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She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. She came in here for a few groceries earlier, and Haley Ellis sure has grown into quite the beauty, not that she wasn't pretty before."
I rolled my eyes. Of course, Mahina remembered Haley. It was too much to ask that she wouldn't. Mahina had the memory of an elephant, and she remembered everybody who stayed here no matter how long they’d been gone.
"Really? I haven't noticed."
Mahina chuckled. "I'm sure. Poor thing."
I looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Poor thing? Really?"
She tilted her head and said in a chiding tone, "I don't know what happened between the two of you, Cooper, but you're not that mean-spirited. I don't know what's going on with that girl,but she's heartbreak walking. She tries to cover it up, but I can see it. Women my age always know."
Wanting to change the subject and needle her a bit, I asked, "And exactly what age is that, Mahina?"
"It's none of your damn business, Mr. Barclay," she said in warning, and I bit back a smile as she shook her head at me.
I grabbed a bag of chips and a couple of other junk food items and pushed them across the counter at her.
"It's slow this summer," Mahina commented.
I sighed. "I know. It's making me a little nervous."
"Me too. I promised the Mayor, I'd give him a percentage for the community center. That thing is in such disrepair the roof's about to cave in on the kids' heads. But at this rate, I won’t have any profit to share."
"Don't worry, we still have the festival. That always brings in a lot of tourists. We'll make up the difference for the community center, I'm sure of it," I assured her, even though I was worried too.
Hanalei was a quaint little town. There were only a few hundred residents. We relied on tourists to keep our businesses afloat, but it had been a bit of a dry season.
"We'll drum up business somehow, don't worry," I told her.
She looked at me doubtfully and shoved me my bag of purchases across the counter to me. "I hope so. In the meantime, I'll keep praying for more tourists, while you keep pretending not to obsess over your neighbor."
I scowled. "You really are a pain in the ass."
She threw her head back and cackled as I walked away.
I strolled back to the bungalow in no particular rush, needing to get away from Mahina's teasing. Normally, I had no problem with her picking on me. It was a part of our friendly banter, but I was in no mood to hear her tease me about Haley. She had no idea the wound she was picking at when it came to Haley.
As I neared the bungalow, I heard a banging sound and the volume and rhythm accelerated the closer I got.
What on earth was Haley doing in there?
I tried to ignore it and went about my normal routine inside my house. I had the rest of the day free, since I didn’t have to worry about cleaning up an already spotless house thanks to my previous efforts of trying to distract myself from the troubling woman next door.
There wasn't a surf board I owned, which was quite a few, that hadn't been waxed within an inch of its life. So I settled in to watch some baseball, which would have to do until football season started.
But it was hard to get into the game knowing she was several feet away, banging endlessly.
By the third inning, I couldn't take it anymore. "For the love of God, what the hell is she doing over there?" I muttered to myself, as I marched out of my bungalow and went next door, banging on her door. "Haley? I know you're in there, so don't try to ignore me," I called through the door.
After a prolonged moment, the door opened with her looking at me crossly.
"Why on earth are you banging on my door like that?" She asked.
I felt my lips twist into a wry smile. "Oh, you don't like that noise? You could've fooled me, because that's all I can hear next door." I spit out before I realized there were tear streaks on her face.
I sobered instantly. "Haley?"
She turned away so I couldn't see her face and gestured behind her. "I found all these old framed pictures my mom always meant to hang up, so I thought I would do it for her. I didn't realize I was being so loud."
