Meet Me in Hawaii

by Georgia Toffolo

  She was beautiful, just as Malie was, but couldn’t be more different. To Malie’s golden bronzed skin, Zoe was creamy white. To Malie’s wild curls, Zoe was all smooth blonde waves that ran free down her back. And where Malie was all curves and strength, Zoe was petite and porcelain-like, fragile even.

  Though he knew from Malie that she was far from that underneath. He could fully believe the strength of will that existed behind that smile and her astute green gaze that was now considering him with far too much interest.

  He cleared his throat. ‘It’s OK, she’s just surprised to find me here, I get that.’

  ‘I think it has more to do with the fact that we polished off two bottles of wine last night and are now suffering the consequences.’

  ‘Two,’ he said, and gave an impressed nod. ‘Not bad going.’

  ‘Why do you think I was wearing the glasses before?’

  He chuckled. It was true it was overcast today, warm but in no way bright enough to warrant the accessory.

  ‘That brutal, hey?’

  ‘Pretty much, Malie’s a bad influence.’

  ‘She is that.’ Only Zoe wouldn’t realize just how much he meant it as he laughed with her. Malie had certainly corrupted his whole life plan. ‘It was a good night, then?’

  ‘The best. She’s always fun to have around.’

  ‘Very much so.’

  Zoe squinted up at him and he knew he’d overstepped, again; she was far too astute not to miss the way his voice caught, the mess of emotions that he hadn’t had the time to get a handle on yet coming through.

  ‘You must miss her?’ he said, throwing the focus back on her.

  Zoe’s eyes softened, her genuine love for her friend shining through in her face, just as it had in Malie’s when she’d spoken of her friends. ‘I miss them all.’

  ‘You’re lucky to have that kind of friendship. I think it’s rare these days.’

  ‘I think you’re probably right.’ Her eyes narrowed once more and he could feel the question coming: Do you have friends like that?

  ‘So, last week…’ he got in before she could, his eyes going back to the surf school, to Tara happily painting in spite of her complaints, ‘did you manage to sort out your problem?’

  She gave him a confused frown and he immediately regretted his choice of topic.

  ‘My – oh!’ Her brow lifted, her eyes widening. ‘You mean, last Sunday?’

  He nodded, wondering whether he would have been better keeping quiet since he now felt like a prize fool. Had Malie played him when she’d run out of his place claiming Zoe needed her?

  ‘No, yeah, everything was OK, just having some… er… guy trouble.’ She looked less pale and more lobster-coloured all of a sudden, her eyes now evading his own. ‘I was really sorry to interrupt… things.’

  ‘Things?’ His own brow lifted, just how much did she know and how far was he willing to push her to find out?

  ‘Yes,’ she said, her voice rising. ‘Dinner, wasn’t it?’

  Dinner and so much more… His grin couldn’t be doused now, played or not. ‘That’s right.’

  ‘What’s right?’ Malie reappeared, pushing the all-terrain beach chair in front of her, its fat grey tyres big enough to work over the sand.

  ‘I was just saying to Zoe that she didn’t need to apologize for interrupting our dinner last Sunday.’

  He saw Malie’s cheeks colour, her eyes flitting from him to Zoe and then to the beach. ‘Oh yeah, sure, that was fine.’

  ‘Maybe I could make up for it by treating you both to dinner this evening?’ Zoe said, and both Malie and Todd looked to her like she was crazy. Not that Todd didn’t want to say yes, but Malie…

  ‘We have plans!’

  ‘Do we?’ Zoe asked all innocent, ‘I wasn’t aware of—’

  ‘Right, come on, Kalani’s waiting.’ She shoved the chair up alongside Zoe.

  ‘Can I help?’ he asked.

  The words were barely out of his mouth when Zoe said, ‘That’s very kind,’ and Malie gave a sharp, ‘No! I’ve got it.’

  She positioned herself between him and Zoe and lifted her friend into her arms as if she weighed no more than a feather. He shouldn’t be surprised, really, not when he considered how hard Malie trained and how very slight Zoe’s frame was, but still he admired her. Especially when he was gifted the most glorious view of her behind as she bent forward. He dragged his eyes upwards to find Zoe giving him an apologetic smile over Malie’s shoulder.

