Kai nodded his head, giving her mother a brief smile, and then followed her from the house, both bags in his hands. “You doing okay?”
“No. I just needed…I need to talk to Gracie.” Becca sniffed as she led him down the covered walkway towards the standalone bungalows.
“Where are we going?” Kai asked as she passed several without stopping.
“The end. I just need some distance…”
“Becca?” When she turned and looked at him over her shoulder, he shook his head at her, “Stop!”
She did, and then crossed her arms protectively over her chest, “What?”
“Are there no guest rooms in the main house?”
She nodded once, “Yes.”
“Then why aren’t we staying there? Close to your mom?”
She watched him for a moment and then looked up, blinking her eyes furiously as she tried not to cry. “I just need some space.”
“Fine. Then let’s drop these bags off and take a drive. But you came home to say farewell to your father and if I’m not mistaken, reconcile things with your mother before you no longer could. Am I right?”
She nodded once, and then wiped a tear away with her fingertips.
“Then it’s my job as your escort to see that you do that. To save you from making a mistake that you will most certainly regret. Let’s go back to the main house, and then you can show me your island. Yes?”
She took a steadying breath, and then reversed course. She entered the main house from a side door this time, and led him up a flight of stairs. She stopped at the top, and pushed open the first door they came to. “You can use this room. It has its own bathroom through that door.”
“This will be fine. Where are you going to stay?”
“My old room. The only other room was my brother’s, and I just…”
“Don’t say any more. Go make your call to Gracie, and then come find me. I’m going to call Justin, and make sure he doesn’t call out the cavalry.”
Becca found that mildly funny, “No cavalry here. Fly boys, yes. Sea dogs, most certainly. But no cavalry. You’re in Hawaii now.”
Kaillar gave her a small smile, and then nodded towards the door, “Go take care of things.” He waited until she left before blowing out a breath. Since arriving at her childhood home, things had been a rollercoaster of emotion, and he was afraid that there was much more to come. He only hoped she could handle it, and that he’d have big enough shoulders to help.
H placed his call to Justin and at the end of the call, he asked his brother to call Pastor Jeremy and get the prayer chain going. Becca needed help, and after speaking with Justin for a few minutes, he realized that while he could offer her his support and be there to listen, ultimately she was going to have to deal with the emotional trauma that had been festering for way too long. He only knew one person who could help her through that, he only hoped when the time came, she was open to seeking help from a higher power.
Chapter 9
Becca entered her childhood bedroom, shocked to see that it was just as she’d left it. She walked around the room, looking at the pictures and posters hung on the walls as memories assailed her of happier times. When she reached the window, she pulled the blinds open, and was saddened to see that her view of the ocean was no longer there. The palm trees planted at the edge of the yard had grown up and now blocked her view.
She turned away from the window, and approached her desk and the small hutch that stood atop it. There were pictures of her and Kevin there. A picture of Kevin holding his trophy after winning a surf competition. Kalino and he had tied for the win, and another picture stood on the opposite side of the hutch of Kalino in a similar pose, holding an identical trophy.
She reached for the picture, and that’s when she realized there was no dust. None. She looked around the room, and could tell that someone had been cleaning the room on a regular basis. She walked to the closet, finding the clothing she’d left behind hanging neatly from the rod.
The bureau, likewise, was just as she’d left it. Her clothing from four years earlier still neatly folded and awaiting her return. It was as if the room had been suspended in time!
Before she could dwell on that too much, her cell phone rang, and she pulled it from her pocket. One glance at the screen told her Gracie had gotten tired of waiting for her call.
She sank down onto the edge of the bed, and swiped the screen, “Gracie?”
“Yeah, sweetie. I just heard Justin talking to Kaillar, so I figured I’d try to call you now. How are you holding up?”
Becca felt the tears she’d been holding back fall from her eyes, “This is so hard.”
“I know. But you’re strong enough to get through this. How’s your mom handling your dad’s death?”
“I guess okay. She …when I arrived, she met me on the lawn and hugged me. She cried.”
“And you?” Gracie asked softly.
“Like a baby. But I don’t know that it solves anything. Gracie, there are things that happened…she believes one thing, but…” She couldn’t finish talking, the tears were coming so fast that she could barely take a breath.
“Take a breath, Becca. Why don’t you tell me what really happened, and then we’ll deal with what your mom thinks happened?”
“I don’t know that I can. I’ve never…”
There was a pause and then Gracie softly asked, “Sweetie, have you never talked to anyone about what happened?”
“No. Not really. I mean, I went to see a mental health guy a few times, but that was an utter disaster and I felt even worse afterwards. God, this is so hard.”
There was a pause, and then Gracie asked, “Do you believe in God, Becca? I know you used to go to church with Melanie and me from time to time, but I never asked. I didn’t want to pry.”
“I guess I believe there is a God, but I wasn’t raised in church or anything. What about you?”
“Yeah, I believe in God, and I believe that He watches over us and is ready and waiting to help us if we just ask Him for help.”
“If that’s true, He must not care too much for me.”
