Chapter 10
TEN
KAWEHI
By the time the others left, Kawehi was exhausted. It wasn't anything emotional, just physical. She spent much of her life inside of the bowling alley and when she wasn't there, she was at home. There wasn't a lot of time in her life for going down to the beach.
Or that's what she'd told herself.
"How are you feeling?"
She smiled at Dom's question. He asked her questions and he actually wanted to listen to the answer.
"I'm tired. I feel like I'm about to drop."
"Have a seat," he gestured at the picnic table near the front door of the cabin. "I'll get you a bottle of water and you can relax for a bit."
She sighed. "Cold water sounds amazing."
Kawehi heard the distinctive sound of the cooler opening and then the soft crunch of ice moving around.
"Is it wrong that I want to dive headfirst into the cooler?"
"You like ice baths?" Dom's laughter warmed her even more.
"I've never tried one, but I've been to the Ice Palace before, and I didn't even put a sweatshirt on."
"Ice Palace?"
She turned on the picnic table seat to look at him and saw the cold water dripping from the bottle and his forearm. Suddenly, she was sweltering again. "It's our one ice skating rink here on the island. My mom was on their first drill team when they opened up."
"Your mom was a figure skater?"
Kawehi shrugged. "She took lessons and performed with the group, but she took me when I was a kid and chaperoned some school field trips. She thought I was crazy that I didn't want to wear a sweatshirt or a jacket."
"Here." He put the cold bottle of water in her hand, and she sighed happily. "I want to hear more about your family."
He put a hand on the picnic table and straddled the bench seat. He reached out a hand and set it on her shoulder.
"Ouch!"
He pulled his hand away from her but didn't move away. "What's wrong?"
She dropped her chin down to her chest. "I don't think I put enough sunscreen on.
I'm pretty sure that my shoulders are going to look like a red lobster tomorrow.
" She set the bottle down on the picnic table and reached a hand across her chest to touch her shoulder, hissing when she felt the pain.
"I should go in and grab my after-sun lotion. "
"You stay here. I'll get it."
He was gone before she could thank him for being so thoughtful, and she pulled down the straps of her swimsuit. Even in the near darkness of twilight she could see the difference of her skin under the swimsuit strap and the skin around it.
Kawehi got to her feet and stepped away from the picnic table before Domenico appeared in the doorway of the cabin.
"Are you okay?"
She laughed a little at herself. "I really should have known better, but I turned myself into a lobster."
He lifted his hand and she saw the bottle with green gel in it. "I can put this on for you."
Kawehi bit into her bottom lip. "Oh, I'm going to need that, but I think I should shower first and make sure I have all the sand and surf off."
Domenico nodded. "I'll get your bag and walk you over."
For a moment she thought about stopping him and going to get her bag herself, but she held back, and in a moment, he returned with her bag in one hand and a concerned look on his face.
"I'll walk you over to the showers."
She felt into step beside him. "You don't have to."
"I just want to make sure you get there safely and back. I'm sorry you burned."
"It was my fault." She leaned into him, bumping her shoulder against him, hissing when she felt the pain. "I'm born and raised here in Hawaii, and I let himself burn like a marshmallow."
He chuckled. "Between lobster and marshmallow, it's a lot of food."
"Well, when I think of burning from the sun I think of food."
The shower building was just up ahead.
He chuckled. "I'm not okay with you hurting, but I started liking the burnt marshmallows in my family because someone had to eat them."
Domenico stopped just outside the showers, and she turned to look at him, smiling because she couldn't do anything else no matter the pain she felt in her shoulders.
"I barely toasted mine at all. I liked to feel the outside of the marshmallow against my tongue, just a little stiff, but that's all."
She started to walk inside and stopped short, her nose scrunching up a little.
Turning back to Domenico she winced. "That's not how I meant that to come out."
He was smiling ear to ear. "I didn't think so, but you can say anything to me. I don't mind."
"But... yeah, okay." She shook her head and sighed. "I'm just a mess, aren't I?" Kawehi was just passed the open doorway, ready to turn into the bathroom when she heard his voice.
"I like you just the way you are."
PALLAS
He didn't move far away, finding a bench along the side of the building so that he could be there when she came back out.
He didn't even spend all the time alone.
