by Ann Omasta
In any case, I am thrilled for Baggy. Her wedding day is going to be perfect, and I am so grateful to be here for it.
If I’m completely honest with myself, I have to admit that I have been looking around for Kai the entire time I’ve been scoping out the wedding setting. If my parents had time to get here, shouldn’t he have had time to return? I’m dying to speak with him, but I want it to be in person.
I sit down on one of the white folding chairs in the front row. As I’m working out in my mind how I can explain to Kai what happened, I feel someone sit down next to me. Only a tiny bit of disappointment courses through me when I look over and find my dad in the adjacent chair. After that initial letdown, I am thrilled to see him, and I hope that overjoyed emotion is the only one that shows on my face.
We chat about the gorgeous weather, the ridiculously long flight to get here, the upcoming crazy nuptials, and just about everything under the sun—except for what I really want to know. Finally, I take a deep breath, deciding there is no time like the present. “Dad, did someone call or come by your house looking for me?”
“You mean Kai?” Just hearing his name come out of my father’s mouth makes my heart beat faster. I nod quickly, wanting to see what else he has to say. “Yes, he stopped by.”
Infuriatingly, my father doesn’t seem to be inclined to continue. “And?” I nudge.
“Oh, well, he seems like a nice boy.” I would hardly refer to burly Kai as a boy, but I don’t point that out. We sit in silence for a few long moments. Dad has placed his arm around me and is gently rubbing his thumb over my shoulder. “He sure seems to love you,” he adds, almost as an afterthought.
My head snaps around instantly. “He does? What did he say? Is he angry with me for leaving? Was he on your flight? Is he here?” The questions that have been floating around in my mind burst out in a flood.
“Whoa, whoa, one at a time, sweetheart,” Dad says calmly, chuckling softly at my overly enthusiastic barrage of questions. “He should be on the next flight in. Our flight had only two seats left, and he wanted to make sure that your mother and I made it in plenty of time for Baggy’s ceremony.”
I feel an irrational swell of pride at Kai’s gallantry. Although I didn’t have anything to do with it, I’m glad my father was witness to such a selfless act from my quasi-boyfriend—soon to be full-on boyfriend, I hope. “That was sweet.” I smile at my father, who nods in agreement.
“Yes, he seems like quite a nice fellow.” This simple statement is glowing praise compared to anything my dad has ever said about any guy Ruthie or I have ever brought home. My heart feels full. Somehow, my father’s blessing makes me even more certain that Kai is a keeper. I wouldn’t have thought that I would be so concerned with my dad’s approval, but since he’s never before liked a guy whom I have dated, I didn’t know how great it would feel to get his confirmation of my choice.
“You know, your mother wasn’t going to come to this wedding.” Dad drops this bombshell news as if it is no big deal. “Kai is the one who talked some sense into her. She wasn’t listening to me, of course.” He smiles sheepishly at this revelation. It’s not like it is a secret that my parents don’t exactly get along, but my father and I have never before discussed it, especially not so openly.
“How did he convince her?” I ask, truly curious.
“Oh, something about not missing out on the great moments of life and not having your parents around forever, that kind of mumbo jumbo,” he teases. “It really wasn’t anything earth-shatteringly different from what I said, but for some reason she paid attention to him. I think she really likes him.”
My mouth falls open at this news. “Mother likes Kai?” I splutter. My mother has never approved of anyone I have dated, and she is very up front and outspoken about it—to the point of embarrassing me by vocalizing her distaste right in front of a couple of the poor chaps. Apparently Kai is so charming that even my straight-laced, judgmental mother can’t resist him. The thought boggles my mind.
“Guess I better go get dressed for the ceremony and see if there’s anything I’m supposed to be doing,” Dad announces as he stands, and I suddenly wonder what time it is.
“Me, too.” I give him a huge hug before running off to finish getting ready.
Chapter 32
When I get back to the room, Baggy is the only one there. I take full advantage of this special opportunity for one-on-one time with her. She is wearing a short, silky robe and, surprisingly, is most of the way ready. I decide she has the right idea and don my robe until it’s time to put on my dress.
