He’s looking at me with a strange expression on his face, his eyes glazed over a little bit. And even though it’s been so long since we’ve been connected, I’m able to tell exactly what he’s thinking.
He’s picturing exactly what I just tried to picture with Jack.
Which is why my body suddenly starts acting on its own accord, and I reach my arms out and accept the gurgling bundle from Tyler’s waiting arms. Mele blinks at me curiously for a few seconds before seeming to accept her new fate, giggling happilyand reaching out her chubby hand to wind a fist around my hair, tugging with abandon and making both Tyler and me burst out laughing.
“You know,” I murmur to her, sniffing her sweet baby scent and letting it warm me from the inside out as she continues to tug on fistfuls of my hair. “I think I like you, Mele.”
Tyler’s watching us with his arms crossed, a thoughtful smile on his face. “It seems she likes you, too.”
After a delicious dinner of a spicy local style of beef stew—and a lot of catching up on how we’ve all been since we’ve last seen each other, while all delicately avoiding any mention of the breakup—Ella is the one who finally brings up the conversation I’ve been dreading.
“Well, it’s been lovely to see you again, Olive, but Idohave to ask—” She narrows her eyes as she looks at me. “What exactly brought you here? My brother-in-law didn’t give us any details other than that you were in town and he was bringing you over because you were having a rough day.” She makes a dramatic show of playfully kicking Tyler’s leg under the table, which makes him yelp and me laugh.
I take one last sip of the delicious passion-orange-guava juice that Lucas had given me before gathering my thoughts. “Well”—I look over at Tyler, who gestures for me to continue while Mele grabs at his ears—“it’s kind of a long story.” And I launch into the quickest explanation I can think of—that I came to visit Jack, who turned out to be a dick and broke up with me, and I called Tyler because I had nowhere to go.
“Well, obviously you can stay here for the rest of your trip.” Ella looks over at Lucas, who nods, though his expression is unreadable. I want to say that I’m bothered by his uncertain receptionof me turning back up in Tyler’s life, but like I said, I can’t fault him for being wary. Still, his and Ella’s gesture tugs on my heartstrings.
“Thank you so much,” I tell them both earnestly. “But I’m happy to find a hotel in the area. I’m going to look for a flight home tomorrow first thing in the morning, so I won’t be in your hair for much longer.”
Tyler scoffs at that, shaking his head and gesturing to his niece, who has moved onto poking his nose. “Please. You know Mele loves tugging on hair, so the longer you’re around, the more she has to grab.”
“Thank you,” I say again, trying to keep my brain from anxiously spinning out of control at the thought of all the things I have to do later.Find a flight, cancel that dinner reservation I made at the fancy outdoor steak house down in Waikiki…
“Olive.” Ella reaches across the table and squeezes my hand, her expression warm. “I’m serious. Please, don’t sweat it. You can stay here as long as you like.”
After eating, Tyler helps me bring in my luggage from the car and get set up in the guest room. I see that his own suitcase is already open in the corner, clothes and shoes littering the floor.
He follows my gaze as he sets my suitcase down. “Don’t worry,” he rushes to explain. “I’m going to take the couch for tonight. This room’s all yours.”
If I wasn’t feeling guilty about intruding already, I certainly am now. “Don’t be silly, Ty. You’re doing me a favor by saving me an outrageous motel fee tonight. That’s generous enough. I’m fine to take the couch.”
He shakes his head defiantly. “You know I’m not going to let that happen, Olive.”
I tap my finger to my chin, thinking dramatically. “I could always take up Jack on his offer and stay in his dorm room. He’ll probably be kind enough to go stay with Lilly for the night. You know, make that sacrifice for my sake.”
He chuckles. “She’d love that.”
“Probably not, actually,” I reply, thinking about the look on her face when she stormed out of his dorm room. “I have a feeling he’s going to be in the doghouse with her for quite a bit.”
This gets a snort out of Tyler as we flop belly-first onto the bed, pulling out his laptop to change my flight. Even though what’s happening right now is totally platonic, the fact that we’re on thebedtogether has my stomach swirling with nerves. I force myself to focus on the task at hand, logging into the airline website and scrolling to find a new flight to switch to.
“Perfect,” I murmur, my eyes scanning the screen. “There’s a three p.m. flight back to New York tomorrow.” But Tyler is clearly having none of it, because he gives me a look.
“Stay one more day, Olive,” he says, voice even. “You came all this way to see Hawai?i for the first time, and you’re not even giving yourself a chance to enjoy it.”
I’m already shaking my head before he finishes the sentence. “Nope. As beautiful as this place is, I’m not going to put your family out like that.”
“It’s not putting us out,” he emphasizes, “becauseweoffered. It’s not a problem at all.”
“Itisa problem!” I protest, frustrated. “I don’t want to be a nuisance.”
“You’re never a nuisance!” Tyler’s answer explodes out of him so quickly that we both lean back from each other a littlebit, startled into silence. He runs a hand through his hair and takes a slow breath before continuing. “You’re always welcome here, Olive. Or anywhere I am. You know I’d never turn you out.”
“But I’m not your girlfriend anymore, Tyler. It isn’t your responsibility to take care of me.” The words are like a sharp razor cut to our conversation, bleeding out silence.
He waits a beat before answering. “That doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you. Or that I ever will, honestly. So do whatever you want, but all I’m going to say is that if you need somewhere to stay, or a ride to the airport, or help with anything else, I’m here. I’d do it for any of my friends, and we both know that. You deserve to enjoy the beautiful island that you traveled so far to see.” With those final parting words, he pushes off the bed and stalks out of the room, a tidal wave of sadness following in his wake. I watch him go, feeling helpless.
I’d do it for any of my friends.
