He watched as Lexie took in big, lung-filling breaths and let them out slowly.
When she could take a breath without breaking it up with a laugh, she spoke.
"I think you're thinking too much."
He lifted a hand and gently brushed a long strand of hair back from her face. "My mom raised me. My aunts, too. I got to see all of the stupid things they had to go through dating and breaking up with guys.
"It's crazy what people can do to each other and say they care. That's why I'm trying so hard to make sure that I don't do anything of those things."
He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he expected after that admission, but he wanted her to know where his mind was.
"Your mom and aunts sound like amazing people."
He smiled ear to ear at that. "They are. They're the best. Well," he smiled at an old memory and let Lexie in on the secret, "except when I was little, like when I was a toddler."
"Oh?"
He heard the curiosity in her voice.
"Do tell."
He tugged her along with their joined hands and as they walked, he told her some of the stories of his child hood.
"I was kind of serious when I was a kid, like super serious. Resting hundred year or man face serious."
He saw Lexie look at him out of the corner of her eyes.
He wasn't sure what she thought of what he was saying, but this was all a part of getting to know each other.
"Like any self-respecting Hawaiian family, I went to hula class."
"Hula?" Lexie's tone was lighter. Warm and smiling. "Like the dance?"
He nodded, his shoulders shaking with soft laughter. "Absolutely the dance. I also went to ukulele class. Music and dance is basically a way of life for us. And watching my mom and her sisters performing at parties and events, I wanted in, too. My aunt, Jean, was a Kumu Hula. That meant that she's like a master of Hawaiian dance. She taught me both forms of hula. Hula auana. And hula kahiko. Basically," he smiled at the memories flooding into his head. "Modern hula. and Traditional. I'll show you some pictures later."
She tugged on their joined hands. "What about video?"
He could only blame himself.
He was the one who'd brought up the topic.
"I'm sure I can get my mom to send me a few files."
Lexie skipped beside him, bouncing a little as she turned to look up into his gaze. "I get to see you dance?"
He laughed as she bounced. "Dance? Maybe... More like make a big spectacle of myself."
She slowed her steps and tugged on his hand until he looked up and met her gaze.
"I think you're too hard on yourself, Kaleo. I bet you were awesome and I can't wait to see the videos." She turned her head to look at the sign and then back at him. "Come on. It's just across this little bridge."
The bridge was made of long, thin slats of wood in a gentle curve above the water.
A sign on both sides of the bridge said that it was accessible by wheelchair.
Lexie must have seen where he was looking.
"All of the paths here in Dunne Gardens are accessible. The only time that's not true is during the rain. When the dirt paths turn to mud, but when it's dry, they pack down the dirt so it's easy for wheels to move over it."
