Kona Winds Read Free Page B

acceptance of her gratitude. "This way, please. Miss Emily is waiting for you over here."
    Miss Emily? Julie supposed he meant her employer Miss Harmon and followed him. Standing to one side of an exit was a fairly tall and very erect woman. A naturally colored straw hat was on her head, the white band around the crown almost matching the woman's hair. She wore a navy blue suit, the skirt covering her knees and sensible navy blue shoes. The cotton blouse beneath the navy blue suit jacket was buttoned all the way to the throat. Julie gained the overall impression of someone starched and prim. She didn't feel nervous about meeting her employer, only curious.
    "Miss Lancaster, I'm Emily Harmon." The older woman greeted her with a smile that, while it wasn't as all encompassing as the man's had been, was friendly.
    "How do you do, Miss Harmon." This time Julie was greeted with the more traditional firm handshake. "And thank you for the lei. It's lovely."
    "We couldn't overlook the Hawaiian custom of greeting malihinis."
    "Newcomers, tourists," the man defined the term.  
    "Dan has the car waiting outside," Emily Harmon announced. "Dan is actually our mechanic. He only doubles as a chauffeur when I have to come into Honolulu. I can't stand the traffic and the congestion."
    Julie found herself being escorted out the exit door. "My luggage," she offered in faint protest, aware of the stream of passengers heading for the baggage area.
    "Give your claim tickets to Dan. He'll collect your luggage for you," the woman commanded, and Julie obeyed. A silver-gray Mercedes was parked not far from the door. As they walked toward it, the woman issued another order. "Breathe in. Tell me what you smell."
    Julie did as she was told again. There was an elusive quality to the air she breathed, something soft and gentle, but she couldn't identify it. The alert blue eyes of Emily Harmon read her expression.
    "It's clean air," she explained. "It's been washed by thousands of miles of ocean, kept cool by the water while acquiring the softness of rain. That first breath will be indelibly etched on your memory."
    Julie's lips parted in astonishment that the explanation could be as simple as clean air. "It's wonderful!" she exclaimed.
    "Yes, isn't it?" Emily Harmon returned, a trifle smugly. Dan held the rear door of the Mercedes open for them. Julie climbed in first, sliding to the far side behind the driver. When Emily Harmon was safely inside, Dan closed the door. "He's going to drive around to the baggage claim area," Emily explained as if to reassure Julie that they weren't leaving without her luggage.
    "Of course," she nodded.
    "Were you able to see Honolulu and Waikiki when you landed?" the older woman questioned.
    Yes, I did, and Diamondhead, too."
    "What did you think?" It wasn't an idle question; Emily Harmon was interested in her reaction. Dan was behind the wheel; the engine purred into action.
    "It's a much larger city than I imagined, and there were a lot more skyscrapers than I thought there would be," Julie admitted.
    "My family once had a beach house on Waikiki. That was when the only hotel was the Royal Hawaiian. It's difficult to believe, isn't it? Of course, that was long before the war. Now there are so many hotels all up and down the beach that the Royal Hawaiian is practically lost in their shadows. Ruel says it's progress."
    "I suppose so." Julie wondered who Ruel was. It was an unusual name. But she didn't have a chance to ask as her employer continued.
    "You'd be surprised at how many tourists come here, stay on Waikiki for a week and believe they've seen Hawaii. They go home with their Hawaiian shirts and a crate of pineapples and become an instant authority on Hawaii." She paused for a considering moment. "When Captain Cook landed here, he called the chain the Sandwich Isles after his sponsor the Earl of Sandwich. Did you know that?"  
    "No," Julie admitted.
    "Then the whalers came and the missionaries. When I see those people