The Swallow's Nest. Emilie Richards
and Lilia bought Regan a lei from a woman who had made them herself that morning.
She had asked her father for directions to the parking lot, accessible but not advertised, so it wouldn’t attract crowds. He had warned that a number of new homes had gone up along this familiar stretch of coast, and now she witnessed the reality.
After parking she gathered herself to relive the past. “We can walk along the road, and I’ll show you where Graham’s family stayed.”
“Carrick used to talk about that house until I wanted to scream. I was so jealous. I was too young to realize traveling with the Randolphs came at a price.”
“Carrick got along. He figures out what people need, then he gives it to them.”
“Within reason.”
“But that’s how he managed the Randolphs. Ellen needed polite conversation, and Douglas needed strict adherence to rules and no interruptions.”
“Is that how you got along with them?”
“Me? I was a shadow. My mother was the estate manager, and my father’s company provided security, but our whole family pitched in whenever a job had to be done quickly. Douglas never even realized I was alive until... Well, until.”
“That’s not a bad thing. It’s when he does notice that things get uncomfortable.”
They got out and chatted about nothing for a few minutes, stepping to the side of the road when cars approached. Lilia tried to get her bearings. Finally she stopped. “I think this is where their property was.” She pointed ahead where five magnificent homes were set back from the cliff overlooking the water. “It looks like they took down the original houses and built those in their place. Douglas was just holding the property until he could get permission to subdivide and build, but it took years. I can’t even imagine how much money he made when permission was finally granted.”
“A drop in the Randolph bucket.”
The new homes were lovely and lavish, but Lilia could still remember what the land had looked like years ago. “The old house was graceful, plainer than these and dated, but it had four bedrooms, views from every window. There was a guest cottage with a lap pool built to look like a natural lagoon, an orchard with avocados, mangoes, lychee, a gatehouse. The Randolphs only came a few times a year, but sometimes guests arrived and stayed a week or two without them. From the beginning, this was an investment. I doubt either of them had a sentimental thought about it.”
“How old were you when you met them?”
“Ten. Graham was eleven.” She turned away from the memories. “Let’s find the path down to the beach. It’s behind us and not always easy to spot.”
The trip down was steep and in places rugged, although more cultivated now than Lilia remembered. They moved through a hala and ironwood forest. She had a backpack with their lunch and towels, and they took their time to negotiate the narrow root-choked path. While the locals hadn’t managed to keep the beach a secret, getting to it still took experience or careful instructions. By the time they emerged onto pale golden sand, Regan was panting.
“Wow!” Regan moved forward and spun around. “Lilia, this is heaven.”
“It is pretty amazing.” In front of them was the turquoise ocean, behind them the rugged cliffs. Outcroppings of black lava dotted the waterline, and waves crashed against rock, sending silver sea spray high into the air.
“I’ve never been anywhere this beautiful.” Regan started forward but Lilia took her arm.
“Just remember to stay back, okay? Surf’s high today, and people get carried out more often than you think. We’ll head east and see if we can find a tidal pool where we can cool off. There’s a waterfall, too.”
An hour later, after splashing in the pool under the waterfall and immersing themselves in a larger one close to the shore, they walked far enough that they were well away from the dozen or so people who had gotten to the beach before them. To the east the lighthouse stood guard high above, and behind them, red cliffs anchored with evergreens and ferns towered like castle walls.
They spread towels and reapplied sunscreen. Then they lay down where the cliff provided a little shade.
Despite sunglasses Regan shaded her eyes with her hand. “Shade? Sunscreen? I’m still a redhead. I’d better not stay here too long.”
Lilia was staring at the water. “This is one of the longest beaches on the island.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t been here lately.”
“Carrick never told you about our last afternoon together on this beach?”
“Not in so many words. But I have the feeling it didn’t end happily.”
“We were teenagers. It might bore you.”
“Tell you what, I have a story to tell, too. We can trade.”
Intrigued, Lilia settled back and closed her eyes. “Graham and I were friends first, but you know that. The day we met? Ellen called my mother early that morning to say they were coming sooner than planned and asked her to have a meal ready. They had a chef for the rest of the week but would need her help that day.”
“That’s how I always travel. With a chef, butler, lady’s maid. You, too?”
Lilia laughed. “I was trying to stay out of my mother’s way while she finished setting out the meal she’d prepared. They’d brought guests, and Douglas was at his most charming, but Mama knew how quickly that could change. So before he could complain about me, she chased me outside. She’d roped my brothers into coming with us, to get everything ready outdoors while she cooked. They drove separately, and I expected to leave with them when she stayed on, but they took off without me.”
“Brothers.” Regan knew.
“Graham was tossed out, too, or left on his own. I thought he was from another planet.” She paused. “Too bad I didn’t roll my eyes and walk away, huh?”
“Things might be simpler now.”
Lilia pushed on. “I thought he didn’t know how to smile. We played Frisbee until I fell backwards into the pool with the Frisbee clutched to my chest. He did smile then, even laughed. And he kept smiling and laughing afterwards, every time I saw him. We became friends, although his parents didn’t realize it. I was just the little brown-skinned babysitter. Eventually they brought your brother along to take him off their hands even more.”
“Carrick always knew that.”
“Since he loves Graham like a brother, he was willing to go along. And hey, this is Hawaii. Why wouldn’t he come?”
“Did you ever wonder why the Randolphs chose him?”
“I assumed because they were roommates at school.”
“Did you wonder how that happened, too? My father’s a college professor, an immigrant from Ireland, no less, so we’re not exactly in their social or economic class.”
“They take what they need, right? They tolerated little ol’ foreigner me.”
“Um, Hawaii is a state.”
“Too recently to count. Carrick used to say he and I were founding members of the Wretched Refuse Society. Anyway the two of us were acceptable enough to make sure Graham left them alone.”
Regan rested her hand on Lilia’s arm. “Here’s the real reason Carrick was acceptable. Douglas wanted my father to come to work for him.”
Regan’s father taught economics at a small Pennsylvania college. He was known in academic circles for having eccentric ideas about the world economy and publishing papers nobody wanted to read. He was as charming as his son.
“Douglas wanted your father? At Randolph Group?”
“Douglas may be cow poop