Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Cora volunteered to head to the bowling alley early trying to avoid another awkward interaction with her brother. She planned to find a moment to get on the phone and call Vince. She'd messaged him late the night before but hadn't gotten a reply.
It kind of made sense.
It had taken a while for her to work through the seething anger she'd had roiling inside of her since her brother had thrown Vince out of the house.
She knew she could have stopped it, but she understood why Vince left. There was only so much that you could fight against a rock without breaking yourself into pieces. It was the reason why she'd sent the lotion out with Buck.
She was determined not to be 'that girl.' The one crying like a baby.
She was the adult she was trying to convince Cam that she was. She sucked it up and as much as she hated to say it, she'd pulled up her big-girl panties and sent the lotion as that olive branch to Vince.
Cora had kind of hoped that she might have heard from Vince sometime last night, but nothing had come through on her cell phone.
They had each other's numbers, but she had been determined not to get upset if she didn't hear back from him.
He might be more upset than he let on.
After all, he'd basically been kicked out of a home and sent to a hotel on the other side of the island where he didn't know anyone. As she took over setting up the tables and chairs in the center of the bowling alley, she let herself stew and grumble over the lack of communication.
There were, she had to believe, a half a dozen perfectly good reasons why he hadn't communicated with her, including the fact that she hadn't messaged him right after he left.
Cora blew out a breath that lifted the hair that had fallen forward onto her forehead.
That was on her.
She looked up at the clock over the bar and shook her head.
It was at that minute that Kawehi walked past her. "Hey, Kawehi?"
Kawehi turned and looked at her. "Hmm? You need something?"
Cora half-shrugged. "I was wondering if I could take a minute and make a call?"
Kawehi looked a little shaken and walked over to her. Kawehi's hands settled on her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Oh, Cora. You didn't have to ask. It's not like you're on the clock and even if you were, everyone gets a break." Kawehi draped an arm around Cora's shoulders and turned her around. "Look at all of these tables! You moved them all. You put the chairs to the side so we can decorate the table! That's a lot of work and you did it all by yourself. You could sit down until the end of the party, and I wouldn't find fault with it."
Maile walked by with a bottle of water with little ice chips clinging to the sides and put it in her hand. "Take a break. Make your call. We've got this."
Kawehi gestured to the bar area where they had the attached stools that twisted back and forth. "Have a seat. Relax. You've done more than enough!"
And before Cora could walk away, Kawehi took out a napkin from her apron and blotted the sweat from Cora's forehead.
"It's great to have you here."
Cora blinked back the tears. "It's been wonderful to be here and meet you two. To meet everyone in Cam's life."
"You're in ours, too." Kawehi blinked back a few tears of her own. "Now sit and relax."
Cora did what she was told, sitting down at the first stool at the bar. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she looked at her notifications and didn't see anything.
That didn't really mean anything, her phone was always messing up with sending notifications. So she lifted it up to unlock it with her face.
And the little light whirled around a few times before showing the number screen.
"Apparently, I'm a mess," Cora grumbled to herself, "my phone doesn't even recognize me."
"I don't know. I think you look gorgeous."
For a heart-pounding moment she froze, her phone clutched in her hands.
Then she felt a feather-light kiss brush against her cheek.
"I'm sorry, I didn't contact you last night or this morning, but I couldn't find my charger."
An image popped up in her head and she lowered her chin, smacking her forehead on her phone screen. "Oh god, I forgot to unplug it and put it in your duffel."
She turned on the stool and looked up at him.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't think about it when Buck was packing your stuff. Are you-"
He leaned in and kissed her.
A slow, searching kiss.
When he stopped, it took her a few seconds to open her eyes and look at him, and when she did, he was smiling.
"I'm sorry, I didn't talk to you last night." His voice was soft and combined with the look in his eyes, it made her warm all over.
"No, no worries. I think everyone was dealing with things in their own ways."
He lifted a hand and brushed her hair back from her face. "I think it did everyone good. Things between us," his gaze dipped down to her mouth and then back to her eyes again, "we’re going so fast."
