Epilogue
THE ISLAND WAS AWASH IN FEVERISH ACTIVITY. THE SNOWBIRDS, a.k.a. tourists, had arrived in force; the approaching Christmas season and Kala Aulani’s nuptials only added to the intense excitement. An island wedding was a serious thing, and everyone felt duty-bound to pitch in to make it a perfect day for the new bride.
The sun wasn’t up, but Kala hadn’t slept more than a few hours in the last hectic days. Guests from the mainland had arrived in slow dribbles, so it was one trip after the other to the airport. Thanks to her large family, accommodations for all worked out just fine. Food was constantly being cooked and served. Kala herself rushed from one thing to another as an island wedding required a lot of preparation, and since she was a perfectionist in all things, she had offered input out the wazoo as her relatives grumbled. She was leaving nothing to chance.
That night was the wedding rehearsal, followed by a luau. She sent out no invitations-that was not how it was done. The whole island was invited to Kala Aulani’s wedding. That was standard operating procedure, and there was no getting around it. Not that Kala would even try. Tradition was tradition.
It was still dark out, as dark as Kala’s thoughts, and that shouldn’t be. No matter how hard she’d tried during these last five months, she couldn’t get Sophie Lee out of her mind. She’d told no one about her deep dark secret. She pinched herself, hoping the dark, ugly thoughts would disappear. She needed to concentrate on her wedding and how happy she was supposed to be. She looked down at her wrist. In twenty minutes, she had to leave for the airport to pick up Ryan Spenser. She had deliberately withheld Spenser’s arrival time because she didn’t want the shuttle brigade to pick him up. She wanted to be the one to do it. She hadn’t even told Ben.
She had plenty of time, she was dressed. All she had to do was walk out to her car, climb in, and make the thirty-minute drive to the airport.
Kala thought about her life these last five months. She’d thought on her return that she would find peace and harmony. She had found those things, but she just hadn’t been able to leave her baggage behind. It was with her every day. And she couldn’t tell anyone about it. Sophie was right about attorney-client privilege. And with the original conviction overturned and a directed verdict of not guilty entered, she couldn’t be tried again because of the prohibition against double jeopardy.
Perhaps Kala could have put it behind her, shelved it, so to speak, but Sophie had returned to the island and lived up on the North Shore in the state-of-the-art Star mansion. Kala had read in one of the newspapers that it was the estate that had been used when Hollywood filmed
What surprised Kala more than anything was the way Nick and Patty had accepted Sophie’s departure. As far as she knew, there had been no further communication with Sophie once she’d left Atlanta.
Patty was happy with her new job at Fox, which really wasn’t so new anymore. She was planning her own wedding for the spring, and Kala and Ben would have to return to Atlanta for that. Nick had had his second surgery, was doing well, so well that he had recently become engaged to his physical therapist and had even brought her with him for the wedding. He was writing a book and had opened his own golf shop and was giving golfing lessons to underprivileged children.
Linda was pregnant and deliriously happy. Jay walked around in a daze, worrying about what kind of father he would be. A wonderful father, Kala had told him.
Ben said he’d found his niche and loved teaching a law class two nights a week. Kala’s plan to open a storefront law office was still on the drawing board. She wasn’t sure if it would ever materialize. The law these days held no appeal for her. She hoped that would change in time. If it didn’t, oh, well.
Her little family was all present and accounted for. And, finally, it was time to head to the airport.
Kala was in the car, the engine running, when she remembered the leis she’d made the night before for Spenser. She ran back into the house and took them out of the fridge. How could she have forgotten something so important? Overload, that was how.
Forty minutes later, Kala saw Spenser waiting at the curb, his luggage stacked up next to him. She hopped out, hugged her new best friend, then draped the leis around his neck. “Welcome to Hawaii, Spenser!” Kala said. “You’re lookin’ good, pal.”
“I wish I could say the same for you, Kala. You’ve lost weight. And what are you doing with dark circles under your eyes? Too much excitement. I hope you aren’t having second thoughts. Ben is one in a million,” Spenser said, sliding into the car. “By the way, I’m in love, in case you’re interested. I hired this young doctor for our summer camp and one thing led to another and I’m going to ask her to marry me over Christmas. I would have brought her with me, but she’s just getting over a really bad flu, and the doctor said she couldn’t fly. And before you can ask, my father has been acting like a father of late. It’s a chore for him, but he is trying. I’m trying, too. One of these days, if it’s meant to be, we’ll be a real father and son. I’m happy, that’s the main thing.”
“See, things really do work out if you’re patient enough to wait for them,” Kala said lightly.
The sun was up already, and it was sufficiently light out for Spenser to marvel about the exotic island.
Kala moved to the right and pulled into an all-night cafe on the beach. “I need to talk to you, Spenser,” she said as she brought her car to a full stop and turned off the engine. She turned to face her friend. “Look, I’m going to do and say something I never ever thought I would do. But, right now, I don’t care. I need you to listen to me, Spenser.”
Spenser held up his hand. “Let’s get out of the car, Kala, and sit over there at that picnic table. Looks like the place is open, and we can get some coffee. If there’s one thing I cannot stand, it’s airline coffee. This is my chance to taste that coffee you brag about all the time.”
They ordered from a sleepy-looking waitress who was just minutes away from the end of her shift. When the coffee came, Spenser held up his hand again, and said, “Before you say what I think you’re going to say, and ruin your life, let me say it first.
“I know that Sophie Lee killed Audrey Star. I figured it out when I went through the journal. You would have, too, if you weren’t… ah… under the weather that night. I was going to come by the day after the conference, but you had already left for Hawaii. Everything happens for a reason, Kala. Ours not to reason why. There’s nothing either of us could do even now. Every new law student knows about double jeopardy. She can’t be tried again. What I don’t know is if you figured it out on your own, or if Sophie confessed to you. I don’t want to know either. Now, do you feel better?”
Kala blinked. Well, damn, she did feel better. She felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted from her shoulders. “You know what, Spenser? I do. God, I am so glad we had this talk. There is one more thing, though, that I want you to know. That last day, the day of the conference, that wasn’t a Tuesday!”
Spenser laughed and couldn’t stop. “Did you tell her that?”
Kala grinned. “I did! I wish you could have seen her face. Right then and there, I knew I had ruined her brand- spanking-new life. God works in mysterious ways. We both know that.”
“That we do, that we do! So tell me about the wedding preparations. I hear it’s going to be one hell of a wingding.”
“This might be a good time to tell you that you, as best man, have to get up with Ben and…”
Spenser laughed. “I already know all about the loincloth. Hey, I had so much time on my hands these last five months, I joined a gym. I am ripped. I look forward to showing off. I even went to a tanning bed, so I wouldn’t embarrass you with my fish-belly white body.”
Kala chuckled.
“Look at me, Kala. Life is good. Let’s both agree not to dwell on the past. Sophie Lee is the past. We both acted honorably. And to tell you the truth, Kala, I’m not sure the outcome is all that terrible. We follow the rules of the legal profession and uphold the laws as they are. Sophie Lee broke those laws. But was what she actually did, apart from the fact that it was against the law, really so bad? Does what she did make her a bad person?
