“Aunt GiGi,” Caleb says under his breath.
“Co-Co?” I laugh and he frowns.
“You did not hear that.”
“Aloha, Katey-girl,” Aunt GiGi shouts in a voice infused with joy. I recognize Caleb’s aunt from the hotel—she sometimes pops in with Hawaiian treats for the staff before taking lunch to Caleb’s dad. When she takes me into her arms, I’m stunned by her strength—her hug takes my breath away. Her head comes to my chin. Her black hair is pulled into a bun, and I imagine how it must look let loose down her back. She’s round and soft even with the strength of a sailor in her arms. I can’t immediately respond.
We are quickly swept into the festivities. Caleb’s aunts, uncles, and cousins are perhaps the friendliest people I’ve ever encountered. The friendliness is of a different kind than what I’m used to; it’s flamboyant at times, like when one of Caleb’s distant aunts kisses my cheeks and hugs me tightly. I smile and glance around to make sure Caleb is close, mostly unsure how to respond. I can hold my own in a room of sophisticated, educated adults. But these boisterous, joyful personalities are both intimidating and endearing.
More people arrive, carrying large bags to add to the tables overloaded with serving dishes covered with Saran Wrap or aluminum foil. Two huge guys carry a silver ice chest between them. They look the size of Sumo wrestlers.
“Eat, here take a plate.” Aunt GiGi hands me a paper plate and a roll of napkins with plastic silverware wrapped inside.
“Thank you,” I say, thinking how my mother would probably die before she handed a guest plastic and paper dinnerware, even with frugality being the new trend in this recession.
We’re herded to the food line with people leaning in, pointing out things for me to try. Caleb insists that I try most everything until I have a huge pile of food on my plate. And even then, his aunt stops by our seat at a picnic table with a pan in hand.
“You must try this. This is a Hawaiian favorite.”
So I eat more food—most of which I have no idea what it is—than I normally eat in a whole day. Afterward, the men start playing Portuguese horseshoes and the women lounge together, laughing and talking among themselves.
Lawn chairs and ice chests are everywhere. Children play tag among the guests.
Someone starts playing the guitar, one of Caleb’s giant Hawaiian uncles.
“Not so different from your family after all,” Caleb says, moving a leg over the picnic bench to straddle it and face me. The same shiver of warmth and excitement shoots through me at his touch.
I think he must be joking. “Really?”
“Food, music, people who love us.”
He would see it that way.
“When you say it like that, I guess you’re right.”
Someone turns on a stereo to a kind of Hawaiian music I haven’t heard before—a mix of jazz and rock with the Hawaiian sounds.
“Please, please, don’t let them make me sing karaoke,” I beg him.
“I don’t know . . .” he says, looking perfectly content with me here among his family.
He brushes some hair away from my face and touches my chin.
“You know . . . you are my great love, my Izta.”
I have hoped and thought this, but to hear him say it—I can’t respond. Real life, normal words, they don’t do justice to what is here between us. I’m at a loss at how to respond, tongue-tied and expressionless.
“I wish there were a better way for me to tell you what’s in my heart. But I—I hope to always be your great love, Caleb.” I smile then, finding humor the only relief for my frustrating lack of eloquence. “Let’s just hope our story turns out better than Itza and Popoca’s.”
“It will. Let’s go down to the river and escape for a while.”
He has that expression that sucks me in, a look that says I’m everything to him. Someone calls his name and breaks the spell.
“Could you help lift this box into the truck? One minute and you’ll be back with your girl.” It’s one of Caleb’s uncles.
He kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll be right back. Why don’t we just get out of here? I’ve had enough of family. Let’s go somewhere.”
I glance around, wondering if we can sneak off without a giant production with Caleb’s family.
Within minutes of his leaving, I hear a voice behind me.
“So Beverly Hills decided to visit the natives?”