I pull a chair over to the full-length mirror in the hall, so I can chat with Baggy while I borrow and apply some of Ruthie’s makeup. Baggy brings a hairbrush and walks over to stand behind me. She is so tiny that with me sitting in the chair and her standing, we are roughly the same height.
I am so pleased when she starts easing the brush slowly through my tresses. Wonderful memories wash over me as she gently tends to my hair with long, smooth strokes. She used to brush my hair for hours when I was young. In fact, she was the only one who could detangle my long hair without hurting me. Mother would yank at the snarls until I was in tears before getting frustrated and telling me I needed to “get that mop cut off.”
Baggy patiently pulls the brush through my hair until it glistens. From her slow, methodical movements, one would think she had all the time in the world and nothing else to do today. I enjoy the loving attention so much that I don’t point out that we should probably start getting dressed.
When she finally sets the brush down, I am relaxed and feel completely pampered. The memory of her taking the time on her special day to do this for me is one that I will cherish forever.
Baggy retrieves a bright pink hibiscus from our tiny dorm-size refrigerator. She uses a bobby pin to secure it just behind my left ear before standing back to admire her handiwork. “You look beautiful.” Her eyes look directly at mine in the mirror.
I can’t help but smile. The way she is looking at me makes me feel beautiful. She is the only person in my family who has ever told me I am physically attractive. Ruthie is the pretty one. I am the smart one. Everyone knows that—everyone but Baggy. She refuses to see the world like everyone else does, and I am so thankful that she insists on being different.
As I look at my reflection, I say a silent prayer that Baggy was right about the placement of the flower in my hair. Does Kai still consider me to be taken? I sure hope so.
Realizing that I am being swept away by wayward thoughts, I ask Baggy where she and Howie are going on their honeymoon. When she says he hasn’t told her, my first instinct is to balk. Shouldn’t the bride get a say in where she would like to go? Baggy doesn’t seem at all concerned about it, so I bite my tongue.
“Maybe we’ll get called out on a secret spy mission,” she says excitedly.
With that, my sweet, wonderful grandma is gone. She has been replaced with my slightly crazy, always entertaining Baggy. I think about the fact that it’s not “secret” or “spy” if you tell others about it. I also wonder if Howie is delusional and truly believes the tall tales he tells. In the end I decide that it’s Baggy’s day, and it should be Baggy’s way, so I smile at her in the mirror and say, “Maybe.”
Chapter 33
Once I’m dressed, I give Baggy a little time in the room alone, telling her it would be a great opportunity to mentally prepare for the wedding and reflect on this momentous occasion. I’m sure she’ll probably ignore that advice and instead use the time to lube her entire body with magic jelly, but I prefer not to think about that.
The real reason I leave is to find Ruthie. I haven’t seen her, and it’s time for her to get dressed. If she has flitted away somewhere and ends up being late for Baggy’s wedding, I’ll be so angry with her. It wouldn’t surprise me too much, though, because the attention isn’t focused on her. Surely she wouldn’t be so selfish as to ruin Baggy’s big day. Would she?
I can’t deny that
I’m also looking for Kai in my search for Ruthie, but she’s the one I’m really after right now. I find Howie talking animatedly to my father, but see no sign of Ruthie or Kai. When I pass near my father, he bugs his eyes out at me, and I can only imagine the tall tales he is hearing. I smile knowingly at him but breeze by without butting into the conversation, even though I’m sure Dad is hoping that I will rescue him.
When I get to the reception tent, I’m pleased to see that the cupcakes have arrived and are displayed beautifully. Victoria may not have initially deigned it appropriate to do wedding cupcakes, but once she came on board with the idea, she did them with class. They look almost too delicious to eat, but I’m sure I’ll get over that when the time comes.
I wander around the entire resort in my light pink bridesmaid’s dress and flip-flops, and no one gives me a second look. That’s part of the beauty of Hawaii—anything goes, and there is a wedding in close proximity every fifteen minutes or so. After a short while, even tourists become used to the ceremonies. Other than a dreamy smile and friendly wave, most are numbed enough by the frequency of them to barely even take note of the near-constant wedding preparations and ceremonies.
