Not really. Just finished harvesting some coconuts at a friend’s place. What’s up?
Feel like picking up an extra shift?
Sure. I can be there in half an hour.
Thanks!
Laurie packed up her laptop for the day and channeled her nervous energy into reorganizing the shelves of picture books near the front of the shop.
Hi,Zoe signed when she walked in.You OK?
I’m fine,Laurie assured her. “Just overdue for some time outside.”
“Have fun,” Zoe said and signed. “It’s a gorgeous day.”
“Isn’t it always?”
Zoe wrinkled her nose. “Only if you think hurricanes are gorgeous.”
“Aren’t they, though?”
Laurie didn’t wait for an answer.
She walked out the door and into the day.
Thanks to her new car, her commute home only took a few minutes. She parked in the carport, glanced to the side, and froze. A shock ran through her system when she saw Kekoa sitting on the lanai with his dad.
Uncle Mano gave his son a significant look and walked inside.
Everything OK?Kekoa signed as he walked down the front steps.
Laurie got out of her car and stood to face him.
“Why aren’t you at the shop?” he asked with concern.
“I’m playing hooky.” A grin pulled at her cheeks even as her heart raced with an unnamed panic. “Want to come?”
Where?he asked.
“I thought I’d walk the cliffs to the hidden beach.”
He paused for a long moment, watching her. Then he signed,Sure.
“I just need to change.”
OK.
Laurie walked backwards a few steps, then turned and jogged to her cottage. She traded her linen work pants out for a pair of hiking shorts and swapped her button-down shirt out for an old tanktop.
At the front of the property, Kekoa was waiting right where she had left him. His face was unusually stoic, and her heart ached for his usual easygoing smile. Instead, he looked at her as if he still had misgivings.
She didn’t ask him how he was, though. Didn’t try to start any conversation at all. His parents’ front yard wasn’t the right place to open up that can of worms.
They needed to get out on the trail, and out of their heads.
“You coming?” she asked, opening the front door of her car.
He hesitated for the briefest moment before walking over.
