Between Hello and Goodbye(13)

While the women got acquainted, I made my escape. I’d intended to take off but got as far as my Jeep and then leaned against the hood, scrolling through my phone.

Paula emerged forty-five minutes later. “That Faith is a hoot. It’s a shame about her foot. She had her whole trip ahead of her.”

“Yeah, well, shit happens.”

“Indeed.” Paula was a mom of four teenage boys. Consequently, not much bullshit got past her. “But her ankle’s not all that bad. Grade One, I’d say. Give her a week and she’ll be hobbling around like a champ.” She tapped a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “If only someone were around to help her through the hard parts.”

I coughed, hearing my own thoughts read back to me.

Paula laughed at my flummoxed expression and keyed the locks to her Camry. “Do I have to spell it out for you, Mackey?”

“Goodbye, Paula,” I said and opened my Jeep’s door.

Her smile dropped. “Wait…you’re leaving?”

“You got her situated?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then she doesn’t need me anymore.”

I flashed her a tight smile and slid behind the wheel. The engine was loud as I tore away from Pono Kai, putting the condos in my rearview.

What I needed—or wanted—could stay there too.





Chapter Four



“Are you stupid or something?”

Morgan stared, incredulous, while Nalani hid a smile in her shoulder and got up from the dinner table, leaving her husband—my pain in the ass little brother—to gape at me.

“You left a beautiful woman stranded and alone?” Morgan demanded. “As a paramedic, is that even allowed? Don’t you have a…whatsit. A duty to act?” He blew out a whistle. “Some hero you are.”

I rolled my eyes and speared a green bean with my fork. “She’s a tourist. I don’t fu—”

“Language…” Nalani warned as she returned to the table and gave a nod at the little boy sitting beside me, happily shoveling fried rice and vegetables into his mouth.

“I don’t mess around with tourists,” I amended. “And I’m no one’s hero.”

“That’s not true. You’re my hero, Uncle Ash!” Kaleo said brightly, and my stupid heart damn near split in two. Not that anyone needed to know that.

The seven-year-old had his mother’s Polynesian features with Morgan’s curling black hair and skinny build. How that little bugger could contain the amount of love we had for him in that little body, I couldn’t guess. He was the center of his parents’ universe. Mine too, if I were being honest.

“Thanks, buddy,” I said, ruffling his hair and giving him a smile. Then I turned my scowl back to my brother. “Don’t know why I bothered telling you about Faith in the first place.”

“I have an idea,” Nalani said. She tossed her long black braid over her shoulder and rested her chin in her hand, eyelashes fluttering.

“I was just making conversation.” I picked up my dinner plate and went to the kitchen for a second helping of ribs. When I came back, my brother and sister-in-law were still wearing the same expectant expressions. “Christ.”

“I worry about you, Ash,” Nalani said. “Chloe is right here—”

“Miss Barnes!” Kal piped up. “She’s my favorite teacher.”

“And Asher is her favorite firefighter,” Morgan said with a wink.

“But you’re not interested in Chloe,” Nalani continued. “I’ve never seen you seriously interested in anyone.”

“There’s a reason for that.”

She pursed her lips. “That was fine four years ago, but you’re thirty now.”

Morgan grinned. “Thirty-one.”

“You’re old, Uncle Ash,” Kaleo said solemnly.

“He sure is,” my brother agreed and then laughed as I pretended to scratch my eye with my middle finger.

Nalani leaned forward. “We’re not trying to interfere—”

“Yes, we are,” Morgan put in.

“But don’t you want…more?”

I glanced up from my food to meet Nalani’s caring expression, her hand tucked in her husband’s, both resting on their dinner table that held the remnants of a homecooked meal. The ocean crashed on the shore below their small bungalow in Hanalei, not far from mine, and the setting sun cast a warm glow over the family, the food, the home that my little brother had made here.

Good. That’s what he deserves.

I shrugged. “Faith’s a pain in the ass.”

“So are you.”

I rolled my eyes and shot a wink at Kaleo, who was giggling at my bad language.

“That’s really it, huh?” Morgan leaned back in his seat. He was a younger, less bulky version of me, with enough of our mother in his face to make my heart clench. “And by the way, you do mess around with tourists. Sleeping with beautiful women who are only here for a handful of days is your specialty. Suddenly, you’ve gone shy?”

Kaleo blinked up at me. “What do you do with the women, Uncle Ash?”

“He has sleepovers,” Nalani said, giving her husband’s arm a light punch.