“Roxy.” I hear a voice quietly croak my name as I walk past the pool. I turn to find Ruthie wadded into the fetal position on a lounge chair. Immediately, I turn and run to her to see what is wrong.
When she sits up, I see long black mascara streaks on her cheeks as evidence that she has been crying. I sit beside her and pull her into a hug. “What happened?” I ask her. My voice is gentle, even though I am ready to pound whoever has upset her so much.
“He . . . he . . . he took that skank to his cottage,” she splutters, before a giant sob erupts out of her.
My first thought is Kai, and ice immediately runs through my veins. Once the initial panic subsides, and I am able to form a coherent thought, I realize she can’t be talking about Kai. His seaside retreat could no more be called a “cottage” than Kai himself could be called a “boy,” as Dad had referred to him earlier today. Besides, Ruthie wouldn’t be this upset if Kai had betrayed me. This must have to do with Curtis.
“You saw Curtis with someone else?” I ask her softly, trying to verify my assumption.
She confirms with a watery-eyed nod. I try to calm her and make sure she isn’t jumping to the wrong conclusion. “Just because someone goes into his house doesn’t mean anything is going on between them.” She gives me a look like I might be the densest person on Earth, so I elaborate. “They could have gone in there for something totally innocent. Maybe she had to use the bathroom or he’s showing her his surfboards or something.” I know my possible scenarios sound lame, so I stop trying to come up with more.
“I know what happens when a lady goes into his cottage, and believe me, it is not innocent,” she wails.
Deciding she is probably right, I change tactics. “Were the two of you seeing each other exclusively?”
“We hadn’t talked about it,” she admits. “I just assumed with all the fun we were having that he wouldn’t have time for or want to be with anyone else.”
I nod, opting not to point out that one should never assume in these types of situations.
“I mean, it’s the best sex I’ve ever had,” she confides, “and we were doing it all the time—all the time,” she repeats for added emphasis. She’s sharing a little more than I want to know, but I am her sister, and I want to be here for her—even if it means I have to suffer through hearing about her overly active sex life when mine is nonexistent.
“Now he’s in there banging that prissy prude, Victoria.” She spits out the name with venom.
I try to hide my shock at this revelation. Perhaps we really brought out the wild side in old Vicky. I wouldn’t have thought she had it in her.
“What does he see in her? She’s a Goody Two-shoes who probably just lies there the entire time waiting for it to be over,” Ruthie sneers unkindly. I know that her words are just coming from a place of hurt and anger, although I’m uncertain why she would be lashing out toward Victoria, rather than Curtis. He’s the one, not Victoria, who had a relationship with Ruthie. Victoria probably has no idea that Ruthie and Curtis had been seeing each other.
Instead of playing the rational older sister and pointing out the flaw in her logic, I nod and listen while she rants about what an ice queen Victoria is. All the while, I am secretly thinking that Vicky probably has an adventurous and dangerous side that bubbles just under the surface of her prim facade. If she has let her fiery red hair down, she might be completely rocking Curtis’s world right now. I wisely keep that thought to myself.
My phone buzzes with a new text. Normally, I wouldn’t take time away from such an important conversation to check my phone, but I really need to talk to Kai, and it might be him. Besides, Ruthie is so much in her own world that she probably won’t even notice.
To my surprise, the text is from Lizzie, my lifelong best friend. The text reads, “I’m sooooo sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”
I smile at the words because I realize that I should be thanking her for stopping me from making the biggest mistake of my life. Although I didn’t know at the time that marrying Gary would have been disastrous, I know it now. Without their betrayal, I would have met Kai as a newly married woman. Would I have still felt the instant attraction I had for him yet been unable to acknowledge it in any way? Would I have already figured out that marrying Gary was a huge blunder?
