrose,
dear Ambrose
, had brought her to faith in Christ and taught her to appreciate the missionary endeavors that were so much on his heart.

After returning to Kea Lani, Eden had settled into the comfortable life of being a wealthy Derrington, receiving her higher education along with Candace and Zachary, and moving among the elite families of the islands and the influential planters and members of the Hawaiian monarchy. Through Great-aunt Nora, who was a friend of the royal family and especially of the present queen, Liliuokalani, she attended dinners and balls at Iolani Palace in Honolulu, and met dignitaries and ambassadors from England and America.

“I’m on my way to Hawaiiana, Uncle Ambrose, so I can’t stay long,” she said as they entered the front door. She explained the expected return of her grandfather on the afternoon steamer, then said, “Zachary is concerned for Candace. Oliver P. Hunnewell is in the party that voyaged from San Francisco with Ainsworth.”

“Oh he is, is he? Zachary does well to be concerned for Candace. No doubt your grandfather wishes the marriage to take place between her and Oliver this year.”

“Is there any way you can convince him that she’s better off marrying Keno?”

“No, but I will use our most powerful resource—the matter will go on my prayer list. Candace asked me to speak to Ainsworth before he went to Washington D.C. Unfortunately, he doesn’t see the need for her to marry any man other than the Hunnewell boy. Ainsworth’s a fine man, but when his mind’s made up on a matter, he can’t—
or won’t—be
swayed. I’ve little doubt, though, that Keno, while lacking in this world’s treasures, would be the better choice for Candace.”

Eden stood on the woven palm fiber rug. It was stained blue-green. The rattan furniture throughout the room was padded with soft, indigo cushions, and on the wall hung one large painting that always made her smile: a replica of a fox hunt in Tudor England, with lords and ladies wearing massive white wigs. Though out of place in a Hawaiian bungalow, it had hung there since her childhood.

On a small stand under the painting were woven baskets of coconuts and bananas, and next to these were a fire-darkened coffeepot that had seen many years of use and a certain brown-stained mug that Ambrose refused to yield for a chinaware tea cup from Shanghai. On a wooden table was a collection of his papers and books, an inkhorn and pen, and a worn leather Bible smudged with yellowing margins. Everything was old, but cherished because of memories of blessings and prayers answered, and verses that had comforted and warned. Yes,
this
was home to her. These things were more valuable than Kea Lani’s thick French carpets, mahogany furniture engraved with pineapples, fine damask divans, Vienna chandelier, and expensive figurines from Europe.

Ambrose sat at his desk, and Eden noticed for the first time that his breathing appeared to trouble him. For a moment she forgot about Candace and her grandfather. She remembered how Ambrose had hoped to turn the church over to the Hawaiians and retire, but there was no one willing to take his place as its busy lay-pastor, and certainly no one as spiritually capable. Ambrose once had held high hopes that Noelani’s nephew, Keno, would become a minister, but Keno had never felt it was his spiritual gift or calling to serve as pastor.

“Is that why you’re here, Eden? To discuss Candace?”

She walked around the room. Now that she was here with the unpleasant news about Kip, she wondered if she shouldn’t have left the matter to Aunt Lana after all. Then, squelching her inner doubts, she faced it head-on. “No. It’s not about Candace. I only learned about Grandfather’s arrival a short while ago. It’s Rafe that brings me here, and baby Kip.”

His gaze searched her face. “Rafe and Kip?”

She sighed and walked up to the desk. “I’ve been sent here by the Board of Health to bring Kip back to Kalihi for quarantine. The Board learned about Kip being born on Molokai to lepers. You know the law. It’s forbidden to keep Kip until the Board certifies that he doesn’t have leprosy. And even then—” her voice trailed off.

“Even then, it’s not at all certain a baby from Molokai can be adopted.”

“Yes,” she breathed and sank into the chair. “There’s a ruling that may require Kip to be placed in a hospital-run home for children born on Molokai. Oh, Ambrose! This will be difficult to explain to Rafe. Even so, I’ve arranged with Dr. Bolton to be authorized to examine Kip.”

Ambrose stared at her, his own concern bringing furrowed lines to his tanned forehead. “This is ill news for Rafe, no doubt about that. Are you sure it’s wise for you to be the one to inform him and claim control of Kip? It won’t go over well, Eden.”

She rubbed the back of her neck, her head aching. “You’re voicing the same concerns as Lana. All I can say is what I told her. I feel responsible for this tragedy. And I do see it as such. Kip is not a leper. I’m sure of that. I examined him myself after his arrival last year. And Noelani knows what to look for. She agrees he’s clean and has been all along. But I feel I must be the one to explain the situation to Rafe because I—I’m connected with Kalihi Hospital. If someone else brings him the news I fear he’ll think I don’t care. And I do! Oh I do, Ambrose!”

