To Hold A Rainbow: A Maui Love Story

by MJ Brannigan

  “We just need to make a stop along the way, if that’s okay too,” she added.

  * * *

  Rebecca hopped into the front seat of the kayak as JonJon pushed them out into the water.

  “You ready, sista?” He shouted, in his usual good-natured manner.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she shouted, looking back. Then feeling as though she might risk tipping, returned her gaze forward and began the tentative paddle strokes to help move them off the sand and away from shore.

  Small waves rolled in against them, causing the bow to rise and fall as it cut through the beach break. Once they got out past the break, her insides began to settle. The fear of being on the water—and especially this place on the north shore—began to subside. She felt herself starting to match the rhythm of JonJon’s strong paddle strokes. It was easier to dig in with a little more confidence, having the broad-shouldered lifeguard at her back.

  Rebecca’s heart beat in her throat at the thought of surprising Kamea. She hoped Kamea would still want her after the heartache of the other night.

  They passed the rocks where Kamea had rescued her less than two weeks before. She was thankful for JonJon’s strength and paddling skills when they gave them a wide berth and made their way further out toward the area Kamea should be hunting.

  For a moment, she let her eyes fall to the small cargo area at her feet. There, and in the space between her legs, lay the flowers Rebecca brought with her. The lady at the flower shop had recommended the yellow plumeria. She wanted to surprise Kamea, express how she felt towards her. And so Rebecca bought all yellow leis she could carry without crushing them in her grasp.

  Out past the rocks, she could feel the kayak rise and fall on the swells. It gave her butterflies once again as they rode the waves above the undersea mount.

  JonJon kept up the strong rhythm of his paddle strokes; “How ya doin’, sis?”

  Rebecca was a little afraid to turn around, and so put the paddle across her lap, and gave him a thumbs up sign with her free hand.

  “Do you think we’ll find her?” she shouted back over her shoulder.

  “No worries!” JonJon shouted back. “Just keep a lookout for her. I know where she went.”

  Much to Rebecca’s surprise, there were more rocky outcroppings to pass. A massive sea stack jutting from the water had seabirds coming and going from its cliff face, skimming and diving into the water. The rise and fall of the swells crashed on the rocks at its base. Huge plumes of whitewater spray exploded from the rocky shoreline. Rebecca tried looking past, looking out into the deeper blue. And there, farther out from shore, she thought she saw the little strip of yellow in the calm area far beyond.

  This was it, she thought. Her heart pounded in her throat again. Her stomach twisted with anticipation. She hoped above all things, Kamea would still be happy to see her too.

  CHAPTER 27 - KAMEA

  With a few rhythmic kicks to start herself moving, Kamea let the momentum carry her down to the fifty-foot mark, skimming along the edge of the drop-off. She wanted to get back to her life, return her focus to what she was familiar with; hunt, paint, sleep, eat, repeat. Right now, she would concentrate on the hunt.

  She used her free hand to hold herself to the ledge, facing the slow but steady current. She had one large Mahi in the boat already. And the Ahi were darting in and out of the deep blue. She wanted to get beneath them as they scooped in under the ‘Opelu for their meal. She would move in under the Ahi.

  She had missed two already, both darting away as if jolted by an electric shock. She knew there were some big ones here. She just needed to keep at it, keep seeing one as hers. Not give up.

  The thought of calling Rebecca before she left crossed her mind several times—too many to count. But in the end, she thought it best to just move on, and so turned off her phone and tossed it in the glove box once she told JonJon where she would be spearing today.

  She thought of Rebecca as she paddled past the rocks she had pulled her from, thought about the rainbow Auntie had told her to look for that led her there, thought about how Auntie must have gotten it wrong this time. Even Auntie must miss on occasion, she figured.

  Kamea looked at her dive watch—less than a minute had passed. The school of ‘Opelu hung just above her line of sight. There, out of the deeper blue, a good-sized Ahi—a yellowfin, swam into the school and rushed back out to disappear into the blue with its meal.

