August 18, 1984
Dan straightened his tie and waved to Tom Delanoy as he pulled the car back onto the road. The three-hour nap he had taken earlier had helped refresh him, but Dan was still grateful for Tom’s chauffeuring. Taking a deep breath, he stiffened his spine and approached the door, his invitation gripped tightly in one hand. The doorman glanced at the heavy embossed paper, and waved Dan in.
The country club was lit up like Christmas. Tiny white twinkle lights outlined the entire reception room, threaded with bright ribbons and silk flowers. Potted palm trees defined the dance floor, and all eight round dining tables were covered in white linen cloth and tropical flowers. Tiki torches lined the outdoor area in Madeleine Wheeler’s attempt to turn Sleepyside into luau central. Dan looked around the room, searching for someone, anyone he could claim to know. Spying some Beldens on the terrace, he turned in that direction, only to be halted by a familiar voice.
“Hello, handsome.”
“Tess.” With a sigh of relief, Dan turned around, and there she was, looking like an island goddess. Her chin length hair was pulled back on one side and held with two white flowers. Around her neck was a fragrant lei of what he would discover were tiare and orchids, and she was wearing a knee length sarong dress in a deep green splashed with white and pink flowers. “You look gorgeous. Like an island princess.”
“Thank you.” Tessa smiled up at him. “You look pretty nice yourself.”
“Thanks. I...uh...this is for you.” Dan held out the box. As Tessa reached to take it, he noticed the bracelet she still wore on her wrist.
“Would you mind carrying it to the table for me? I’d really like to introduce you to some more of my family.” Dan obligingly followed Tessa, placing the gift among other brightly wrapped packages, before heading to a group of adults dressed in fancy evening clothes.
“Uncle Wes?” Tessa interrupted the conversation quietly. “I’d like you to meet my friend, Dan. Dan, this is my Uncle, Wesley Hart, his wife, my Aunt Catherine, and Jasper Perkins, a dear friend of my father. Family, this is Daniel Mangan.”
The three adults were silent. After a long moment, Wesley Hart extended his hand. Dan shook it firmly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“The pleasure is all mine, I assure you.” Wes managed to control the lump in his throat. “My family owes you a debt, for what you did for my niece.”
Dan felt heat rising up his neck. “No, sir,” he shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything, honest. Tessa and I...there isn’t anything owed. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I was going to ask Tessa to dance.” He looked at her, and she nodded, her eyes gleaming, as they headed to the dance floor in the center of the room.
Wes turned to Jasper, something akin to desperation in his eyes. “That one isn’t going to go away, is he?”
Jasper laughed. “Doubtful. He looks at Tessa like Jack looked at Sarah. I suggest you prepare yourself for the inevitable.” Wesley sighed, and allowed Catherine to lead him on to the dance floor.
Dan and Tessa danced. Not for very long, but any time the music was slow enough for Dan’s leg to tolerate the exercise, he would ask, and she would acquiesce. Then came dinner. Four courses. Sitting at a table with the seven Bob-Whites, Tessa had to chuckle at the country club version of Hawaiian cuisine.
“What’s so funny?” Honey asked.
“The food.” Tessa giggled, stabbing a piece of grilled pineapple and waving it in small circles.
Honey studied her plate, and giggled as well. “It tastes good,” she agreed, “but there is an awful lot of pineapple and coconut.”
“Oh, it’s delicious,” Tessa assured her. “I just find it funny that the chef pours pineapple and coconut on the food and calls it Hawaiian. We’ve had cucumber salad...with pineapple, avocado-coconut milk soup...with pineapple garnish, and now grilled coconut chicken with lemon rice, broccoli...”
“… and grilled pineapple rings.” Honey finished with a barely contained giggle. “Anyone want to guess what’s for dessert?”
“Pineapple upside down cake?” Jim and Mart chorused, and the rest of the table joined in the laughter.
“What would be real Hawaiian food?” Brian asked, his mind always searching for facts.
