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Paige felt a sense of relief when she heard the news. “To tell you the truth, I’m okay with that. I don’t really want Wyatt in the baby’s life. I just knew it was the right thing to do.” She stared down at her coffee, thinking about all the decisions she’d made. “How could I let myself get in a position like this with a man like that?”
“He was a snake, Paige. He whispered whatever you wanted to hear into your ear and you melted like butter. I did the same thing. You’re not to blame for this.”
“It’s not just Wyatt,” Paige began before bursting into tears again. “It’s Mano, too.”
Piper perked up in her seat. “Mano? Who is Mano?”
“He’s the man I’m in love with,” Paige managed between sobs.
Piper put a hand on Paige’s shoulder. “Tell me everything.”
So she did. She’d never really been one to share with Piper, but she had to talk to someone. Paige started at the beginning and told her about everything that happened on her trip to Hawaii. How she’d been intrigued by Mano’s attention, how he hadn’t seemed to be able to get enough of her. How broken he seemed to be, but how much he’d improved even over the short time they were together. How she’d let herself fall in love with a man even though she knew it wouldn’t work out because she was a fool.
“He asked you to stay? That’s a pretty big deal.”
Paige shrugged it away. “At best, he’s infatuated with the idea of us. The reality would never work. How can I ask him to raise another man’s child? I can’t ask him to do that, especially knowing that this might not last.”
“You’re absolutely certain you won’t change your mind?”
“Yes. He never wanted to be a burden on a woman, and I refuse to be a burden on him. I don’t think he thought it through enough to understand what he was asking.”
Piper looked saddened by the way their enchanted vacation romance had ended. Paige understood.
“He only proposed a week. That’s all it was ever meant to be.”
At last Piper got a more cheerful expression on her face that reminded Paige of their mother when she was getting fired up. “You know what? Everything is going to be fine. You’re going to get through this, and you’re going to have the most amazing baby ever. You’re going to be a great mom and you’ll be so much better off without some loser in your life. Okay?”
Paige nodded and sniffled away the last of her tears. Her sister was right. She had a baby and a future to focus on now. She needed to make the most of that.
* * *
“Quit moping, Mano. I don’t know what your problem is, but it’s Tutu Ani’s day. Act happy for her.”
“Of course I’m happy for her,” Mano said to his brother, although it sounded more like a growl. Kal might have a point, but he couldn’t help it. He’d been like this since Paige left on Friday. He’d tried to take a step back,
protect himself from the sucker punch he knew was coming, but it still hurt. He’d much rather be at the hotel moping privately and not bringing down the family birthday festivities, but he didn’t really have a choice.
He’d opted to find a corner where he could sit with Hoku and be out of the way. These things were always too chaotic for him to walk around much. Even his own family had the tendency to forget he was blind and trip him up, especially the children, who didn’t really know better. From what he could hear, the women were fussing in the kitchen, the men were preparing to dig up the kalua pork from the pit in the backyard, and he was no good to any of them.
Mano heard the squeak of the metal chair beside him and knew Kal had sat down. “So what’s with you?” he asked. “Even Hoku looks depressed. The last time we talked, you seemed pretty psyched about your semiannual romance. Did it not end well? Did she get clingy or weird about it?”
“The opposite, actually. Things were going great. We were having an amazing time together. I was beginning to think I wanted more than just a week with Paige and I told her so. But she left, anyway.”
“That’s a lot to spring on a woman after a week together. I mean, how did you tell her? Did you ask if she could come back and visit? Confess your undying love and ask her to move here? Propose marriage after her grandfather’s memorial service?”
Mano felt his jaw tighten at his brother’s probing questions. He didn’t really want to talk about this. It was too fresh. “I told her that I wasn’t ready for it to end and asked if she’d consider Honolulu as a potential future residence.”
“A potential future residence? Tell me you didn’t say it like that.”
“I don’t remember what I said now. All I remember is that she said no.”
“I can imagine she had a lot to think about. And you didn’t exactly sweep her off her feet from the sounds of it. For a woman to pack up her whole life, give up her job and move here, she needs more than just the idea that you two might continue to date.”
“I know.” He’d run it through his mind a million times. But a part of him was too scared to push it any further. “I didn’t know what else to say, so I just let her go.”
“I thought that’s how you liked it. Easy and string free.”
Mano shifted Hoku’s harness back and forth in his hands. “It is how I liked it. Until I met her. Paige changed everything...but it’s complicated.”
