Not Always Happenstance (Power of the Matchmaker) Page 15

  “Well,” said Easton. “You are busier in the summer, right?”

  “Not that much busier.”

  He let out a breath. “What do you want me to say, that I’m sorry? Because if I’ve done something to upset Lani—and I’m not sure what that would be—then I really am.”

  “I don’t want your apology.”

  “Then what?”

  She shook her head as though disappointed in him yet again. “You young people make things so much harder than they have to be. Isn’t that right, Pearl?”

  “Yes,” Pearl answered immediately, apparently unashamed of the fact that she’d been eavesdropping.

  “Why can’t you admit your feelings and see what happens?” said Cora.

  Easton shifted in his seat again, not sure if he should be having this conversation with Lani’s grandmother while sitting within hearing distance of the other guests—though after this maybe the sisters would stop trying to flirt with him.

  Regardless, Easton lowered his voice. “What if things go south?”

  “What if they go north or east or west?” she countered. “You’ll never know unless you try.”

  Everyone was watching him now. Normally, Easton didn’t mind being the center of attention, but in this context, he’d rather not. He took one last sip of his juice and pushed his chair back. “Mahalo for a wonderful breakfast, Cora.”

  “You’re very welcome,” she said. “I hope you have a… directional day.”

  He had to chuckle at that. “I plan to.”

  Avoiding Easton came easy the last week of July, mostly because he wasn’t around much. His car was gone when Lani got up in the morning and typically stayed gone until late in the day. The few times she saw it parked out front, he didn’t drop by the main house. Instead, he holed up in the bungalow, burning the midnight oil, so to speak. By Wednesday, she began leaving muffins, yogurt, fruit, and juice in a cooler on his patio table, so he wouldn’t go without breakfast in the mornings. Thursday evening, when she replaced the contents with something fresh, there was a note resting inside.

  “Mahalo,” it read.

  Lani crinkled the paper in her hand, scrunching it into a ball. How hard would it have been to write Mahalo Lani? He had to know it was her. She looked around, seeing a dark bungalow, a missing Subaru, and an empty hammock. A knot of loneliness clenched her stomach, feeling like a foreshadowing of what was to come.

  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, came the thought.

  Lani was living proof of that. Instead of missing Easton less, she missed him more and more and more. By Friday morning, she was ready to lounge in his hammock and not leave until he showed his face.

  But she didn’t. She booked a reservation, cleaned, scrubbed, and even weeded an area of the lawn that grew the most noxious of weeds, just because it was close to the bungalow. But no Easton.

  When Friday evening finally rolled around, Lani became desperate for a diversion and asked Pearl to teach her how to play Mahjong. Puna joined in as well, and the three of them were out on the main lanai at dusk, enjoying the refreshing evening breeze, when Easton drove in. A car door slammed, the headlights blinked on and off, and he waved and called out “Aloha” on his way to the bungalow before disappearing inside.

  Lani scowled at the tiles, frustrated with the game and frustrated with Easton. He’d practically kissed her, not the other way around—actually, not practically, he had kissed her. So why was he the one doing the avoiding? Was this how it would be the rest of the summer—him coming and going, waving, leaving polite notes, then sneaking away at the end of it all, just to avoid saying goodbye?

  An annoying voice in the back of her mind whispered, Isn’t this what you wanted?

  Maybe once, but not anymore. What Lani wanted now was for him to look at her in that tender way he’d looked at her before he kissed her. She wanted to feel his touch, smell his clean, sporty scent, and hear his distinctive voice. And she wanted him to tell his sweet little niece that he wouldn’t be home as soon as he’d promised, that he’d met someone special, someone different than all the other girls he’d met before.

  But deep down, Lani knew that if Easton’s feelings ran half as deep as hers, he wouldn’t have wasted another week of the short amount of time they had left avoiding her.

  “That boy is lolo,” said Puna, shaking her head.

