Page 6 of Keeping Kama

Alana nodded, stepping away from him toward another customer. “It was nice meeting you.” Alana left him, joining the customer over by the pineapples.

Derek heard Alana ask the customer if they were looking for anything specific before he exited through the back door.

Following Alana’s directions, Derek walked down the dirt path. On one side of the path, it led to a large house with a detached garage. Then several yards behind it were a few bungalows. The other side of the path was covered with wildflowers, plants, and what Derek guessed were banana trees.

After walking for a few minutes, the trailer came into view. Behind the trailer were signs of the beginning of the fruit farm. Acres and acres of rows with what he figured were different varieties of fruit plants and trees. Derek admired the impressive landscape of the farm. From the information he received, Derek didn’t envision the farm to be on this grand a scale. He mostly imagined a mom-and-pop operation, but this farm was awe-inspiring.

With only a few minutes on the property, Derek sensed the pride of ownership and careful design of the farm which appeared to utilize every available square inch. Nothing was overgrown or needed to be trimmed. No wonder the farm had thrived for so many generations. From his understanding, it was only recently, the last year or two where the farm had fallen on challenging times with increased operational costs.

As he approached the trailer, Derek straightened his blue-checkered collared shirt. Though he recently showered, the cotton fabric already stuck to his skin. Los Angeles was hot, but the humidity here was stifling. Glancing down at his blue dress pants, Derek wondered if he had overdressed for a visit to a fruit farm. He opted for the short-sleeve shirt instead of one of his usual long-sleeve dress shirts, but even it suddenly felt too formal.

Before he had a chance to knock on the door, it swung open, revealing a middle-aged Hawaiian man in a t-shirt and flip flops. Derek at once regretted his attire of choice. The man looked comfortable and at ease, while Derek was hot and itchy.

With warmth in his voice, the man greeted him, “Aloha. Derek?” He held the trailer door open partway with his hand.

Derek tugged at the collar of his dress shirt. “I’m Derek.” He studied the man for a moment. “Are you Kai?”

With a wide smile, he replied, “I’m Kai. Welcome to Kama Farm.” Kai pushed the door open wider, motioning with his other arm. “Come on in. I’m glad you found us way back here. My wife texted me and told me to send out a search party if you didn’t show up in the next five minutes.” He paused, and Kai scrutinized Derek’s attire. Kai cleared his throat and continued, “I’m afraid your clothes might get dirty from the tour. I wouldn’t want you to ruin those nice shoes of yours.” Kai’s eyes stared down at Derek’s brown leather loafers.

“Oh, yeah.” Derek ran his free hand through his blond hair, while his other tightened its grip on his bag of mangos. “I can see I overdressed for our meeting.” Shuffling his feet, he peered down at himself. “My apologies.” His neck stiffened, and Derek wondered if he was already off to a bad start with Kai.

“No worries. You are in Hawaii now. It’s much too hot to dress so formally, especially on a farm. You’ll know better for next time.” Kai gave him an encouraging smile, easing the tension between his shoulder blades. “Come on in. The trailer at least has a window AC unit.”

Derek passed through the open door. A blast of cool air hit his skin. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” The door slammed shut behind them.

“You!” said a woman’s voice.

Jolted, he snapped his head in the direction of the voice, Derek’s gaze landed on Leia from this morning, seated behind one of the two desks. Leia shook her head. His jaw dropped.

Swimming in Shark’s Cove early in the morning wasn’t something he was proud of, but Derek blamed it on a temporary lapse in his usually sound judgement. The night before, his girlfriend, Heather, dumped him via text message. Heather hadn’t even dignified him with a phone call. Boy had Derek been off with where their relationship had stood.

Derek tossed and turned most of the night, and since his entire world was crumbling and sleep wasn’t happening, he figured he’d get a jump start on his day. Several people had recommended snorkeling in Shark’s Cove on the North Shore of Oahu while he was here. Without thought or even checking the time, Derek had stumbled out of bed, thrown on his swimsuit and headed out before the sun had even come up.

Forcing a smile, Derek replied, “Leia. What are the odds?” He scratched his chin.

Kai walked to the other desk next to Leia, taking a seat. “Wait, you two know each other?” Kai’s gaze darted between them.

Sighing, Leia rolled her eyes. “Technically, we don’t really know each other.” She waved her hand flippantly toward him. “I pulled this guy out of Shark’s Cove this morning, after he nearly hit me with his car.”

Kai held his hands up. “Whoa, back up.” He then leaned forward, his forearms resting on his desk. “You went swimming in Shark’s Cove?Alone? Early in the morning?”

Derek tried not to shrink into himself. “It wasn’t my most brilliant move.” Then he motioned toward Leia. “But thanks to your sister and her remarkable strength, I didn’t die.” He set his fruit down on the ground. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Derek lowered himself into the available chair facing the two desks.

Defensively, Leia crossed her arms. “I thought I wasn’t ever going to see you again.” She pushed her chin up. “But here you are, trying to buy Kama Farm.”

“That’s not true.” His hands shook as he removed them from his pockets. Derek pulled back his shoulders and regained a tad of his confidence. “I’m not buying Kama Farm outright. It’ll still very much be your family’s farm. I’m an investor.”

With a heavy sigh, Leia flipped her hair over her shoulder and scooted closer to her desk. “But you’ll own some of it.” She shot him a pointed gaze.

“I wouldn’t think of it that way.” Derek rested one ankle on his opposite knee. “Think of me as an investment partner who’s here to help improve the functionality and profits of the business. I’ve been doing this for years. My goal is always for the businesses that I invest in, for the owner to maintain their control and vision for their business. The goal is for me to eventually disappear, not take over.”

Kai slapped his hand across his desk, glancing toward Leia. “See. I like the sound of that.”

Leia blinked at Kai, then she turned her stone-cold stare to Derek. “I don’t like the sound of that.” Narrowed eyes met his gaze. Leia added, “There’s always a catch, so what is it?”

With a tug at his restrictive collar, Derek tried to calm himself. Finally, he forced himself to pull his hands away and fold them on his lap. “Yes, I’m an investor. I can’t change that. This is what I do for a living, but I want for the farm to be profitable again.” Derek cleared his throat, meeting Leia’s gaze head on. “Your success will be my success.”

Rolling her eyes, Leia peered at Kai. “I’m not buying it.” Leia shifted toward Kai and pointed at Derek. “Kai, you can’t let him do this. Why can’t we take out a simple loan from the bank?”

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