At first, I don’t realize the words are about me, until I see Finn bending over an ice chest and pulling out a beer. He offers it to me, and I shake my head. He laughs dryly. “Sorry, we’re all out of appletinis.”
“I have a drink, thanks,” I say, holding up my Diet Coke.
“You seem surprisingly sharp for a blonde.”
I shrug and smile, trying to dismiss his dour mood. “I’m even a natural blonde—must be a freak of nature.”
Across the lawn I see Caleb’s face drop as he watches Finn pop his beer open and sit down beside me. He’s carrying a large box toward the parking lot.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk, and from the looks of it, you might be one of the few girls to actually stick around.”
“You be nice to our girl here,” Aunt Gigi says, popping Finn on the head with a roll of aluminum foil. “Almost time for dessert.”
She scurries back to the tables with the food.
“I should help her clean up,” I say to Finn.
“You know he can never stay with you,” Finn says with a spiteful grin on his face.
I sit back down.
“If you stay with him, you’ll ruin his future. Do you still think Caleb is a poor scholarship student at your school? Or has he told you he’s the heir to our grandfather’s money?”
My face surely shows that I don’t know all of this, at least not fully. Caleb hasn’t told me.
“You’ll find out. Very soon. In about five minutes actually. But I wonder if you care enough to not ruin his life?”
Finn leaves as Caleb returns.
“Are you okay?” he asks, staring after his cousin.
Suddenly Caleb’s body stiffens. His eyes have caught something behind my back. The look on his face scares me with its ferocity, and I turn around to see what Finn has done now.
I don’t see anything different from the lawn dotted with children, someone flying a kite on the far corner, the late afternoon sun reflecting diamonds on this perfect day.
“What is it?”
As if to answer, the music cuts and a rumble of excitement races through the family. Caleb’s aunt lets out an excited scream.
I’ve never seen Caleb look so serious.
“My grandfather is here.”
CALEB
He arrives in a black sedan with a driver. How formal he looks, in his expensive suit and shoes. He is dressed for one of Kate’s usual social events, not for our family picnic.
“I think we should go.” I want to take her far away from him.
“Okay,” Kate says, picking up her bag and sliding her shoes back onto her feet.
Then he calls my name, even as the rest of the family shakes his hands and hugs him. These aren’t your blood relatives, I want to tell him. But family is family, regardless.
I clench my jaw and stand with Kate beside me. Catching a glimpse of her face, I put my arm around her shoulder. She looks afraid.
Grandfather is imposing, striding forward with the same set jaw. We stare at one another much like we did on the day I left Hawaii.
“Caleb.”
“Grandfather.”
His cold black eyes dance over to Kate and then return to mine. My instinct is to keep her out of his vision, to never allow him to look at her again. He can be cruel, and he seeks the weaknesses of his enemies without mercy. I do not doubt that he could harm Kate with one simple conversation.
“I heard you have a new friend.”
“How much do you pay Finn to spy on me?”
Grandfather ignores me and reaches out a hand toward Kate
. “Hello, Kate Monrovi. I am Robert Kalani.”
“Hello,” Kate says in a small voice.
“We were leaving. I hope you have a safe trip back to Hawaii.”
“I’d like a moment,” Grandfather says. Kate looks at me and prepares to give us privacy when he continues, “With Miss Monrovi.”
“No,” I say, but Kate pulls away and agrees.
“No,” I say more firmly.
“Please, Caleb. It will be okay.”
I shake my head and watch as she follows Grandfather toward the edge of the park overlooking the river. She probably thinks Grandfather is someone who will understand her. She doesn’t know yet that he never forgives.
KATE
“You seem to care very deeply for Caleb.”
Caleb’s grandfather makes me feel more comfortable than the rest of his family. I’m not yet accustomed to them, their raucous laughter and friendly energy. The more formal world filled with social etiquette is the landscape I’ve lived in. He understands that and lives there as well. Robert Kalani was surely a very handsome man at one time and even at his age he’s imposing, tall, with wide shoulders and light brown skin.
