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Lucy regretted her thoughtless words. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Please forgive me.”
“It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t. She could tell by the tiny muscle flicking at the side of his jaw.
Her touch of melancholy over missing her kids as Christmas approached had no place during this day with Nick, after he had been so thoughtful.
Lucy fell silent as she took in the verdant scenery and felt more awe with every passing mile.
The highway was gaining altitude now, rising into what seemed like dense, lush tropical foliage. At the left side of the road, a nearly vertical mountain range towered above them with deeply corrugated slopes and thin, jagged peaks that rose like broken glass. The tallest of them disappeared into the mist.
“Wow,” Lucy breathed. “These mountains are stunning.”
After a few more miles he turned off into a parking lot and stopped the SUV. “Wait ’til you see the Lookout. We’ll be 1,200 feet above the ocean and there’s quite a view.”
He tapped something into his phone. “I can’t tell for sure, but I don’t think Sniper can join us here. We won’t be gone long.”
They walked together up the hard-surface path to the viewing place. “So what do you think, Lucy? Worth the drive?”“
She stared in wonder at the panoramic view of the ocean, the Windward coastline, and the sheer Koolau cliffs. “Can you imagine being up here for a sunrise? This is breathtaking.”
It had been sunny down in Waikiki, but up here a gentle mist was falling and had settled over the peaks like a soft, gray blanket. “Do people hike up here?”
“There are trails all over the island. But along the ridge line of these peaks? Some are very narrow and treacherous. It takes an extremely experienced hiker to tackle those. That won’t ever be me.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” She shivered. “That would never be me, either. I can feel vertigo on an eight-foot ladder.”
“Cold?” Nick draped his arm around her shoulders as they headed down to the parking lot.
“A little.” She wasn’t really, but just the weight of his arm made her feel protected and warm all over, and she nestled closer.
She couldn’t remember her late husband, bless his soul, affecting her this way. He’d turned cool and distant once he started his law career.
And now she felt more than a little bereft when they reached Nick’s SUV and he stepped away.
* * * *
AFTER A LEISURELY DRIVEdown the leeward coast, Nick pulled into a restaurant overlooking the water as the sun was dropping low in the sky. “I’ve been here quite a lot. Excellent seafood and steaks, if that works for you?”
Lucy had received a text soon after they’d left the scenic overlook and had been quiet most of the way back. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes when she looked over at him. “Sounds perfect.”
“Is something wrong?”
“My daughter texted me back. Apparently, she and her boyfriend had a fight and broke up. She’s trying to arrange a flight from Vermont to Minneapolis, but with all of the holiday travelers, she hasn’t found anything yet. She sounds distraught.”
“Aww, Lucy. I’m so sorry.”
“She has her own apartment in Chicago where she goes to school. But none of her friends are there over winter break, Christmas is nearly here, and she just wants to come home. She’s really upset because no one will be there, either. And I should have been.”
He thought he saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes. “But you didn’t know this would happen, honey.”
Honey.She shot a quick glance at him from under her lashes. Waitstaff and store clerks tossed that endearment around all the time when talking to customers.Hey, honey—you forgot your change. But from Nick, the words felt entirely different.
“She also said she hadn’t heard from her brother for at least three weeks. He isn’t returning any of her texts. Adam ignores me most of the time, but usually he’s a little better at keeping in touch with her. Bree even contacted some of the guys he hangs out with, but they don’t even know where he is.”
“You must be really worried.”
“All the time, honestly. I’m the only one they have. And with Adam’s past, I always fear that someday I’ll receive the call no parent ever wants to hear.” She gave a small, watery laugh. “I wish I’d never left home. Except...then I wouldn’t have met you.”
