With clarity in her spirit, Sierra said, “God bless you on your wedding day, Paul Mackenzie.”
He stood, leaned over, and kissed her on top of her salty wet head. “And God bless you, Daffodil Queen. I look forward to going to your wedding one day so I can see your face looking as happy as I feel right now.”
He strode across the courtyard and headed for the row of oceanfront suites.
Sierra lingered, swinging her crossed leg as she thought about what had just happened. It was fun to see Paul so in love.
She listened to the birds twittering in their hidden spots in the beautiful green foliage and hoped his final blessing would come true. She did hope that he would come to her wedding someday and that she would be as happy as he was today.
She just didn’t know how that was going to happen while she was teaching four children in a rural village in Brazil.
Sierra decided to head back to the hotel room before her spirit had a chance to fall into another pocket of sadness. She knew she needed to make the big decision as to whether she was going to accept the teaching position. She just didn’t want to make any decisions until she had had time to think and pray it through.
But today was not the day to make that decision.
Chapter Thirteen
“Let’s try to get a few more shots before the sun goes down all the way.” Jordan framed the happy couple with the neighboring island in the background and gave way to a slow grin. The timing was just right because the island appeared to wear a gathering of pink, lacy clouds like a flowery wreath around its highest point. Trailing from the clouds were vivacious streamers of mango-shaded light.
The sun had just begun to slip behind the ruffled clouds when, just as had happened that morning when he was swimming, across the wide expanse of blue, a whale breached. Without telling Paul and Kinsey what he had seen, Jordan said, “Can you move a little to the left? A little more. There. Perfect.”
Holding his arm as steady as he could, he hoped to catch the whale’s splash in the upper right corner of the photo. Now, if the great beast would only cooperate and breach again.
“Keep those expressions,” he said calmly. “Hold that pose for me. Yes, just like that. You got it.”
Kinsey was standing barefoot in the sand, holding up the train of her satin wedding gown. Paul was in his kilt. They were turned toward each other with the fading sunlight on their faces. Jordan planted his feet, held his breath…and there it was! The perfect setup.
He snapped, catching a dozen shots in succession as the whale rose up out of the water behind them.
“Got it! Terrific. I think that’s it, unless you wanted any other photos.” Jordan decided not to mention that he hoped he had captured the breaching whale in the shots—just in case they didn’t turn out. He had been with the couple all day and knew he had taken plenty of good photos.
The couple rubbed noses and kissed, lost in the moment. They looked over at Jordan as if they were surprised he was still there.
“I’m sorry,” Kinsey said. “Did you ask us something?”
“We’re done. I was just saying I think you’re going to be happy with what we got.”
“Thanks again.” Paul extended his right hand and gave Jordan a strong-fisted shake. “We appreciate your doing this for us.”
“Of course. It was my pleasure.”
They walked together back toward the hotel. Even though Jordan felt ready to call it a day, he couldn’t leave Paul and Kinsey quite yet. For hours he had been wanting to ask Paul a question. He didn’t want his inquiry to come out the wrong way or to seem unprofessional.
“Say,” Jordan said, trying to sound casual, “I wanted to ask you about one of the guests. She had long blond hair and had a little boy with her. Is she part of the extended family?”
“That’s Sierra,” Paul said. “Yeah, her sister is married to my brother.”
“We included her in some of the family group shots,” Kinsey said. “Didn’t we? I thought we did.”
“I think you did.” Jordan didn’t just think they had—he knew they had. He had paid attention to where Sierra was and who she was with throughout the day. He noticed that whoever the “Ben” was that she had gone back to her room with last night to order room service wasn’t at the wedding ceremony. The gathering was small, and most of the time Sierra was by herself with the baby in her arms.
Jordan carefully asked, “And so Ben was…”
“Ben is my nephew,” Paul said. “My brother’s son.”
“Your brother’s son,” Jordan repeated. He tried not to let his pleasant surprise over this bit of information show on his face.
