Kona Winds by Janet Dailey

routine for the second week. The better part of the day was spent with Debbie and her schoolwork. Sometimes in the late afternoon, Julie would swim in the pool. On her next two free days she took the bus to the Polynesian Cultural Center at Laie where the crafts and cultures of the various Polynesian tribes were kept alive.
    The third week began much the same as the first two. The tradewinds dominated the weather picture and the skies remained clear. Invariably there was a small shower or two some time during each day, often when the sun was out. Liquid sunshine, it was called by the natives. Generally it was blown by the winds from rain clouds hooked by the mountain peaks. Julie didn't mind it. To her, it was like walking under a soft spray of warm water.
    On Thursday, she had taken a quick dip in the pool, showered and dried her hair. Over the last two and a half weeks her skin had taken on a golden cast and her hair had lightened a shade. She took a pale green sundress from her closet and slipped it on.
    It was too early yet for dinner, but the weather was too nice to stay indoors, so Julie wandered onto the lanai off her bedroom. She had learned the first week that at the end of the lanai there were stairs leading to the ground. It was perfect for swimming. She never had to track through the house in a wet suit; she could use the outside stairs to her bedroom.
    Now she descended them to wander through the expansive garden surrounding the pool. It was a favorite place of hers, a private tropical paradise lined with palm trees. A massive banyan tree dominated the grounds. To support its spreading growth, the tree sent shoots downward to ultimately form new roots and trunks. As Julie wandered among its pillars, she was glad it wasn't carnivorous.
    An autograph tree carried Debbie's name on one side of its large ovate leaves. Julie touched the petal of its large white flower shaded with pink. Emily had told her that in the West Indies, the leaves of the autograph tree were marked and used as playing cards.
    The feathery fernlike leaves of the gray-barked jacaranda tree waved gently in the breeze. Violet blue flowers were scattered over its limbs. A magnificent Royal poinciana tree flamed like a scarlet umbrella in the garden. It was rivaled only by the peculiar tiger's claw tree. Bare of leaves, the tips of its branches were painted crimson by its claw-shaped blossoms.
    Closer to the ground were the flowering shrubs. The slender delicate blossoms of the spider lily seemed lost in its clustered spray of long, wide leaves. The yellow blossoms of the plusneria were a favorite choice for leis. The anthurium, which on the mainland was called the frangipani, never seemed real. Its single, circular petal of brilliant red was so shiny, it looked artificial.
    As Julie strolled past a hybrid hibiscus bush that hadn't been in bloom before, she saw a flower had blossomed. The other hibiscus were scarlet or deep pink, but this one was a golden yellow. She cupped it in her hand to draw it down and sniff the fragrance. The stem snapped in her fingers. After a second's hesitation, she tucked it behind her ear.
    The sun was sinking behind the Waianae range. Its lengthening rays cast scarlet pink hues on the puffy white clouds and set fire to the serrated outline of the volcanic peaks. It was a beautiful and quiet display put on by nature. Julie's slow pace brought her closer to the lanai. There was a half-formed thought in her mind to watch the sunset from the Queen-styled wicker chair on the cobblestones.
    "Having a twilight stroll, Miss Lancaster?"
    Julie glanced quickly toward the shadows of the lanai where Ruel's voice had come from, and saw his familiar tall shape leaning against a supporting pillar.
    "Yes, it's a lovely evening," she returned.
    Straightening from the post, he walked leisurely toward her and stopped. The dimming light accented the masculine angles of his features while the slanting rays of the flaming sun enriched the