Blooming in the Wild Page 0,11
they’re not bad—dry and open. Even some sand on the floor from high surf in winter. Good shelter if we need it.”
Bella hoped they wouldn’t need it. The weather report had been for good weather for the next few days. There were storm systems on the move, but there always were out here in the Pacific.
“You need a pua’aloalo, a hibiscus blossom in your hair,” Frank teased her. “You always wear one at Nawea.”
She nodded, relaxing with an effort. “My favorite. Let me know if you spot any.”
“Some right up there.” He nodded toward the steep cliff that reared behind the camp to the east.
“Nawea, that the bay with the yellow house we passed?” Joel asked from behind her. His deep voice was pitched quietly, but sound carried in the soft evening air, even over the music and the voices of the others across the campground.
Bella busied herself tying off a cord on her tent. Frank answered. “Yeah, da Ho’omalu place. You spent much time here on our Big Island, Joel?”
“Some,” her nemesis answered. “Like to spend more.”
“Nowhere betta,” Frank agreed. “You could buy a house cheap. Market is down.”
“Nah,” Joel said. “I’m not the homeowner type. Wouldn’t mind renting a place here, though.”
“A condo, yeah?”
Bella turned her head, curious to hear Joel’s reply. He was tying off the last cord on his tent, working with the ease of familiarity.
He shook his head. “Don’t want to live in town; too much noise and chatter. House up on the mountain, maybe, where it’s quiet. Where a person can go out in the backyard and not see anyone else unless they want to.”
Bella caught herself nodding in agreement and tossed her hair back instead. She didn’t want to have even this small commonality with him. Anyway, she wanted to be a homeowner—her own place, that no one could make her leave. And with this job, she’d have the money to ensure she never lost it. No moving from apartment to apartment as she and her mother had when Bella was a child. True, each successive place had been nicer, but she’d still had to get used to a new neighborhood each time, make new friends.
“Cooler up there too,” Frank agreed. “Clouds gentle the sun.”
He looked across the tent at Joel. “You got time after this, come fishing with me one morning. I keep a fishing boat at Nawea.”
“Joel, can you help us with this?” Tanah called from across the campsite. She was frowning down at a turquoise jumble of fabric, hands on her rounded hips, while Cassie watched.
Bella watched as Joel scanned the area first for Kobe and Eddy. They were busy wrestling a brown tent for Camille and Li. “Sure.”
Tanah smiled sweetly at him, and Bella chalked up another point for the redhead. From the way he’d been looking at Cassie on the boat, she’d thought the blonde model would get him, but her friend might trip her and step over her prone body.
None of her business, Bella reminded herself. He was just a typical celebrity, full of himself.
She looked around. Kobe and Eddy were now setting up an open-air shower, rigged with curtains to screen the occupant from view, and a solar tank to heat water with the sun. The portable latrine would be set up farther into the woods, behind a folding screen.
On the far side of the fire pit, Cassie and Tanah’s turquoise tent was being set up next to a smaller green one with Matt’s duffel before it. The photographers’ brown tent stood farthest to the east, near a large boulder.
In the center, behind the fire pit, Frank and his crew placed a long folding table, leveling each leg until Frank was satisfied the table was stable and would not rock.
“You wanna decorate this?” he asked Bella, gesturing at the table. “Leilani sent along a couple of tablecloths.”
“Sure,” Bella said. She took the sturdy epergne Frank held and set about gathering some interesting fronds and blooms for a centerpiece, humming along as the duo Hapa sang of Hawaiian memories. As usual, the process absorbed her, soothed her, allowing her to forget the myriad details awaiting her. Finished, she poured water in to soak the florist’s foam holding the arrangement and set the epergne on the table, stepping back to view it with satisfaction.
“Pretty,” Camille approved, cocking her head elegantly to admire the table, the green centerpiece with spikes of tall purple blossoms and sprays of shiny green pods set on a vintage cotton tablecloth adorned with hibiscus