“Ben is Jeremy and Tawni’s little boy,” Kinsey said. “I know Ben was in the family shots.”
“I think you’re right.” Again, Jordan knew he was right about the shots with Ben since Sierra had been the one holding him most of the day.
He let the news sink in that the baby was Sierra’s nephew, not her son. His first thought was that if he had known that earlier, he would have said something to her at the reception. He didn’t know what exactly. Something that would have opened up the freeflowing dialogue they had experienced that morning in the ocean before the awkwardness set in. But then, she still could be married. Or engaged.
Kinsey stopped to rinse the sand off her feet, and Jordan couldn’t help but snag one more shot. The contrast made for a great photo composition. On one side of the beach shower a skinny boy with red hair was rinsing off his Boogie Board. He was staring at the guy in the kilt, who was helping to balance his bride, who wore multicolored flowers in a wreath around her head as she held up her elegant gown and pointed her bare toes in the directed spray. Jordan snapped ten more photos from two different angles, and then they went their separate ways.
As he strolled through the hotel grounds, images from the wedding flipped through his thoughts. He remembered the way she looked, dancing with the little baby in her arms, making the boy laugh. She was the most intriguing, watchable woman he had seen in a long time. Nothing about her was predictable.
Stopping by the pool, he put down his heavy case and pulled out his camera. Jordan stretched out on a lounge chair, turned on his camera, and flipped through the shots from the wedding reception until he found a photo with Sierra sitting at a table during the reception. Zooming in on her hand, Jordan found what he was looking for.
She’s not wearing a wedding ring.
He checked more closely in two other shots. Nope, no ring. Leaning back, Jordan let the information settle in. Maybe she was available. He should try to find out. But who would he ask now? No, he decided, it would be better if he could bump into her again casually and they could start a conversation during which, he hoped, he wouldn’t turn into a dithering doof. He would be able to tell a lot about her if they could have a face-to-face conversation. He knew what room she was in. Maybe he should casually knock on the door and…
What’s the point? I’m leaving for Oahu on the first flight in the morning. How can I even think about a relationship when my career is beginning to take off? That’s where I need to focus my attention.
Jordan was pretty sure he would regret his decision not to initiate a connection with her that evening. To settle his thoughts, he repeated something he had told himself many times over the past decade. The timing isn’t right. When the timing is right, God will bring the right woman my way.
Closing his eyes, he listened to the lilting Hawaiian music piped into the pool area. Then, pulling out his phone, he checked his messages and made the difficult call to Derek that he had been dreading.
Sierra leaned her elbows on the edge of the hotel pool and rested her chin on her folded arms. Slowly fluttering her legs in rhythm with the soothing Hawaiian music that came through a concealed speaker behind her lounge chair, she thought about the position that had been offered to her in Brazil. Once more she thought about the pros and cons, without reaching any sense of resolution. That was what she had hoped for when she
told Tawni she was going to the pool. Ben had been worn out from the day’s events and cranky. Tawni sat beside him, stroking his hair. He would pop up his head, let out a weary wail, and then drop again and close his eyes.
“I really appreciate your taking care of him at the wedding, Sierra. I didn’t mean for you to end up with him all day, but he certainly seemed happier with you than with anyone else.”
“He’s a doll, Tawni. You and Jeremy are so blessed.”
“Thanks for saying that. I need to remember that. He’s a good baby most of the time. It’s just been such a huge life change for me.”
“I can imagine.”
“What are you planning to do now?” Tawni looked like she was ready to jump at the chance to leave if Sierra offered to baby-sit again.
Sierra decided she was ready for a break from baby Ben. “I’d like to lie by the pool and do some thinking. I’m in the middle of some huge life changes as well.”
Tawni didn’t ask Sierra what those changes were. That was typical of their relationship. In a way, Sierra was glad Tawni wouldn’t ask for details. She wanted to process the decision about the open position without a lot of outside influence.