She swallowed at the knot that formed in her throat. "We were moving quickly and..." She looked away from him at the wall, struggling to pull her thoughts together and not look as worried as she was feeling. "I guess we shouldn't've-"
"Hey," Vince caught her chin with his fingers, and held her still as he moved to fill her vision, "if you're going to go there, do it because that's how you feel. Don't say it if you think that's where my thoughts are going, because I wasn't. Let me explain this, okay?"
"Okay." She licked at her lips and met his gaze with more courage than she actually felt. "I'm listening."
He smiled and her heart melted. How could he have such an effect on her with just a smile?
"I think that we were going there because there's something between us. Something that I hope will keep growing over time. I just think that there's something to be said for getting to know each other better before we get there." His fingers trailed gently along her jaw, teasing her with tenderness. "We're going to get there, Cora. And when we do-"
"It's going to be amazing, isn't it?"
He nodded, agreeing with her. "We are."
Cora couldn't quite explain what it meant to her to have this conversation.
To say it took a weight off of her shoulders was an understatement.
Incredibly, it was a concern she didn't even know she'd had weighing her down!
Looking into Vince's eyes and knowing that they were somehow on the same page made her feel like she wanted to jump for joy.
Well, jump if her back wasn't sore from all of the furniture moving she'd done that morning.
"So," Vince gave her a quick peck of a kiss on her forehead, "what can I help you with?"
Grinning from ear to ear, Cora slid off of the stool and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I need a hug first."
"I'm all for any excuse to hug you." He wrapped her up in his embrace and moved his hands over her back. "Is it wrong to say I missed waking up beside you?"
"I missed waking up with you, too." She looked up at him with a wide grin. "Now that you're here. Can I put you to work?"
"Absolutely."
She looked across the room at the stack of fabric on top of a bowling ball rack. "We have to take those tablecloths and put them on these tables." She gestured at the massive table that she'd put together. "Apparently, the Phillips family is as big as an army." She clapped her hand over her mouth. "When my brother gets here, don't tell him I said Army."
Vince laughed. "Careful," he joked, "he's already here. He's the one who picked me up at the Navy Lodge and brought me today."
Her jaw dropped. "Cam brought you here?"
Vince nodded. "He came to see me last night at the lodge and we had a good talk."
Cora was stunned.
Shocked.
"I... I don't understand."
"Come on," he took her hand and started to walk over to the pile of tablecloths, "I'll explain while we help set up."
Smiling, Cora followed him across the room knowing that her Thanksgiving was going to be a wonderful day.
By the time they started bowling, Vince was regretting his choice of clothing. Not just for the day but for the trip.
His mother and grandmother put out a fantastic spread for any holiday meal, but the celebration with Cameron's Marine team and the Phillips family was on another level.
He'd never seen people take cooking so seriously.
With the number of people that showed up to the private party at Lanikai Lanes, it made sense that they'd had six different turkeys on the table. Cora was relaxing against his chest as they watched Arctic and Riptide take their turn in the seventh frame. Rubbing his hand along Cora's forearm, he leaned in close. "I can't remember... What was that oven that the last turkey came out of?"
She turned to look at him, the wry look in her eyes told him that he had to be more specific.
"Not the one that came out of that green egg thing, but the one they said was cooked in the ground?"
Cora's expression froze for a moment. "Huh. I can't... Maile?"
Cora leaned away from him and reached out across the backs of the chairs on the next lane.
"Maile?"
Maile turned around and grinned at Cora. "Hey. What's up?"
"I can't remember. The turkey that was cooked in the... in the ground, that was called-"
"Oh!" Maile nodded. "Uncle Wes cooked that in the imu."
"Emu?" Vince felt his brow furrow. "Like the bird?"
"No," Maile shook her head, "imu. I. M. U. Rocks are heated in a fire and then the meat is placed in the ground with the rocks. They put the pig in the imu, too. That's what we normally do for big family celebrations like weddings, graduation parties and baby's first birthday. Luaus. That kind of thing."
Vince's free hand rubbed against his stomach. "That was the best turkey. I think. It was so tender and-"
"Don't say it." Cora turned around to look at him. "Please don't say it."