  She waited for another to come from the same direction. Looking at her dive watch, she could see there was a little more time. She was at one-minute-thirty-three. A few seconds of patient waiting, the only sounds; her heart beating in her ears, the clicks and squeaks of dolphins somewhere beyond view, and the distant sound of waves washing on the rocky shore.

  Another Ahi came in from her left. She led the fast-mover, free hand now steadying the speargun. Kamea squeezed the trigger, and the Ahi, as if it knew, shot out in front of the arrow, the tip of the spear point brushing past its tail.

  But she wouldn’t give up. She saw the vision of the fish as hers, saw her Ohana enjoying the feast. And somehow, even amidst this, a picture of Rebecca entered her mind; enjoying the feast of Ahi with her and her family.

  She turned her head up towards the surface—more air and yet another dive to follow. Next to her kayak, she noticed another hull was silhouetted against the sky.

  Who could this be? she wondered. First thought; perhaps someone out to pilfer her catch, her equipment? The thought, even if she considered it ridiculous, gave her haste to reach the surface. It looked as though someone was looking down into the water to see her. She thought, perhaps, it might be JonJon and Brenda?

  Popping to the surface and taking in a lungful of air, Kamea lifted her mask to be sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. And there was Rebecca—a smiling Rebecca—holding a handful of leis to place around her neck as she neared the boat.

  Kamea wanted to say something, anything. But tears filled her eyes, and a grin took over her face, as Rebecca placed not one, but then another and another lei of yellow plumeria around her neck.

  “Couldn’t get rid of her, Cuz,” JonJon chided, then laughed. “You should see the look on your face.”

  Kamea held herself to the side of the kayak as Rebecca bent down to meet her waiting lips.

  Kamea kissed the sweet lips she had so ached to taste again, and then felt Rebecca slide over the side of the kayak and into the water next to her, squealing with delight.

  * * *

  “Why don’t you take my boat back then?” Kamea suggested. “There’s a Mahi in the hold already. Some big Ahi down there—I think I can bring one back on the bigger boat okay.”

  “You sure you wanna stay out here with me?” she asked Rebecca.

  “Nowhere else I’d rather be,” she answered.

  They took a few minutes to transfer the needed gear from one kayak to the other. JonJon waved his goodbye; “I’ll have this one ready for dinner when you two get back, K?”

  “See ya in a little while,” Kamea called after him. They both sat facing one another, legs over the kayak, dangling in the water. Kamea didn’t want to take her eyes from Rebecca, soaking wet from her dunk.

  “How did you…?” Kamea began to ask.

  “The rainbow your Auntie talked about,” Rebecca’s eyes widened with excitement.

  “I didn’t know how I would know what she meant—I mean, you see rainbows all the time here. But this one… I was looking up the valley, you know, the one behind the B&B by that meditation hut, and then there it was. It made its way down the valley and then came to me! From the sky and into my hands, it just came to me! If someone had told me to look for that, I wouldn’t have believed them, you know?”

  Kamea could only smile. “So, what now?” She leaned forward to kiss Rebecca.

  “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know anything right now except I want to be here with you. I’ll call my clients, can go back after the first of the year to get the house
and stuff ready to sell. Maybe you can come with me, help me do that, and I’ll show you around in the snow?” she said, laughing.

  “But I’m going to plan on one thing for sure; being here with you. The rest, I’ll leave up to your Auntie to figure out,” Rebecca raised her eyebrows as if to give in to something bigger than herself.

  Kamea felt as if a grin had been pasted to her face. It almost hurt from keeping the smile there for so long. “I know, Auntie, right?” she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in mock disapproval.

  “I was doing my best to try to move on,” Kamea confessed. “Not doin’ such a good job, though.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Rebecca said as she leaned in to kiss her. “So sorry. I was afraid, and...”

  “That’s okay,” Kamea interrupted her protest. “If you think about it, really think about it, it doesn’t make any sense. I know that. It’s silly. It’s almost high school kid stuff—and we’re two grown women from different parts of the world, wanting to be together forever after a couple of weeks.”