“Traditional or normal?” Tessa asked.
“Both.”
“Traditional would be kalua pork, taro beef, ahi ahi poke, lau lau, lomi salmon and poi. Normal would be grilled fish, rice, chicken long rice, haupia, kulolo, loco moco, and musubi.”
“I recognized pork, salmon, fish and chicken,” Mart admitted, “What was all the other stuff?”
“Kalua pork is pig wrapped and roasted underground. Taro beef is beef roasted on taro tops. Lau lau is fish, pork or chicken, wrapped in luau leaf or spinach and steamed inside ti leaves, while poi is ground up and cooked taro. What else did I mention?”
“Pokay, salmon something, and how-you-pee-o?” Mart struggled with the words.
“Poke is raw fish salad, and lomi salmon is raw salmon chopped up with tomato, onion and salt, haupio is coconut pudding, but it is really thick--you slice it.”
“What about loco-moco and and wasubi?” Jim’s curiosity was piqued.
“Musubi,” Tess corrected. “That’s spam sushi. You know, rice and spam rolled up in seaweed. Loco-moco is a hamburger patty with rice and a fried egg, covered with gravy.”
“Yech!” Diana wrinkled her delicate nose. “We ate a lot of spam when we were poor. Ugh!”
“I think the loco-moco sounds pretty good,” Mart countered. “Maybe we can get Mike to put it on the Wimpy’s menu.”
“But I don’t know about the raw fish po-kay,” Trixie said dubiously. “What kind of fish?”
“Ahi, usually,” Tess explained. “I think it’s a kind of tuna, but it’s just ahi to me.”
“I hope you aren’t upset about the food, Tessa.” A concerned look crossed Honey’s face. “Mother and Daddy usually vacation in the Caribbean; Hawaii is such a long flight.”
“I’m not upset at all!” Tessa hugged her cousin. “The party is perfect, and dinner is absolutely delicious, I just thought all the pineapple and coconut was kind of funny.”
Honey fished a wedge of pineapple out of her water glass. “I guess it is a little overkill,” she agreed with a giggle. “But I’ll have you know that dessert is coconut cream pie and pineapple upside down cake!”
Heads turned as the table once again exploded with laughter.
After dinner, there were speeches and more dancing. Then came the birthday cake, which, to Tessa’s relief and Honey’s amusement, was straight chocolate with white chocolate frosting, and not a trace of either pineapple or coconut.
Finally, the last guest departed. Exhausted from smiling and shaking hands, Tessa sat down on the stage step, and took a deep breath.
“So,” a familiar voice asked, “When are you going to open your gifts?”
Grinning up at Trixie, Tessa answered, “I was hoping to do that back at the house. Can you all come with?”
“I think we all are spending the night.” Trixie flopped down next to her cousin. “Diana’s already called the chaise in your room, and Dan and Mart are trying to wheedle Ms. Trask into letting them sleep in the game room.”
“Good luck with that,” Tessa snorted. “They just want to stay up all night watching movies and playing video games.”
“Hey!” Mart appeared in front of the girls, accompanied by the rest of the gang. “I represent that remark.”
Pushing him aside, Honey handed Tessa a rectangular box. “Here,” she said. “We wanted you to open this before we leave. It’s from all of us.”
Curiously, Tessa pulled off the metallic wrapping paper and lifted the box lid. Red fabric appeared, and she carefully drew out a jacket with the letters B.W.G. cross-stitched on the back. She looked up at her friends and relatives.
“So, will you?” asked Mart. “Will you partake in our ornithological grouping, hereby making us a perfect octet?”
“I don’t know,” Tessa said slowly, her eyes twinkling at Mart. “Are you asking me to join your club, or go bird watching?”
“We’re asking you to join our club,” Jim assured her. “So, how about it, Cuz? Do you want to be a Bob-White?”
Tessa looked from one to another, her eyes landing finally on Dan. He smiled. “It was a unanimous decision to ask you,” he said.