  ‘Maybe we could all meet for a drink later instead?’ Zoe suggested as she was lowered into the beach chair. ‘I’m sure you guys will be thirsty after all this manual labour.’

  He could just imagine the glare Malie would be directing at her friend.

  ‘Sure… if Malie’s up for it.’

  ‘I am!’ piped up Tara, sloshing her brush about.

  ‘We’ll see,’ Malie mumbled, with a fleeting look in his direction before starting off down the beach.

  He watched them go, unable to stop smiling. So Malie had talked to Zoe about him… Not only that, Zoe was matchmaking, it was as obvious as Malie’s own interest in him. She wouldn’t be half as flustered if he meant nothing to her.

  And you really shouldn’t be so happy about that fact.

  But he was. There was no point denying it any longer, he wanted to mean something to her…

  ‘Masters and Malie sitting in a tree…’ His eyes snapped to Tara who was singing into her brush. ‘K-I-S-S-I-N-G!’

  ‘Tara!’

  She pursed her lips into a smile and went back to work.

  ‘You need to keep the paint on the brush and the wood, not everywhere else, Tara.’

  ‘Oops,’ she looked to the fresh splodge at her feet and scrubbed at it with her shoe. ‘Sorry, I got distracted by the love hearts floating around your head.’

  He shook said head and walked Zoe’s wheelchair inside the school, safe from Tara’s splash radius.

  The girl wasn’t wrong though, was she?

  His smile that couldn’t be doused was answer enough.

  ‘Stop it, Zo.’

  Malie adopted the same warning tone she used with mischievous kids who were putting their safety at risk in surfing lessons, only this time, the only thing at risk was Malie’s blood pressure.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’re grinning like a fool.’

  ‘You can’t even see me back there.’

  Malie sensed Zoe risk a glance her way but she was busy avoiding her eye and staring determinedly at Kalani and a bouncing Nalu straight ahead.

  ‘I don’t need to see you to know you’re grinning so you might as well get it off your chest now before I take it out on you with the waves.’

  ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

  ‘Try me.’

  ‘Aw, come on, Malie,’ Zoe’s plea was full of teasing, ‘you must see how funny this is.’

  ‘What’s funny?’

  ‘Is that seriously him? The millionaire businessman who’s up here…’ she waved her hand above her head, her body lurching as Malie hit a rocky patch but it didn’t stop Zoe’s demonstration as she swung her hand down towards the ground, ‘and you’re here.’

  ‘Exactly.’

  She laughed. ‘Yeah, he totally looked it in his jeans, painting the school and looking after that girl. Totally untouchable and unattainable by the likes of you.’

  ‘Don’t, Zo.’

  ‘Don’t what? I’m merely pointing out that every argument you’ve given me about why you can’t go there with him is utterly flawed.’

  ‘It is not.’

  ‘It is so.’ Zoe turned to look up at her. ‘And you need to see that before this chance passes you by.’

  Malie looked down at her friend – she wasn’t laughing now, she was serious, her clear green eyes intense in their insistence. ‘He likes you, Malie, it’s obvious… and you like him too, that’s why you’re so unsettled about this.’

  She went to deny it and couldn’t. She cou
ldn’t lie to Zo, she’d done enough lying to herself.

  She shook her head. ‘It’s just not that simple.’

  ‘It could be.’

  Malie took a deep breath and glanced back to the surf school, to where Todd and Tara were laughing about something, clearly thick as thieves.

  ‘Stop trying to fight it, Devil. You never know what’s around the corner.’

  ‘I do, he has a flight out of here in two weeks.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘So, he will leave, and life will go back to how it was before.’

  ‘All I’m hearing are excuses.’

  She sighed. Yes, they were excuses, but they kept her this side of safe, this side of a life she knew and understood. She wasn’t ready to take that plunge.

  ‘You can’t be scared, you’re the daring one, you’re the one who takes the risks and dreams big.’

  No, she wasn’t. And how did she tell Zoe that? She’d given up on her big wave-surfing dreams for fear of walking in her brother’s footsteps, of replacing him, of failing him too. She’d fled Hawke’s Cove rather than fight her parents for what she wanted, to surf, to be heard, to be visible again. And now she was running from Todd for fear of the unknown, of being happy and having it ripped away by a mean twist of fate, of feeling the guilt she was sure she’d feel to have it all where Koa would never be able to.

