Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [41]
“It makes sense. In the beginning it was kind of a lark. You know, starting your own business with very little money and then, bam, it just took off. I wasn’t prepared for it, and neither was Jane. In the end it was too much for her. My brother came back at just the right moment. It’s certainly something to think about. I’m going to have to call my brother to talk to him about the prices you offered.”
“Take all the time you need. My coffee beans and I aren’t going anywhere. There was a time when more than ten million pounds of Kona coffee was produced each year. Today there are less than two million pounds being produced. It’s the rarest of the rare. We want to keep it that way. That concludes our business for the day. Let’s have some fun.”
Annie grew still. “What do you mean by fun?”
“Explore the island. Run under the falls. Jump in the water. Climb the monkeypod tree, come back, take a nap. Separately, of course. Get dressed up, go out to dinner and then come home and go to bed. Separately, of course. Rise and shine in the morning, eat a wonderful breakfast, after which I will fly us to Kona and give you a tour of my coffee plantation. How does that sound?”
“Should I change? Do you treat all your prospective customers like this?”
“Sneakers and shorts would be good. No. Most of them are stuffy old ducks who want everything for nothing. You’re my first beautiful female customer. Plus, Daniel said you were my destiny, so I have to find out if he’s right.”
“Okay. Give me ten minutes. Daniel needs to mind his own business.”
“Five.”
“You got it.” Annie giggled.
“It s been a wonderful afternoon, Parker. I had fun, I feel rested, and I learned a lot. You’re a very good tour guide. I never hid behind a waterfall before. I feel invisible.”
“I used to hide here from my father when I was little. At least I thought I was hiding until he told me he used to do the same thing. This big old stone we’re resting in is like a chair. That leads me to believe hundreds of children over the years did the same thing we’re doing. How is it you never had time for fun, Annie? Look! Now, I’d say that’s something special! Just for you, Annie. We should call it Annie’s Rainbow. I’ve been coming here since I was three years old, and I never saw a prettier one. It’s bigger, more vibrant and can be seen for miles. I guess it’s your special welcome to Maui.”
Annie stared at the rainbow, a chill running up and down her arms. She squinted to see through the shimmering waterfall. Where did it end and what was in the pot of gold here in this beautiful paradise? She shivered again. Parker put his arm around her shoulders. “I never had a rainbow named after me. To answer your question about fun, first my dad got sick, then my mom got ... she has Alzheimer’s disease. We didn’t know what it was at first. Tom was in college, so I had to take care of Mom while I was in high school. I had to rush home after school. Baby-sitters for older people are expensive. Mom got worse, and we had to put her in a nursing home, and that was expensive. We sold the house to pay off Dad’s sky-high medical bills and our share for Mom’s care. Their savings went to pay for Tom’s college tuition. There wasn’t any left for me, so I had to work my way through. Thank God for Elmo. If you ever want to know anything about the drugstore business, just ask me. I had a mountain of student loans. It all turned around when we opened the first shop. If there were more hours in the day, I could have tripled my money. I went to bed tired and woke up tired. This is the first vacation I’ve had in seven years. Not only that, it’s tax deductible. At least the airfare is. If your next question is, did I ever have boyfriends or relationships, the answer is yes but time ruined all of them.