“In that case,” Tessa replied, rising and slipping on the jacket, “I would be honored. Thank you.”
Brian cleared his throat. “Well, if that’s settled,” he said, “I think we should be heading on up to the Manor House. I brought the Queen, if anyone wants a ride.”
“I think we’ll walk,” Jim said, taking Trixie’s hand. Brian shot Mart a look.
“I think Diana and I will walk with you.” Mart stretched his arms over his head. “Brian can only take three comfortably. Tess looks a trifle tired, and Dan shouldn’t be doing too much more on his leg.”
“I guess that leaves you, Honey,” Brian said. “Walk or ride?”
“I’ll ride.” Honey stifled a small yawn. “It’s been a long day, and I never turn down a chance to ride in royalty.”
“For that, you get to ride in the front of yon chariot.” Brian extended his arm.
“Ooh la la,” Dan whispered to Tessa, “I guess that leaves the backseat for us.” He raised an eyebrow, and Brian scowled as Tessa giggled.
“I did replace the rear view mirror, you know,” Brian told Dan, as they headed out the door. “It’s stock, so I can see the whole backseat.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Dan said, laughter in his voice. “Maybe we should walk.”
“Keep it up, Mangan: Just remember: I know where you live.”
“Where do you want all your loot, Tess?” Mart asked, grabbing an armload of packages from the trunk of Brian’s car.
“Why don’t you take them up to my room,” Tessa suggested, “I think there’s still some cake left. We can have a party in my room before we all go off to bed.”
“I like that idea!” Mart enthused, heading for the door. “Don’t forget the beverages.”
“Aye-aye, glutton!” Tessa called out after him. She turned to Diana, asking, “Would you mind helping me?”
“Sure.” Diana grinned at her friend. “I think we should load up a tray with veggies, and tell Mart the cake was all gone. What do you think?”
“I think that you are truly evil, Princess Di,” Tessa giggled. “I like that in a person. Let’s go.” They linked arms and sauntered into the house.
Dan had not seen Tessa’s suite of rooms before. As he followed Mart through the door, he didn’t even try to hide his astonishment. The door opened up into a sitting area, with an overstuffed chair and small couch. Bookshelves lined the sage green walls, and the window seat in the large bay window looked out towards the lake. A large fireplace divided this room from the bedroom, and in front of it sat a chaise lounge, a brightly colored crazy quilt draped over the back.
Dan set his armload of gifts down on the coffee table. “Wow,” he said, looking around at the Hawaiian items gracing the many shelves. “Wow.”
“If you think that’s nice,” Trixie said impishly, “Take a look at the rest of it. She gave Dan a friendly push, and he ended up in the bedroom.
The bed was a huge, cherry four-poster, hung with green and gold draperies, and covered with a matching patchwork duvet. Matching nightstands and more bookshelves made the room complete, and the pineapple lamps on the nightstands made the room Tess.
The fireplace divider was a fireplace on both sides. Clever, Dan thought, remembering Tessa’s dislike of the cold. A matching chaise sat in front of the bedroom side of the fireplace, and Dan’s heart clenched as he recognized the tattered green and tan blanket resting on the chaise. Moving toward it, Dan picked it up, letting his fingers stroke it. Remembering.
“Hey! That’s my favorite blankie.” Tessa’s voice made Dan turn, and the look on her face made him smile.
“It looks like it’s seen better days,” he said.
“It still does the job,” Tess countered, taking his hand and leading him back into the group.
They gathered around the table, drinking milk and eating leftover cake, while Tessa opened her gifts. Most were from friends of her uncles, as she had opened gifts with her family before the party. “I know what I’m doing tomorrow,” she sighed, as she crumbled up another ball of wrapping paper.
“Writing thank you notes?” Di and Trixie chorused.
Trixie chortled “Better you than me. I’ve never seen so much...stuff.”
