Chapter Thirty-Two
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
NATALIE
T he sun streamed in from Joel’s balcony and hit me square in the eye, waking me. I stirred, needing to stretch when I realized Joel had his arm draped over my midsection, his knees against my back. His breathing was rhythmic, right by my ear as he had nestled his face into my untamed hair. His heart was beating slowly, calmly. I reveled in the naturalness of our state. Nothing had ever felt this easy in my life, and it was exciting. My heart felt light, beating wildly at the prospect of this becoming my new normal.
I didn’t want to wake him, so I laid there and made mental lists of things to pack back home, things to sell, things to put into storage, how to tell Jill and Kate—and even Luca—I was leaving.
Then I got into my head, in that dark space where fear and doubt run free;. What if I had just made a huge mistake in deciding to move here? I could still pull out of the deal and go back to work tomorrow morning like nothing had ever happened. Even as that thought entered my mind, I knew it was impossible to back out. I was invested. Not just in seeing where things could go with Joel—although that was a big reason—but I had felt excited about my work for the first time in years. Owning a business and being able to trade pinching high heels for sandals, stuffy gala dinners for fish tacos on the beach; I felt alive. Thirty was looking at me, and I wanted to go into my next decade taking this risk.
I felt Joel shift onto his back and heard him yawn.
“Good morning,” I rolled over to face him. His hair was rumpled, heat in his eyes.
“Mmmmm, good morning.” He pulled me in close. “How’d you sleep?”
“Really good. What time is it?” I glanced around for my phone.
Joel reached over onto the side table and turned a little clock his way. “It’s nine. I don’t even remember the last time I slept until nine.”
Taken aback by his comment, I prodded. “Really? It’s Sunday—the day of rest.”
He chuckled. “I usually get up early to run no matter the day.”
“Well, don’t let me keep you from greatness,” I told him and wiggled out of his grasp.
“No way!” He pulled me back. “I only get you for a few more hours. When is your flight?”
“Seven.”
“What’d you want to do today?” he inhaled my hair. “Lemon and plumeria. Do you know how much I’ve missed that smell?”
“What do I want to do today? This.” I rolled on top of him and straddled his hips, moving toward his mouth and starting with a slow kiss before deepening it, throwing the loss of time and the upcoming absence into it.
He reciprocated, entangling both his hands in my hair to keep me from pulling away. I met his challenge, opening my mouth slightly and teasing his top lip with my tongue. He let out a soft groan, increasing his intensity, volleying back by his tongue finding mine. Before I was ready, I felt his hands untangle, moving to the side of my face. He moved my head slightly away, catching his breath .
“Okay, that’s what I want to do too.” His eyes dropped to my pouting lips, and for a moment, indecision wavered in his eyes. But it was soon replaced with resolution. “But you’re here for business. My apologies. I should have phrased that better: what do you need to do today?”
“You’re no fun.” I rolled back to my side of the bed and sat up.
“I probably should go see my new office.”
He withheld a grin that threatened to erupt. “Stop. You haven’t even seen the food truck you’re buying?”
“I saw photos online,” I said. “This was all very impulsive of me, but it feels right. It’s going to be great. However, I should probably see it while I’m here.”
“We probably should.” He sat up and bounded out of bed. “But first, you promised me breakfast. I’m guessing you’re making me crepes.”
I followed him into the kitchen and playfully slapped him on the bottom. “That’s where you’re wrong. You proved last night you can’t cook, and I can’t leave again knowing you have to fend for yourself. Your reliance on staying fed through this whole intimate relationship with food establishments is making complete sense now. So, to fix that, you’re making crepes, and I’m going to teach you how.”
He opened the refrigerator door and pulled out my purchases.
“Fair enough. I’m ready, boss. What do I do?”
I walked him through the steps, helping him prepare a savory crepe with gruyere and white cheddar, adding bacon and a fried egg to the top before folding it like a square for presentation value. The first attempt burned slightly—he really needed to learn not to turn the stove to full heat—but the second and third were perfect.
We left the dishes in the sink and quickly changed, hauling my suitcase and bag down to my car, hitting the open highway heading north. Joel silently held my hand while we listened to the new running playlist off his phone, commenting only to point out things on the drive that caught our eye. It was comfortable in that long-lost lovers kind of way.
I pulled into a well-attended tourist town in the middle of the North Shore and parked on the side of the road, taking one of the last spots. “It’s over here.”
