Page 1 of Lahaina Noon

Chapter 1

So that’s the kindof day it’s going to be, Bridget thought. She stared at the two halves of her hairbrush, which, incredibly, had snapped while she was getting ready after her shower. The handle still in her hand while the other half lay in the sink staring at her accusingly, as if she’d done it on purpose.

“Guess it’s going to be a ponytail kinda day,” she muttered to her reflection in the steamy mirror. She glared at her bleary-eyed image; the dark circles under her normally bright green eyes were going to need some extra concealer today. Digging through the vanity drawer, she came up with a backup comb. She held it gingerly between her thumb and forefinger, suspicious about how it had become covered in a sticky substance.

“Gabriel!” she yelled. “Have you been using my comb again?”

Her son poked his head around the doorway, taking in his mother’s thunderous expression, the comb, and the broken brush. He put on his best angelic face, widening his eyes, batting his eyelashes, and replied, “No, Mom, that was the cat!” He held up their cat Poe, who, while known for pilfering odd things around the house and drowning themin the toilet, was not necessarily known for using copious amounts of hair gel.

She sighed, tapping her toes on the cold tile floor. “Poe doesn’t use hair gel. If youinsiston using my things, at least have the courtesy to clean them up when you return them!” she said sternly, trying not to smile at him. He was pretty cute, with his innocent eyes and bright smile. She knew he was trying to style his hair after his favorite YouTuber of the month, thus the hair gel.

“Bruh,” he said with a grin, “At least I put it back this time!” before dashing off to his room to watch more videos before going to school.

“That’sMomto you,Bruh!” she shouted half-heartedly after him, laughing because she knew he only did it to drive her nuts.

Washing the goop off the comb, she attacked her damp hair, trying to wrestle it into compliance. As she continued getting ready to face the day, she thought, maybe I should get a haircut. Her deep coppery red hair fell just past her shoulders, and never wanted to stay in place; frizz, was her look, apparently. She loved the color of her hair; her late husband had always compared it to burnished pennies. It was the texture and its unmanageability that drove her crazy.Something short and manageable like a bob or a pixie,she thought.

Right, she rolled her eyes. Like she would manage that any better, she knew it would be cute for exactly as long as it took for her to walk out of the salon and have a few cute pictures taken. The minute it was up to her to maintain it, it would be out of control and make her look like an electrified alpaca. She checked in the mirror again, ensuring she had all the defiant strands in place.

“Mom, bruh!” shouted Gabriel, interrupting her reverie. “We gotta go! It’s almost time for school to start, and Ms. Jenkins said I’m getting detention if I’m late again this month! I can’t stay after today; there’s a CW tournament tonight!”

Oh great,she groused,another gamer tournament!His online tournaments meant a lot of yelling, both joyous and angry if things didn’t go the way he expected.

She’d given up asking him why he bothered to play if he was going to get that mad, because there was always a new and more inventive reason why this time would be different.

Oh well, at least he was using his creativity for good in the world and not just evil. His teachers praised his academic abilities but said he needed to be challenged more. She smiled; he was challenging, alright.

“Mom!” came the shout again.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming! Keep your pants on!” she called back, walking into the kitchen to grab her purse and keys.

“I can’t help but keep them on,” he replied with a cheeky grin, “You told me it wasn’t appropriate to run around naked in public. I’m also not allowed to twerk in public anymore.” he laughed, breaking into a booty shaking dance which was hilarious but also really embarrassing when he did it in the middle of the bread aisle.

“Get in the car you delinquent,” she muttered, trying not to laugh at his antics as she locked the door behind them.

“So, Mom,” Gabriel started innocently as they were backing out of the driveway. “Can we run to Starbucks for breakfast? You forgot to feed me.” He batted his eyelashes at her again, doing his best pout. He knew the way to get her to cave in. He held up her phone and said, “See, I’ve already put the order in. I even got you something! All you have to do is check out, drive through, grab it. Easy!” he grinned.

Ever suffering, she sighed, approved the order, and turned right towards Starbucks. She didn’t even bother asking how he cracked her phone’s password. She was sure she didn’t want to know anyway. She made a mental note to change the password when she got to work.

This kid—, she loved him so much she would do just about anything for him, and he knew it. Fortunately, he didn’t take advantage of it. At least not too much. It was just him and her against the world, and he was worth it.

She pulled up to the school, let him out and watched him walk away. He was already talking to his friends and being a typical teenager. She was going to enjoy these last few moments with him. He was about to get his driver’s license. Afterwards, she was sure she wouldn’t see him as much unless he needed gas money. She hoped her work bonus came through as promised; she wanted to use it to put down a payment on a car for him rather than dipping into her savings.

Today’s schedule came rushing back into her mind. “Oh crap!” she shouted, remembering the meeting with her director at 10:00 a.m. She needed to finish up a few slides for the presentation of her proposal. The outcome of which would determine how good that bonus would be. She merged on the highway determined not to let today’s crop of idiots bring down her day. The power of positivity would get her through this. No one was going to take away from it!

“Put the phone down and drive, you absolute moron!” she shouted at the person who came into her lane without looking. Okay, so no oneelsewouldbring down her—

“What are you doing? Signaling the mother ship? Why does no one know how to use their blinkers therightway.” she grumbled. Fine, it really was going to be one of those days, after all.

Chapter 2

No time for aquick pep talk in the parking garage. Once again, the only spots were on the very top floor or in the creepy lowest level, or as Bridget liked to call it, the seventh circle of Hell. Given that it looked like it was going to be yet another scorching day in Texas, and she didn’t relish burning the skin off the back of her legs when she got back in the car, she opted for the seventh circle.

Both locations were a way from the entrance to her building, and she needed to get moving if she wanted to be on time. The creepy dark corners where she was sure something lurked, waiting to grab her, were something else she wanted to avoid. Laughing at herself, Bridget thought,at least I know where Gabe gets it.Ponytail swishing as she jogged across the lot she made it to the stairs in record time.

For once, the elevator was open and waiting for her.Yes! I might make it up to the ground level without breaking a sweat!She leapt through the yawning doors that made her think the ancient elevator might be as sleepy as she was and spun around in triumph only to see something in the nearest shadow shift towards her. It seemed toelongate as if the sun had shifted by hours instead of seconds; the shadow stretched out like a bony finger pointing at her.

She gasped and jumped, the hairs on her arms and neck rising with her panic, frantically jabbing the ‘G’ for ground level and then the Door Close button. In her panic, she made the same mistake every well-intentioned person makes when trying to hold the door for someone. She punched the wrong button and hit ‘Door Open’ instead.

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