“I know.” Tessa sighed, looking over Honey’s shoulder at the names she had been writing. “Thank you, Cuz! It will be much easier now to write, ‘Dear Mr. Morgenstern, Thank you for the lovely gift certificate to La Maison. I’m sure my eight-year old cousin will love going there for hot dogs. Sincerely, Matthew Wheeler’s niece.’ How’s that?”
Honey laughed, and the others joined in.
“That would be fine, Tess,” Diana said. “I doubt that Mr. Morgenstern even knew what he got you.”
“Well that could be even more fun,” Tessa said, her eyes sparkling mischievously. “I can mix up the gifts and the givers and see if anyone notices.”
“Honey shook her head. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d call you ungrateful.” She ruined her lecture with a giggle. “But since I do know better, I have to admit that it would be nice to just have people you know and like come to your celebrations, rather than business associates who probably wouldn’t recognize you on the street!”
“Well this one is from someone you do know.” Trixie handed Dan’s package to Tessa.
Tessa took it, smiling over the top at the giver. “Best for last,” she whispered. Carefully peeling off the paper, she opened the box. “Oh, Danny.” She lifted out a yellow fleece blanket, embroidered with smiley faces, and a box containing a genuine lava lamp.”
Dan cleared his throat, and took the blanket, wrapping it around Tessa’s shoulders. “Last time, the blanket was to keep you warm and remind you of home. This time it is to remind you to be happy. As for the lamp,” he looked deeply into her eyes. “I hope this one never has to die to save my life.”
“I love it. I love both of them. Thank you.” Tessa leaned across Honey, and kissed Dan on the cheek. “Thank you.” She turned her attention to the rest of the gang. “Thanks to all of you. This has been a great birthday.”
“I’m glad, Tess,” Jim said, stifling a yawn. “Tomorrow I’ll tell you the true story of how Dan dragged me to six--count them, six--different stores to find that lamp. Who knew he was so into shopping?”
“Run, Frayne,” Dan growled ominously. “If you know what’s good for you, run!”
“Like you could catch me?” Jim laughed, thumping Dan with a pillow. He stretched, and Dan tossed the pillow right back at him. Laughing again, Jim rose to his feet. “It’s late,” he said, “And I for one do not want to oversleep and miss Cook’s chocolate-strawberry stuffed French toast. I’ve been dreaming about it all summer.”
“Then you need to get a life,” Brian joked, as he too got to his feet.
“Or a girlfriend,” Dan said, a wicked light in his dark eyes. Jim, in the middle of helping Trixie up, glared at Dan. Trixie blushed. Mart and Brian fell silent.
Diana broke the silent tension with a command, “Out!” she said imperiously. “Out ye knaves, and let me sleep!”
“Aye, my princess,” Mart said agreeably, kissing her gently. He held out his hand to Dan, who allowed himself to be pulled up. “Goodnight.”
The boys tromped out, and the three girls turned on Trixie. “Spill it!” they chorused.
Trixie, still a charming shade of pink, shook her head. “Not tonight. I’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?”
“No!” Tessa said, but she smiled. “But I suppose I can wait. If I have to.”
“Is this where I point out that technically it is tomorrow?” Honey asked, pointing to the clock.
“I thought you were my friend,” Trixie said in mock despair. “Fine. I’ll tell you later today. Not now.”
“It must be pretty good, if she wants to keep it to herself,” Diana mused.
“Oh, it is,” Trixie said, her eyes twinkling as a slow blush crawled up her face. “But you’ll just have to trust me. Good night.”
With a couple of quick hugs, Trixie and Honey headed off to Honey’s room, leaving Diana and Tessa to find their own beds.
The clock read half past two. Tessa turned her head to see Diana, sleeping peacefully next to her in the king-size bed. With a sigh, Tessa rolled out of the bed and padded across the thick carpet, wrapping her worn blanket around her shoulders. In the two weeks she had spent living in these rooms, she had yet to wake up in the morning, in that bed. Each night, she tried. Each morning, she awoke on the chaise, covered with her blanket. The bed was comfortable, but she just couldn’t seem to stay asleep in it.
