Last Night Read Free

walked away as soon as the words were out of her mouth, but not before she ' d seen the look in Rob ' s eyes. He wouldn ' t forget the insult.
    What was wrong with her? She really must need this vacation. Lately she ' d lost her temper much too easily. It ' s the pressure, she silently cried. No, it was more than that. It was the isolation.
    When she ' d been in the DA ' s office she'd had lots of friends. Well, not friends exactly, just people to go out to lunch or dinner with. Now she couldn ' t see those lawyers and have them try cases in her court. Of course, some judges did, but it wasn ' t proper. Dana always did things by the book. She always had.
    She was too busy to be lonely, too ambitious to be lonely—or so she told herself. Once in a while something would trigger a wellspring of emptiness buried inside her like the secret life beneath the surface in the Wyland painting. Somehow, just seeing Rob made her lonely.
    He was nothing like the men she admired. The ideal man was intellectual. Sensitive. Safe. Everything Rob Tagett wasn ' t. Like a lone wolf, Rob had an elusiveness about him, a hint of risk and adventure. And danger.
    She slowed her car as she rounded the corner overlooking Maunalua Bay, catching her breath as she always did at its beauty. The sun had slipped behind Diamond Head, leaving the bay in a purple twilight and firing the clouds with amber and gold. On the point, cloaked in early evening shadows, was Koko Head. A smaller version of Diamond Head, the ancient volcano stood like a lonely sentinel guarding Maunalua Bay. To Dana, Koko Head was as majestic as Diamond Head, yet friendlier, the symbol of the back bay.
    Buying a home here had been a stretch. Right out of law school she ' d gone into the DA ' s office. She ' d always been a public-service employee. It had taken her years to pay off her student loans.
    When she was finally out of debt she began saving for a house. The o ther judges had come from lucra tive private practices and lived in luxurious high rises or at the foot of Diamond Head in the ritzy Kahala area. She didn ' t envy them. Maunalua Bay might not be as prestigious, but she preferred the serenity of the back bay.
    As she stopped in her driveway and stepped out of her car to get the mail, her friend came running over. Lillian Hurley was a widow in her mid - eighties who ' d lived here since Pearl Harbor. She was a trifle forgetful at times, so Dana helped her, making it possible for Lillian to live at home.
    Tears pooled in Lillian ' s eyes. " My daughter ' s coming to visit. "
    " Wonderful." Dana gave her a quick hug and hoped the tears were tears of happiness. She ' d long since decided the daughter was strange. What kind of a person forgot Mother ' s Day? In the three years Dana had lived here the daughter had never visited, " Don ' t forget to mark the date on your calendar. "
    " I did already—just the way you told me. " Tears spilled out of Lillian ' s pale blue eyes. " I don ' t want to go into a nursing home. "
    " I ' m sure when you explain to your daughter that I ' m working with your doctor, she ' ll understand that you ' re fine here. " Dana hugged her again.
    It was true—for now—but Dana knew the day would come when Lillian would need more help than she could give. That ' s what happens to the elderly, she thought. They ' re warehoused, lonely and forgotten, until they die. An American tragedy. She wasn ' t letting that happen to Lillian.
    " Will you talk to Fran for me? "
    " Of course. " Dana smiled reassuringly, silently pledging to take time out of her busy schedule to talk to the daughter. "Don ' t worry. I ' ll take care of it. "
    " I knew you'd help me. That ' s why I came over. " She looked around suspiciously as if she expected someone to jump out of the dense oleander bushes. " I ' m so frightened. "
    "Of what? " A frisson of alarm shot through Dana. This was just Lillian's nerves, wasn ' t it? Dana moved here because this was a safe neighborhood. They