  “Well, when you say it like that, maybe...” Rebecca smirked, pretending she might be changing her mind. “I know, right?” Rebecca pulled Kamea’s hands closer. “Let’s just see—see how we do with the regular everyday stuff. But I have a feeling this honeymoon is going to last awhile. I love you. I know I do.”

  “I was hoping to hear somethin’ like that,” Kamea smiled, placing her hand under Rebecca’s chin and whispered “I love you too,” and pulled her closer for a long, sweet kiss.

  They sat with their feet dangling in the water. Their legs were wrapped over each other’s in the middle of the kayak, as it rose and fell on the gentle swells; feeling the bond between them grow with each kiss, with each whisper of love.

  “Before we paddle back in, you mind if I try and get one of those Ahi I keep missin’ down there?” Kamea asked.

  “So I have to sit here while you work?” Rebecca chuckled, and pretending to be stern, furrowed her brows and folded her arms in mock disapproval.

  “Well, we gotta eat,” Kamea replied. “And I’m the only one with anything resembling a job right now,” Kamea winked and laughed in return, then leaned in to kiss Rebecca once more.

  “If this is what you mean by taking care of me, well, I’m just glad I like to eat fish,” Rebecca said, with a teasing smile. “Go get ‘em, sweetheart.”

  * * *

  With a few more kisses for good luck, Kamea slipped over the side of the kayak to resume her hunt. She was thinking of Rebecca again as she descended deeper. Only, this time, it filled her heart with light and warmth. The ache was gone. The object of her longing, her yearning, sat fifty feet above her, waiting for another kiss.

  The freedom she felt about who she was when with Rebecca, carried with her into the depths. She was hunting for her Ohana. Rebecca was her Ohana now too. This was something she had always wanted to do; to have someone to share this with, someone to take care of and provide for, someone who would love and appreciate her for the person she was.

  She let herself drift down to the ledge and let her free hand guide her along the face of the cliff, looking up toward the place where the ‘Opelu would gather in the current: Forty seconds passed.

  She spied the loose-knit bait ball of ‘Opelu and moved in closer. She could see the Ahi darting in and out to take their meal: Sixty seconds.

  Moving along the cliff face, she put herself in a position to see any approaching Ahi from below: One-minute-twenty.

  One large Ahi darted in from the left, took an ‘Opelu and kept on swimming to her right: One-minute-forty.

  She lay in wait. All her years of diving, of practice at breath-holding, at calming her heart and mind under water, led her to be here now. Kamea waited in silence, but for the beat of her heart, the squeaks and clicks of dolphins out in the deep, and the muffled sound of waves crashing on the distant shore: Two-minutes-twenty.

  Preceded by its ghostly shadow, a huge Ahi appeared from the blue. This time, she was ready: speargun already in position, her now-free hand brought up from holding her place on the rock face. She focused on leading the movement of the Ahi. Aiming behind the gill plate as the Ahi slowed, she squeezed the trigger, and in a fraction of a second, the arrow found its mark. The Ahi dove down and out from the cliff face, pulling her line and the speargun with it as she turned to head to the surface. The line and the speargun tethered to the float and kayak above would hold her catch from escaping: Two minutes-fifty-five.

  EPILOGUE - REBECCA

  ~ Kamea’s Gallery Opening ~

  The week before Christmas

  Rebecca closed her eyes, letting the warm evening breeze caress her, feeling it flutter her dress against her thighs as it did the loose tendrils of hair against her cheek. Never had she been in such a place as this: where her body seemed to meld so close to what surrounded it. The air, the soft moist breeze of the trade winds, even upon her first setting foot in the airport without walls seemed filled with magic. The beauty everywhere lifted her heart, penetrated deep into her soul. And she thought she would just be coming here for a getaway vacation, she chuckled to herself. Maui and her longing heart had other plans in store.