Another couple, both about the same age as Heath Derringer, another one of the men on his team, came by and the husband sat down beside him to wait as his wife went inside.
The man gave him a little nod. "Waiting for your wife?"
Pallas paused for a moment and then answered him. "Girlfriend."
The older gentleman folded his arms across his chest. "Had to think about that for a minute, hmm?"
Pallas nodded, but before he could explain, the other man did it for him.
"Future wife, huh?" He leaned his head back toward the entrance around the corner. "She was that for me, too. I met Anna and the whole world changed."
Pallas felt that familiar ache in his chest. Before Kawehi, everything had been normal for him. Life. Work. Then he'd met her and suddenly everything was... more. Better. "Exactly. It's only been-"
"It doesn't matter if it's two months or two days, son. The feeling doesn't go away if it's the right feeling."
Laughing softly, Pallas nodded. "I have a few men on my team who say they feel like that about every woman they're with."
"Are they talking about the heart or something... below the belt."
Pallas felt his cheeks warming at the man's words. "Below."
"Well, those kinds of feelings aren't feelings. Those are hunger pangs. And I'm sure you've eaten more when you shouldn't have."
"That's happened a time or two." It didn't feel at all strange talking to a man he'd just met. "But when I think of Kawehi, it's all," he looked down and realized that he'd placed his hand over his heart.
"That's a familiar feeling. If that's where she lives, son, don't second guess it. Enjoy it. It's an adventure of a lifetime."
Kawehi stepped out, her gaze fixed on their cabin, so she didn't see him.
"'Wehi! I'm over here."
She turned and smiled at him. "Hey." She immediately started in his direction, and he got to his feet. "I waited for you."
Her smile was radiant, even in the dark of the campground. The moon above giving him enough light to see her.
"Hi," she stepped forward, her hand out to the man he'd been talking to, who was also on his feet. "I'm Kawehi Phillips."
"I'm Edward Mays. I'm waiting for my wife."
"Anna? She said you'd probably be out here." She looked at Pallas and he felt his heart swelling in his chest. "She told me that you'd probably be out here, too."
"My wife is a very astute woman." Edward gave Kawehi a wink. "She's also the most incredible woman I've ever known."
"And she said you were the most gallant and handsome man she'd ever met in her life. I'd say that the two of you are perfectly matched."
Edward gave him a hearty pat on his back. "Sounds like you've found a perfect woman for yourself, -"
"Domenico Pallas."
"Domenico Pallas," the man mused. "That's a mouthful of a name."
"His team call him Pallas."
"Smart idea." The other gentleman lowered his hand to his side. "You two have a nice time camping here. My Anna and I come every other year to the islands. It reminds us of the best times of our lives stationed here at KBAY."
Pallas saw Kawehi's smile, softening at the mention of his base, instead of the tension she'd felt when she'd first met him.
"That's where Dom... I mean, Pallas, is stationed."
Edward gave him a quick nod before speaking to Kawehi.
"Call him Dom all you like, sweet lady. He's going to need someone to keep his feet pressed firmly on the ground.
Sometimes on the job we can get a little.
.. full of ourselves. We start thinking we're invincible.
Supermen. It's always nice to come home to a woman who can keep us in check. "
Pallas saw the confusion on Kawehi's face. He had a feeling that she was probably trying to decide if she should explain who they were to each other.
"Now you two go..." Edward swept his hand toward the cabins. "Enjoy the moonlight. You're only young once." He looked over at Pallas and gave him a quick nod. "At our age, everything is already silver before the moonlight touches it."
Pallas reached out his hand to Kawehi and she took it without any pause. "I can't argue with a superior officer."
Edward chuckled. "I doubt I was ever your superior, son, but go... enjoy your night with your woman. Make memories that you'll never forget."
Pallas reached out his free hand and Kawehi gave him her bag without a fight, but he could see something in her eyes that told him he wouldn't be so lucky all of the time.
By the time they'd moved far enough away that they couldn't hear the water in the showers, he looked over at her. "You didn't fight me because of Edward. Right?"
She gave him a side-long glance. "Smart man. I'm perfectly capable of carrying my own stuff."
"I'm not going to argue about that."
"Then why?"
"Because I like doing things for you. I like making your life easier when I can. I like taking a little bit of weight off of your shoulders."