  “You can say that again,” muttered Lani before she reconsidered her words. She regretted them the moment the gleam appeared in her grandmother’s eyes. “I was talking about the boy at the market today,” Lani rushed to say. “The one who miscounted my change.”

  “You’re not much better.” Puna pointed a wrinkly finger at her, making Lani’s frown lines deepen. “What you need to do is give up on this game, march up that hill, and tell that boy what you’re really thinking.”

  “No. What I need to do is match two tiles. Who invented this game, anyway? It’s awful.”

  “I don’t think it’s the game that’s awful.” Puna said the words under her breath, and Lani wasn’t sure she’d heard right.

  “What did you just say?”

  “Nothing.”

  Lani glared at her grandmother. “That’s what I thought.”

  Pearl’s lips lifted into her usual serene smile that further annoyed Lani. It was like everyone around her knew something she didn’t, and she was tired of feeling like she was missing something. Or more specifically, someone.

  Stop thinking about Easton! she yelled at herself. Focus on the game instead.

  Lani scanned the tiles for the umpteenth time and, at last, found a match.

  “Aha!” She proceeded to collect the two tiles, only to be halted by a quiet comment from Pearl.

  “Are you sure those are a match?”

  Lani looked closer and noticed there was one less black line on one, but she refused to let one little line stop her. “I think someone just drew on this one with marker. It’s definitely a match.” She placed the tiles in front of her and shot Puna a look that said, Go ahead and try to challenge me on this. I dare you.

  Pearl chuckled and clasped her fingers together. “I think something is eating at you, Lani.”

  “You’re just now noticing?” said Puna as she retrieved Lani’s tiles and put them back in play. The bright orange of her muumuu usually made Lani smile. Today, it made her wish she’d worn sunglasses.

  “I’m good,” said Lani, trying to convince herself as well. “Great, in fact. Never been better.”

  “Psh,” said Puna. “If you’re great, than I’m a hibiscus.”

  “You do sort of look like one,” countered Lani, looking at her dress.

  Puna ignored her. “I’m telling you, go talk to that boy. It’s the only way you’re going to feel better.”

  Lani retrieved the two tiles that were almost a match and placed them in front of her. “What good will that do? Not all of us get that fairytale romance like you had, Puna. In four weeks, Easton will be gone forever, and I will still be here.”

  Her heart would crack in half when that day came, and half again every day thereafter until there was nothing left but confetti.

  Maybe she could throw herself a party with it.

  Tired of the game—and conversation—Lani was ready to make up an excuse about needing to clean something when she noticed Easton coming their way. Her body tensed, her heart thundered, and her breathing became irregular. It was like she’d involuntarily given him control of more than just her heart. Her entire being responded to him, which was ridiculous. No one should have that much control over a person.

  Yes, it was definitely past time to clean something. Lani pushed her chair back, ready to pretend like she hadn’t seen him and flee.

  “Aloha,” he called, making any pretense impossible. “Long time no see.” He jogged the rest of the way to greet them and was soon standing behind Lani.

  “That’s not a match,” he felt the need to point out. His arm brushed her cheek as he pointed to the two tiles resting
in front of her.

  “According to Lani, someone drew an extra line on that one,” said Puna. “Would you care to join us, Easton?”

  Lani’s heart was about to skitter right out of her chest, so she pushed her chair to the side. “You can take my place. I need to… um…” Her mind went completely blank. She’d had the perfect excuse moments before. What was it, again?

  “Clean the kitchen?” offered Pearl.

  “Yes, that’s right. I need to clean the kitchen.” Lani stood and ran her sweating palms across the front of her denim shorts. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  “I’ll help,” Easton offered unhelpfully.

  “No,” said Lani. “You can’t. You’re a guest.”

  “And if a guest would like to help clean the kitchen, you should let him,” Puna added. “It’s good customer service to allow them to do what they want.”

