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`A`ohe lokomaika`i i nele i ke pâna`i.
This means “our kindness to you
WILL be rewarded.”
Honor Curtis for once in your life.
Bring his child home.
His “child.”
She nearly threw her phone.
Curtis’ grandmother was what her mother would have called someone “set in their ways,” unwilling to budge out of stubbornness hardened by age. Joel had accepted Theo and Josiah like they were his own sons. Yet, Theo shared blood with these people, and they treated him like an “other.”
If she told Joel, he would comb the island and assassinate them one by one. So, rather than the truth, she gave him half of a lie.
“It’s just Theo. I’m worried sick about him.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know that’s not everything that’s bothering you—you forget how well I know you—but I know that’s a big part of it. What if youdidtake a step back and let me handle it?”
She hacked out a dry laugh. “Then what would I worry about? I’m not sure I can operate without worry.”
“How about you try? For me.”
“Since you put it that way,” she raised a pinky, “I’ll do my best…for you.”
He stared at her raised hand, lightly stroked her pinky, and then hooked his with hers. Their joined fingers dangled between their bodies.
“There’s actually something important I want to talk to you about,” he said. “Come to my room later. After everyone’s asleep.”
All the saliva left her mouth.
“And don’t stay out here too late. I don’t care how private of a beach it is; if something happens to you, you know it doesn’t matter who I have to torture to find you.”
He gently squeezed her hand and walked off.
She watched him go, studying the broad lines of his shoulders and the way his shirt hung on his chiseled frame. Most mornings, they all took turns exercising in the villa’s gym. Some mornings, they subbed the workout for a hike, a swim, or a run on the beach. Every morning, she tripped over imaginary twigs and seashells or nearly dropped weights on her toes, distracted while staring at Joel’s bare torso.
“Marry me?” she whispered. “I love you.”
She spent the next hour sitting on the beach, thinking about Theo, Curtis’ family, and Joel. As the lights in the villa progressively shut off one by one, her thoughts tapered until all she could think about was Joel. It wouldn’t be her first time alone with him in a bedroom, but she no longer had the willpower she once did. In her mind, this man was her husband.
“Curtis, you there?” She twisted the ring on her finger and looked up, the dark sky twinkling like someone had overturned a basket of stars. “What do you think, baby? You like him, right?”
A wave slammed the shore.
Crystal-clear water wove between her toes.
“Yeah, me too. I love the way he makes me feel. I love how he loves our boys. And, ever since Joel started coming around, I haven’t felt alone as a woman or as a parent.”
A gust of wind tickled her face.
“Yeah, I am. I’m in love with him, but I’d be lying if I said I’m never afraid that loving him will make you think I’ve forgotten you.”
The gust of wind passed through her fingers and caressed her calves underneath the dress. Gage and Tayler’s muffled voices floated past her from the villa.
“I’ll never forget you, Curtis. As long as I live. Honestly, I feel like you sent Joel to us. He just,” she sighed, smiling a little, “fits. You’d like him. Well, except for the whole me being in love with him thing, you’d like him. I’m kind of stumped about what’ll happen once I get there. I mean, are threesomes allowed in heaven?”