“If Jeremy comes back, I think I’ll join you.”
“Good. I’ll stick around by the pool, then.” Sierra gathered her beach clothes and went to the bathroom to change. When she was ready to leave, she saw that Tawni was stretched out next to Ben, and both were sound asleep.
The past hour that she had spent at the pool napping and swimming had relaxed her. But the solitude hadn’t produced any answers to her dilemma. Instead of focusing on whether she should accept the position to help the family with the four children, Sierra thought about Jordan.
She had found out his name from Kinsey’s mom when Sierra asked a nonchalant question about the photographer and was told a wealth of information. His name was Jordan, he lived in Santa Barbara. He was a sought-after professional photographer whose photos were on magazine covers, and he had agreed to shoot the wedding because a mutual friend had made the connection with him.
Kinsey’s mother seemed friendly and eager to offer Sierra any information or assistance she could. She even volunteered to find out if he was single. Sierra brushed off the offer and switched to talking about how beautiful the wedding had been. She wondered if the excessive helpfulness was compensation for the uneasy moments on the beach the night before.
Sierra kicked her feet in the warm saltwater pool and wondered if she would see Jordan again before she left on a midmorning flight for Oahu. And if she did, would he be as reserved as he had been during the wedding? She had a sinking feeling that, if he had even a glimmer of interest in her, he would have said something at the wedding. As it was, all they exchanged during the lively festivities were a few glances.
Scolding herself for letting her thoughts wander off and not staying focused on the decision at hand, Sierra climbed out of the pool. She wrapped up in her towel and settled onto the lounge chair. Watching the sky turn a deep shade of amethyst as the clouds took on a peachy color around their ruffled edges, she noted a palm tree swaying in the evening breeze. Then she lowered her gaze when she saw Jordan coming into the pool area. He was still dressed as he had been at the wedding, carrying his camera and case. He took a seat on one of the lounge chairs and looked at something on his camera. She wrung out her hair, put on her cover-up, and improved her posture, just in case he looked across the pool area, noticed her sitting by herself, and came over to talk to her.
Sierra waited. She watched him. He didn’t look up.
He had such a great presence. Strong, broad shoulders; steady posture; and a quiet sort of self-assurance. Sierra thought he was handsome. She had kept her eye on him at the wedding and thought he exemplified the true-American kind of guy she had missed being around while she was in Brazil. His stature was part of the recipe of what she liked about American guys. His light brown hair and wide smile gave him the look of someone who enjoyed the outdoors, as she had witnessed that morning in the ocean. All he needed was a baseball cap and he would fit her image of the guys she had left behind when she moved from Southern California to Brazil.
Sierra watched Jordan across the pool and wondered what part of Santa Barbara he was from. When she saw him pick up his phone and hold it to his ear with a serious expression, she had a feeling he wasn’t going to look in her direction or entertain any thoughts about striking up another conversation.
Sierra gathered her things and headed back to the room. The sun had set, and a hotel employee trotted past her with a lit torch in his hand. He was wearing only a wraparound skirt made from Hawaiian fabric, and as he touched the torch to the first tiki light at the edge of the pool area, he lifted a large conch shell that he was holding in his other hand. He put the shell to his lips and blew into it so that a long, low, melodic note sounded.
The day that had begun with breaching whales and was punctuated by the stirring call of bagpipes and wedding vows of a happy couple was now coming to a close with a clarifying sound of the islands.
Sierra chose not to exit the pool on the side where Jordan still sat in the lounge chair, head down, caught up in his phone conversation. She knew better than to let her emotions get away from her. Releasing any of the whimsical thoughts she still held since spotting Jordan that morning, Sierra whispered her own farewell to the day and to the island of Maui. Tomorrow she would be on Oahu with Mariana, and things would be back to the way they always were. Then she could come to a conclusion about what she was supposed to do next.