"Say what?" Vince looked at Maile and then back at Cora. Both women had the same look on their faces, a kind of expectant horror. Mock horror, but still horror. "Moist?"
"Ugh!" "Gross!"
The two women laughed and then leaned against each other.
"What?" He looked up to see Kawehi walking over toward them. She was taking a break from consolidating the leftover food to relax. "What's going on with those two?"
Vince looked at the two women and then back at Kawehi. "I think they've both lost their minds. I was asking about that in-ground cooking thing-"
"The imu," she interjected, and he smiled.
"Yeah," he grinned in reply, "the imu. I was saying how I thought it was the best turkey since it was really tender and-"
"Moist!" "Moist."
Maile and Cora dissolved into giggles, leaning on each other over the chair-backs that made a kind of division between the two lanes.
Vince looked up at Kawehi and saw her standing there with her hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wrinkled at the corners as if she was silently laughing. "Not you, too."
She lowered her hand slowly away from her mouth and gave him a quirky grin. "It's one of those words that you either don't care about or you think it's..."
"Gross?" He sighed. "I'll have to keep that in mind."
Cora turned around and put her hand over his where he'd left it on his stomach. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just think it's funny."
He reached his thumb around and stroked the back of her hand. "I think you're funny."
She tipped her head forward and then looked back up, meeting his gaze. "I'm so glad you're here with me."
"I'm glad you asked me to come."
Cora leaned in and he did, too. Their lips had just touched, brushing against each other when a cheer rose up around them.
"Oh, come on!"
Cam was suddenly there beside them, clapping his hand down on Vince's shoulder. "Vince, it's your turn to bowl against me. Come on, man. It's time to give me a chance to beat your ass without my sister kicking mine."
Cora rolled her eyes and leaned away from Vince so he could get up.
Just before he moved to the ball return machine to grab his ball, he turned back and leaned in. "A kiss for luck?"
"Absolutely!"
She reached for the collar of his shirt and tugged him toward her, laughing as Cameron groaned as if his stomach was twisting up inside his belly.
"Do you have to kiss my sister in front of me, man?"
Vince looked at Cam making sure that he was joking.
Cora didn't have any such qualms and poked her brother in his chest. "I'm kissing him, Cam! Deal with it."
Cam turned his back and stepped up onto the approach with his ball clutched easily in his hand. "Sisters!"
Cora looked up at Vince. "You're going to beat his butt on this frame, right?"
Vince shrugged and looked over at the sparkling swirls of the blue bowling ball he'd been using. "I'll give it a try, but I haven't bowled a lot in my life."
Smiling at him, Cora shrugged. "Just do your best and maybe when we get back to Chicago, if you want, we can go bowling."
He nodded, enjoying the beauty of her smile and the suggestion that they'd be seeing a lot more of each other after they returned home. "I could get used to that."
Cora grinned at him. "There's so much we can do."
"So much we're going to do."
"Come on you two!"
Vince turned and saw Riptide waving them over.
"Let's go, man!" Riptide lifted his hands up in the air. "Romance the lady later and take these pins down!"
Vince put his hand over his heart. "You're cramping my style!"
Arctic and Pallas both sent looks in his direction, but it was Hoss who chimed in. "You'd have to have style for it to be cramped, Navy man! Get over here and bowl!"
Vince shook his head, smiling at Cora. "The things I do for good relations for the military branches."
"Go and bowl and I'll reward you for your efforts with another kiss."
Vince tipped his head a little to the side. "That makes it all worth it." With a wink he walked over and picked up his bowling ball from the return and gave Cameron a chin lift. "Let's do this, big guy."
Cameron glared at him. "Oh brother."
Vince stepped up on the approach beside Cameron and lifted his bowling ball in the same manner that Cameron did. Sure, he'd done this before a few times, but he did want to put in a good showing for Cora's benefit.
She'd already proved herself to be much better at this than Vince was, but that didn't bother him at all. He was looking forward to improving his skills so they could make this really interesting.
He gave Cameron a look and then a nod. "Let's go."