Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [37]
“I apologize. My driver had two flat tires. Not just one but two. I’ve been sitting in this damn lobby since six-thirty last night. That’s why I look like this. No matter how you look at it, I’m twelve hours up on you.” Annie smiled sweetly. “Is this one of those tit-for-tat things my sisters always talk about? If so, I need to know, so I’ll know how to proceed.”
In spite of herself, Annie laughed. “I think we’re starting out even now.” She waited. He was more than handsome, he was—she searched her mind for just the right word—exquisite. Tall, six-three or -four, muscular, perfect tan, amazing dark hair with just a touch of wave or curl. Khaki shorts, deck shoes, and a pristine white shirt. She wondered what their children would look like. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Daniel said you were my destiny. I think he might be right. What’s your feeling on the subject?” Parker teased lightly.
Her face flushed, Annie said, “I was wondering what our children would look like?”
Grayson’s tan turned pink, then red. “If you get your baggage, we should be on our way.”
“Then I guess you’re going to have to wait a while longer.”
“My time is your time, Miss Clark.”
“Call me Annie.”
“Okay. Annie it is. My mother’s name was Anna.”
“It’s an old-fashioned name. When I was younger I wanted a name like Tiffany or Angelique. When I was sixteen I wanted to change it to Barbarella.” Parker laughed as he motioned her to head for the elevator. “Is this where you tell me time is money?”
“Exactly.”
Annie jabbed the elevator button. “Two flat tires defies belief.”
“I knew you would say that. I saw them with my own eyes. The flat tires I mean.”
“Really.” The elevator swished shut. Annie’s closed fist shot in the air. “Yesssss.”
“What do you think of my home, Annie?”
Annie looked around, her eyes wide. “It’s breathtaking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite so beautiful. Did you grow up here?”
“Yes. I live on the Big Island most of the year, but I come back for a day or so at a time. I get homesick. My father built the house himself, brick by brick. My mother planted the gardens. The banyan tree that stands sentinel there at the front was the first thing my mother planted after I was born. My mother said my father took one look at the land and knew exactly where to build. It sits on the broad crest of a sloping meadow. If you look you can see the Haleakala Volcano, and if you look down you have a vast view of the North Shore. I surfed there as a youngster. Still do at times with my nephews. They like to take on this old man but invariably they wipe out. I’m still the Big Kahuna as far as they’re concerned.”
“I never learned to surf,” Annie said. “Who tends to the house and all these gorgeous flowers? What is that gorgeous tree?”
“I’ll teach you. A couple takes care of it while I’m away. Mattie cooks and cleans while George gardens. That tree is a monkeypod tree. I used to play under it when I was little. My mother read me island stories in the afternoons. I didn’t know any other life but this until I was eighteen and went to the mainland to college. I hated being away. I used to count the days until it was time to come home for a holiday or summers, then I fought like a tiger not to go back. To me this is paradise. I don’t think there’s a prettier place anywhere on earth. I don’t know that for a fact. That’s what my parents said, and they were world travelers.
“We’re within walking distance of freshwater pools and waterfalls. Every afternoon around three o’clock, we have rainbows. Brilliant, perfect rainbows that can be seen for miles. If you like to windsurf, Hookipa Beach is just fifteen minutes away. Five minutes from there is Paia, the Aspen of Hawaii. It’s commercial, shopping, excellent restaurants, and a great white-sand beach. Paradise just twenty minutes from the airport. Do you like to wish on the rainbow?”
Annie’s heart started to flutter. Just fourteen months ago she’d sat on the floor in her bedroom congratulating herself on the pot of gold at the end of her own personal rainbows. “No.