I decide not to completely let Lizzie off the hook. I mean, she did betray our friendship by having an affair with Gary. I type a quick response. “Perhaps. I’ll call you in a few days.” I’m sure I’ll eventually forgive her—I might have already done that, but I won’t be able to forget what happened. She has been a friend my entire life, and I don’t want to cut her completely out of my life. I don’t think things will ever be exactly the same between us, though. Some breaches of trust can never be entirely absolved.
When I tell Ruthie about the text exchange with Lizzie, she quickly turns the discussion back around to her current situation. “That traitor ruined your wedding day by cheating with your man, just like that awful redheaded puffed pastry is in there doing with Curtis right now.” I nod, letting her vent.
Ruthie eventually tires of alternating between brokenhearted sobbing and belittling blustering about Victoria. I retrieve a couple of napkins from the bar. She loudly blows her nose on one, and I use the other to help wipe the tears from her cheeks. Once we have her relatively cleaned up, I put my arm around her and say that we need to get her ready for the wedding.
At first I think she might try to weasel out of going, but then she rallies. I can see the determination rising in her before she says, “I don’t want either of them to see me looking like this. The next time Curtis sees me, I’m going to look so gorgeous it will knock his socks off, and he’s going to beg me for forgiveness.”
She pauses, and concern grows in me as I wonder if she would actually take him back after he slept with someone else. Even though they weren’t officially exclusive, it still doesn’t seem right. I don’t have to worry too long. “Then I can tell him to bite me before I saunter off with the most handsome man around.”
There’s the Ruthie I know and love, I think to myself as I help her up. I smile at her spunk before adding, It will have to be the second most handsome man around because Kai will be with me.
Chapter 34
“You!” the tiny Hawaiian woman growls at me, while jabbing a short, brown finger into my belly. The top of her head barely reaches my chest, yet somehow I feel intimidated. “You hurt my sweet Kai.”
Her words leave no doubt that she is Kai’s Nana Lana. Seeing her glaring eyes peer up at me, I wonder if there might be some truth to Baggy’s assessment that the woman is crazy. Her next venomous words leave little doubt. “You hurt my sweet boy. I put a hex on you.”
“No, you don’t understand,” I stammer, suddenly concerned. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.” Her
dark eyes look almost black as they squint at me in disbelief. “I came back here to be with Kai.”
“You left him,” she snarls at me.
“I did,” I confess, “but I quickly realized what a mistake that was, and I came back for him.” The woman seems to be all long, dark hair (except for the stark white streak in the front) and mean, beady eyes as she continues to glare at me. I wonder if she’s putting a hex on me right now or if it requires a chant or a full moon to conjure. I’ve never been a big believer in magic, but there is no denying that there is something mystical about her. She is one of the few women I have ever met who would give Baggy a serious run for her money in the “nontraditional grandmother” category.
She keeps staring at me, and it is making me wildly uncomfortable. I am not sure what she is waiting for me to say or do. My nervousness makes me start rambling. “I was miserable at home. I should have never left Kai. It doesn’t make any logical sense that in such a short time he has become so important to me, but it’s true. I don’t want to live my life without him.” I pause, but then decide I might as well go all in—especially if she’s getting ready to curse me anyway. “I love him, Nana Lana.” It is the first time I have admitted it to anyone else.
“You do?” I don’t know when Kai walked up behind me, but he must have heard my last statement. I turn to face him. He’s even more impossibly gorgeous than my recollections. I nod my head, but it doesn’t satisfy him. “You love me?” he asks again.
“Yes,” I confirm, and I am rewarded with the most gorgeous, slightly gap-toothed smile I have ever seen.
“All right, then,” Nana Lana says, giving me for the first time since our less-than-friendly introduction a hint of what might be a slightly friendly look. I can’t help but notice that she has gorgeous, youthful skin, especially for a grandmother. I make a mental note that I need to start slathering on the magic jelly. “It’s time for the ceremony,” she announces to the group at large, effectively cutting off my discussion with Kai. I suddenly go from being almost fearful of her, to wanting to flip the end of her nose. She had somehow managed to butt into and stall the single most important conversation of my life.