* * *
Sunshine leaned back in her chair and sipped at her water. She watched as Nando scooped up both the boys and took them in to get ready for bed. She had already given Alana her massage while Nando had cleaned up the kitchen, which made him a winner in her book. Beyond that, he was gorgeous. The man looked just as good going as he did coming. Short light brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and one of those strong jaws the romance authors talk about. He was a pretty man. She really couldn’t wait to see him without a shirt.
Dammit.
Bad Sunshine.
She really shouldn’t be thinking of him that way. It was hard not to though. All the Santini men were beautiful. They also knew how to be supportive. It didn’t matter that he had the most amazing set of legs she’d ever seen on a man. And when she was fantasizing about a man’s legs, maybe it was time to start dating again. Of course, Nando did have really, really big hands.
She turned to Alana who had a smirk on her face, but she thankfully said nothing.
“You have a great family,” Sunshine said.
“Thank you. Of course,” Alana rubbed her tummy, “this one is irritating me just a little bit, but I think I can deal with it.”
She smiled. “Yes, your boys are fantastic, but I am talking about the entire package, all of them. Every time I talk to you, I hear about another Santini.”
“Yes, marrying into the Santinis is almost like marrying into the Mob, but in a good way.”
“Oh, you better not let Joey hear you say that.”
She had met the matriarch of the Santini family. She was awesome—as was her husband who went by the nickname Papa.
“Please. Knowing Joey, she’d just say she handled Santini business better than any Mafia boss.”
They both laughed, then Alana’s smile faded. Sunshine saw the loneliness there, the yearning for her man. Being married to a SEAL had to suck a lot of the time. But she had seen Marco and understood it was no sacrifice.
“I don’t know how you do it.”
Alana didn’t ask what she meant by that. “Is that why you don’t date military men?”
“No. You know that all is wrapped up in my daddy issues.”
She nodded and they both looked out toward the beach beyond Alana’s stone fence. She liked times like this. Her job was about giving other people serenity, but this right here gave her that solace she needed.
“Do you think you can help Nando?”
“I haven’t talked to him privately yet, and you know I don’t give out information on my clients.”
“That’s good to know, especially since Alana can be a busybody,” Nando said from behind her.
“The boys already down?”
He nodded. “But they wanted you to tell them a story.”
Alana smiled. Sunshine had never had another friend who was made to be a mother like Alana. Nando helped her out of the chair, but Alana motioned him to stay.
“You two need to talk anyway.”
Nando watched until she was in the house.
“You Santinis really do know how to protect.”
He smiled at her. Good God, he had dimples. And an amazing smile.
“My Aunt Joey made sure to tell me she would kill me and hide my body if anything happened to Alana, the boys, or her newest grand baby.”
She threw back her head and laughed. “That sounds like her.”
“So, you’ve met her?”
She nodded as he sat down across the table from her. “Yep. She’s great. I’ve also met your mother.”
“Uh…”
“Don’t worry. No fix up, and I am definitely not going to help with the Santini Curse.”
He rolled his eyes. “Then you’ve heard of it. That damn thing is the bane of my existence.”
“Yeah. Your aunt and mom were so funny about it.”
“You wouldn’t think it was funny if you had a target on your back.”
“I guess not,” she said. “Alana says you’re having trouble sleeping.”
He nodded. “Not all the time, and I’ve found that yoga helps.”
She cocked her head. “So, you are doing some alternative things.”
“Yeah. My sister-in-law has PTSD so severe she had to leave the military. She found yoga helped her. I’ve also used acupuncture as an aid.”
That surprised her, but it shouldn’t. Santinis were definitely not average. “Well, you know more than my normal PTSD military guy.”
“I’m evolved.”
He said it in such a self-depreciating way, she giggled.
“Sorry. Just struck me as funny. Anyway, you understand breathing, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, half my work is done. Have you had massage therapy?”
“Not really, other than when I was in high school. I got injured playing football and my doc suggested it.”
She filed that away for later. Most massage therapy given a decade ago in schools wasn’t more than a good rub down. Unless he went to a massage therapist, there was a good chance it wasn’t more than that.
“I’ll have you fill out an intake form if you decide to work with me. It’ll have a lot of questions on there about your medications and past injuries.”
He nodded.
“What I would suggest is just a massage therapy session with a little Reiki added in.”
“Reiki. I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s working with your energy and deals a lot with your chakras.”
He nodded but looked a little less convinced now.
“Don’t look scared, Marine.”
“I’m not scared, just like to know what is going to happen.”
That she could understand. “You’ll come in and fill out the sheet. Afterwards, you get as naked as you’re comfortable with, then I’ll do your massage therapy, mainly just a light session until we see what works. At the end, I’ll add some Reiki. You might get sleepy. After that, we are done.”
“That’s it?”
