Keoni shrugged. “I am,” he said. “But I couldn’t care less about contests.”
“Why?”
“Someday contests are going to ruin surfing for everyone.”
“How do you mean?” Lou asked.
“Hawaiians have a rich tradition of surfing competitions,” Keoni said. “Chiefs would compete against each other, and the people would gamble on who would win. Warriors would settle a fight before it began by having a contest.”
“So what’s the problem?” Lou asked.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said.
“Try.”
Keoni sighed.
“Hawaiians have had everything stolen from us,” Keoni said. “Our land, our culture, our language.” He ticked off everything his people had been robbed of, his voice rising with each item. “But no one can take surfing,” he said.
Lou’s eyebrows drew together. She didn’t understand. “Surfing contests celebrate the sport,” she said.
“Yeah,” Keoni agreed. “That’s the tricky part. They do,” he said. “But what if I go up to Sunset on Saturday, and I want to surf?” he asked. “I can’t because the beach is closed for the contest.”
“Ahh.”
“You see?”
“Yes.”
“The more popular surfing gets, the bigger the chance we have of it being stolen,” Keoni said.
Lou pursed her lips, thinking. “You think you can do something about it?” she asked.
Keoni shrugged. “I’m going to try.”
“How?”
“That’s the problem,” he admitted, feeling frustrated. “I don’t really know how.”
Lou smiled. “You’ll think of something.”
“How’d you figure that?”
“Because you’re smart.”
“Hah!” Keoni laughed. “I didn’t even graduate high school.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Lou said. “You’re smart where it counts. Not in the classroom, but out here.” She gestured around them. “The people love you, Keoni. They will listen to you.”
“You think so?” he asked.
“I know so,” Lou answered. “This whole week, everywhere we go, people call your name, treat you like a celebrity.” She changed her voice, making it high-pitched as she imitated. “Keoni! Keoni!” Laughing, she said, “You’re the most popular person on the island.”
“Nah,” he said.
“It’s true,” Lou said. “I’m honored to be in your presence.”
“Is that what you want with your pictures?” he asked quietly. “For people to know your name?”
“No. I want people to see something that they’ve never seen before. I want them to look at something they’ve seen a million times and think it’s new.”
Keoni was quiet for a moment, and Lou could see him struggling with an idea.
“Keoni!” called a voice from down the beach. “That you, bruddah?”
Keoni pretended he didn’t hear, but Lou started laughing. “See?” she asked, looking past Keoni’s shoulder in the direction of the voice.
Keoni rolled his eyes and turned to look up the beach. There was a group of guys sitting around a picnic table waving at him.
“Come on,” Keoni said to Lou. “Let’s go say hello.”
Lou smirked. “Your public awaits,” she said with a curtsy.
“Shut up,” Keoni said, grabbing her hand.
The local divers sitting around a picnic table were tall and heavily muscled. Lou could see that they were an intimidating bunch. They were probably used to having the beach to themselves.
Keoni held Lou’s hand as they approached the table.
“Keoni, bruddah, I can’t believe they passed you over for the Duke.”
“It’s awrite,” Keoni said with a shrug. “Next year.”
“You diving today?” one of them asked.
“Nah, just some surfing. Nate, Kawika, Danny—this is Mary Lou. She’s from Seattle.”
Everyone was silent for a long moment as they looked at Lou. Finally, she broke the awkward silence by asking what they were eating.
They looked her up and down for a second before answering.
“Fish and poi,” Kawika said. “There’s plenny.”
Lou thanked them and tried some of the freshly grilled fish. It was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted, and she told them as much.
“What’s poi taste like?” Lou asked, pointing to the purple mixture that was a staple in the Hawaiian diet.
“Try some,” Keoni said, offering her the bowl.
Lou dipped a piece of bread into the paste-like substance and took a bite. She paused before swallowing. She would have spit it out if it hadn’t been too rude. Poi tasted a lot like she imagined wallpaper paste must taste.
