“Thank you for letting me share your precious Aya. She makes me feel young again.”
I know Aya enjoys her time with Mrs. Hale, but I’m willing to bet she might be getting bored spending so much time with an older woman who enjoys knitting and TV. Therefore, the guilt holds me hostage.
“I love you, Aya. Go to bed when you’re supposed to,” I tell her, pointing at her to highlight my seriousness.
She rolls her eyes at me like she’s been doing far too often lately, but I’ve learned to ignore it, hoping it’ll fade away, rather than carrying on into her tween years. One can hope.
I head out the door and downstairs to the lobby where I’m meeting Kai. It’s empty at the moment, and I don’t see her anywhere, so I take a seat on the bench in front of the lobby’s koi pond.
Maybe I shouldn’t be dating so soon after arriving here. I’m not even settled with a place to live yet, and I’m diving in headfirst with a woman I fell for way too quickly. Maybe I’m like a bat out of hell after leaving the base. Options were limited, and most women were married where I was. I go back and forth in a debate with myself on remaining single and focusing solely on Aya, but she’s begging for a different kind of life and really wants a mother figure around, so I’m stuck figuring out what’s best for both of us while trying not to hurt either of us. It’s hard shit.
“You have clothes on,” I hear.
Running through the reasons Kai would say something like that, I realize every time I’ve seen her, I’ve been shirtless at the pool, or basically naked at work. The only other time I was fully dressed, she was too drunk to drive. I stand up to greet the Hawaiian beauty, mesmerized by everything about her and trying to find the right words to just respond. “I thought the occasion was appropriate, plus I heard it gets cold at the peak.”
“It’s a good thing you heard that. Wouldn’t want you running around a volcano in your underwear.”
“Your jokes could use a little work,” I tell her.
“Your appreciation for humor could also use a little work,” she fires back.
“Touché.”
She’s had her arms tangled around her body, seeming uncomfortable, but as the jokes commence, she begins to relax. She unwinds her arms, revealing a skin-tight pair of torn jeans and an off-the-shoulder floral top. “You look beautiful, as always.” I pull a hibiscus flower out from behind me and place it gently into her hair. She doesn’t say anything but bites down on her bottom lip as her cheeks burn with a reddish tint. I place my hand on her back. “Ready?”
I lead Kai to my truck that I had detailed this morning, hoping tonight would work out as I planned. “Do you know your way to the trail?” she asks.
“Sure do. You can sit back and relax while you accompany me on this trip I’ve been excited for since I started researching Maui a few months back.”
Kai is very quiet and lost in thought as we make our way up the twisting roads that elevate us higher and higher to the volcano’s peak. “It’s a beautiful ride,” she says.
“I’d look over at you and agree, but I’m trying to keep us away from the ledge. It looks a bit unforgiving,” I laugh.
“Yeah, don’t look at me until we reach the top,” she says.
“Is that why you’ve been quiet?”
“A passenger should always be quiet when riding up Mt. Haleakala or heading down the road to Hana.”
“What’s Hana?” I ask.
“A scarier ride but more beautiful sights. I need to have a lot more faith in your driving skills before we make that type of commitment,” she tells me.
Now I just want to go just for the sake of seeing what the hell she’s talking about. “I’ve never experienced a scary drive in this country, but you’ve got me curious now.”
“Shh,” she says.
It’s been over an hour of driving up the mountain. While I read that it could take up to ninety minutes, I didn’t think that would be the case, but the speed limit isn’t exactly optional if you want to live, so it makes sense now.
Twenty more minutes of quiet pass, mixed with the hushed breeze floating in through the window, when I finally see signs for sightseeing and parking. Kai sighs with what sounds like relief when I pull into the parking lot. “You’re a good driver. I’ll give you that,” she says.
“Eh, it was nothing.” I feel a little drunk from all the winding roads, but I’m sure I’ll be fine once we start walking around. “Have you been up here a lot?”
“No, actually. I went up with my parents on a few occasions, but since they—it’s been about twelve years or so.” I want to tell her to finish her first sentence, but I won’t push. I know there’s more to her story, and I’m curious and intrigued, but prying isn’t my forte.
She hops out of the truck before I have a chance to make my way around to her, so I meet her in the middle and take her hand without a thought. It feels like a natural gesture when I’m with her, and she doesn’t fight me on it, which feels even better.
“I know you had to think about tonight, but I’m kind of glad you didn’t play the whole ‘hard-to-get’ game with me. I hate when women do that.”