She nodded. “I think it will only take about an hour and a half.”
“And what do you charge for this?”
“Nothing the first time.”
He opened his mouth, but she stopped him.
“No. Seriously. PTSD patients always get their first session for free. I never know if it will actually work for them, so I like to cut them a deal.”
“Alana said you work with a lot of PTSD sufferers.”
She nodded. “I work with a lot of military members, of course, but I also work with abuse survivors, people who have been in car accidents, things like that. I recently started working with an oncologist because some cancer survivors have PTSD after they are finished with treatment.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“Alana says you don’t date military guys.”
“I have issues.”
“But you take care of them.”
“Yeah, I just have issues with the dating part. My dad was military. I know I’m not made to be a military wife or girlfriend. Whatever. But, I believe my role in this lifetime is to heal people.” She shrugged. “I’m a healer and I can’t turn away people I can help. It goes against who I am.”
“I sense there is something else.”
This one was definitely better at reading her than some of her friends. “Military personnel leave. They move. I don’t think I could ever move from the islands. If I was the kind of woman who did casual, I guess it wouldn’t bother me, but I just can’t. I have to give it my all. Then orders would come down and he would leave.”
“You plan on living here the rest of your life?”
“This life, at least.”
“This life?” His eyebrows shot up. “Oh, you believe in reincarnation.”
“I believe in a lot of things.”
“That’s a cop out,” he said.
“No, really. My mother raised me to be open to experiences. Discounting something because I can’t validate it doesn’t really prove anything. And
who am I to judge people and their beliefs? As long as they’re not hurting anyone, what’s wrong with them?”
“I guess that would be one way of looking at it.”
She chuckled. “Okay, do you have any questions?”
“Would this be a weekly thing?”
“Maybe to start with. The massage is just so I can learn your body.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she felt her face heat. “But you might just need Reiki for the most part. That can be weekly, every other week, whatever. We’ll see after we’re done with the first session. Truth is, you might just need a good cleansing, and then one every now and then.”
“Okay,” he said. “Do you have anything open this week?”
“Yep. I work Monday through Saturday.”
“How about tomorrow?”
“Let me check.” She pulled out her phone and looked at her schedule. She was so happy that Mary had learned how to get her entire schedule on her phone. She sure as hell didn’t know how to do it. “I’m booked solid, but I can stay after hours for you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I do.” He looked like he was going to argue with her, but she stopped him again. “Listen, if you knew how much Alana helped me through the years, you would understand. I wouldn’t have the business I do if she hadn’t been there for me. I don’t have any living family, but I count Alana as my sister. You get family treatment.”
She knew if she gave him too much time to think about it, he might second guess his decision. She was sure she could help him.
“Okay. If it works, I’ll have to work out some kind of schedule.”
“No problem. Like I said, you’re family.”
And if she remembered that, she might keep her mind out of the gutter. Because all Nando could be was a client and that was it.
Chapter Three
Nando and Alana stood in the driveway that separated his little cottage and the main house and watched Sunshine back up and drive away.
“So, her name fits her.”
Alana chuckled. “Yeah. Her mother was a little different.”
“She said she was alone in the world.”
Alana sighed, but she was still smiling. “I’ve never known another person who was never alone. She always seems to have people around her. But, as in blood relatives, she is alone.”
“Oh?”
Then, her smile did fade. “I didn’t know her then. Her mother died when she was about sixteen, and she has no contact with her father.”
“She said her father was military.”
Alana nodded. “That’s all I got out of her, other than he never claimed her. Even after Sunshine’s mother contacted him, he didn’t respond. He was married, but he didn’t tell her mother until after she got pregnant.”
“Bastard.”
Alana shrugged. “That’s the story her mother told her. As I said, her mother was a little different. I would never say anything in front of Sunshine, but the truth is that I always wondered if her mother ever did contact him. I heard she was a little…odd.”
“Like Sunshine?”
She shook her head. “No, not like that at all. Sunshine marches to her own beat, but she’s warm and open to meeting people. You saw the way the kids acted, and I wasn’t kidding about the animals. People are drawn to her even if they don’t realize it.”
He did. There was a part of him that had been irritated that Alana had been there to see Sunshine off. He’d wanted time alone with her even though he knew it wasn’t a good idea. He was definitely attracted to her, but they seemed to have too many hang-ups between the two of them.
“And you say her mother wasn’t like that.”
“I didn’t know her. By the time I met Sunshine, her mother had already passed on. But from what I have heard from other people, her mother was different in a way that made people uncomfortable. At least that was what Mary said.”
“Mary?” he asked before he could control himself. He was greedy for information about Sunshine.
“Her foster mother and her mother’s best friend. She said that Sunshine’s mom was a lot like Sunshine when she was younger. She ended up having early onset dementia. It was terribly hard on Sunshine. I know because she doesn’t talk about it ever.”
