Aloha Fantasy

by Devon Vaughn Archer

  “True, but I’m not sure Danica is as taken with my house. She did seem to be a perfect fit for my and Ashlyn’s place during her stay on the island. Nor does she seem to be as taken with the terms—or lack thereof—of staying with me.” Boyd grabbed some shelled pistachios from a bowl and tossed them in his mouth. “I guess I just don’t know if what I thought we had is strong enough to withstand the fact that we don’t see eye to eye on this.”

  “Sure it is,” insisted Lowell. “Who sees eye to eye on everything? I certainly don’t with the women in my life, which is why I’m speaking plural here. My point is, from everything I’ve seen, Danica is definitely the woman for you and you’re the man for her. You need to think about what’s really important here—which is doing right by your lady.”

  “I thought I was,” Boyd noted, remembering all the ways he’d tried to show her just how much he cared for her. “At least before the water got a little muddied.”

  “So it’s up to you to clear it and get things back on track.”

  “How do I do that without giving up some of who I am?”

  “Simple, really,” Lowell suggested. “Look at the situation squarely. You’re in love with Danica, that’s apparent. It’s also more important to your long-term happiness than investments, wealth, benevolence and sticking to your guns, so to speak. I say ask her to marry you and put your house up for sale. It’s worth every bit as much as the other place, probably more. Then buy Ashlyn out and give your wife-to-be a wedding gift of joint ownership. You’d still have more than enough in your bank account to donate to any charities you wanted to.”

  Boyd’s head snapped back as he guffawed. “You’re telling me this as a man who would just as soon run in the opposite direction than be tied down by a marriage?”

  Lowell gave a half grin. “We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you. I’m not looking to settle down anytime soon. But you are, if I’m reading you correctly.”

  “Yeah, I guess I am.” Boyd could not deny what he knew to be true. He was ready at this stage of his life to settle down with one amazing woman. Danica Austin. But were they ready to talk about marriage? Would that solve their disputes…or only create new ones?

  “So don’t just half step, man,” Lowell voiced sharply. “Go for the gold and take Danica with you.”

  “Maybe she just wants to live together for a while and see how things go,” Boyd suggested. That was assuming he could actually get her to come back to Hawaii now that she was back in her real world surrounded by people who may have seen everything the two of them had shared as no more than a fantasy. Minus the one real issue that put them at odds.

  “Don’t kid yourself.” Lowell popped some pistachios in his mouth. “Women only agree to live with men to appease them, not the other way around. I believe if you were to put a ring on Danica’s finger so she knew you were dead serious about making this relationship work in a big way, it would make all the difference in the world—whether you lived in this house or that. Or even if you lived somewhere other than Hawaii.”

  Boyd sucked in a deep breath. He’d never heard Lowell talk this way, with the wisdom of an older person who had been there. Maybe the man was right. Maybe he had been going about this the wrong way. Fact was he did love Danica more than he could imagine ever loving any woman and he would gladly take her as his wife.

  But sell his house and reclaim the one he’d left behind as the residence they’d then call their own? Was that truly the answer? Or would asking Danica to marry him be enough to show her that he was in this for the long haul?

  * * *

  After staying up late last night talking to Ashlyn, Danica hadn’t gotten much sleep. She blamed it more on Boyd than the fact that she had slept through much of the long plane ride from Hawaii. Not feeling the warmth of his body next to hers was something she hadn’t prepared herself for. Not that there was any way to prepare for being apart from a man she was crazy about. Even if they were not on same page on the housing issue.

  Indeed, the more she thought about it, the more Danica came to feel that it wasn’t her right to inject her two cents into a situation that had apparently been there between Ashlyn and Boyd for years. Ashlyn wanted to hang on to their legacy one way or the other and he was content to live with the memories and move on while netting a handsome profit.

  I can’t fault him for that. Or expect him to change the plans he’d already made just because Ashlyn offered me an opportunity to dip heavily into my savings to own half a house.

  Not to mention putting her own house up for sale all on a wing and prayer that she and Boyd truly were the match made in heaven as co-property owners. What sense did that make? It certainly wasn’t worth sabotaging their relationship when he had already offered her more than she could ever have dreamt a few short weeks ago: his heart, his home and his bed. For now that was more than enough and she wanted badly to see him in person to tell him that.

  Had her standoffish attitude caused him to change his plans?

  When Danica finally dragged herself out of bed, she found a note in the kitchen that Ashlyn had left. Hunter had picked her up so they could go shopping for her new Chicago wardrobe and they would also have lunch.

  Danica made herself coffee, feeling somewhat envious that her friends couldn’t seem to stand being apart. Just as she felt about the separation from Boyd. She anguished in his absence and missed his touch more than she could ever imagine.

  Did he feel just as lost without her presence?

  She picked up her cell phone and made the first move, wanting to hear the deep, velvety sound of his voice more than anything. She didn’t waste time planning what she’d say when he answered.

  Instead she got his voicemail. She thought about it and elected not to leave an impersonal message. Or even a personal one that might come across as impersonal.

  She’d try again later. Or maybe he’d call and give her a chance to make things right again between them.

