We harnessed up, Dylan double-checking the tour guide’s job on my own harness. He kissed my forehead. “I can’t let you slip out and lose you when I just got you.” His murmur reached my ears and warmed me from the inside out.
Skimming over valleys plush with green and waterfalls, I spun myself on the line. I wasn’t the biggest fan of heights, but I loved the thrill of being there, in the moment. Extreme rides were like first kisses – you weren’t sure when it was going to end or how it would start or even how it would work, but it took your breath away just the same.
Eight lines and two-and-a-half hours later, I landed on the platform behind Dylan, breathless. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Judging by the expression on Dylan’s face, he was just as effected as I was. We pulled off our helmets and slipped out of the harnesses.
“These are really nice. Look at the quality in the stitching.” I couldn’t stop inspecting everything. I’d almost missed the excitement when I stepped off the platform of the line with the two-hundred foot drop into the steep valley. The speed had picked up but I’d been so focused on the line itself, the cable, and the yank at my waist. I couldn’t breathe and I loved it. I wanted that ride at Big Dog.
Dylan’s excitement was boundless. I didn’t think it would be hard to convince him to add one of our own. His next words confirmed it. “Ours wouldn’t be this long, but we could do one at Big Dog. It could be our new feature. In the next year or two we can expand it. Could you imagine doing one of these in the middle of winter?” His excitement was contagious and I stared at him, leaning up to kiss him on the lips as the next group landed shortly behind us.
One of the girls who landed in the back of the group was crying. Dylan looked around and approached her while the worker was busy. “Are you okay?”
I tried not to notice her adorable blonde curls or the dainty pout to her lower lip. She was smaller than me and she didn’t look as solid. Her friends could have been imitations of her. Her large liquid green eyes zoned in on Dylan and she shook her head.
Tugging at the harness in various places as if she was trying to get out of it, the woman’s sobs subsided enough she could talk. “No. I didn’t want to do that. I’m claustrophobic and I’m afraid of heights. I need out of this now.” Her hysteria mounted and people from the rest of the group looked at her.
Dylan nodded his head and reached forward to help her unbuckle and get the suit off. He moved with quick, deft movements. One thing Dylan knew was his job. Customers. They paid the bill and he knew customer service like he knew how to breathe.
I looked around to make sure he wouldn’t get in trouble. At our own amusement park we had strict guidelines on who was allowed to help who. But the worker was overwhelmed and it seemed he was waiting for someone to help him, so I didn’t say anything as Dylan continued helping the woman remove her gear.
After they removed their own outfits, the woman’s friends gathered around Dylan. They gushed about, calling him a hero and even mini-clapping in sync. Dylan stood there with her harness in his hands and smiled, speaking nicely to them.
My jaw dropped and I stood off to the side, taking in the display. If I acknowledged my feelings of jealousy, I would probably run into the group and start scratching the women’s eyes out. Even though it wasn’t real, Dylan was my husband for the next few days. I didn’t like the feeling that my husband might already regret being with me. I needed a couple days before I was ready for that.
What if I held him back from doing something with those women? What if I was holding him back from really enjoying his vacation? What if Dylan regretted being with me already? I was so far from regret, it almost hurt.
I didn’t like the feelings I got when Dylan and I were just friends in the form of jealousy. They didn’t mean as much then. Now that I’d had a taste of what it was like to be with him, to be romantically involved and wrapped up as his focus of attention, my discomfort was taking over new territory. Jealousy had taken on a whole new feel.
Was that going to be the cost of me finding happiness in his arms?
Chapter 18
DYLAN
I’m not stupid. Something was bugging Kayla, I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. But I pushed it away.
For the first time, I didn’t care. I didn’t have very many days left with her and I was going to revel in the romance. I was taking advantage of the fact that I could kiss her and hug her and touch her as much as I wanted. She didn’t push me away. She didn’t act like it was too much or like I was smothering her.
The entire situation was like a dream come true. I just ignored the fact that sometimes I caught her staring off into space with an expression riddled with worry.
