O'ahu Lonesome Tonight? (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series #5) Read Free Page B

I
just want you to remember she’s—”
    Farrah popped
up from surveying below decks. “You’ve got a really big bed down there! Way
cool. Do you live on this boat?”
    “I do,” Ono
said. “I haven’t been a land-based life form for more than a year now.”
    “Wow. That’s
bitchin’. I don’t know if Pali told you, but I live
where I work too. We’re like, the same.”
    And then it
dawned on me. They were.
     
    CHAPTER 4
     
    I was leaving
for Honolulu in the morning but I still had to get through Friday’s wedding. I
arrived at the wedding site three hours early and everything was progressing
well. One-by-one the vendors showed up on time and everyone seemed to have
everything they needed. The bride and groom had opted to have their formal
photos taken the day before to avoid last-minute jitters. Now the ceremony was
about to begin and we’d encountered our first glitch: we had no best man. This
wasn’t the first time this had happened. Bachelor parties have a way of
incapacitating the most trustworthy of men, even grooms, but today the groom
was present and accounted for. It was the guy who’d agreed to stand up for the
groom, to hold the ring and sign the marriage certificate, who was missing.
    “Would you like
to choose one of your groomsmen to stand in as best man?” I said to the groom,
Jake. Jake was a good-looking kid who normally sported a cocky grin, but he
wasn’t smiling now. We were in a back room of the community hall. In the main
room, four dozen guests were already seated. The low hum of whispers and
rustling alerted me that it was pretty certain everyone knew something was
amiss.
    “No. Andy will
be here. He wouldn’t do this to me, or to Rebecca.”
    We waited ten
more minutes and then I went to talk to the bride. She’d shooed her bridesmaids
out of the “bride’s room” and had asked them to wait outside in the vestibule.
     “What do
you want to do?” I said. “After all, this is your wedding. Jake wants to
stall but I always tell brides they have the final say. This may be your last
opportunity to get your own way on things.” I gave her a smile but she didn’t
return it.
    I went on.
“What I’m trying to say is, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
    The bride was
stunning in a strapless ivory taffeta gown. She’d pulled her glossy auburn hair
into an ‘up do,’ and even with minimal make-up she looked like a Walt Disney
princess. Steve had come home from taking the formal photos and announced that
of all the couples he’d met since he’d been working with me, Rebecca was the
only bride who’d caused him to pause and take notice. He’d even offered to take
twice as many photos for the same price if the couple would allow him to use
some of them on his website.
    “I don’t know
what to do,” she said. She stared out the window as if hoping she could conjure
up the missing best man by sheer will.
    “We can’t wait
much longer,” I said in my ‘take charge’ voice. “It’s not fair to your guests.
This place has ceiling fans, but no A/C. It’s starting to get pretty sticky out
there.”
    “I know.” Her
shoulders sagged. Then she did the unthinkable: she plopped down on the stiff
velvet sofa next to the window.
    “Rebecca!” I barked
her name a little louder than necessary. But she was wearing taffeta, and
everyone knows unwrinkled taffeta and sitting are mutually exclusive.
    “You know, I
guess I do know,” she said as she stood up. She fluffed out her skirt. “I’m
sorry to do this to you, but I need to go.”
    At first I
thought she meant she had to go to the bathroom. Then I realized she didn’t.
    “You’re
leaving?” I said.
    “Yeah, sorry,
but I can’t do this. I know why Andy isn’t here.”
    “Don’t tell me you’re sorry. What about Jake?”
    “Oh yeah, I’m
sorry about him too.”
    “Do you want me
to go get him so you two can talk?”
    “No. I don’t
know what I’d say. Just tell him I’m really sorry but this is