He couldn’t imagine going through that alone. The idea of facing something so earth shattering without the support of his family was unthinkable. They were annoying and could drive him crazy with their nosiness. But, in the end, he knew when it counted, he could call on any of them for support.
“So, you’re going to see her tomorrow?” Alana asked, cutting into his thoughts.
“Yep. It’s worth a try.”
“I’m glad. A lot of people poo poo Reiki, but I completely believe in it. I’ve seen the work she’s done with abuse victims.”
“Do you think it could be the woman?”
One side of her mouth twitched. “Might be, but I’ve seen other healers use it and have it work.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe you thought I was trying to set you two up.”
“Now that I’ve met her, I can see that we wouldn’t work out.”
But he wanted them to. He wanted to do a lot of working out with her.
He pushed that thought aside. “And no setups at all. I don’t like them.”
“I still think you should let me take some pics of you doing yoga to put on my Instagram. There are a few of my friends who would love it.”
Yeah, that would be great. No thank you. He’d never hear the end of it from his brothers and cousins. It wasn’t that they looked down on him for using yoga, as he knew Madison had gotten Dante to try it, but pictures on Instagram were a different matter.
“You do that, and I’ll tell Joey you want to divorce Marco.”
She snorted. “Joey would disown him for her grandbabies.”
He chuckled. His mother was getting just as bad. “Yeah probably.”
He walked her back to her door. When she stepped up on the stoop, she sighed. In that one sigh he heard her loneliness and exhaustion. Nando always wished he could do something to help her, but no matter what he could do, it wouldn’t be enough. Not until Marco was home.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You didn’t overdo it, did you?”
She turned and smiled at him. “I’m fine. I’m pregnant, not an invalid. I’m just ready for Marco to come home.”
He stood there and waited until she shut and locked the door. Then he took his time walking back to his cottage. It was still amazing to him that he lived in Hawaii. The sweet air always seemed to be kissed by angels, so soft and fragrant. Of course, when the trade winds died down, he would change his mind. But for the most part he was enjoying living on Oahu.
He stopped and looked just past Alana and Marco’s house to the ocean. He could barely see it, and he definitely couldn’t hear it this far away, but it was always present. His brother had told him that living in Oahu had given him a connection to the land he’d never felt before. Nando could absolutely understand that.
He was just shutting the door when his phone vibrated. He looked down and saw Dante’s face. He clicked it on.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed with that sweet wife of yours, bro?”
His brother sighed. “It’s my turn to do the feedings with Jasmine.”
Dante and his wife Madison were new parents.
“And, you are calling me because?”
“I gave her a bottle, then she went back to sleep but now I can’t. Madison is so tired, I decided to come outside and call the one sibling who might be up.”
“What about Anthony?”
“He might be busy.”
He almost opened his mouth to ask with what but thought better of it. Anthony wasn’t busy with what, but with who—specifically his new wife.
“And you’re sure I’m not busy? Maybe I have a hot date?”
Dante snorted. “Come on, Runt. It’s a work night. You don’t do dates on work nights.”
“You got me. But I did have dinner with two very beautiful women.”
“That so? One was Alana, right?”
“Yeah,” he said with a smile.
“And the other was a friend of hers.” He chuckled. “She’s trying to set you up, Runt.”
Dammit, he hated how they all treated him like he was a little kid. He knew they would always see him that way, especially Anthony, who was the oldest. And he hated thinking these things because it made him feel like the baby they perceived him to be.
“No. Sunshine is a massage therapist and Reiki Master.”
“Sunshine? That’s her name?”
He smiled. “Yeah. Kind of a little bit of a thing. Looks sort of like a fairy.”
Dante didn’t say anything for a moment. “It might not have been a set up, but it seems she captured your attention.”
“She’s gorgeous in a hippy kind of way, but I’m military and I’ll be her client. Those are two big no nos for her.”
“She doesn’t like military? Why? And why would you go to someone who didn’t like military?”
He chuckled. Santinis were born to serve, and they took umbrage at anyone who didn’t support the military. “It’s not that she doesn’t like military. From what Alana says, she works with a lot of military folks who have PTSD.”
“But?”
“What?”
“I feel a but was left out.”
“She’s estranged from her father, who happens to be in the military. Or he was. Not sure if he’s active duty or not, but they’re not in contact. Plus, just from meeting her, I have a feeling she would never leave these islands. She was born here and there is definitely a connection for her.”
“I can understand that. Anthony and Marco talk about how they don’t think they would live anywhere else. Marco will have to at some point, but I know when he retires, he’ll be back in that house. He loves Oahu.”
“Yeah. Kind of falling in love with it myself.”
“Yeah?”
“So peaceful and damned if I can’t resist living surrounded by water. I know some people would hate it, but I kind of like it.”
Loving a Santini Page 3