“You don’t like it?” Keoni asked.
Lou shook her head and forced herself to swallow. “Sorry,” she said.
“No problem,” Keoni said.
“Can I try some of that stuff?” she asked, pointing to a jug that they’d been passing around the table.
“Better not,” he advised.
“Why not?”
“It’s hot,” Danny said. “Not for tourists.”
Lou’s eyes narrowed. “I can handle it,” she said.
Danny shrugged and handed Lou the jug. There weren’t any cups, so she had to put her mouth to the jug and take a swig just like the guys. Everyone stared at her as she tipped the jug up and took a big gulp.
A moment later Lou’s face turned red and tears started pouring from her eyes.
“Turn it off,” she gasped, fanning her face. “How do I turn it off?”
“The poi,” Keoni said, handing her a piece of poi-soaked bread.
Lou crammed the bread into her mouth and chewed, then took the bowl and scooped up poi with her hand, trying to put the fire out.
“That’s what the poi’s good for,” Danny said, laughing.
“You could have warned me,” Lou said, glaring at Keoni.
“I tried,” Keoni said, taking the jug and tipping it back as if it was no big deal.
The guys all got another laugh as they passed around the jug, and Keoni led Lou away.
“How about that surfing lesson now?” he asked.
Keoni had been trying to talk Lou into a surfing lesson all week, but she kept putting him off. She was afraid she was going to be terrible at it, and she didn’t want to disappoint him.
“Maybe,” she said.
Keoni got his board and peeled off his shirt with careful movements. Lou stared at his chest where it was stamped with purple bruises.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He touched his palm to his ribs and nodded.
“What the hell did you do to yourself?” she asked.
Keoni smiled. “It was a very good day,” he said.
“Jesus,” she swore. Lou’s gaze flew up to meet his, hostility sparkling in the depths of her eyes. “You could have killed yourself.”
Keoni stiffened. “Whoa,” he said. “I know how to handle myself,” he said.
“You’re no better than Kimo and John,” Lou said. “You think it’s a joke.”
“I know the risks,” he said.
“You just choose to ignore them.”
“What do you care?” Keoni asked, the volume of his voice rising. “In a few days, you’ll never see me again. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I won’t.”
“K’den,” Keoni said.
“Go on,” Lou said. “Go surf. I want to take some pictures anyway.”
Keoni tucked his board closer to his side, staring down at Lou. “Heh,” he said. “I’m sorry, eh?”
Lou’s shoulders sagged, and she glanced up at Keoni with the ghost of a smile. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have yelled.”
“That was nothin, hear? You oughta see my mom let loose on my brothers.” Keoni whistled through his teeth. “She could wake the dead, eh?”
Lou laughed a
t his cemetery joke, even though it wasn’t really funny.
“Go surf, Keoni,” Lou said. “I’d love to take some pictures of you.”
“I’d like that, too,” he said. “It’ll give you something to remember me by.”
Lou raised her camera to her face and watched Keoni walk away. She didn’t think she’d need a picture to remember him.
The Rescue
Lou
* * *
Lou adjusted the lens on her camera, trying to get all of Makaha Beach into one wide shot.
Makaha was a long way from the crowds of tourists at Waikiki Beach. Except for the divers they’d shared food with earlier and a family having a picnic, the sparkling sands of Makaha were deserted. This was truly unspoiled Hawaiian paradise. The dry, rugged slopes of the Waianae Mountains rose high above the shoreline, looking like fierce guardians of the bay, and the blue Pacific stretched as far as she could see.
Everywhere Lou looked, she saw the natural beauty of the island. To the north, she could see the westernmost edge of the island, where the peak of Ka’ena Point loomed over the sea. To the south, there were sand and palm trees.
In the ocean, there was Keoni.
Lou took a dozen pictures of Keoni, trying to capture what made him so intriguing. He was in his natural element in the ocean. He surfed without effort, making the impossible look easy.