Chapter Fourteen
On Jordan’s early-morning flight to Oahu, the passenger next to him was an older man in a colorful, floral print shirt wearing a shell lei. He was eager to make small talk about all the facts he knew about Pearl Harbor and how he was going to “hit the beach at Waikiki” and load up on mai tais while he watched the hula dancers. He suggested that Jordan join him, but Jordan politely turned him down, saying he had other plans.
“But you’re on vacation, aren’t you? Us single guys gotta stick together. I’ll be your wing man.”
Jordan declined the offer once again. He had to smile to himself, though, because the man reminded him of his grandpa Jack. Not because of his crude demeanor but because of his looks. Jordan’s grandfather had thick white hair like this man and also had an outgoing personality. He, too, would start up conversations with strangers. Grandpa Jack had been a phys ed coach for decades. He often had told Jordan and his two brothers, “Grow up. Be a man. Take the hit and get back in the ring.”
This morning Jordan wished his grandpa Jack were sitting next to him, coaching him on staying in the fight, rather than this guy who said he was looking for the nearest bar as soon as they landed. Jordan needed some encouragement after the big hit he had taken last night during his phone conversation with Derek. As Jordan had sat by the pool, he had tried to say all the right things to Derek. But he still hadn’t come to terms with what Derek had told him.
The flight was short, and when they landed in Honolulu, the man across the aisle said to Jordan’s seatmate, “Did you hear about the storm coming in? I heard on the news last night that they’re expecting some forty-foot waves at Waimea.”
“Maybe I should head on up there,” the eager tourist said. “I’ll hang ten with the natives.”
Jordan moved past the two men to deplane. He had heard the same weather report in his room last night on the news. All the predictions pointed toward the big waves rolling into the North Shore before the day’s end. That meant the Triple Crown surfing competition would be on. It also meant Jordan would catch the cover-worthy photos he had come for. The weather was just what Jordan and Derek had hoped it would be when Mindy booked the flights for all of them to be on the North Shore this week.
Yet Jordan was here alone. Derek and Mindy wouldn’t be coming.
Jordan focused his attention on locating his luggage at baggage claim, picking up his rental car, and inputting into his phone’s
directional program the address of the rented house at Sunset Beach. Once he was on the road, he thought again about the conversation he had had with Derek the night before. It had been difficult to hear the latest update.
Mindy was still under careful watch and needed to stay at the hospital another day or two. The good news was that she hadn’t miscarried. The difficult news was the way Derek was processing what all this meant for his dream to surf in this week’s competition. This had been Derek’s dream as much as it had been Jordan’s, and they both held out for the slight possibility Derek could come in a few days. That would only happen if Mindy went home from the hospital today, if her mom could come from Arizona to be with her, and if Derek could catch an early flight the next morning. If all those details came together, Derek still had a chance at keeping his spot in the lineup. If not, it was all over for him.
Jordan stopped at the first grocery store he saw once he arrived at the North Shore and filled his shopping cart with essentials to stock the refrigerator. As he reached for Derek’s favorite cereal, he wondered if what he was feeling was some form of survivor’s guilt. If Derek wasn’t able to come, Jordan felt as if living out his half of their longtime dream without his friend would be a hollow victory.
The beach house was nicer than Jordan thought it would be based on the price they were paying. Mindy had set it up through a connection her mom had since she worked in the travel industry. The Sunset Beach area felt like a sleepy town with lots of tall palm trees growing beside houses that looked as if they had been built forty years ago. People were riding beach cruiser bikes down a long, winding walkway. Dogs were crossing the street in between the backed-up cars at the stoplight. Chickens gathered in a park on the right side of the road and pecked at the grass under the shade of a row of trees. In every direction there were people. Girls in bikinis, guys with sun-bleached hair, each carrying a surfboard under one arm and waving to somebody with the other. Tourists and locals blended in colorful groups as they headed for the beach that lined the left side of the road for miles.
Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii Page 8