Tucked away from the main drag was a large semi-circle of six food trucks: brick oven pizza, Thai food, various kabobs, burgers and burritos, and two dessert trucks. In the middle of the open space were a dozen picnic tables and mismatched lawn chairs. People were sprawled out all over, enjoying their lunch. I led us to the dessert truck offering smoothie bowls and waved at Gwen.
“Hello!” she beamed. “I’m so glad you came up to check it out. I knew you were flying home sometime today, and we didn’t see you again yesterday after our meeting.”
Paul popped open the back door and invited us in and shaking our hands as we stepped inside.
“This is Joel,” I made introductions without expanding, in spite of Gwen’s curious eyes. “I had to take care of a few other things yesterday, but definitely wanted a tour of the truck before going home.”
Paul handed us both a smoothie bowl—on the house now that we were officially business ohana—and walked me through the basics of my new investment. Sensing my panic as I tried to take it all in, he assured me that as consultants, I would have access to both him and Gwen once I got things up and running.
“We booked a trip in November to see our kids in Florida, but you’re planning to be here by then, no?” Paul asked between fulfilling orders for his wife. He added a scoop of blueberries to an acai bowl and handed it out the window to a customer.
“Yes, if all goes accordingly, I should be here mid-September,” I responded, glancing over at Joel. His eyes said it all. They looked peaceful. Happy.
Gwen clapped her hands together. “Oh, this is new love, isn’t it? I’ve been watching you two since I saw you walk up. This is wonderful! Natalie, did you move here for him?”
I threw my head back in a full laugh and wagged my finger at her. “Gwen, you’re going to be a lot of fun, aren’t you?”
Paul waved off his wife. “Honey, don’t meddle!” He looked at Joel and me, thumbing to Gwen. “She’s a meddler! It’s only getting worse the older we get!”
Gwen came alongside her husband, putting her arms around his waist and giving him a quick embrace. “I am, and I won’t apologize for it! I just want everybody to have what we have. We have worked together for forty years running all kinds of businesses because we are sickly in love and don’t want to spend even a minute apart. It’s not always easy or even ideal, but it’s been a good life.”
She glanced at her husband for confirmation. He playfully gave her the side-eye, which sparked a laugh from Joel and me, but his accompanying grin said it all. Paul wouldn’t be anywhere else.
“Know the best part of the location of my truck?” I asked Joel as we sat on the beach in front of the Pineapple Bay Resort. It felt like a lifetime ago I’d had the bungalow and a plunge pool and room service.
“It’s a block from Bob’s?” he guessed.
I held up my fish taco in confirmation. “I don’t think I could have bought it if it wasn’t within walking distance to heaven.”
“You’re going to end up going broke and helping Bob retire,” he joked, taking a bite of his burrito.
“Worth it.” Narrowing my eyes at him, I had to set the record straight. “But really, I’ll be fine.”
“Can I ask a possibly inappropriate question?”
“Always.”
He put down his burrito and twisted a few strands of his hai r
He put down his burrito and twisted a few strands of his hair for a moment while deciding how to phrase it.
I saved him. “You’re wondering how I can afford to do all of this so quickly?”
He took a bite to hide his grin and nodded.
“Um, think about it for a second. I stayed in that bungalow behind us for a week. I threw enough business at the spa to fund a small nation. I dress pretty well most of the time. I’m not afraid to admit I have money,” I replied directly.
I could see him calculating things in his head and laughed. “Look, Joel, I make way too much at my job. It’s ridiculous, but it’s what the industry pays. When the housing market was low, I was able to buy my apartment because of a generous inheritance from my grandmother. I’m currently debating whether to sell or sublease or throw it up on Airbnb. My financial guy is crunching the numbers. I’ve invested my money over the last few years, and I’m sitting in a really good position right now. This is the time to go big or go home.”
“Follow-up?”
I smiled.
“You said you’re renting a room from some stranger named Maggie. I mean, you could rent a whole place . . .” he trailed.
“I’m kind of waiting to see where things go with this one guy I met, but his place is too small for even my earring collection, and I didn’t want to pick somewhere more permanent until he and I could find what we liked together.”
He reached behind my head and pulled my face close to his. His nose rubbed against mine, lips hovering over my mouth. “This one guy, huh?”
“Yeah.” It came out quiet, and I gave him a lingering kiss. “I love him. Hard.”