  She shook her entire body out of the funk. Now wasn’t the time for it. Now was about getting Zoe back on a board. A dream that she could follow and one that had existed for a decade already. It was long overdue…

  ‘You’re just trying to delay this,’ Malie said, locking her eyes on Zoe’s and pleading with her to drop it.

  ‘No, I’m—’

  ‘Come on, Zo, we’ve waited ten years to get you on a board again, leave it… for now, at least.’

  Her friend looked up at her, her eyes wavering.

  ‘Or are you just chicken?’

  Zoe’s eyes flashed just as she’d known they would. ‘You know I’m not chicken.’

  Malie shrugged with a laugh as she leaned forward and pushed the chair forward again. ‘In that case, prove it!’

  Zoe looked back to the sea. ‘I will… but this conversation isn’t over, Devil.’

  ‘No, I didn’t think it would be,’ Malie said under her breath, forcing her head to clear and to focus on the here and now: getting Zoe on a board.

  ‘Aloha, ladies, it’s about time!’ Kalani beamed at them as they neared.

  ‘Zoe, meet Kalani, my epic godfather.’ Malie stopped pushing the chair and walked around it to give Kalani a kiss to the cheek.

  ‘Epic?’ Kalani’s chest puffed. ‘I like the sound of that! It’s great to meet you, Zoe.’

  He held out his hand to Zoe just as Todd had done and she shook it. ‘Great to meet you too. I have a sneaking suspicion Malie gets her wild streak from you.’

  ‘Nah, I’m as tame as they come.’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ Malie laughed along with Zoe. ‘Did I also mention he’s a compulsive liar?’

  ‘Ooh, harsh,’ He pressed his palm to his bare chest, feigning hurt. ‘We best begin before you dish out any more compliments. You ready to get started, Zoe?’

  Her friend rubbed her hands up and down her thighs and took a deep breath. ‘Yup.’

  Malie smiled softly. She could see the need to be brave, the need to conquer her fears, the need to do this written in every line of her friend’s face and her tight nod.

  ‘We’ve got this, Zo.’ She offered out her palm for a high-five, a move they’d done as children before they’d tackled any joint project and Zoe’s smile became a grin.

  ‘Hell, yeah,’ she said, smacking her hand against Malie’s.

  ‘You heard the lady, let’s do this,’ Malie said to Kalani and they got moving, each one focused on the end game. Getting Zoe to surf again.

  Within an hour, Zoe’s confidence outshone Malie’s. They were out in the water, Zoe life-jacketed up and lying prone on the surfboard, Malie standing on one side of her, Kalani on the other.

  ‘Are you sure you’re ready for this?’ Malie asked.

  ‘Definitely.’ Zoe gave her a vibrant smile; she looked so small on the board, the life jacket size a large kid’s, making her more vulnerable to look at. She gripped the special straps positioned so that she could hold herself in place, but as her confidence had grown over the course of the lesson, she was using them less and less.

  Malie looked to Kalani and he smiled encouragingly.

  ‘If you eat it, we’ll be there in seconds to get you – OK?’ she said.

  ‘I just want to catch a wave already.’

  ‘You’ve caught plenty.’

  ‘Alone, Devil.’

  A wave ran through them making the board bob and showering spray over them all. Malie looked out to the sea, judging the waves. It should be OK. It should be safe. She knew she was being overly cautious and shouldn’t be. This is what it was about. Freedom. The power to be in control. The power to move unaided. It was exactly what Zoe wanted, what she needed.

  ‘OK, I’m coming with.’

  She left Kalani with Zoe and raced out of the water as quick as she could, taking up her board. It was far better for her to surf alongside Zoe than to try and keep up without the board. Her pulse raced in her chest, the thrill of knowing what was to come and the hope that the ocean would behave and deliver her friend the perfect wave.

  ‘Let’s do this!’ She ran into the surf and leaped onto her board, powering herself out to them with a grin as wide as the sea itself.

