Chapter 20

The wedding went off without a hitch. As Kimberly paced up the aisle on Dan Douglas’s arm, Brad thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Not only was her beauty so vibrant that morning, but there was a look of utter joy on her face that he had never seen before.

There were a couple of surprises at the reception, though. First, while the receiving line was forming, Kelly presented gifts to Kim and Brad. They were unwrapped; both were identical rosewood boxes. Opening the lids, they found the Smith & Wesson automatics that Kelly had had made for them, along with something else. Kim took hers out and examined it. It was a laminated identification card with her photo and signature on it. The card stated that she was a special U.S. marshal working for the Department of Justice.

Kelly just shrugged and explained, “It’s just sort of an odd concealed-carry permit. It means you can take the weapon with you anywhere in the States without being hassled.”

But there was more. After checking to see that no guests had yet arrived, Kelly asked Kim to raise her right hand. Then she proceeded to swear her in.

Kim was utterly bewildered, but nevertheless said the correct things at the right times. When it was over, she was slowly shaking her head and asked, “What was that all about?”

“Welcome to the U.S. Army, Captain Kimberly Kane Kramer, U.S. Army Reserve. You’re now a captain in Special Forces.” With that, Kelly presented her with a green beret. “I’d put it on your head, but I don’t know how well it would work with your bridal veil,” she said with a grin.

At the same time all this was going on, Lisa Douglas had been greeting Ken and Kathy Carlson. As with Brad, she began by kissing Ken’s feet. By that time, both Ken and Kathy knew of Lisa, but neither had seen her.

Lisa looked at Kathy and asked, “Would you kiss your husband, please?”

That was one request that Kathy didn’t need to think about. She went into Ken’s arms and kissed him with all her love and passion unleashed. Ken returned as good as he got.

When the couple eased apart, they looked at Lisa. “Well... ?” Kathy asked.

The girl just sighed. “That was so beautiful!” Then she explained to Kathy how Ken had spent almost all his time when he and Brad were on leave in Saigon reading and rereading her Kathy-grams. Finally, she said, “I can’t tell you how frustrating it was for me to spend every night in bed between two giants, neither of whom would even touch me! Can you believe it, Mrs. Carlson? During the day, I would be sitting on the sofa, stark naked, playing with myself, and you know what the guys were doing?”

Kathy just shook her head, but her eyes were dancing. “What were they doing?”

“Sir Ken was reading your dumb letters ... for the God-only-knows how many times. And Sir Brad? He was teaching me English! Can you believe it? Here’s a girl playing with herself while she’s stark naked and he’s teaching her English. Men!”

“Golly, Lisa, I just don’t understand,” Kathy said while trying to appear perplexed but having a very difficult time controlling her giggles. “What would you want them to do?”

“Want them to do?” Lisa replied. “The same thing Sir Ken does to you for hours every day!”

“‘Hours every day’...” Kathy mused. “Oh... ! You mean eating!”

“You’re right,” Lisa replied with a grin. “But not food; eating your pussy!”

At that Kathy punched Ken hard in the arm. “That reminds me ... You haven’t eaten me in weeks!”

“Yesterday morning at about six o’clock,” Ken corrected her.

Kathy hit him again exclaiming, “Men! They’re always so damned technical.”

At that point they all laughed. Kathy and Ken melted into another kiss, while Lisa went off to make sure everything was set for the honeymoon.

The other surprise was the appearance at the reception of Jenny Clark and the girls from the Leper Colony. It seemed that Jane Chalmers had met her friends at LAX and driven them straight down to the reception. Jane was leaving the next day for her own week in Hawaii.

Jenny led them through the receiving line. When she reached Kimberly, the girl just took both of Jenny’s hands in her own and looked at her. “I just do not believe this!” she exclaimed. “Jenny Clark, talk about a new woman! Girl, you’ve never looked half this good before in your entire life!”

Not only was Jenny tanned and fit, she was more relaxed than anyone had ever seen her. She just basked in Kim’s praise. It was just a repeat with the other four girls.

Then Jenny said, “My first act as VP–Administration is going to be to open up a company fitness center. We got started on it out in Hawaii, but there’s still a long way to go. But I happen to know that Trudy Morrison and Connie Miller have the specs for all the equipment we’ll need, so...”

At that point the Harrisons and the Millers came up to the girls and basically repeated what Kim had said.

With her eyes wide but glistening with mirth, Jenny asked George, “Sir, don’t you think you’ll want to give me another pre-promotion physical? I mean ... I’ve been away and haven’t started my new job yet ... And you never know what might have happened out there...”

“Hmm...” George said, pretending to twirl a nonexistent mustache. “I think that will have to wait until Monday at the office. It will be a bit more private and we’ll have more time...”

Everyone laughed at that one.

Later, Kim, Brad and Lisa were taken in a limo to LAX. As they were driving, Kim asked, “Miss Douglas, if you don’t mind me being nosy ... Just what are the plans for my honeymoon?”

