Danielle and Shane spent five glorious days in their tropical love nest, still focused on baby–making, and having the most romantic vacation of both their lives. They hated for their island bliss to end but business beckoned back at their own island home. There was the still the matter of the disturbingly unsettled Lanai land acquisition and the fact that Shane had yet to hear from his father, which pleased him but was at the same time disconcertingly suspicious.

Through Margie’s emails, Shane had a sense that things were not going smoothly with regards to the purchase of the Lanai property. But he suspected his overprotective secretary wasn’t quite giving him the full picture of everything that was going on with the important deal in an effort to shield him and Danielle while they were vacationing - and he could hardly fault her for that. In fact, the more he thought back on the fabulous time the two of them had just spent together, the more grateful he was that Margie had spared him. He decided to call her and thank her during the ride from the airport back to Kaanapali.

Margie was so thrilled to hear from him she invited them to swing by her place, saying she had a big surprise. Despite their travel fatigue and the fact that it was almost 8PM, they decided to indulge her request. They had shopping bags full of gifts they wanted to give her and May plus Dani was also dying to see her old house and neighborhood again.

As they approached the porch of Dani’s house they could hear Auntie May singing and Hawaiian ukulele music coming from the backyard. They went around to the side gate and let themselves in as they followed the sound to the back patio. To their utter surprise they discovered Margie in a grass skirt and coconut shell bra doing the hula to May’s musical accompaniment. They watched in hushed silence from the corner of the house undetected, until the duo finished their number, at which time they made their presence known by applauding wildly.

“That was fantastic,” exclaimed Dani. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe you guys. That was wonderful.”

“It really was ladies.” Shane chimed in. “I’d swear you were part Hawaiian yourself Margie if it wasn’t for that one dead giveaway….. your Birkenstocks clash with the grass skirt.”

“Hey…. I resemble that remark,” Margie fired back without missing a beat.

After they shared a warm group hug and a round of greetings Margie proudly made her announcement.

“So as you can probably see, I’ve been taking hula lessons from May. And guess what? She’s invited me to perform with her in her weekend shows whenever I want to. Isn’t that great? That’s my surprise. Now if she can only teach me how I can get these coconuts to stay up……” Margie said while holding up her low-hanging breasts with her hands.

Everyone laughed and took a seat on the patio. Margie ran inside and retrieved a pitcher of pink lemonade and four glasses for her guests.

“It’s weird being back at my house again,” said Dani. “How have you been Auntie May? Anything new going on around the neighborhood?”

“I’ve been pretty good. Not too much has been goin’ on around here. Daisy ate old Mr. Weaver’s hair piece last week. Serves him right too. He was reaching over my fence to steal some papayas from my tree again and Daisy came up and snatched it right off his shiny little bald head. Gobbled it down in two bites! That’s my girl.”

“That’s a riot May. What a funny story,” said Shane. “Daisy is the coolest dog.”

“Oh she really is.” Margie interjected. “I was leery of her at first, she’s got such an intimidating presence. But I was surprised - she’s really just a big sweet pussycat of a dog once you get to know her.”

Auntie May chuckled and added, “Yes like somebody else I know,” she said glaring straight at Shane.

“Me? Are you talking about me May?”

“Yes siree. It seems I was all wrong about you and nobody was more surprised than me to learn you’re quite a big sweet pussycat yourself. I hear you and my sweet kuuipo girl are getting married and I want you to know you have my blessing.”

“Are you saying you didn’t like me May? I’m hurt,” he said with exaggerated sadness. “I hope you didn’t try to advise Danielle against seeing me?”

“Hell no,” May burst out laughing. “I told her it was okay to keep you as a boy toy.”

The three women hooted at her remark while Shane grinned sheepishly.

“Boy toy huh? I guess I had that coming. That’s pretty much what I used to be. But not anymore. This woman here has forever changed me.” Shane put his arm around Dani and kissed her on the cheek.

“Well I certainly hope that’s true buster because if you ever hurt this girl my fellow Hawaiians and I will give you a proper burial at sea……..wearing cement shoes. HA!”

Shane joined in the group’s spirited laughter but shuddered to himself. Despite the friendly exchange there was something in May’s diabolical laugh that made him fear she wasn’t entirely kidding. He had a suspicion that at the very least the woman would probably roast his nuts over the hot coals of a luau pig pit..….and possibly with Margie’s help.

As he lovingly watched Danielle hand out the souvenirs and gifts to the two craziest old gals he’d ever known, he knew he didn’t actually need to worry; he would never hurt her. Not for anything in the world. And he was glad she had friends who loved her that much, looking out for her well-being.

As much as he hated to break up the evening’s lighthearted conversation, Shane eventually asked Margie the two questions that were weighing heavily on his mind.