  * * *

  That afternoon Danica met with her photography group at a soul-food restaurant on Madison Street they frequented. She considered it a good distraction from thinking about Boyd, even if she believed such thoughts were inevitable given the strong hold he had over her.

  “We were beginning to think you’d never come back from Hawaii,” quipped Constance, sporting a new stylish hairdo.

  “If I could have stayed, I would have,” Danica said honestly, nibbling on a baby back rib.

  “So why couldn’t you?” Ruth peered at her. “Didn’t your Hawaii hottie want you to stay?”

  “You don’t have to answer that,” Jessy cut in while biting into a biscuit. “It’s really none of our business.”

  Danica was inclined to agree, but she knew they were all curious and saw no reason not to pacify them to some degree. “It’s all right,” she told Jessy, though glad to know that the woman had tried to come to her defense. “Actually Boyd’s been terrific in every sense of the word. But my time was up there and I had to get back to take care of business.” Not to mention reassess things with Boyd and possibly look into putting her loft up for sale.

  “We understand,” Constance spoke for the group and, as the voice of reason, no doubt meant it. “No dream can last forever. Sooner or later you still have to deal with reality.”

  “True,” Danica said with a slight smile. “Right now, that reality is to get my affairs in order and touch base with my clients.”

  “I heard you took some breathtaking photographs in Hawaii,” Ruth said.

  “I sure did.” Danica recalled all the places she’d visited snapping pictures left and right, most with Boyd’s commanding presence. She’d found him irresistible as a subject, though he tried to point the camera in a different direction. “I’ll be happy to show them to you.”

  “That would be g
reat.”

  “I’m sure we’d all like to see your work,” Jessy said. “I can only imagine the incredibly beautiful settings you came upon.”

  “Well worth the trip on that score alone,” promised Danica, dabbing a napkin on her lips. “One day I’d like to see the rest of the islands as well.”

  “Wouldn’t we all.” Ruth tasted her drink. “Especially if we could meet the man of our dreams on one of them.”

  “No reason you can’t,” Danica told her. “Or such a man could be right around the corner.”

  “Yeah, right.” Ruth rolled her eyes. “I’d take a Hawaiian hunk anytime, thank you. Maybe yours could introduce me to someone. You are still together…?”

  Danica smiled. You sly girl, taking the back door approach to snoop for information. “Yes, we are,” she answered. At least as far as she knew. “In fact, Boyd will be coming to Chicago soon.”

  “Interesting,” Jessy said, giving her an assessing look.

  Constance cocked a brow. “Don’t tell me he’s decided to follow Ashlyn’s footsteps and leave Hawaii for our city, wonderful as it is?”

  “I think he’d be willing to, if that’s what I wanted,” Danica said, based on past conversations. “But if anyone goes anywhere, it will be me to Hawaii.” She hoped Boyd’s offer to live with him hadn’t changed, in spite of everything that had been said or hadn’t. Being together was the only thing that mattered to her, which became all the more clear now that they were apart.

  “Can’t say I’d blame you if you did,” Jessy told her. “You have to go wherever life and love take you. For me it’s always going to be the Windy City where I’m too rooted with family and friends. But there’s really nothing holding you back since you could probably build an even bigger client list in Hawaii.” She gave Danica a mischievous grin. “Not to mention the rest of us would have a magical place to visit.”

  Danica smiled back. “You’d always be welcome,” she promised.

  “Amen to that,” Ruth said, lifting her glass to toast.

  Everyone followed suit, with Danica the last to do so. She didn’t want to get their hopes up, especially when she couldn’t be sure at this point if her life would be in Hawaii. She still hadn’t heard from Boyd since she’d left, other than a generic text message saying he hoped she’d arrived safely and that he missed her. He never mentioned just how much. Or that he loved her and would still be coming to Chicago to prove it.

  Hopefully I didn’t blow it and let the one great love of my life slip away.

  Danica clinked her glass with the others and flashed a hopeful smile that her dreams were only beginning and not ending.

  Chapter 13

  Boyd sat in his first-class seat nursing a drink en route to Chicago as they passed over the vast ocean. He was excited, nervous, uncertain and optimistic all rolled into one. He planned to ask Danica to marry him and hoped she said yes so they could put the friction behind them.

  Gazing contemplatively out the window, Boyd thought about the walkthrough at his house the night before last with Lance Su’a, his friend who had wanted to get his hands on the other property Ashlyn lived in. Lance was equally attracted to the prospect of owning the valuable piece of oceanfront property in Hamakua. It was then that Boyd gained perfect clarity in what was really important to him. Yes, he loved the first house he had ever truly called his own. But at the end of the day, it was just brick, wood and glass. Not nearly enough to want to hold on to at all costs.

  Especially if the cost was he woman he loved.

  Though he doubted it would have necessarily come down to a choice between the two, he had made that choice anyway. He chose to spend the rest of his life with Danica as his wife, lover and mother of his children—if she would have him. And he chose to start their life together in his childhood home so they could carry on the legacy that had been passed down to him and Ashlyn.

  I want to give Danica anything she wants, as she’s given me all I could ask for.