When we went back to the beach that night I kissed her before going into the water. After her tangle with the man-of-war she said she’d rather not go in the water on that particular beach. I didn’t venture far myself. I just wanted to watch the sunset and enjoy the warm water on my skin.
We spent the night in each other’s arms.
Up the Nepali coast, we explored the blue and green caves, hiking into the dark interiors with our hands clutching each other the whole way. With the blue waters reflecting in her eyes, she’d reminded me of a siren I’d read about in a book once. Kayla was captivating and I was enchanted.
Riding on the bike everywhere, she held me with her face pressed against my shoulder blades. I could feel the warmth of her breath on my neck when she spoke – almost having to yell as we zoomed along the highways.
The days ran into each other, picking up speed with each passing second. I felt like I was on one of our most successful thrill rides at the park. I didn’t want to get off, but I knew the ride had to end soon. She hadn’t chosen and I wasn’t ready to face that just yet.
“Let’s go to Coconut Marketplace and get you that toe ring now. The lady at the desk said they’re open again.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her from another one of her books. She loved reading as much as I loved watching her.
She put the book down, smiling, and walked beside me as we swung our joined hands between us. Giggling, she passed me my phone she’d grabbed for me off the nightstand. “Don’t forget to snap another picture of us doing this. That poor app must be exhausted with all of the pictures you keep sending it.”
I rolled my eyes and tucked my phone into my back pocket. “You have no idea. I figure the more pictures I send, the less it will nag me. I’m not sure how many tasks I’ve covered, but if they say we didn’t do enough, I’ll have a backlog of evidence that we did almost too much.” I grinned, pulling her against my side and kissing her forehead.
The app had worn me out with the dings and reminders. Since Kayla agreed to try things out with a serious effort, I’d inundated the app with pictures at every possible moment. I hadn’t heard it ding once since. That was a relief in and of itself.
The little jewelry store was quaint. When we arrived the woman, whose nametag read Natalia, sat Kayla in a chair, sizing her for her ring. She noticed the red marks on Kayla’s calf which wrapped around the sides and looked up startled. “Man-of-war attack?” Natalia gently turned Kayla’s foot to the side and inspected the wound.
Kayla nodded jerkily. The back of her leg still hurt and we had taken to putting on a salve that we found at a market. I bugged her to keep sunblock on, too. The woman’s fair skin didn’t take kindly to the sun and I didn’t want her in more pain. I already felt awful that she’d gotten stung instead of me.
“Please, tell me you didn’t pee on it.” The woman looked between the two of us with a schoolteacher expression of rebuke.
I shook my head fervently. “No, the man at the restaurant told us to use ocean water.”
She took Kayla’s foot in her hands and maneuvered a small silver band to the tip of her index toe and twisted the ring on. Inspecting her work, she nodded her approval both at the ring and our chosen method of care for the stings. “That’s good. We get a lot of people down here who think that i
t’s sanitary or going to help things from some sitcom that aired years ago. But it doesn’t work. And freshwater just makes it worse.” She picked up her tray and slid Kayla’s sandal back on. “Why don’t you look around while I ring this up, you can see if there’s anything else you would like to take with you.” She smiled and went behind the counter.
“I really want to check those watches out over there.” I had a watch fetish and the possible presence of a Na Hoku inlay timepiece pulled me to the woman’s watch display. The Koa wood and quartz settings could make me drool and I decided I needed one. Alright, I’d decided before I even got to the island that I would find me one. A Na Hoku piece would round out my collection. It wouldn’t complete it, of course. I’m not sure that was possible.
Shaking her head, Kayla smiled. “Don’t forget the time.” She winked and wandered over to the ring section. Her standing joke whenever I found watches to look at brought out a grin. I studied her for a moment, her profile softened by the glowing lights of the display case. Her dark hair fell behind her silhouette and gave her a more porcelain appearance. She was beautiful and I couldn’t stand it sometimes.