  Only three weeks had passed since she made her decision to stay. And with each day’s passing, she felt her very being shift into the rhythm of being at home. How had she never known this place was not just a place of beauty for honeymooners and vacationers, but for feeling the very essence of what it was to be alive? This feeling of Maui infused her, held her in its embrace. From Hana to the east, to the heights of Haleakala and the sun-drenched southwest, the sugar cane fields of the broad green valley, the misty West Maui Mountains, and the rainbows—she never wanted it to let her go. There was nowhere else worth being.

  She took a long deep breath, opening her eyes to look up and down the coast from the patio’s commanding view. As the sky filled with the oranges and reds of a waning sunset, the dark blue-purple of the earth’s shadow moved to draw itself up behind her. Multi-colored lights appeared from the decorated homes and gardens along the shoreline in both directions. The little lights ran back and forth along the shoreline below the West Maui Mountains; cars making their way to and from Lahaina town. The tall palms that rimmed the patio and courtyard of the resort were wrapped in winding multi-colored lights; their fronds swaying in the gentle evening breeze against the purple sky. The tears welled in her eyes at the beauty, at the new feeling of ‘Aina—her place in this land.

  She had never seen a Christmas season in the Tropics before now. She had never known it could be even more special, here on Maui. And this one would be ever so special with Kamea by her side.

  Two gentle hands slid around her waist from behind, and she let her full weight shift from the railing supporting her to the warmth of the body pressing into her.

  “I got you, Luv,” she heard whispered in her ear, and turned her head to meet Kamea’s waiting lips.

  “Mmm,” she replied. “It’s so lovely here,” she continued, keeping her tone hushed so as not to break the spell of the moment.

  “I know. Thought you’d like this place,” Kamea whispered. “Almost as nice as our special overlook to the south, right?”

  Rebecca smiled and nodded a yes. “I don’t ever want to leave this—it’s hard to think about us going back to Detroit in a few months to get the house ready to sell.”

  “Well, you promised to keep me warm,” Kamea said, laughing. “How bad is it gonna be?”

  “I’d rather not say,” Rebecca answered, chuckling. “But it’s not like Fargo or something,” she continued, laughing. “Houses don’t usually sell there until Spring anyhow, so we’ll maybe wait until March or something. But I don’t want to think about it right now. Kiss me again.”

  “Mmm, so sweet. You were eating mango from the fruit plate tonight, weren’t you?” Kamea asked, laughing.

  “Yep—from the hors d’oeuvre table before I came out here. Can’t see or taste one anymore without gettin
g all, well, you know...” she trailed off, smiling, and turning around to put her arms around Kamea’s neck, pulling her into a kiss once again.

  * * *

  The pre-Christmas show at the Pili Lani Resort consisted of three Maui artists; a koa wood sculptor, a potter, and Kamea as the painter. Auntie and Uncle Leo were the first to arrive, wishing much success, and with Auntie exclaiming; “I’m so proud of you keiki—that painting of your girl here with the flowers, that one’s my favorite.”

  Auntie let them know Kamea’s mother and father would be coming over for Christmas to stay with her; “They wanna meet your girl too,” she said, patting Rebecca’s cheek.

  Rebecca noticed Kamea couldn’t hide the look of surprise at her parents coming to see them.

  Kamea squeezed her hand. “What do you think?” All Rebecca could think to answer was that it didn’t matter—it only mattered to her that they were together. She knew her heart now, knew it belonged here with Kamea.

  Kris came over from Oahu to stay for the long weekend and see the gallery opening. Kamea had said she was good people, and she was right. Rebecca was surprised at her formidable size and rather gruff, abrupt demeanor at first. But after a few hours in her company at the house with JonJon and Brenda, she saw Kris was just a big teddy bear. She was a California girl that loved being on the water as much as Kamea and JonJon. She told wonderful and scary stories about surfing the big, cold waves of Mavericks at Santa Cruz. Kamea and JonJon sat mesmerized and wide-eyed around the evening fire. Kris could be a good friend for Kamea, she thought. She was glad her father had introduced them.

  Early in the evening, Laura made her way towards them and held Kamea’s hand for what seemed just a little longer than Rebecca thought appropriate. But Kamea, unfazed, slid her arm around Rebecca’s waist, pulling her closer to show they were together.