  Boyd sipped his cocktail, wondering what Danica was up to right now. Maybe she was hanging out with Ashlyn, who would be heading back to the Big Island in a couple of days, accompanied by Hunter, to pack up some things to begin her new life with a new love who seemed to be everything his sister had always wanted in a partner.

  Much the way he felt about Danica. It took being apart and missing her so much, like they hadn’t seen each other in the past decade, to get Boyd to recognize just how much he had come to depend on Danica’s presence in his world. He missed everything about the lady: her beauty, her scent, her laughter, her intelligence and the way she made love to him.

  Now he was ready to get her back and never let her go again.

  Boyd’s flight arrived on time and he deplaned, looking forward to the visit and renewing his commitment to Danica. And vice versa.

  Outside the terminal he approached a man nearly his height and just as well built with curly, short dark hair. “You must be Hunter.” Boyd recognized him from their video-phone chat, which Hunter had initiated.

  “That’s me.” Hunter smiled. “I can see the family resemblance between you and Ashlyn.”

  The two men shared a hearty handshake.

  “Thanks for picking me up,” Boyd told him.

  “I was happy to do it,” Hunter said. “I told Ashlyn I had some business to tend to.”

  Boyd grinned. “Good.” He had kept his early arrival a secret from his sister and Danica, hoping to make maximum impact when they saw him.

  Sitting in the passenger seat of Hunter’s silver Lexus sedan, Boyd took in some of the Windy City. He could understand his sister being attracted to Chicago, though he was sure the attractions took a backseat to his driver in Ashlyn’s eyes.

  “Ashlyn’s a wonderful lady,” Hunter remarked, getting Boyd’s attention.

  “Yes, she is pretty special.” Boyd said, glancing at his profile. “She’s obviously quite hung up on you.”

  “Yeah, we’re quite hung up on each other.” Hunter changed lanes on the freeway. “To be honest about it, when Danica first told me she and Ashlyn would be switching houses for a month, I thought she was joking.”

  “I thought the same thing when Ashlyn told me what she had planned,” Boyd admitted.

  “Looks like the joke got serious in a hurry,” Hunter said. “Ashlyn was way more than I could ever have hoped for when Danica asked me to give her a call. And, from what Danica tells me, you two hit it off right away, too, and it seems like there’s no stopping you.”

  Boyd chuckled, remembering his reservations even after seeing the gorgeous lady in person on the first day. “Not sure we were totally in sync at the beginning and not even when I last saw her, but I agree that we have something that won’t quit.”

  “Nice way of putting it. Ashlyn and I definitely don’t plan on quitting anytime soon.”

  “Good to know.” Boyd eyed him. “I know she’s a grown woman, but she’ll always be my little sister—”

  “And you don’t want to see her hurt?”

  “That’s right, I don’t,” Boyd made clear, shifting slightly in the seat.

  “Well, I can tell you man-to-man that I will never hurt Ashlyn,” Hunter assured him. “I love her too much for that. I would never have asked her to move from Hawaii and all its wonders to Chicago if I wasn’t sure things would work out for us.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.” Boyd decided he was a stand-up guy and would do right by Ashlyn. Now he had to focus on his own future with Danica. It was one he very much wanted and he would not settle for anything less than having her as the love of his life.

  Hunter looked at him. “The way Danica and Ashlyn talk about you, I feel good knowing that you and Danica are together. We’ve been friends for a while now, but I have to tell you, I’ve never seen her so happ
y and optimistic about the road in front of her. Clearly you have a lot to do with that.”

  Happy? Optimistic? Those were soothing words to Boyd’s ears. He hoped that they still applied to Danica when she saw him.

  “I didn’t have to work too hard,” he told Hunter. “She’s such a beautiful woman, I just had to be myself and enjoy her company.”

  Hunter chuckled. “I know what you mean. It was easy to fall for Ashlyn and I keep falling for her every day I get to know her better.”

  “Guess we’ve both been damned lucky,” Boyd remarked, not wanting to see their luck run out anytime soon.

  “Yeah,” Hunter concurred as he pulled off the highway and onto a side street. “Won’t be long now. I’m sure Danica will be shocked when she sees you.”

  “I’m sure she will.” It wasn’t so much the shock factor that Boyd wanted from her; it was knowing that she still loved and wanted him for the life they had spoken of having together. Until such time he would remain a little off balance, albeit with the quiet confidence that had always made him who he was.

  * * *

  Danica sat on the sectional with Ashlyn watching a DVD. At least one of them was. Danica’s focus was more on Boyd, wishing they were cozied up watching a romantic comedy instead. They still hadn’t spoken directly since she’d returned home two days ago and it was killing her. She’d thought more than once about asking Ashlyn to call him and see what was up. But she was sure her friend would shrug it off as nothing to worry about. Or to be patient and everything would work out. It was easier to say that when your own relationship seemed to be working on all cylinders than when the man you loved was across the ocean with more than just distance separating you.

  Why did I have to make a mountain out of a molehill, putting unnecessary strain on a relationship that had been perfect? Had Boyd continued to be stung by the less-than-loving way she’d left the island and his warm embrace?