“Why do you say that?” Gracie asked, wishing she wasn’t thousands of miles away.
“You don’t know…if God was watching over me four years ago, He must have blinked.”
Gracie assured her, “God was watching, but He never promised that we wouldn’t go through tough times. Why don’t you tell me what really happened four years ago?”
Becca took a small breath, and then began to tell her about Dagan and how she’d fallen head over heels for him. “I really liked him, but it turned out that he wasn’t the person I thought he was.”
“What happened?”
“He was training on a neighboring island at one of the most dangerous surfing points in the world. My brother and his friend were not quite fifteen, and were the junior champions. They weren’t anywhere near ready to take on Pe’ahi size waves, but surfers constantly challenge themselves, and Kevin convinced my parents that he and Kalino would only ride the secondary waves.”
“So, you went to this island, and then what happened?”
“Dagan was already there, and he’d told me to find him when we got there because he wanted to talk to me about something. He and his buddies were renting rooms at my parents’ resort, but we didn’t have a lot of privacy. I was excited, and hopeful that maybe he was going to ask me to go with him when they moved to their summer training grounds.”
“That’s not what he wanted to talk about?” Gracie asked, trying to keep the conversation moving.
“He didn’t actually want to talk. He wanted sex. It sounds horrible, but what he did was horrible. He took me up the beach a ways, and told me we were going to walk, but once we reached the sand, he attacked me. When I fought back, he slapped me, and then tried to choke me as he tried to tear my clothes off.”
“Becca? Sweetie, I have to ask, but did he rape you?”
<
br /> “No. A park ranger heard me cry out and came to investigate. Dagan made up a story about things getting a little out of control, and I was so embarrassed, I didn’t say anything. I kept my head down, trying to cope with the fact that my supposed boyfriend had just assaulted me.”
“I’m glad his actions were interrupted. Then what happened?”
“He drove us back to the beach, and told me to clean my face up before I joined his friends on the beach. The rental Jeep didn’t have any mirrors inside the vehicle, and I didn’t think to look in one of the side mirrors. I sat there for a long time, and then went to find my brother and his friend.
“I had decided we were going straight back to the airport and then home. I had every intention of telling my parents some of what had happened, and having them kick Dagan and his buddies off the property.”
“Did your parents believe you?”
“I never got the chance to find out. Kevin saw the red mark on my face and the bruising around my throat and took off after Dagan. He’d already started paddling out, and Kevin grabbed his board and gave chase. Kalino heard me yelling at him to stop, and he too headed out after Kevin.”
Becca grew silent for a moment, closing her eyes as the events of the next few moments replayed themselves in her mind. “Dagan went out to where the big waves came in, and Kevin followed him. He’d never been in such big water before, but he didn’t even pause. This giant wave formed, and Dagan went for it. Kevin tried, but he’d barely gotten to his feet on his board when the wave broke. Right on top of him.”
She was crying now, tears streaming down her face. Kalino was too far away to stop him, but also too close to escape the wave’s massive power. Dagan wasn’t even a match for the wave. He rode it for several seconds before it crashed over him as well. He and Kevin were killed, and Kalino spent three weeks in the hospital in a coma.”
“Oh, sweetie! How horrible! Did your parents come…”
“No. Kalino’s dad showed up, having heard the call for a medivac over his radio. He found me sitting in the sand, almost catatonic and freezing. He flew me to the hospital where they took Kalino, and my parents were called from there. They drove up to get me, and that’s where they learned about Kevin’s death.
“My dad was more upset than I’d ever seen him. My mother took one look at me, and immediately assumed the wrong thing. I know she thinks I was off playing games while Kevin was killing himself. The press was horrible. Dagan had been the country’s best chance for winning the world title, and now he was dead.
“They had this massive, televised funeral for him. Reporters from around the world showed up. How was I supposed to tell anyone what had happened? Everyone idolized him, and was mourning the loss of one of the best surfers the world had ever known. If I had even breathed a hint of what he’d tried to do, no one would have believed me.”
“Your parents…”
“No. They were grieving the loss of their son. My father made sure to let me know that Kevin was his only real child, and that because of me, he no longer had any children.”
“But he was your father…”
“Not really. He raised me, but my mom and he never got around to changing my last name. It was and still is Edwards. The way he looked at me was horrible. And my mother, she’d been warning me away from Dagan and his friends. She had firsthand knowledge of the damage the surfer mentality could do to my future. My biological father was a surfer who abandoned her when he found out she was pregnant. In her opinion, I’d ignored her advice, and my brother had paid for my mistake with his life.”
A noise from her bedroom door had Becca glancing up to see her mother standing in the partially opened doorway.
Chapter 10
She had a stricken look on her face, and a hand clutching her chest. “Mom?”
Becca dropped the phone when her mother’s color drained away, and she collapsed to the floor. “Mom!”
She rushed to her mom, and quickly checked for a pulse. She could hear Gracie yelling at her through the phone, and she quickly crawled back to it before returning to her mom. “Gracie! She collapsed.”
“Who?”