“Of course you do,” he said gently. “I’m sure Rafe will see it that way in time.”

“In time?”

“He’s very attached to Kip.”

“I know that. But so am I!”

“Yes, but Kip is even more special to Rafe now that you and he have ended your engagement. Kip is all he has.”

She jumped to her feet and turned away. “Oh, Ambrose, don’t
say it that way. It makes me feel as though I’ve done him dreadful harm.” She turned quickly and faced him. “It so happens Rafe was quite willing to end things for the present. He took the ring back quickly enough.”

“I’m sure he had his reasons, but I don’t believe that was the resolution he wanted.”

“You said yourself he’s been difficult to get along with. Well,” she said, suddenly defensive, “he was that way even before I told him I had a calling to work at Kalihi and Molokai. He hasn’t been happy in months.”

“I doubt it had to do with you, my dear Eden. He thinks highly of you and your strong motivations. He always has. I believe he’s frustrated over needing to surrender his plans for the pineapple plantation to Parker Judson. As we both know, he’s indebted to Judson for a good deal of money. Until he’s made Hawaiiana successful, he’ll not have paid his debt. It’s Hanalei on the Big Island he’s working to get control of from Judson. Hanalei has always been his home, and the plantation he grew up on. Matt established it,” he said affectionately of his deceased younger brother. “And it’s a precious thing to Rafe. It was tragic when Celestine made the error of turning its management over to Townsend.”

Eden calmed herself and walked over to the window to look out. “Yes,” she said quietly, “I know. I’ve discussed it all many times with Rafe.” She rubbed her fingers together and became aware it was her bare ring finger she was rubbing. Placing her left hand inside her pocket, she turned and looked at Ambrose.

“Ambrose, I’m the one to tell Rafe, and I’ll need to take Kip back with me to Kalihi. But I can promise Rafe that I’ll not leave Kip any longer than absolutely necessary for me to eat and sleep. I’m going to stay there with Kip day and night.”

He was quickly beside her. “My dear, you can’t do that. It’s too much of a risk for you.”

“No, I’ll be all right. I know how to protect myself. Besides, if I go to Molokai one day when my father comes home, I’ll be with
lepers every day. This is a call upon my life. Rafe must understand this before he and I can decide on any future together. I need time … and I need him to wait.”

Ambrose took both her hands into his and looked at her. His eyes were kind but firm. “Eden, you’re asking a great deal of him. Don’t be disappointed when he proves himself only too human.”

She said nothing for a long moment, then turned her head away. He released her hands.

“I’ll do all I can to help you,” he said. “Both with Rafe and Kip, and the calling you believe God has laid so indelibly on your heart.”

She threw her arms around him, and he patted her head as though she were a child. “I knew you’d understand. If only Rafe would,” she said, with a slight tone of resentment.

Ambrose was quiet for a moment. “Rafe has his own struggles. He too, is trying to come to peace with certain issues.”

“Yes, and one of them is his father. Rafe has always believed his father’s death wasn’t an accident,” she said bluntly.

Ambrose gave an agreeing nod. “That’s one of his issues and why he wants to control Hanalei. But he has another problem with you, Eden.”

She lifted her gaze and saw his sobriety. “With me? It looks as if our biggest problems are each other. Maybe we weren’t meant to marry after all,” she said in frustration.

“Rafe saw in you a woman to stand beside him as he confronts the giants keeping him from attaining his father’s stolen dream. He looks upon running Hanalei as a dream. He wants your love displayed in a commitment to
follow him
wherever
he
goes.”

“A bit selfish, isn’t it?” she found herself saying.

“No. Not selfish. It was God’s way from the beginning, Eden. A woman follows her man, not the man his woman. If it’s seen differently nowadays, it’s because culture is walking away from God’s plan for marriage.”

“Oh, Ambrose, I’m sorry.” She turned, placing palms to her temples. “I know, a woman was created to be the helpmate, not the
leader. I’ve said so to myself many times, and I’ve said so to Candace. It’s one of the main reasons she doesn’t want to marry Oliver. She isn’t at peace with the idea of following his leadership. And the real reason I gave the engagement ring back to Rafe is that marriage wouldn’t be fair to him right now. I simply can’t release the longing I’ve had since childhood. That’s why I can’t commit myself just yet.”

He patted her shoulder. “Don’t get yourself too upset. Life is a struggle, and marriage is a struggle. It’s uphill all the way. You’re upset right now, and you’ve too many worries on your heart. This matter of Kip is alarming, and this goal of yours to find your mother and work with your father among the lepers on Molokai—do you believe doing so will release you from this longing you say you’ve had for so long?”