What Happened to Maui?: Maui Romance Series, #3

By Cynthia Washburn

Carolyn flies away to Edmonton to spend a weekend with Dave and recapture the joy and
sweetness of their relationship.

But it’s not Maui!

No tropical breezes, no warm ocean waters—just  a rugged oil town and a son that has already decided to dislike her.

Can Carolyn and Dave build on the happiness of their previous encounters or will his family issues get in the way of love?

A sweet romance novella of 16,000 words.

 

 

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cynthia Washburn
• Release date: Jun 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497733763

Book preview

MAUI ROMANCE SERIES

Maui:  Here We Come!

Return to Maui

What Happened to Maui?

Chapter 1

The kiss was sweet and lingering and definitely included more than a hint of desire.  Like riding a bicycle, interpreting kisses was a skill that most women, including Carolyn, possessed.  After almost two months apart, it definitely felt like they had both missed each other.  Oh, there had been e-mail and even a few telephone calls over the summer but it paled beside the sweetness of just being together.

Fleetingly, she had wondered if things would be quite so intense if they were able to see each other regularly.  If Dave didn’t live in Edmonton, Alberta and she in Surrey, British Columbia, over eleven hundred kilometers away, would the kisses be bland and boring?  Practical as always, Carolyn decided things would be a bit more tranquil if they saw each other regularly, but that didn’t mean she preferred their long distance relationship.

Dave pulled back and Carolyn was sure she could sense reluctance in him.  She smiled.  Could a sixty year old widower be shy?  Not accustomed to visiting women in their hotel rooms?

Come and sit down and tell me what you’ve been up to, Dave.

The next forty minutes passed quickly as first Dave and then Carolyn updated each other on what had been going on in their lives.  This Labour Day long weekend together, the first weekend in September, had been planned since July.  Not just planned, Carolyn admitted to herself, but looked forward to . . . maybe even longed for.  In a few days she would be back at work in the classroom, starting another school year as a Learning Assistance teacher in Surrey but she was not going to think about that now.  Her colleagues and students could wait.

When they had parted at the Kaluhui Airport in Maui airport in mid-July, Dave had extended the invitation to visit him in Edmonton.  Carolyn had felt bold enough—or perhaps heady with the tropical sunshine—or more likely still under the effects of the anesthesia from her emergency appendectomy—to invite Dave to stay with her at the hotel.  A first night together. 

Carolyn tried to reassure herself that she didn’t exactly feel shy now but perhaps only a little awkward.  Had Dave forgotten her invitation or was he feeling reluctant?  She disliked uncertainty and definitely wasn’t going to play any coy games.  On the verge of asking him if he’d brought his overnight bag, the ring of the telephone interrupted her before she got the words out.

I’m sure I prepaid the bill, Carolyn joked as she went over to the bedside table to pick up the room telephone.

Hello . . .

Oh, hello, I’m looking for Dave Pendle.  Is he there by chance?

Carolyn paused for a moment.  Someone had tracked down Dave to her hotel room?  Who could that be?

It seems it’s for you, Dave, she said, holding out the portable telephone receiver.

Me?  I can’t imagine . . . Dave walked over and took the telephone from her.

Hello?

There was silence at their end for a few moments and Carolyn watched as different emotions played on Dave’s face.  Studying him, unobtrusively she hoped, the main one did seem to be annoyance.

Is this something that can wait, Zack?

Zack.  Dave’s younger son.  The one whom Dave had said had made a few remarks—not detailed to Carolyn—in opposition to their relationship.  And that was before there even was any relationship to speak of.

I see.  I have to say I’m surprised you went to the trouble to track me down for something like that.  We can always look at that house next weekend . . .

There was silence on Dave’s end and Carolyn could hear the mumble of dialogue at the other end.  She decided to busy herself unpacking.  She didn’t want Dave to think she was eavesdropping although in the hotel room there was only the bedroom to go into to give Dave privacy.  She didn’t want him to think she was waiting for him in there—at least not yet.  Should she step out of her hotel room?  This had definitely killed the mood; there was no doubt about that.

Zack’s timing certainly wasn’t very good or maybe it was ideal, from Zack’s point of view.  With good reason, Carolyn had formed the impression that Zack did not approve of her or maybe it was just any woman that threatened to take the place of his deceased mother.  One of the plans for this brief long weekend was for her to meet Dave’s two sons and his grandsons.  Had Zack called to discuss those arrangements?  It had sounded like it was something about viewing a house for sale.  Dave had mentioned that he was thinking of buying a house with his younger son.