Between Hello and Goodbye(48)

“See what I mean?” Nalani said fondly.

I nodded. I’d have given anything to know the unknowable. Namely, what the hell I was supposed to do with my heart because there was no harmony there, only a longing that was completely foreign and starting to feel immovable. Permanent.

Momi reached out to pat my knee. “Enough of that. You didn’t come to listen to a lecture. Nalani tells me you’re in advertising.”

“I am,” I said, and my posh office in downtown Seattle had never felt so far away—lightyears from this brilliant afternoon, surrounded by palm trees and sitting with a Hawaiian wisewoman.

“Faith gave Morgan and me some great ideas for our business,” Nalani said. “We’re already booking photograph tours for Ho’opi’i.”

I made a face. “Make sure you get them to sign a waiver first.”

Nalani laughed and Momi nodded at my wrapped ankle.

“I hope you’re well. I heard about your accident.”

“Asher was on the shift when the call came in,” Morgan put in, joining us and taking a seat beside Nalani, across from me. He lifted his camera and took a few shots of Momi and me.

“You already told me all about her rescue, keiki lapuwale,” Momi scolded gently.

Nalani glanced around. “Where is Ash?”

“He’s gone to find Kal.” Morgan turned to me. “So tell us, Faith. Ankle sprains aside, how are you liking Kauai?”

“It’s very beautiful,” I said. “But…small.”

“Too small for you,” Nalani said, the teeniest hint of a question in her tone.

“Too small for me,” I admitted truthfully. “I’m a city girl. It’s in my blood.”

“You never know, it could grow on you,” Morgan said. “When Ash and I were in New York, I didn’t like it much, but the last thing I imagined was coming all the way out here and wanting to stay.” He smiled affectionately at his wife. “Then again, I had the best motivation.”

“I didn’t know you were in New York with Asher.”

“The state, not the city,” Morgan said. “When we had to leave North Bend, Ash found us a little place in Elmsford, about twenty miles north of Manhattan.” He cocked his head. “He didn’t tell you this?”

“No,” I said slowly. “I’ve only heard bits and pieces, and maybe we shouldn’t—”

Morgan snorted. “Of course, he didn’t tell you. It’s like pulling teeth to get him to talk about what he did for us. For me. Our dad split when we were little. For a few years, Mom tried to keep it together, but she got into some bad stuff. When I was a little older than Kaleo, we had to leave North Bend without her.”

“Just the two of you?” I asked, forgetting myself in my surprise. “How old was Asher?”

“Sixteen, nearly seventeen,” Morgan said. “I don’t know how he did it, but he got us a place, enrolled us in school, and managed to keep the authorities off our back. I know he had help but he never told me who. Never let any of that worry touch me. He’s so damn smart, when he graduated, he got himself into Columbia. Full scholarship.” Pride washed over Morgan’s words. “The guy was up every morning at the crack of dawn to get me ready for school, then took a train into the city—an hour and a half each way—and managed to get back in time for dinner.”

Morgan’s eyes shone. Nalani slipped her hand into his and he smiled gratefully, then cleared the emotion out of his voice.

“Anyway, Ash graduated with honors and Wall Street snatched him up. I was only fifteen, so he worked in the city and commuted until I graduated high school.”

“Morgan came here a few years later, Ash eventually followed, and here we are,” Nalani said, prudently skipping over the parts about Asher’s time on Wall Street that were not meant for a kid picnic.

“Right,” Morgan said, catching her drift. “It’s his story to tell, but he always forgets to add the part where he worked his ass off to keep us together. People should know that.”

“Should know what?”

Asher was suddenly there, Kal on his shoulders, dark eyes moving between Morgan and me, wary and scrutinizing. A pretty young woman stood close beside him. So close that the back of her hand brushed his arm when he moved.

They look like a family.

The thought felt like swallowing a boulder—it went down hard and sank into my gut.

“Hey, Chloe,” Morgan said with a smile and turned to Asher. “I was just telling Faith a little bit about our evacuation from North Bend, PA.”

“You told her…” Asher bit off his words, and a tense silence fell between the brothers.

Kal squirmed to be let down. “Mama! I found Miss Barnes. And I need more tickets. And I want some cotton candy. Can I?”

“Whoa, slow down, sugar rush. Hi, Chloe,” Nalani said warmly. “You remember my grandmother, Momi, and this is Faith. Asher’s…friend.”

Chloe smiled. “Aloha, Momi.”

The woman nodded in answer, watching everything.

“Nice to meet you, Faith,” Chloe said, her gaze zeroing in on the man’s shirt I wore over my dress. Her bright smile tilted. “How, um…do you two know each other?”

Every catty, bitchy, jealous instinct in me—and there were multitudes—flared up. I nearly replied sweetly that I knew Asher very well from all the sex we had last night, but I must’ve matured in the last twelve days. The fire flamed out, and the heavy ache in my stomach got heavier.