“My mom. She was standing in the doorway listening to us talk. She clutched her chest and collapsed. Oh, what do I do?”
“Check for a pulse. Where’s Kai?”
Becca glanced down the hallway, and yelled out for him. He stuck his head out of the door a moment later, and rushed to her side. “I can’t find a pulse! Oh God, I can’t lose her too. Gracie, help me!”
“Whoa! Calm down and check again.”
Kaillar took the phone from her hands, and put it on speakerphone, “Hey Gracie! What do I need to do?”
“See if she has a pulse, and get some medical help on the way.”
Becca was crying, “Mom! You can’t do this. Not now.”
“She has a pulse.”
“Good. Is it strong and steady?”
“It seems to be. Wait! She’s coming around.”
“Mom! Can you hear me?” Becca asked, clasping her mom’s hand as her eyelids fluttered opened. “Don’t move. You passed out. Where do you hurt? Is it your heart?”
Stacie opened her eyes, and then looked at Kaillar before returning her gaze to her daughter. She lifted a hand to Becca’s check, “Becca, what you told your friend on the phone…it’s just not true. Your father…he never meant for you to take his comments the way you did. It nearly broke him when you left. And I never assumed you were at fault for Kevin’s rash actions.”
“Dad said…”
“I know what you heard, but he only meant that Kevin was his only biological child. He always loved you as if you were his own flesh and blood. We never had your last name changed because of the difficulty it would have posed with the courts. I would have had to name your biological father, and I wasn’t willing to do that. I’m sorry if that choice made you feel less loved.”
“I always felt loved. Until Kevin died. It was my fault. If I hadn’t gone off with Dagan, he wouldn’t have attacked me, and Kevin wouldn’t have gone after him.”
“Kevin went out there trying to defend your honor?” her mother asked, her eyes clouding with the memory of his loss. “Somehow, that makes his death better. Knowing that he wasn’t just being a cocky teenager, taking on too much and trying to grow up too fast.”
“No! Kevin would have never attempted those big waves, but he was intent on making Dagan pay for hurting me. I didn’t realize that he’d be able to tell anything had happened. It wasn’t until I got the hospital and saw my reflection in the bathroom mirror that I saw the bruising he must have seen.”
Kaillar picked up Becca’s phone and moved back a few feet, taking it off speakerphone. “Gracie, I’ll have her call you back later. I think her mother just fainted.” Kaillar listened for a moment and then he said, “I’ll tell her.”
“What?” Becca asked, helping her mom to a sitting position.
“Gracie tells you to remember to only own what’s truly yours.”
“Good advice. I look forward to meeting this friend of yours one day,” her mother commented, using Becca’s arm as she got back to her feet.
Stacie looked at her daughter, and then at Kaillar, “We’ll talk more about this, but I’m glad to finally know the truth. Now, I think we all need a break from these emotions and memories. Why don’t you take one of the Scouts up to the volcano, and show this mainlander the lava flows?”
Becca was amazed that her mother could so easily turn off her emotions. She envied her the ability, but was also grateful to be given a chance to collect herself. She turned to Kai and asked, “Does that sound good?”
Kai nodded, “Yes. Who knows when I’ll get another chance to see lava flows.”
Stacie gave him a small smile, “Stick around Hawaii too long and you’ll see more than lava flows. In the last few weeks, the volcano has been acting up. That usually means an eruption is imminent.”
“W
hy don’t you sound more concerned?” he asked, wondering how safe they truly were.
“Kilauea erupts constantly. She can’t blow her top, because she already did that. Unless she would really get going, we’re in no immediate danger here. Take him up, and show him what I’m talking about.”
“Is the crater safe to drive around?” Becca wondered.
“Check at the ranger station. Last report I heard, the crater was still down thirty meters or more.”
“We’ll do that. Come on. Let’s go expand your education about volcanoes and Hawaii.” Becca didn’t wait to see if he was following her. She darted into the closest bathroom, and grabbed a handful of tissues. She’d already cried off whatever makeup she’d still been wearing when they landed in Honolulu, so she dried her eyes as she headed for the parking area.
A trip up the mountain was just what she needed to remind her that life went on. No matter how bad the circumstances became. It was impossible to view the damage a volcano could cause and not realize that truth.
Chapter 11
Three hours later at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Visitor Center…
“This place is amazing,” Kaillar told her as they drove along the crater rim. Tendrils of steam and gases rose from the crater in the distance, the landscape looking as if they had been transported to another planet.
The black swirls and folds of cooled lava obliterated the landscape beneath. As far as he could see, the ground was blackened. The remains of trees that had been caught in the fiery flow stood as ghostly reminders that at one point in time, green grass and tall trees had occupied this same location.
“It’s a weird feeling, isn’t it?” Becca asked, doing her best to put the events of earlier behind her.
“Weird doesn’t even come close,” Kaillar told her with a look.
“There are some benches up there where we could get out and sit. It might smell a bit if the wind is blowing just right, but if you listen closely, you can hear the sounds from the crater echo across the landscape.”
Three Brothers Lodge - The Complete Series Box Set Page 24
