Alice Apana had not been reassured of her husband’s safety by any words Chan had spoken to convince her. Now, in a state of flustered concern, she stood at the sink washing the dishes she’d used to feed her godson. As she stared out the window, her eyes, grew glassier the more her thoughts whirled. The motion of washing and drying became lost to her, and her mind spun out all kinds of frightful scenarios.
All of a sudden, she heard the front door open. Snapping out of her daze, she turned and headed for the living room. Her husband, in China she’d assumed, was sitting on the couch, his head in his hands.
“Wil, what are you doing here? I thought you went to Shanghai yesterday.”
Apana looked up at his wife. He marveled at how such a beauty had ever fallen in love with him. It had been back in his early days at HPD. His partner, David Chan Sr., had introduced him to Alice one day when they were eating lunch at the Tahitian Lānai. It had been love at first sight on his part, and, finally, with a monumental amount of cajoling, he’d convinced her to marry him. He’d never thought of himself as charming, or suave, or a brilliant conversationalist. But he’d been kind and sincere, and damn lucky, he knew.
“I was going, but I changed my mind. I’d bought the ticket and was sitting at the gate. But, I couldn’t do it.”
“Why? Where were you? Why didn’t you come home yesterday?”
Apana looked up at her, searching for the right words. “I had to take care of some things so I could go to Shanghai and enjoy the time with Ben. It would have hardly been a vacation with too much here I’d not cleared up.”
Alice nodded. “Like what?”
Apana again considered the way he should answer her. “So much it’s hard to explain it all. Loose ends with our investments. Paperwork. I wanted to update my will, too.”
“Your will? You aren’t ill, are you? You haven’t been holding back anything about your health, have you, honey?”
“Oh, no no no. I’m healthy as a horse, Alice. But I needed to update the details.”
“What details, Wil?”
“Carole and her kids. I wanted to make sure that if you predecease me, she gets everything. I don’t want my grandchildren wanting for anything.”
“But we updated our wills just last year. What changed since then?”
“I made some investments that, well, I didn’t tell you about. I’m sorry not to have run it by you. But I had a feeling you wouldn’t have been happy with me risking any of our money.”
Alice nodded. “That’s for sure, Wil, and I do like it when you tell me everything. But anyway, I’m glad you did whatever you had to do. I want Carole not to have to fiddle around with lawyers and paperwork once we’re gone. Too much humbug’s not good.”
“Right, right.”
“Where’d you stay last night?”
This was harder to explain. “I, well, I know you don’t like for me to drive after I’ve been drinking, and I ran into some of the retired gang and drank too much. I stayed at the Moana.”
“Gee, I wouldn’t have minded joining you there. You know that’s my favorite hotel.”
“I know, Alice, but it was too late by the time we finished.”
“Wil, you just missed David. He’s worried about you. He even called Ben. Ben was so confused, I tell you. And no wonder.”
“David, yes, I had a feeling he’d, ah, be concerned about me. He’s a good man. Just like his father. Like I always say, David would have been very proud of him.”
Apana pulled out his handkerchief and blew his nose.
“So now that you’ve taken care of the things that were weighing on your mind, are you going to go see Ben in Shanghai?”
Apana turned his attention to the huge windows framing the wondrously wide vista of Honolulu and the vast blue ocean beyond.
“Well, maybe. I still have one little last thing I have to see to. Then, maybe then, I’ll go.”
Turning back to her, he hesitated. “Alice, ah, you wouldn’t want to go with me, would you?”
Alice shook her head. “It would be wonderful to see Ben and his family, honey, but I have Merrie Monarch coming up. I have to give all of my time to that.”
Apana nodded, then turned back to the windows. Standing, he walked to them and gazed out. His eyes strained to see clearly the perfect horizon line, that precise slice between sky and sea. That clean cut. Either or. The choice was simple.
Lanning Lee 