Lou lowered her camera and stared out at Keoni with her own eyes. She had to admit to herself that she was enchanted with him. It was impossible not to be. Keoni was easy to talk to, and he made Lou laugh even when he wasn’t trying. He was a family man who loved to tell stories about Hawaiian culture, play his guitar, and spend every moment he could in the water. Lou would have traded in everything her parents gave her for the love she knew Keoni’s family shared. Even though they didn’t have a lot of money, the Makais were rich in love.
Lou wanted the same thing for herself someday. She wanted a close-knit family filled with love and security. She and Paul had planned on having that together, but after meeting Keoni, Lou wasn’t so sure she could go back to that plan. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop her attraction to Keoni. What did that say about her relationship with Paul? How could she want Keoni if she was in love with Paul?
Lou went back to where she’d left her towel, took off her sundress, and stretched out in the sun. A million thoughts swirled in her head, but she didn’t want to focus on any of them, she just wanted to feel the sun on her body. She wanted to forget everything for a while, and let the Hawaiian sun work its magic on her.
She pushed aside her conflicting thoughts and enjoyed the ocean breeze and the magnificent sight of Keoni on the waves. His body gleamed with sleek muscles, and he moved with precision and grace. He surfed fast and turned hard, then transitioned off the top of the wave, stalled, and disappeared into the deep blue channel of the barrel.
Lou sat up straighter, holding her breath until he sped out of the tube safely. The red surfboard flashed in the sun as he zoomed toward shore.
Lou started to exhale, and then her breath caught as a wave broke violently against the steep shoreline and doubled back, heading straight for Keoni.
Her palms went damp, and her heart lurched as she braced herself for Keoni to fall.
But he didn’t. Instead of wiping out, he turned disaster into opportunity. Crouching down low on his board, he grabbed the sides with both hands and flipped into the air. In an incredible aerial feat, Keoni let the wave spin him upside down. He hung suspended in the air for an impossible moment, his body curled tightly into a ball. Then, in one fluid motion, he arched and landed on the incoming wave. His board landed on the water in a graceful kiss, and he zoomed back out to the ocean.
Lou jumped to her feet and clapped, completely enthralled by Keoni’s skill. She didn’t doubt Keoni would change the world of surfing. With talent like that, he was destined for greatness.
Lou ran to the edge of the water to wait for him, bursting with joy. She wanted to throw her arms around him and feel the energy of his body next to hers. Lou stopped herself just before she splashed into the water. Her excitement had almost made her forget all the reasons she couldn’t be with Keoni.
But now the realization that she wasn’t free to throw herself into his arms came crashing down on Lou, killing her joy.
Lou turned her back on the shore, clenching her fists at her sides. How was she going to bear being around Keoni for the next few days?
It would be torture. Impossible. Being near him was just too tempting. She should have said goodbye to him long before now. Lord knows, she’d tried. Every time they were together, Lou felt herself being drawn closer and closer to Keoni as if pulled by an invisible magnet.
Lou waded into the water and tilted her face to the sky, watching a lone seagull. She didn’t realize she was breaking a cardinal rule in Hawaii by turning her back on the ocean. She didn’t even know she was in danger until a rogue wave crashed over her and pulled her under the water.
One moment, Lou had been looking up at the sky, then the next she was eating a mouthful of sand. She managed to let out a startled scream before she was dragged under the water.
For a moment she was too shocked to react, and then adrenaline shot through her veins, and she started to fight back. She kicked wildly against the current. She was a good swimmer, but she was used to the calm waters of Lake Washington, which didn’t surge with a fraction of the power of the Pacific Ocean. Striking out at the wave determined to drag her out to sea did nothing but exhaust Lou, and use up the precious air in her lungs. If she could just claw her way to the surface, she could suck in a breath and scream again, hoping to grab Keoni’s attention. He had been surfing nearby, but it had happened so quickly that Lou couldn’t be sure he had seen the accident.