“So Margie, you must have heard from my father in the last few weeks haven’t you? And what the hell’s going on with the Lanai land deal? I’ve heard nothing at all from Jon Ohana. And what about Asian-Pacific? Are they still bidding on it? What’s the fucking hold up already? I’m losing my patience.”

Dani shot an annoyed look at Shane. “Honey do you really have to talk about business now? This is a social visit. Isn’t Margie off the clock at this time of night? Perhaps this could wait until tomorrow morning at work?”

“Danielle surely you……”

Margie quickly interrupted Shane. “Danielle it’s okay. As Shane’s personal assistant I am technically on the clock, so to speak, 24/7. It comes with the job and I don’t resent it dear; I relish it.”

Auntie May decided that was her cue to leave. She stood up and started gathering her presents together. “I think it’s time for me to go home now. Tanner business is not for my ears. Besides, it’s getting late. No need for anybody to get up, I’ll see myself out of the yard. Great seeing everybody.”

Her friends hugged her and said their good-nights.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home May?” asked Shane.

“No no, I’m fine. But thank you Shane.”

She blew a kiss in their direction and headed for the backyard gate, but just before she reached the corner of the house she stopped abruptly. Then she looked back at them and said, “By the way, I know that Jon Ohana. My brother is married to that creep’s cousin. He’s a greedy slime-bag and I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.” A moment later she was gone from sight.

“There goes a very smart lady,” laughed Shane. “I think I might be a little scared of her though,” he added jokingly.

“You should be,” giggled Dani and Margie in unison.

With May gone, the three of them were now able to openly discuss Tanner business so Margie returned to addressing Shane’s questions.

“Okay so about your dad Shane. There’s no need for you to worry about him at all. He’s very preoccupied with some corporate legal matters in Chicago right now. Nothing serious but it’s enough to distract him. I’ve talked to him a couple of times and dissuaded him from coming out here. I told him you’ve got everything under control and our plan is going smoothly. He doesn’t need to know every little detail. Or any detail for that matter.” Margie smirked.

“Great Margie. Chicago is the perfect place for him to be. I don’t need him coming out here and fucking up this land deal for us or asking Danielle and I questions about our relationship – real or otherwise.”

“May I ask a silly question?” Dani interrupted. “Why are you so interested in that one particular piece of property on Lanai? Why don’t you just let Asian-Pacific have that one and you buy another piece? There’s a lot of beautiful undeveloped coastal property over there. Why stress out over this one?”

“I can see why I it would look like that way to you honey,” explained Shane. “But that’s out of the question. I must have that glorious piece of land because it happens to be the ideal spot for a sister hotel to the Tanner Kaanapali Kai. Plans are already being drawn up for the Tanner Manele Bay Resort. The area even has an established ferry landing in place so we can easily set up our own inter-island hotel ferry. The rugged scenery is breathtaking and the views are unparalleled. I will not let Tony Fong and his goons have it. They’ll destroy the entire natural beauty of the land and the sea around it. It’s simply not an option. Period. They can kiss my ass.”

“Oh wow I had no idea about all that,” admitted Dani. “The only thing I was involved with was getting the conservation groups to stop protesting Tanner development.”

“And you did a great job Dani,” Margie assured her. “Of course Tanner International genuinely becoming ecologically friendly got everyone on their side. Now it’s Asian-Pacific’s development that’s drawing all the protests because they have an even worse environmental record than we used to. They’ve been trying to break into this Hawaiian market for at least as long as we have but so far they’ve been kept out. Now apparently they’re attempting to ride in on our coattails without any proof of cleaning up their act. There’s been a steady stream of demonstrations over there on Lanai the whole time you guys were away.”

Shane’s anger grew as he processed Margie’s words. “Constant demonstrations? So let me get this straight. Hawaiians are loudly opposing Asian-Pacific with continuous protests but Jon Ohana still won’t commit to selling to us? That doesn’t make any goddamn sense. I can’t believe we still have no deal in place.”

“I know Shane. I can’t even get the guy on the phone to arrange further negotiations between you.”

“He’s a native Hawaiian isn’t he? How could he even consider selling Hawaiian land to that scumbag Tony Fong? Everybody knows he and his corrupt company don’t give a rat’s ass about protecting any part of these islands. Doesn’t Ohana care about being ostracized by the Hawaiian community? Something’s very wrong with this picture. I know he’s an asshole but why betray his own people and his own homeland if he doesn’t have to? I’m confident our bid is competitive. Ohana’s just purposely stalling to jack up the price higher. I think he’s gotta still be playing us both. What do you think Danielle?”

Shane looked over at Dani and discovered she was fast sleep in the chair.

“I guess it’s time for us to head home too Margie.”