“Happy graduation, buddy.” Millie kisses him on the cheek. “We love you.”
“Would Mr. Greer please come to gate twenty-two?” The announcement is so garbled I’m not sure they’re actually calling us, but we head that way regardless.
“I still can’t believe you took my last name.” Millie squeezes my hand.
“Did you really think I’d let you be MillieMiller?”
Sure, we could have kept our own last names, but with our unique love story, it felt right to take hers.
“Good morning.” The man fights back a yawn as he greets us. “It looks like you’ve been upgraded to first class both from here to San Francisco and then on to Maui.”
“Oh? That’s wonderful, but we’re traveling with?—”
“Kane Adams? Yes. It looks like he’s been upgraded as well.”
Millie reaches into her back pocket for her phone.
“The Connellys again?” I presume.
With a smile, she nods at her device. “Those two really need to get a dog or something. They can’t keep spoiling us like this.”
We’re ushered onto the plane first. Millie sits in the aisle, of course, and Kane sits across from her, next to a man who I’m fairly certain is a professional surfer. My brother’s cheeks flush, and he adjusts his pants when the objectively good-looking guy has to shuffle in front of him to take the window seat.
Millie notices, too, and lays a hand on my thigh, her silent signal to leave it.
He’s eighteen now, but damn if my mom wasn’t right. I’ll always worry about him.
“Thank you for being on time this morning,” I tell her as I pull out an advanced copy of Joey’s new book.
According to Cam, this one’s spicy. Apparently there’s a pegging scene at the end, and I’m worried I won’t be able to look him in the eye after I read it.
“Like I had a choice. Starbucks wasn’t even open yet. Thank you for packing my charger, by the way.” She rifles through her bag. “Shit,” she cries. “Have you seen my motion sickness wristband?”
I shake my head.
“Dammit. I think I left it at home.” She drops her head forward. “Please don’t say ‘I told you to pack it.’”
“Wasn’t gonna.”I thought about it, but I quite like the balls between my legs.Instead, I rub soothing circles on her back. “That really sucks, baby. I’m sorry. We’ll order a glass of ginger ale.”
It does little good. I lose count of how many times Millie has to rush to the restroom, though she only throws up once. During our layover, we purchase a motion sickness wristband. It doesn’t rid her of all the symptoms, but it gives her enough relief to allow her to sleep for the last few hours of the second flight.
It’s early afternoon when we land in Maui, and the second we drop our bags in our hotel room, Kane is itching for adventure. Millie, on the other hand, drops right onto the bed.
“You okay, baby? Still nauseous from the flight?”
“A little. Once I sleep it off, I’ll be fine. I drank too much ginger ale, though. Now I can’t stop peeing.” She laughs pitifully. “You two go do whatever it is you’re going to do, and I’ll catch up with you for dinner.”
I leave her with a forehead kiss and a promise to return with a macadamia nut iced coffee.
Millie
Last night’s luau dinner was much more fun than our meal two nights ago when I practically fell asleep at the table. Even after a long nap, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. It seems the older I get, the harder it is for me to recover from traveling.
On our second full day in Hawaii, I wake up feeling nauseous again, this time with pressure in my lower abdomen, and I can’t stop peeing. Ezra wants to take me to urgent care, but I insist that he go surfing with Kane. I need to get him out of hereso I can make arrangements with the resort for his birthday tonight.
The clinic is only a ten-minute walk, so I call Joey on my way.
“Is everything okay?” she asks when I tell her where I’m headed.