“We have a United flight, nonstop to Maui,” Lisa replied. “Oh, yeah ... I guess I’m saving a little money, too...”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Kim inquired.

“Oh...” Lisa replied vaguely. “There seems to be a bit of an ownership issue...”

“And what’s that mean?”

“Well, PHA Properties may still own it...”

“Or... ?”

“Or Bill Clifford does.”

“And... ?”

“Oh, it really doesn’t make any difference,” Lisa replied brightly. “Neither of them will let me pay ... And, oh yeah...”

“‘Oh yeah, what?”

“You’re getting pretty much the same treatment Kathy and Ken Carlson received when they came out on their honeymoon.”

“Pretty much?”

“Yeah. The Trang sisters lived in their room full time while they were out here. You’ll have to make do with only me.” But again Lisa brightened and continued, “But they did get a brand-new bed for you, and there won’t be anyone in any of the rooms on either side, above or below.”

Kim and Brad just shook their heads.

The United flight out of LAX was on time, both departing and arriving. Neither Kim nor Brad knew exactly what was going on, except that they were going to the same place where Ken and Kathy went on their honeymoon. Although neither said a word to the other, both were silently praying that their marriage would be as happy as the Carlsons so obviously was.

Arriving at Maui, they collected their luggage at the baggage claim area — remarkably, theirs were the first pieces off and they were all together (it never registered with them exactly what VIP treatment really meant) — and found a uniformed driver waiting. He was holding a sign that said, “Mr. & Mrs. Kramer.”

Kim grinned and whispered to Brad, “Hey! ‘Mrs. Kramer’! That’s me now!”

“And don’t you ever forget it!” Brad whispered back, evoking a grin coupled with wide eyes as Kim slowly shook her head from side to side.

In spite of being an island, Maui is not small. Moreover, with the volcanic mountains, the roads tend only to run around the perimeter, so going from Kahului Airport to Kapalua, the choice is going about 25 miles around the north coast or about 35 around the south coast and through Lahaina. They were a bit surprised to see all the hotels along the coast at Lahaina. Kim commented that it looked like Miami Beach with grass. But they continued north into pineapple plantations and finally reached the Kapalua resort.

Evidently the driver had alerted the hotel by radio because the general manager, Hank Wellington, was waiting out front to greet them.

He shook hands with Brad and grinned. “I just don’t know about you people...”

“We haven’t done anything,” Kim protested. “We’ve barely arrived.”

With a warm smile he said, “It’s not you, Mrs. Kramer, it’s your husband...”

“But he didn’t do anything, either!”

“Oh, yes he did!” Wellington insisted. “He was Ken Carlson’s executive officer in Alpha Company, 1^st Ranger Battalion.” Then he chuckled and added, “When I told him, Jerry freaked.”

“Who’s Jerry and why did he freak?” Brad asked.

“Jerry is Gerald Smith, senior vice president of the Bank of Hawaii,” Wellington replied. “He’s also the leader of The Swing Band that most people out here think is the finest group of musicians in the islands.” He paused and then continued, “It seems that Jerry had an encounter with Carlson’s Rangers. Ken Carlson blew away a guy an instant before he would have rammed his bayonet through Jerry’s belly. Anyway, when I told him we now have Ken’s executive officer out here on his honeymoon ... Mmm, mm... ! There’s going to be some very nice music at Kapalua for the next few days.”

Wellington smiled and added, “I hope you folks aren’t too tired. I took the liberty of calling Jerry the instant I heard you were coming, and the band will be here starting tonight.”

Kim and Brad exchanged looks. Although it was only 4:00 local time, it was 7:00, Los Angeles time. But fortunately, they had slept most of the way out. Wellington’s statement caused a change in plans. Clearly, both he and Jerry Smith would be disappointed if they didn’t appear for dinner that night.

When they entered the dining room that evening, Brad felt like a million bucks ... at least! Kim had her hand lightly on his left elbow and looked utterly devastating in a flowing white gown that set off her golden tan and her multi-colored streaked hair. Following half a pace behind was Lisa wearing a nearly identical gown. With her tawny hair and emerald-green eyes, she was drop-dead gorgeous. Moreover, from her attitude and position, it was clear to any onlooker that she belonged to Brad, too. The one thing both girls — or maybe just Kim had done for both — was to subtly apply eye makeup. Although there was no trace of anything visible from even very close up, Brad knew she must have done something since their eyes appeared so much larger and more vivid than they usually did.

The gasps from the other guests — particularly the other women — were clearly audible as they were shown to their table which was directly across the dance floor from the band leader.

Jerry Smith recognized the group in an instant and immediately swung into The Swing Band’s — and Glen Miller’s — signature number, “Moonlight Serenade.” The band performed it brilliantly. And as they were playing, a small army of servers deployed throughout the dining room placing champagne flutes at every table and pouring Dom Pérignon. The band and the servers finished at the same time.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Jerry announced, “and welcome to the Kapalua Resort. The reason champagne has just been poured for everyone — it’s free to you, by the way — is that it’s in honor of the couple who have just been seated across from me.