Page 44 of A Little Harmless Pleasure

“Listen, what I do with and to Chris is my own business. He’s one of your best friends, and I can’t see why you would have objections to it, but if you do, too bad.”

“There are things about Chris you don’t know.”

“I doubt that. But if you are talking about certain aspects of his personal life, well, again, none of your business. For the record, I already know about that.”

“Cynthia—”

“Let it go. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”

“All right. I’ll let it go, but remember, Anna and I are here for you.”

“Thanks,” she said with feeling.

Again, he cleared his throat. “Now, tell me about your plans.”

“Not sure what I plan on doing. Chris wants to take me out tonight, show me Waikiki. I need food in my house to survive, plus I need to go through a lot of this mail here.”

“Are you going to look for a job?”

Cynthia snorted. “Anna told you to ask me, didn’t she?”

He chuckled. “Well, you know that she’s worried you won’t ever come back.”

Cynthia rose and walked through the small kitchen and out the back door to the lanai. The house wasn’t huge, but the views were stunning. It was hard not to have one in Hawaii, especially on the North Shore. The salt clean scent of the ocean drifted over the air and she sighed.

“What was that?” Max asked.

“There is just something about this place that makes me happy. Those times I came here to see my grandmother were glorious. I thought it was just the exuberance of youth, you know? Everything is prettier at a distance.”

There was a long beat of silence.

“I’ve never heard you talk like that.”

“Yeah, well, you scared the hell out of me, and I have spent thirty years suppressing all those feelings. The only time I was allowed to run wild was here in Hawaii. I didn’t realize that I would feel this connected to it.”

“You sound lighter.”

She smiled as she sat down on the top step that led to the small garden. “I agree.”

“I’m really happy for you. Sad for me.”

“Why you?”

“Anna’s gonna throw a fit when she realizes you aren’t coming back.”

Cynthia laughed. “I’m sure you can handle it.”

“Take care of yourself and tell Chris I will beat the shit out of him if he hurts you.”

“I will, although, I might just beat the shit out of him.”

“Cynthia Myers, tsk tsk, cussing. What has become of you?”

“Goodbye, Maxwell.”

She hung up on his laughter and set her phone down. Instead of running in to deal with the mail, she decided to sit and enjoy the fact that she was back to where she was happy. The rest of life could wait a few minutes.

Chapter Eleven

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