Read Blooming in the Wild for Free Online

usual, the process absorbed her, soothed her, allowing her to forget the myriad details awaiting her. Finished, she poured water in to soak the florist’s foam holding the arrangement and set the epergne on the table, stepping back to view it with satisfaction.
    “Pretty,” Camille approved, cocking her head elegantly to admire the table, the green centerpiece with spikes of tall purple blossoms and sprays of shiny green pods set on a vintage cotton tablecloth adorned with hibiscus in faded reds. “My, you’ve many talents.”
    “Thank you.” Bella smiled. She’d always had a knack with plants and flowers. Her apartment was full of beautiful houseplants, many of them cast-offs. She was also the one friends called on to “do something” with flowers at parties.
    Frank brought out hot and cold carriers containing a delicious fish-and-rice casserole and salads that Leilani had prepared, with sweet island pineapple. Bella’s stomach growled in anticipation—she felt as if she couldn’t get enough of the golden fruit when she was here.
    “I see DelRay packed one of their new camp stoves,” Frank commented, looking dubiously at a silver case amongst the mess gear. “’Fraid I don’t know how to use it, though. Dinner is already hot, but if anyone wants hot tea or coffee, we’re gonna have to use this.”
    “Got it,” Joel said. He snagged a piece of pineapple from the tray and then squatted to fiddle with the small, sleek propane stove.
    “Mahalo.” Frank moved on to the folding table he’d set up nearby.
    The stove burning satisfactorily, Joel walked over to look as Frank opened a cooler full of ice, in which nestled a variety of sodas and local beers. Frank handed him a can sweating in the humidity.
    “I’ll have what you’re having,” Tanah said, materializing at Joel’s side and accepting a can of beer with a smile.
    Why didn’t she just skip the preliminaries and say she’d have him , Bella wondered waspishly, waiting until the two had moved on to select her own drink from the cooler. She pulled out a Koko Brown Ale from Kona Brewing, took a drink, savoring the rich taste of the cold, prickly brew and then carried her drink over to help set the table.
     
    They ate around the table, Joel at one end with Tanah and Cassie, Frank opposite him, the others dispersed between. Kobe and Eddy had carried their plates and cans of beer down to rocks by the shore.
    “Great dinner,” Joel commented, working his way through a big plate of food.
    Frank nodded. “My sister Leilani does the cooking for us.”
    Joel glanced appreciatively at the large coolers stowed at the rear of the campsite. “Looks like you brought plenty.”
    “Yes, it’s good to know we have enough provisions. This place is so isolated,” Camille mused, looking out at the wild shore. “Why, anything could happen out here, and who would know?”
    “No worries,” Frank said. “Got da boat and great cell service. We’d get help right away.”
    “Oh, good.” Tanah made a face. “Camille, you scared me there for a minute.”
    “But isn’t that what we’re to portray here?” the photographer went on, arching her brows. “The sense of venturing into the primordial wild, pitting ourselves against nature, lovely and placid on the surface but created in such incredible violence?”
    Bella nodded. “You’re right. My best friend Melia was terrified of the volcanoes when she first visited. David had to convince her Hawaiians have been living with Pele’s fire for thousands of years.”
    “And it’s not just volcanic eruptions,” Camille went on dreamily, chin in hand. “The sea is lapping so peacefully at our feet now, but that can change very quickly, no? A tropical storm, and waves will crash up over that little reef and over our camp, as well.”
    Bella glanced at the others and wished the woman would stop. Cassie, Tanah and Matt had all stopped eating, looking as uneasy as racehorses shying at the gate.
    “In that case,