  Her grandmother had multiple sides to her personality. Sweet, enthusiastic, hard-working, and infuriating. Now, she was being the latter.

  “Mahalo for the offer,” said Lani to Easton. “But it won’t take me long.”

  “Then I’ll keep you company while you work.”

  No wonder Puna liked Easton so well. He could be just as infuriating. Lani threw up her hands. “Fine. If you really want to spend more of your vacation time cleaning, then be my guest.”

  “Hey, you’re punny,” said Easton with a smile that turned Lani’s knees to jelly. She quickly strode inside, wondering about the state of her mental health. Five minutes ago, she couldn’t wait to see him again, and now it was all she could do to get away from him.

  He followed behind, pausing on the threshold to the kitchen. “It looks clean to me.”

  Lani continued to the fridge and pulled it open. “This isn’t.”

  “You’re going to clean out the fridge on a Friday night?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

  He followed again, stopping behind her. Even though he didn’t touch her, she could feel the warmth radiating from his body, along with a tickle on her neck from his breath. She should have worn her hair down today.

  “Looks clean and organized to me,” he said.

  “That’s because you’re a man, and men are immune to clutter.”

  “Or maybe we just don’t obsess about stuff that doesn’t really matter.”

  Lani frowned and grabbed a few Tupperware containers and set them on the counter. Then she reached for the eggs, but Easton took her arm instead, pulling her gently to the side. Then he returned the Tupperware containers to the shelf and closed the door, resting his back against it and folding his arms as he studied her.

  “You’ve been avoiding me again.”

  “No. You’ve been avoiding me,” she said. “Which is fine because I want to be avoided.” Actually, what she really wanted was to want to want to be avoided.

  He continued to watch her, and Lani felt like someone had stapled her flip-flops to the floor. She couldn’t run away, back away, or even look away. Everything about him became magnetic, pulling her body closer to his.

  “Why did you go to Costco on Monday?” he asked.

  She swallowed. “Supplies. We were out of… supplies.”

  “According to Cora, you only need to do a supply run about once a month.”

  “Summers are busier.”

  He pushed away from the fridge and approached her. “Know what I think? I think you went on a four-hour excursion to get away from me.”

  Her body trembling, Lani took a step back and bumped into the island. It suddenly felt closer to the fridge than normal. If there was something Lani hated more than not having control over her emotions, it was being put on the spot like this.

  “I… I…” The emotional exhaustion was taking its toll. She didn’t want to play this game anymore. He knew how she felt about closed doors and short-term relationships, so why was he inching closer, asking questions he already knew the answers to, when Lani had no clue what he wanted from her.

  “You’re not playing fair,” she blurted. “You know exactly what I think and where I stand, but you never reciprocate. I have no idea what you’re thinking. All I know is that you’re leaving in four weeks and hate goodbyes. So yeah, I was avoiding you. I’m still trying to avoid you. In fact, I think Puna’s calling my name.” Lani practically raced back to the lanai, only to stop short in the doorway.

  The sky was darker now, and Puna, Pearl, and the stupid Mahjong game had disappeared. The table and chairs had been pushed to the side, and instead of the four can lights that usually lit the space, a strand of white lights had been woven around the railing. Even worse, soft music played from somewhere.

  She backed away and bumped into Easton.

  With his hands on her shoulders, he steadied her. Then he chuckled. “I think Cora and Pearl are trying to tell us something,” he said in her ear.

  Without answering, Lani pulled free, determined to find the source of the music and get rid of it. But it seemed to be coming from all around her, as though there were speakers in every room. But there weren’t. The only speakers in the house were a small set she plugged her phone into when she cleaned or worked. Lani was beginning to feel like she was losing her mind.

  Easton leaned against the doorway, watching her with an amused expression.

  “Do you hear that?” Lani looked around.

  “Hear what?”

  She was going crazy. Easton had driven her crazy.

