Page 40 of Maliea's Hero
Maliea held up the book. “Wouldn’t miss it,” she said. “Should I start at the beginning?”
Nani nodded and yawned. “Yes, please.”
Maliea opened the handmade book carefully to the first page. “A long time ago, there was a little girl who lived in the Gathering Place.”
Nani pointed at the page. “That’s Oahu and that’s Honolulu,” Nani said proudly. “Papa told me.”
Reid’s heart swelled at the picture the mother and daughter made. With Maliea sitting propped against a pillow beside her daughter, holding the book lovingly made by Nani’s grandfather.
Maliea was an amazing mother. Patient, kind and blessed with a heart of gold.
“One day a man with a red beard came to the Gathering Place on a ship with huge masts. He pretended to be a friend to the king and all the people,” Maliea continued. “But once he got inside the king’s palace, he stole all the king’s gold.”
Nani’s eyebrows formed a V over her pert little nose. “He was a bad man.”
Maliea nodded. “Yes, he was. His other men went through town stealing from the people who lived there.”
“Why didn’t they fight the bad men?”
With a shrug, Maliea said, “They didn’t know they were bad men at first and didn’t have anything to defend themselves.”
Nani glanced at Reid. “They needed Mr. Reid to help them.”
“Yes, they did,” Maliea said with a smile. “Only Mr. Reid wasn’t there. He wasn’t born yet.
“The man with the red beard and all his men took the gold and riches, carried them out to their ship and sailed away from the Gathering Place. The people of the island never saw them again.”
Nani lay back on the pillow with a yawn. “That’s sad.”
“It’s just a story,” Maliea said. “Close your eyes and go to sleep thinking of happy thoughts about mermaids and seashells.”
Nani yawned again, her eyes drifting closed. “Read the next...” Before she finished her sentence, Nani was asleep.
Maliea continued to sit beside her daughter for a couple minutes more and then slipped off the bed. She leaned over Nani and pressed her lips to her daughter’s forehead. “Ko’u aloha, my darling.”
Her fingers brushed the loose hairs around her daughter’s cheeks behind each ear. With another smile at her daughter, Maliea straightened and turned to Reid. “Is it all right if I get a shower?”
He nodded. “Of course. I’ll watch out for Nani.”
“Let me know if she wakes up. I’ll try to make it short,” Maliea said.
“Take your time,” Reid said. “She’ll be fine with me.”
Maliea hesitated a moment longer, then gathered a T-shirt, panties and gym shorts out of the bag she’d dragged from her apartment to Tish’s and now to the cabin. After one more glance at her daughter, Maliea disappeared into the small bathroom.
No sooner had the door closed and the shower was turned on, then Nani’s eyes blinked open. “Mama?”
Reid came to stand beside the bed and took Nani’s hand. “She’s in the shower. What do you need?”
Nani rubbed eyes with her knuckles. “I want her to read some more from Papa’s book. It helps me sleep.”
Reid glanced from the book on the nightstand to the little girl blinking up at him. He wasn’t sure how long Maliea would be in the bathroom. “I can read to you,” he said, almost regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth.
A slow smile spread across Nani’s face. “Will you?”
The girl was precious and out of her element, maybe even scared. Reid couldn’t help himself.
He took the book in his hands and carefully opened it.