  ‘I’ll keep watch,’ Kalani said when she neared and he stepped back to free Zoe to paddle out with Malie.

  ‘This is gonna be so epic,’ she said to her friend. ‘Come on, race you!’

  ‘You have a head start,’ Zoe complained, but she was already paddling hard and fast, keeping up with Malie stroke for stroke. Which wasn’t really a surprise since Zoe’s arms served as her legs too, wheeling her day in, day out. They grinned at one another and for a second, time fell away, they were kids again, doing what they loved. Leaving their problems at the shore and living for the wave.

  ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this,’ Malie said just before executing a perfect duck-dive, Zoe too.

  As soon as she surfaced, she checked on Zoe – sure enough she was still there, her ponytail slick down her back, her eyes bright and smile big.

  ‘I know. I think my parents would have a fit.’

  ‘Yours and mine. But hey, we’re adults now, we do what we want, when we want.’

  They paddled out a little further, just beyond the breaking waves. The line-up was relatively quiet and anyone present knew her well enough to stay back and give them space.

  They turned their boards and looked back to the shore, then each other.

  ‘OK?’ Malie asked.

  ‘Never better.’

  Adrenalin pumped through Malie’s veins as she eyed the swells coming from behind. ‘When I say go, we go?’

  ‘How about when I say go, we go?’

  Malie laughed, loving Zoe’s spirit and marvelling at it all the same. ‘You’re on.’

  They bobbed on the water, Zoe watching, Malie waiting on her. Happy, so happy. And then her friend nudged her head forward. ‘Now.’

  They were off, a little giggle erupting as they raced each other as well as the wave, and as it lifted, they took off. Malie popped up, pivoting away to keep a safe distance between them, her eyes flitting between her own path and Zoe as her friend rode the wave to shore, the spray kicking up in her face, her mouth closed against it but her smile obvious.

  ‘Go, Zo!’ she shouted and Kalani whooped from where he was positioned between them and the shoreline. It was spectacular to watch, and she knew it would feel even more so for Zoe, to feel the exhilarating power of the move and to do it alone.

  As they neared the shoreline, Kalani was there alongside Zoe, helping her to stay on and bringing the board back around as Malie dived off her own
.

  She was buzzing from head to toe as she waded through the water towards them, her board under her palm.

  ‘How was it?’ she called out, already knowing the answer.

  ‘You have to ask?’ Zoe laughed, the sound coming in pants with her rapid breath. ‘The best! The absolute best!’

  ‘Ready to go again?’

  Her friend wiped a hand over her face, across her dainty mouth. ‘Definitely.’

  Malie launched herself onto her board. ‘Race ya!’

  ‘Is everything a race with you, Malie?’ It was Kalani who asked as they took off.

  ‘I’m sorry, have you not met me before?’ she called back, sending Zoe a wink and realizing her friend was already pulling away.

  ‘You paddle faster than you used to,’ she said, coming up behind her.

  Zoe laughed back. ‘Got to be some perks to being in a wheelchair – and before you say it, no, you’re not claiming unfair advantage and getting a head start.’

  ‘I wouldn’t dare ask for one.’

  ‘Yes, you would.’

  And then they were off again, laughing, duck-diving, paddling, living in the moment. Malie felt the weight lifting from her shoulders. They’d done it… no, Zo had done it. She was surfing again. Just like old times, they were together facing off the waves, relishing them – and the accident, it was the past. It had changed things for them all, but they’d fought back, and it was time to let it go. No more guilt.

  ‘I love you, Zo!’ she called out, bursting with the freedom of it, the happiness.

  Her friend laughed, the sound filled with her joy. ‘I love you too, Devil.’

  They were so wrapped up in their own world, the surf, their boards, the fun of it, neither of them felt the time passing or noticed the mini audience that had appeared half an hour later.

  As they joined Kalani in the water, he gestured to his watch. ‘We should call it a day. You don’t want to push it too much on your first real outing.’

  Zoe arched her back a little and nodded. ‘I think you’re right.’

  ‘You feeling OK?’ Malie asked, trying to keep the concern out of her voice. It would be tough on her friend’s upper body, lying prone like that, not to mention all the paddling and the core strength required to navigate the wave and keep her legs in place, even with the board’s special rails and straps.