His stomach recoiled. “I’m not hungry.” The bright sunlight flooding the breakfast room contrasted strongly with his mood. Lani picked at her own breakfast on the other side of the big, polished table. He kept his eyes firmly off her. She had a very unsettling effect on him, and he didn’t need any more crazy things happening. Getting a door slammed in his kisser was quite enough.
His mom clapped her hands together, bracelets jangling. “We’re going to plan a party.”
Lani’s head shot up. He sneaked a glance at her, and saw her eyes wide with alarm.
“Isn’t this an odd time for a party?” AJ leaned back in his chair. “Especially after all the funeral events. Lani’s probably exhausted.”
Lani didn’t meet his gaze, just stared at her teacup.
“I think it’s important to show people that this is not an end for the Rahias, it’s a new beginning.” His mom’s crisp smile had firmly replaced her tears.
A sense of foreboding hummed in AJ’s gut. He strongly suspected that he played a key role in that “new beginning.” “I really can’t stay long, Mom. I have script meetings for my new movie.”
“You could do them via teleconferencing. We have it set up in the throne room.”
“It’s not the same.” He didn’t want to go anywhere near the blasted throne room. There really was a throne in there—an impossibly ancient piece of volcanic rock carved with mysterious markings—and he had a nasty feeling he’d end up on top of it if he wasn’t careful.
“Of course it is. And Lani and I can be your assistants, can’t we dear?” She shone her megawatt smile on Lani.
Who gulped, visibly. “Oh yes. I do enjoy your films.” Her voice was as flat as her expression.
“What do you like better, the violence or the sex?”
“There isn’t really that much of either.” She tilted her elegant head and her long mane of brown hair swung in front of one shoulder. “What makes your movies so good is that you use suspense and anticipation to keep the audience on their toes. Teenage boys probably think they saw all that stuff when they leave the theater, but really you kept their hearts pounding by making them think it was going to happen, or had just happened. It’s very clever.”
AJ’s mouth hung open for a second. “You really have watched them.”
“That’s why we installed the theater, dear.” His mother patted her lips with a napkin.
Lani’s eyes sparkled. She was clearly delighted to defy his expectations. Her bright gaze sent a shimmer of—something straight to his core.
Great. Just what he needed.
“We’re your biggest fans.” His mother patted his hand. “And we’ll have the party this Saturday.”
“How can you plan it so quickly?”
She smiled. “Easy, dear. No one turns down an invitation to the palace, and we have the most talented and creative staff in the Pacific.”
“There is that.” AJ winked at her. “You really are something, Mom. If a party will make you feel better, you go ahead and have one.”
“You will be there.”
“I’ll be there.” He didn’t hide the sigh of resignation in his voice. How could you argue with your own grieving mother? “Just don’t ask me to make any speeches.”
“Why don’t you two go pick some flowers? We’ll use them to decorate the ballroom.”
AJ raised an eyebrow. A flower-picking expedition? Clearly his mom had not given up on the idea of getting them together. “I’m sure the flowers are happier in the ground.”
“Nonsense. They bloom better if you pluck them from time to time. Don’t they, Lani?”
Lani smiled. “Some of them do. I’ll go get the shears and some jugs for them.” She didn’t look at AJ.
His mom’s lips curved into a smile. “Take good care of Lani, won’t you? Don’t let her strain herself.”
AJ glanced at Lani, who once again was looking away. No doubt she was quite capable of deciding just how much strain she could handle. His mom probably had visions of him carrying her up hills or lifting her delicately over puddles. Hopefully Lani wouldn’t expect him to, as he had no intention of going within five feet of her. She was dangerous.
They set off into the gardens, AJ carrying two metal jugs. Lani tucked a pair of shears into the pocket of her dress. It had rained overnight—as it usually did—and the leaves glistened with raindrops. A swallow darted around them as they headed toward the orchid forest down a narrow path of carved stones. Lani had removed her sandals and walked barefoot, Rahiian style. AJ kept his Skechers on, though he regretted it as they became increasingly sodden. “I’d forgotten how wet it is here.”
“That’s why they call it the rainforest.” Lani shot him a cheeky look. The unusual golden color of her eyes struck him and he snatched his gaze away.
“Soggy, is what I call it. Now, L.A. has my kind of climate. A nice dry desert.”
“With a decorative haze of smog.” Lani marched straight ahead, her pretty toes splayed on the mossy stones.
“Exactly. Who needs to see all those mountains anyway?
Hey, there’s a flower.” A delicate bloom peeked its head around the trunk of a tree.
“Lovely.” Lani stopped and walked up to it. “But it’s rather a rare orchid that only blooms every four years. I think we should leave it to enjoy its moment of glory here in this beautiful place. I’m not sure it would be happy in the ballroom.”
AJ snorted. “I’m not sure anyone’s ever happy in that ballroom, but they darn sure pretend to be. Why is Mom so good at getting what she wants? “
“She puts a lot of energy into everything she does. And she’s a very loving person.”
“Yes, she loves it when things go her way.”
“She’s always treated me like a daughter.”
“You are her daughter. In law, at least.”
“My mom runs a laundry and my dad is American. I’m hardly Rahiian aristocracy. She could have treated me quite differently.”
AJ shrugged. “So? Snobbery is not really a Rahiian thing. You’re probably more aware of it because of your years in America. Was it odd moving here from New Jersey? It must have been quite the lifestyle change.”
She laughed. “I missed my bike. And my friend Kathy. I loved the beaches and all the colorful birds.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears. “And of course I missed my dad.”
“They got divorced?”
“Yup. My mom never really became Americanized. She refused to learn to drive, and she hated being out in crowded shops, so she tended to buy everything at the corner store.”
“If corner stores in New Jersey are anything like the ones in L.A., she was getting ripped off.”
“I’m sure. She didn’t like American clothes and wouldn’t cut her hair. At first my dad thought all those things were cute, but after a few years he got tired of her traditional attitudes and began pushing her to adapt.”
“But she didn’t.”
“She couldn’t. She’s very shy. She probably only married him in the first place because she was too timid to say no.” Lani bent down to smell a pretty white lily at the base of a tree.
“Or he swept her off her feet.”