“Yes. I do.” How can I tell this man whom I’ve just met that his grandson is like no one I’ve ever known? That he is the most important person in my life?
“He could have a great future. I’m sure you have a great future ahead too.”
I’m not sure what to say to this. This man holds the keys to Caleb’s future, according to Finn. Do I trust that Finn’s words are true? Caleb told me how his grandfather feels about hales. Has Caleb only been warned by his grandfather, or does he really mean it? Robert Kalani certainly displays the force of a powerful man.
“How many hotels are in your hotel chain now?”
I think for a moment. “Sixty-five, I believe.”
“But there were many more for a time.”
“Yes, my father wanted to lessen the debt a number of years ago. He sold some properties to the Shangri-La chain.”
“You know a lot about the industry, it appears.”
“A little. When I was younger, people said that I would follow him into the business.” I smile, hoping it will bring a smile to his face. It doesn’t.
“Very nice.” But his face doesn’t reflect any sense of kindness. “I knew your grandfather.”
I nod thoughtfully, wondering just how much to say. “Yes,” I say softly.
“He was very respected, among his . . . peers.” There was a hesitation that couldn’t be missed. “You met Caleb at school?” “Yes.”
“And Caleb also works at your father’s hotel?”
I nodded, wondering where this was leading.
“Caleb is very special. You probably don’t realize that.”
“I do realize.”
He is thoughtful then, turning to stare out toward the river, and I see a resemblance between Caleb and his grandfather in their thick eyebrows and dark eyes. I wish I knew what he is thinking, but a man like this would be well-practiced in shielding his thoughts from the world.
“I can see why Caleb is taken with you.”
I’m not sure how to respond—does he mean it, and if so, why? We’ve hardly talked and he’s so quickly assessed me?
Perhaps he will like me enough to accept Caleb and I being together. Because one thing I know, I will not be the reason that Caleb’s future is ruined.
CALEB
Grandfather takes Kate’s hand and I want to race over there and hit the old man. He holds it with his two hands and then kisses the top of it.
She’s free from him then, walking toward me with a nervous expression on her face. Grandfather stays behind a moment and then turns toward the picnic area, where the family welcomes him in, handing him a plate and gushing over him, as all family members do with Grandfather.
“It was no big deal,” Kate says when we reach the Camaro. I can’t get her inside and onto the highway fast enough.
“Everything is a big deal with my grandfather. What did he say to you? Tell me everything.”
She retells the conversation. I ask details she can’t remember, wanting everything exact and wishing I had been there to read his slightest expressions.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never been good at sequential and exact details. I can’t tell the synopsis of a movie without bouncing all around. Please don’t be annoyed with me.”
And I was getting frustrated with her. “I’m sorry. Grand-father makes me a little stressed, and I’m sorry for taking that out on you.”
Her smile softens every jagged edge within me. I want us to just run away, pack up the Camaro and all the money we can find and disappear for forever and a day.
“He asked about your father’s hotel chain?”
Grandfather hasn’t been to the mainland in thirty years. He hates Oregon, he hates the Monrovi family, he hates my father, and now he hates me.
So why is Grandfather here?
Chapter Fifteen
This above all: to thine own self be true.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet (Act 1, Scene 3)
CALEB
Monica manipulates me like a puppet master. Guilt is used instead of strings. “Get up and get ready,” she says over the phone, waking me from a perfect sleep.
I yawn and stretch my legs. “Why?”
“We’ve hardly talked since prom. I’ve decided to go out with Anton this summer.”
I sit up in bed and wince from the soreness in my muscles from one of Caleb’s recent climbing adventures. “When did you decide that?”
“You would know, if you ever talked to me. But I’ll tell you today. You are blowing off church and your Hawaii boy because you need some time with the girls in the happiest place on earth.”
“The mall is not my happiest place on earth.”