Her lungs started to burn with the need for air, and she knew she didn’t have time to think, she needed to move. But which way was up? She couldn’t be sure.
The waters of Makaha, which had seemed brilliantly translucent from the shore, were surprisingly black underneath. She had been sucked into a bowl-shaped depression in the sea that teemed with spiky coral. Another wave crashed over her, spinning her upside down and dragging her over the sharp coral.
Salt water filled her nose and mouth, and the bitter taste of fear clogged her throat. The roar of the ocean was suffocatingly loud, and Lou felt as if she was lying on the tracks as a freight train zoomed over her.
Her mind was fuzzy, but she had enough sense to realize she might die. It had been years since Lou had prayed, but she felt the words forming in her mind.
Please, god, don’t let me die.
She didn’t want to die. She was too young. She was only twenty-four years old, and she hadn’t done half the things she’d planned to do. She was going to marry Paul, and live in a charming brick bungalow by the water.
Keoni’s face came to mind, and Lou became even more confused. She didn’t know what she wanted. Only one thing was certain. She didn’t want to die.
As the last of the air in her lungs trickled away, Lou kicked desperately for the surface. She was too disoriented to know for sure if she was heading in the right direction, but she had to try. Down to her last breath, she would try.
A thin trickle of light filtered through the blackness, and she swam toward it with every last ounce of will in her body. A hand shot through the light, and strong fingers grasped her wrist. Lou was yanked through the water with enough force to pull her arm from the socket, but pain was the least of her worries. She needed air.
A moment later, she had it. At the surface of the water, Lou opened her mouth and gulped down the fresh, fragrant air.
“Hold on,” Keoni yelled over the noise of the waves.
Lou didn’t need to be told twice. She was too spent to do anything but cling to Keoni, and he had to drag her dead weight through the waves on his own. He swam through the current with the strength of several men, quickly stroking to safety. He fought through the shore
-break, then half carried, half dragged Lou to shore.
When they made it through the waves, they collapsed on the sand in a heap. Their arms and legs were entangled, and Lou’s long hair snaked around Keoni’s chest and back, binding them together. Lou was crushed under the heavy weight of Keoni’s body, making it hard to breathe. When he tried to roll off her, she clung to him, burying her face in his shoulder.
“Don’t leave me,” she said, her voice coming out hoarse and desperate.
Their chests heaved together as they fought to catch their breath. Keoni pushed back enough to examine her face. His hand splayed over her cheek, and he stared down at her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his breath coming in short pants.
The adrenaline that had flooded Lou’s body moments ago disappeared, and she began to shake. She was too shocked to answer, and she was suddenly freezing cold.
Keoni rolled off her and pulled her into his lap, rocking her like a small child. He stroked her hair and whispered in her ear, his voice sounding just as scared as she felt.
“You’re fine, Lou. Just breathe,” he said. “Can you do that for me, nani? Just breathe?”
Lou nodded into Keoni’s shoulder and sucked in a deep breath. She smelled the tangy scent of the ocean on Keoni’s skin and felt the puff of his breath on her neck. His body was warm and solid, his hands firm as they held her tightly.
“You’re okay.”
Keoni kept repeating the words until they finally sunk in, but still, it was a long time before Lou wanted to move.
She clearly remembered the last thing she had thought of before she had almost given up on life. It had been the details of Keoni’s face. The deep-set, coffee-colored eyes that crinkled in the corners when he smiled. The mouth that, even damaged, was so sensual that she couldn’t stop thinking about kissing it. The proud nose. The high, noble cheekbones. The dimple that winked in his cheek when he flashed his crooked smile. Lou recalled everything about Keoni’s face as if she had been looking at him for years.
A seagull cried in the distance, and the waves smashed into the shore.
Keoni threaded his fingers through Lou’s hair, massaging her scalp and gently releasing the tangles. His quiet strength seeped into her bones.
Try Easy: A Slow-Burn Vacation Fling Love Story (Aloha Series Book 1) Page 9