The shop owner approached me as I finally diverted my attention to the display. I pointed out a watch that I wanted to look at and I murmured under my breath. “Would you, please, note which ring she likes the most? I’ll add it to my purchase, maybe even note the size and adjust it to fit her for me?” I lifted my gaze over the watch as if we spoke about its features. I was going to buy the expensive item and if she did as I asked, she’d be filling her register early. The woman’s eyes brightened and she nodded discreetly.
Natalia finished with my watch and placed it into a carved wooden box and placed it beside the register. She then moved on to talk Kayla into trying on the ring she continued staring at.
I ambled to where she stood and peeked over her shoulder to find a finally crafted two-tone gold hibiscus flower with a diamond and ruby finish. The ring was exactly Kayla. If I had tried to come up with a ring myself, it could not fit her any better.
The owner glanced at me, seeking my approval. I nodded emphatically from behind Kayla’s back. The woman touched the ring on Kayla’s hand. “This is a Denny Wong original. You carry a piece of Hawaii with you when you wear it.”
Kayla offered it back to her with a smile of regret. “It’s exceptional. I wish I could justify the expense. Maybe not at this time, but thank you for letting me try it on.”
I grinned as the woman charged me and picked up my purchases. Kayla had wandered over to the side of another shop with a sign that read Authentic Hawaiian Shave Ice. I couldn’t wait to give her the ring.
I just hoped she realized that we were meant for each other and she chose to really marry me after it was all said and done and we returned home.
THE NEXT TWO DAYS PASSED in a blur as we visited the rope swing up through the cane fields and made a trip out to Waimea Falls.
I’m not sure what I loved more about Kayla; her willingness to try anything or her strength in understanding her weaknesses. She didn’t flinch at the top of the falls as we looked out over the splendor, but at the rope swings, she was a little nervous about swinging out into the grotto when she couldn’t see the bottom.
The fresh water swim was what we needed. Salt water was fine and all, but splashing into fresh river water was like swimming at home. I caught a glimpse of how we could be in our normal lives and my heart ached for everything to work out.
Our next adventure shook me and I was almost ready to run back to our lives before we even finished the vacation. While we ran an amusement park, we were limited in the number of stupid mistakes we would make.
In Princeville, we hiked down to Queen’s Bath, off the North Shore. The waterfall we passed brought light to Kayla’s face and I couldn’t wait to give her the ring. She loved all things from nature and I wanted to put one on her finger that reminded her of us and my love for her and the start of our future.
Multiple rocky promontories made it difficult to tell which inlet was the Queen’s Bath. We went for the most eastern one and tucked our stuff into a crevice of some rocks to protect the items like our phones from the sun. Pulling on flippers and snorkels, we made our way to the edge and eyes wide, counted together before jumping in.
The water ebbed and flowed, pushing us up against the rocks and then allowing us to pull away. We kicked and splashed and made our way into the round pool in the side of the lava rocks formed like a bowl.
I held onto the side of the rock as Kayla mimicked me. Looking around the pool, I pulled the mouthpiece of the snorkel from my lips and called above the crashing waves as they echoed through the pitted rock. “I thought it would be bigger. Didn’t the guidebook say it was the size of a large swimming pool?” I wasn’t trying to yell, but the waves were beginning to get louder and they echoed off of the rocks all around us.
Kayla nodded, adjusting her snorkel and shading her eyes as she looked up toward the sun. “It looks like it’s getting to be kind of late. We need to put more sunblock on.” Kayla worried about her skin more than most people worried about their seatbelts.
I nodded, of course we would go in. Kayla was worried and that was enough for me. I offered her my cupped hands and she placed the heel of her flipper into the support. She climbed out of the pool and waited for me at the top, reaching for my hand to help me the final bit from the hole.
Pulling the snorkel off her face, Kayla pointed at a woman rushing toward us, alarm on her face. “Are you guys okay? Is there anyone else down there?” The woman reached us, grabbing onto each of our biceps. She searched the area, looking for more people.