  “Are you talking about the music?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’m talking about the music. Where’s it coming from?” She looked around again, trying to figure it out. She hadn’t heard the music until she’d reached this point, but now, everywhere she walked—down the hall and back again—the volume sounded exactly the same.

  “I’m going insane,” she murmured out loud.

  Easton slipped his hand into hers and gently pulled her out to the lanai. “We should dance.”

  “I don’t want to dance.” Lani wished she meant it. But his shoulders and arms looked so heavenly. How she’d love to walk into them, rest her whirring head against his neck, and forget about all the things that didn’t make sense.

  “Will you dance with me, Lani?” he asked, his voice quiet.

  Her chest rose and fell with each heavy breath, and her fingers tingled where he touched them. “Why?” she asked, needing something from him. Anything.

  “Because I’ve missed you. Because I like to be near you. And because I don’t want all of Pearl and Cora’s work to be wasted.” He paused, giving her hand a squeeze. “Please? Just one dance?”

  She found herself being pulled into his arms, and the moment she felt them around her, she knew she was a goner. Her skin burned where he touched her, and a thousand sensations rippled across her, as though she’d been sprinkled with fairy dust. Lani had never felt so light and shivery or warm and wonderful.

  “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by Frank Sinatra floated from somewhere, and Easton kicked off his sandals and tucked her close against him, keeping one of her hands in his. His other arm circled her back, and her free hand settled on his shoulder. She relaxed against him, and her mind drained of everything but him. As the last of the dusk melted away, all that remained was a speckling of little white lights. It was magical—a moment Lani knew would be seared into her memory forever.

  “What’s happening?” she whispered.

  “It’s called dancing,” he whispered back. “Just go with it.”

  She did. Lani let him spin her around, pull her close, and sway. Song after song floated from somewhere, all from a different time and place. Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Elvis, and Ella Fitzgerald. She fell under the spell of the music, the lights… Easton. At one point, he led her down the steps and out onto the lawn, and somehow the music followed.

  As a Fred Astaire song came to a close, Easton dipped Lani down low, then brought her up slowly. “Are you going to stop avoiding me now?”

  She searched his ey
es, needing to know what he was feeling and thinking and hoping for. “What do you want?”

  “To spend time with you, talk to you, dance with you, and kiss you. I want to see what can happen.”

  In and out she breathed, her thoughts a foggy mass. “What can happen?” she asked, unclear about the possibilities.

  “That’s what I’d like to find out.” His palms framed her face, and his thumb slid along her jaw. “All I know is that I want more moments like this. A lot more.”

  Lani trembled under his touch. More than anything she wanted to forget about the four-week deadline, allow herself to fall completely under his spell, and, like he said, see what happened. But something held her back—something she needed to know before she could put any trust in him.

  “If nothing… happens,” she said. “Will your heart break too? Or is mine the only one at risk here?”

  The color of his eyes deepened as they searched hers. “I’m scared too, Lani. But I’m also hopeful. I don’t know whether or not things will work out in the long run, but I want them to, and I know I’ll be hurt if they don’t. The truth is, I never want to say goodbye to you—and not because I avoid goodbyes like the plague—but because I want to keep saying aloha and good night and good morning and—”

  Lani pulled his head toward her and pressed her lips to his. They were warm, moist, and heavenly, just like she knew they would be. He froze for a split second, and then he was kissing her back. His hands moved from her face to around her shoulders, and he crushed her against him, working his mouth over hers like an expert.

  A million sensations cascaded over Lani, awakening every part of her. She felt strong and weak, secure and vulnerable, thrilled and fearful. Every emotion had its opposite, and yet they somehow worked together, making her feel more alive than she’d ever felt before.

  This is what it feels like to soar, she thought.

  His hands returned to her face, and the kiss became slower and more deliberate, easing her out of a beautiful dream. Then he broke free and pulled her tight against him, burying his face in her hair. His chest rose and fell, and a song faded in—one Lani had never heard before. She struggled to catch her breath and bring herself back to reality.