I’m nervous to look over at Denver this time. I know he heard the conversation, and I wonder what he’s thinking. If her words hurt me, they must not feel good to him.
He’s concentrating on the back of Aya’s head with an uncertain look on his face. “She’ll be okay when school starts in the fall,” he says, still staring at her.
“Oh, of course she will,” I tell him.
Denver doesn’t say anything else. Instead, he makes his way over to the chair Aya dropped her things on and takes his shirt off, dropping it over her pile, then slips his flip-flops off and walks past me without another glance. He sits down next to Aya, lowers his feet into the pool, and leans in to give her a kiss on her head.
My hand instinctively moves up to my chest, and I feel the thudding beats of my heart in response. If I had to make up a story for them, I don’t think it would be a good one. I don’t know what happened to her mom, but I’m wondering what kind of pain it left them in. I know that pain. I know it too well. I hope I’m wrong … and possibly the worst story creator in the world.
Chapter Eleven
Denver
For a minute while Kai was talking to Aya about hula lessons, I almost burst into laughter because I thought for sure she was joking, but now I see she wasn’t.
Kai left us just a few minutes ago and told me she needed to clean up before the lesson starts. We’re waiting under the palm trees on the white powder beach where she told us to meet.
It’s funny, considering how long I’ve lived in Hawaii, how little time I’ve actually spent being a tourist. I’ve spent most of my time working or doing non-touristy things. It’s almost ironic that I don’t ever remember exploring the islands or just sitting down, staring out into the ocean, and taking in the beauty of it all. Aya doesn’t know any different, in fact. We were always at a beach swimming, snorkeling or skin-boarding during the weekends in Oahu, but Maui is a little different. It’s not so crowded. It’s more peaceful, I guess. I didn’t think there would be a drastic difference between the two islands, but it feels a lot different.
“Do you dare me to get that coconut down?” Aya asks, standing on a boulder behind me.
“No, I don’t dare you to climb ten feet up a palm to get a coconut down,” I tell her, keeping a serious tone so she doesn’t try it. I’m almost positive there’s no way she’d make it even a foot up the tree, but I’ve learned the hard way; it’s better not to test her.
“Come on, don’t be a wuss,” she tells me.
“Excuse me?” I turn around with my hands on my hips, engaging her in the parental stare-down.
“I’m just kidding,” she grumbles. I swear she’s gone from seven to a tween overnight, but at least she still looks like a little girl. I’m not ready to take on what comes next.
“I wonder why no one else is here to take the class,” I say out loud, not really to Aya, but just thinking out loud. Maybe Kai doesn’t really teach classes, but I don’t think she would fool Aya into thinking she does.
“Are you ready?” I hear from behind.
Kai’s sweet voice isn’t for my attention. Her questions were directed at Aya, who jumps off the rock in her sandals, and my heart catches in my throat. I do my best not to overreact to everything she does, but she’s going give me a heart attack one of these days. “Aya,” I scold quietly.
“He’s being a butt. Don’t mind him,” Aya says, righting herself after falling to her knees in the sand.
I give up fighting with her. If she’s on a mission to push me today, I’ll need to be a little pickier with my battles. After my nerves unhinge from Aya’s stunts, I notice Kai has changed from her guard bathing suit into a tied, yellow sarong—at least that’s what I think it’s called—and a matching bikini top. I think it’s a bikini top. I could probably call it a bra too and still mean the same thing.
Whatever the case is, she’s gorgeous and has the body of an athlete. She’s wearing the purple flower in her hair, the one I sent to her, and instead of her waves being tied up in a twisted knot, her hair is loose and dangling long behind her back, nearly reaching her waist. She can’t be real. Every time I see her, I notice another beautiful feature. Her flawless appearance has me enamored, that’s for sure.
“Am I the only one in the class?” Aya asks as Kai places her bag down by the rock she was standing on. She takes her phone out of the front pocket of her bag before standing back up and checks the display.
“Hmm. We’ll give it another couple of minutes. It’s the middle of the week, so sometimes there aren’t a lot of people to take the class, but summer vacation just started, right?” Kai asks Aya.
“Yup! Last week. I graduated from second grade.”
“Wow,” Kai says, with more excitement than I probably mustered on Aya’s last day. “That’s so exciting. Oh my gosh, that means you’re going into third grade at the end of the summer?”
“I know. The time just flies by,” Aya says, sounding like me as she shakes her head with wonder.
Kai laughs at Aya’s lively way of communicating. I swear my child would be the perfect actress.
“Do we dance to music?” Aya asks.
“Of course, we do.” Kai kneels back down to her bag and sweeps her silky hair back over her shoulder, so she can find what she’s looking for.
I should stop staring. Maybe I should say something too. I’m acting like I forgot how to talk.