A noise in the hall caught her attention, and Tessa moved silently through the sitting room to peer out her door. Sitting on the floor of the hall, leaning against the wall, was Dan, an Evian bottle sitting next to him. Somehow, he heard her, because he looked up and asked, “Did I wake you?”
“No.” Slipping out of her room, Tessa sat down beside him, her old blanket in hand. “I couldn’t sleep. I can’t seem to...it’s silly.”
“What?” Dan placed his hand over hers.
“My bed is too big.” Tessa giggled. “That sounds bad, doesn’t it? But it is. It’s big and cold, and I can’t sleep in it. Even with Diana sharing, it is still too big.”
“How do you sleep, then?”
“I usually end up on the chaise, all wrapped up in blankets.”
“Cocoon?”
“Exactly.” Tessa leaned her head on Dan’s shoulder. “What’s your excuse?”
He shrugged. “I might have overdone it a little today. My leg was bothering me. I went down to the kitchen for some water, so I could take a pill.” He held up the bottle. “When I got back up here, I decided I wasn’t quite ready to turn in. Mart snores, and he’s talking in his sleep.”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know exactly, but there wasn’t a single syllable word in the bunch.”
Tessa giggled again. Dan moved his arm until it was around her shoulder, pulling her closer. She snuggled in, wrapping the blanket around them both. “I missed this,” she said. “Isn’t that funny?”
“No.” Dan rubbed his hand up her arm and down again. “I missed this, too. It’s the easiness, the calm. Being together without any pressure. Talking, and not saying anything. Not talking, and saying everything.”
“You have a poet’s soul, Danny.
“No, I’m Irish, that’s all. You get the blarney and the melancholy, and a touch of the romantic, but nothing has to rhyme.” They laughed together, quietly, as the grandfather clock in the downstairs foyer struck three.
“We should try to sleep,” Tessa sighed, unwilling to leave the warmth of his arms.
“You think they’d notice if we stayed here all night?” Dan teased.
“Only if we’re blocking the path to breakfast,” Tessa joked. With another sigh, she pushed herself away. “Back to my chaise.”
“Try the bed again,” Dan suggested, as he slowly rose to his feet, extending his hand to Tessa. “Turn on your lamp, wrap yourself up in my...your blankets, and cocoon yourself in your too big bed. See if that makes a difference.”
“I’ll try, but only if you actually take that pill you’re hiding in your hand.” Tessa looked pointedly at Dan’s closed hand, and held out his water bottle. “If your leg hurts enough for you to think about taking the pill, you probably need two of them.”
Dan smiled at her, and put the lone pill in his mouth, swallowing it with a big swig of water. “It’s a little scary, how well you know me.”
He walked her to her room, opening the door for her. As Tess turned on the threshold, Dan kissed her. It was a sweet kiss. Long and gentle, slow and soft, and when it ended, Tessa felt warm from her head to her toes. “It’s going to be fun, making up for lost time, isn’t it?” she asked.
“I think it’s going to be even more fun facing the future together,” Dan told her as he took her hand. “Lima pili lima. Pu’uwai pili pu’uwai.”
Tessa smiled, tears in her eyes. In English, she repeated, “Hand in hand. Heart to heart.” She held up her hand. “Together.”
Dan placed his hand against hers, palm to palm. “Goodnight, Hoalohanani, ipu.” He stepped back, never losing eye contact.
“Goodnight, Kane, ipu.” Tessa closed the door, eyes aglow, face flushed. As she headed back to her bed, she stopped for her brand new blanket. Crawling in beside Diana, she wrapped herself in her past and her present. When she drifted off to sleep, she dreamed of the future.
Across the hall, Dan returned to his bed, feeling as though he was walking on air. His dreams were filled with hope, and the scent of jasmine.
