Free The Hawaiian Quilt by Jean; Wanda E.; Brunstetter Brunstetter Page A

a mosquito had bitten her. “Now our two friends are staying at a bed-and-breakfast, and Mom got the phone number from Mandy’s mamm.”
    Sadie was relieved Mandy and Ellen were okay, but she also felt a bit irritated. If they’d gone on the tour to see the beautiful canyon with them, this would never have happened. All four of them would be here right now, preparing to see the volcano’s crater at the Kīlauea Visitor Center.

    Kapaa
    Luana smiled with anticipation as she entered one of the dress shops at the Coconut Marketplace with Mandy and Ellen. It felt nice to be able to help the girls out. The garments here were much brighter, with bold prints, than what the young Amish women normally wore. She hoped they wouldn’t be offended by her suggestion to wear one of the dresses sold in this store.
    “There’s certainly a lot to choose from, isn’t there?” Mandy reached up and touched a dark purple dress. “They’re so beautiful.”
    Luana looked at Ellen, who stood off to one side, eyes wide.
She’s probably never seen dresses like this before
.
    “I’m going to try this one on.” Mandy took down the purple dress. “Ellen, have you found one you like?”
    Slowly, Ellen shook her head, looking back at her friend with a bewildered expression.
    “How about this one?” Luana pointed to a pretty blue muumuu. Like the purple dress Mandy chose, this one was also long enough to cover most of her legs.
    Ellen hesitated at first, but finally removed the dress from the rack. “I suppose I could try it on.”
    The store clerk showed the girls to the dressing rooms. While they tried on the dresses, Luana looked at her cell phone to check for any messages. Seeing none, she made a mental note of the other places she wanted to take Mandy and Ellen. Unfortunately, the marketplace didn’t have shoe stores anymore, but Sole Mates on Kuhio Highway had plenty of sandals and flip-flops to choose from. Luana would stop there on the way back to the B&B. For underwear and sleeping attire, they would visit another clothing store near Kapaa.
    When Mandy stepped out of the dressing room, Luana’s breath caught in her throat. The deep purple offset by Mandy’s chestnut hair and brown eyes was stunning. Of course, the stiff white cone-shaped bonnet on the young woman’s head looked out of place with a muumuu.
I wonder how Mandy would look with her hair down and a hibiscus or plumeria flower behind her right ear. When we get back to my house, I’ll look and see if I have some nice scarfs the girls can wear over their hair instead of their white bonnets
.
    A few minutes later, Ellen exited the dressing room. Her cheeks were flushed pink, and she kept her gaze to the floor. The blue dress she wore was lovely, but Luana sensed the poor girl felt uncomfortable wearing a garment such as this.
    “You both look so nice.” She smiled. “Are your dresses comfortable, and are those the ones you would like?”
    Mandy nodded enthusiastically, but Ellen barely moved her head up and down.
    “All right then, if you want to change back into your Amish clothes, I’ll pay for your dresses and we can be off. There are some other stops we need to make.”
    “Oh, no.” Mandy shook her head. “You don’t have to pay for our dresses. We both have money.”
    Luana held up her hand. “Save it toward your tickets home or anything else you may need. I want to buy the dresses—it’ll be my treat.”

    Mandy took a seat at the desk in the room she and Ellen shared at the B&B and opened her journal. Before starting to write, she thought about their friends.
Sadie and Barbara are probably seeing something interesting today. I hope they take pictures. I can’t wait to check out all the photos from our combined trip when we’re all back home
.
    Refocusing on her journal, she began to write:
    It was fun shopping with Luana today, but the dress I bought feels a bit strange—almost like a nightgown. It’s called a muumuu. Mine is a dark purple with