I hear another voice in the background. “Skip church, Mother Teresa, and let’s go shopping.”
“Why so early?” I say, trying to come up with some excuse. I want to see Caleb later and go to church with him tonight. I can see myself becoming one of those girls who once annoyed me because they stop hanging out with their friends and only want to be with their boyfriends. Now I understand those girls much better. Everything outside of time with him holds little attraction.
“Susanne’s dad is flying us up to Seattle. He has some business, and so the plan was hatched.”
I’ll be gone the entire day then. A day of clothes, shoes, gossip, meaningless chatter—it sounds horrible. Then I remember that I do need some better shoes for hiking with Caleb . . . as long as the girls don’t see me buying hiking boots. I can probably pull that off. And I do need to see my friends once in a while.
“Okay, what time?”
Caleb doesn’t respond to my text for nearly an hour. When he does, he says a guest drove a golf cart into the pond and he was towing it out and taking it back to the maintenance building.
He writes: I’ll go to church in the evening. Grandfather wants to meet me for dinner in Portland anyway. You have a great day in Seattle. It’s good for you to see your friends.
It makes me sad.
Perhaps I want him to say that he’ll miss me, or even be upset that I’m going. But why would he? It isn’t as if we expected to spend every day together. But the disappointment weighs on my shoulders. When Susanne’s dad pulls up and the girls pop their heads out the windows cheering and excited about our day of shopping, I try putting aside my longing for Caleb to enjoy the day with my friends.
Another text comes through my phone: I’ll miss you.
It makes me want to cry.
I type back as I smile and hop into the back seat of the Cadillac Escalade. What’s wrong with me? I don’t want to do anything with anyone else. I just want to be with you.
CALEB: Can’t say that I don’t love hearing that. But have fun. Know I’m missing you all day.
ME: I’ll miss you all day too.
As we ride to the airport, I try to laug
h at the jokes and act involved in the conversations. Monica squints her eyes at me and shakes her head.
“Pathetic.”
Once the small plane takes off, I can cut the act. I stare out the window with the headphones covering my ears. The world is all green edged with blue sky and water. The pine trees are a deep green, with the open fields an almost-lime, vibrant with the newness of spring.
I wonder what the future will be. Flying off for a one-day shopping trip isn’t a rarity, though of course I know it isn’t the norm for most people. But our kind of people don’t think twice about it. It’s what we know, it’s who we are—well, not really who we are. But I think I could live the normal suburban life or whatever my life might turn into if Caleb and I are together forever, couldn’t I? If Caleb loses everything because of me—I wouldn’t ask that of him, though—but what if that was our life? Could I do that? I try to drop myself into Caleb’s family, but does that mean changing all I’ve known?
Maybe we could run away. It sounds romantic to be poor together. But poor in reality means not having money to do anything—not flying to Europe or Fiji for the summer, having to work jobs we hated, or two jobs each, so that we could see each other in our exhausted few hours off. My father might help us.
Then I think that maybe Caleb’s grandfather wanted to meet him tonight to give his blessing. No, I’m jumping to conclusions beyond what Caleb and I have talked about. But if I truly am his real love and he is mine, Caleb won’t have a future in his grandfather’s business, and we’ll be poor.
Would I give everything up for him?
I know the answer without question. I might someday regret it as my sister Kirsten has warned, but I would give up everything for Caleb now. Isn’t love all about sacrifice anyway? “Hey, have you seen Oliver?” Monica asks me as we walk down the boarding stairs to the tarmac. A crisp breeze blows, making me shiver.
“He wasn’t at school Friday, and now that I think about it, he didn’t answer my text.”
“I think he’s going to need rehab if he doesn’t watch it,” Emily says from behind us. I glance at her and then to Monica, who shrugs as if she agrees.
Susanne’s father takes one sedan, and we hop into a limo waiting to sweep us away to downtown Seattle.
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