Concerned, I looked into the inlet as well and then around at the surrounding waters. “It’s just us. Are you looking for someone? Can we help?” The woman’s frantic movements brought out the protector in me and I worried someone might try to harm Kayla. I edged closer to her, trying to make sure that nothing would harm her.
The woman shook her head, releasing Kayla’s arm, she bent over, panting. Another group of people followed her out, young men and a few young women. She stood, trying to catch her breath. “This isn’t Queen’s Bath. This is the inlet that they say you never should swim in. They call it the Washing Machine. It usually doesn’t let people out. There’ve been a lot of deaths up here. You shouldn’t be in there.”
I glanced around to see what Kayla thought of the revelation to find her talking to a group of men. They were looking at her appraisingly as if they knew her worth. She bent down and pulled her things from the hole we had stuffed them in. The men looked at her rear as she did so and hot raging jealousy ripped through me. I held it in. Who wouldn’t look at Kayla? She was gorgeous.
She stood and said something which they laughed at. When they replied and she laughed again, I wanted to throw up.
I knew it was harmless but my dreams are too close to be flippant. According to the woman we almost died. I had almost lost Kayla from circumstances that would’ve been completely in my control. We could’ve looked more closely at the map we’d found of the beach. I should’ve double-checked to make sure we knew what we were getting into. I’d been cocky and taken things at face value.
Losing Kayla wasn’t an option. If anything had happened, I would only have myself to blame.
Would I always wonder if Kayla was going to be happy with me? Or if she would even choose me? I would have to be more careful. I wanted to keep her alive so she could choose.
Did she understand how serious the situation had been? It was hard for me to comprehend and I was speaking with the woman and witnessing her anxiety over the event. I couldn’t let on how worried I was, discovering the dangers we’d faced. I was glad we were safe, but things could’ve turned out much differently. I needed to think more and I wasn’t sure how I could meet Kayla’s desire for spontaneous while I was trying to keep her alive.
Chapter 19
KAYLA
Dylan didn’t say much as we hiked back up to
the bike. I still couldn’t believe that we were on one of the most dangerous beaches in Hawaii. It didn’t seem like it as we had just enjoyed being with each other.
We changed at the condos and Dylan still didn’t talk a whole lot. I couldn’t read his mind with the new twists in our relationship. I wasn’t sure what anything meant anymore. There was a modicum of predictability before we’d gotten to the island and I was more out of my element than I’d originally thought I would be. I felt like our situation had put us in a new type of relationship and I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with the new boundary changes.
The app beeped. “Oh, wow. I think you’ve spoiled the app. You must not have posted anything in the last couple hours.” I laughed and looked at the list of tasks we still had to do. We were supposed to try something new together, which I was pretty sure we’d already submitted multiple pictures of proof. We hadn’t taken any selfies or logged in at the Queen’s Bath, which would probably qualify as not dying – a new one for each of us.
We could try a new restaurant. Dylan and I both loved eating. “How about we try that restaurant we passed here in Kapa’a.” I couldn’t get many words out of Dylan and I wasn’t sure what I had done. Because, of course, it had to be me. Dylan was affable with everyone he met except me. He’d even been pleasant to the maid we’d encountered in the hall.
“That’s fine. I’m going to change.” Dylan ducked into the bathroom.
I slumped onto the edge of the bed. What was going on? What was I doing? I closed the app and winced at the calendar that showed up on my phone home page.
Two days. I only had two days left and then I was going home. Would I be going home as Mrs. Drake? Or would I be going home with a memorable vacation behind me and a cold friendship ahead of me?
I needed a break from the hard to resist romance Dylan filled my days and nights with. I needed a little bit of time to decide what I wanted to do. Of course, staying with Dylan was ideal. Hadn’t we proven over the last few days how perfect we were for each other? We hadn’t even fought. Even though Dylan was kind of cranky acting, he had to be tired after taking care of me and doing all the crazy activities we’d been up to. Plus, I had just gotten over the flu, maybe he was getting it. I don’t even know where I got it from. His getting sick would make sense since he’d been locked with me in the condo for the time I was sick.
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