Chapter 22
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
MIA
Mia wiped her hands nervously over her shorts. She sat at a table at the beach where she was supposed to meet Koa.
It had been a week and a day since his first devastating text. She hadn’t ever expected to see his name light up on her phone again. Yet this morning, it had.
Nat had told her to give him hell. Make him drown in his sorrows before he got even close to winning her back.
Mia didn’t even know if Koa wanted her back.
She knew Tutu was out of the hospital thanks to Nat and Lana’s text updates. Nat had told her Koa accused Mia of some wild things and was about to disclose them when Mia asked Nat if she believed them. Nat said no way, and Mia said she didn’t need to hear more.
She wasn’t sure why she’d said that. When her ex was making up stories about Mia, she’d wanted to know each and every one. She’d wanted ammunition to fight him with.
But with Koa it had been different. She didn’t want to fight with him. She just wanted the pain to cease.
But now she was here, against Nat’s and her own better judgment. She hadn’t wanted to talk. She hadn’t wanted to look back.
But he’d texted. He’d reached out.
And she knew she might regret coming.
But she knew what she’d regret even more was if she didn’t see him.
So she was here. Right after school. In a cute tank and jean shorts.
Her hair whipped around her face, the beachside wind doing her no favors. Mia wrapped her long hair up into a bun and then played with the strands that fell around her face.
Two more minutes.
Koa had had to lifeguard at the beach so they were meeting here right after his shift.
“Mia.”
She melted. Just the sound of his voice was enough.
Koa laid a paper grocery bag on the table before throwing a leg over the bench Mia sat on. His body came so close she felt his warmth before he backed away. She didn’t know if it was because he thought he had no right or because he was avoiding getting too close because he was repulsed by her.
Mia swallowed, her eyes on the bag.
She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
“Um,” Koa handed her the bag. “I brought this as a peace offering, but now it seems silly because it isn’t enough. I mean, what’s enough in a situation like this one. Even if I could afford diamonds, they couldn’t say sorry with the sincerity I mean it.”
Sorry?
That, Mia hadn’t been expecting.
Maybe it had something to do with what Nat tried to tell her. Maybe Koa was spreading vicious lies about her and now he was sorry?
Mia opened the bag and saw her favorite poke bowl, spicy ahi and kani salad.
She brought the bag into her lap, knowing she couldn’t stomach anything. She hadn’t eaten much since Koa had texted her the week before. “Thank you,” she managed.
Her eyes stayed on the bag in her lap for one minute. Then two. There were so many words to say? Weren’t there? And yet they both sat silently.
“Did Nat tell you what I told her?” Koa finally spoke.
Mia shook her head. “I didn’t want to hear it.”
Even now Mia wasn’t sure why. It had felt like a way of protecting herself, maybe? Defending Koa? Possibly.
“I made a huge mistake. I don’t expect you to forgive me. You probably won’t be able to forgive me, but I still had to apologize.”
Mia blinked, glancing up to look up into his gorgeous hazel eyes, and her heart fissured.
She should have kept looking at the bag.
She wanted to say something, to respond, but words were not coming. So she bit her lip and waited for him to go on.
“That day,” Koa began. He didn’t have to clarify. Mia knew the exact day he was talking about.
“I went back to the house to get Tutu’s stuff.”
Mia nodded. That’s when he must have spoken to his mom. He had to have. Maybe his mom told him lies and he’d spread them and now he was sorry? Did that mean he didn’t believe his mom anymore?
But that didn’t change that he still thought Mia might leave him and break his heart.
“Tutu had most of her stuff in her room and our bathroom but she has an electric toothbrush. I knew she’d want a regular one in the hospital, and I couldn’t find one anywhere, so I went into your bathroom where we store our extra toiletries.”
Mia’s eyes stayed on his even though her heart screamed at her not to. But if this was her last memory with Koa, she didn’t want to spend it staring at a bag.
“And lined up on the counter were orange bottles,” Koa explained.
Mia cocked her head in question. Orange bottles? Mia mentally went through her skin-care regime and couldn’t think of a single orange bottle.
Oh, orange pill bottles.
Wait, but why were they on her bathroom counter? Mia had no prescriptions. And why hadn’t she seen them there when she went to move out?
“I don’t have any prescriptions,” Mia said, something niggling in the back of her mind.
“None of the bottles had your name on them…” Koa said, shifting so that he was now seated closer to Mia.
Mia didn’t think he even noticed what he’d done but she had. It was ridiculous how much she’d missed him. How in such a short time he’d become such an integral part of her life. And now, just that scootch forward, was enough to balm her troubled heart.
Wait, none of the bottles had her name on them?
Her chest felt tight. Prescription drugs, her run-in with Koa’s mom, Koa finding the drugs in Mia’s bathroom right after that…
How could she?
Mia could believe the woman would do something to hurt Mia, but to play on the fears she’d created in Koa? Mia had never experienced living through something so despicable. Parents were supposed to protect their children from things like this, not cause them and then exploit them.
And just like that, her heart tore once more, this time not for herself but for Koa.
“I’m so sorry, Koa,” Mia began, her tired eyes stinging once more.
“You’re sorry?” Koa moved even closer. “No, no. I’m sorry. I should have never believed the bottles were yours. I should have talked to you instead of texting you to leave. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt.”
“Why?” Mia said softly. He’d only known her for a couple months.
Most of that time they’d had few interactions, many of them not good.
Yes, they’d become something more than friends, but yes she could have still been hiding something as big as a drug addiction.
It was easy to see why he’d believed what was right in front of his face, especially considering his past with addicts.
“It would have been nice if you’d talked to me, but you’d just experienced a sleepless night worrying about the most important person in your life.
Then you’d come face to face with a mother who has done…
” Mia paused, not wanting to offend Koa.
“Unforgiveable things to her son?” Koa offered.
Mia nodded. “Your emotions were at an all-time high.”
“I should have communicated better.”
Mia thought about her own sleepless nights, the actual breaking of her heart—yes, communication would have been nice.
But she also understood why he’d done what he’d done.
He had gotten her out of the hospital when she’d been near his defenseless Tutu.
And even with thinking she was an addict, he hadn’t kicked her out of their house, it had been Mia’s choice to move out when she did.
“I’m so sorry, Mia,” Koa said, taking her hands in his.
Her heart stuttered. “I know,” she said because she could feel his genuine sorrow.
“I’m sure it will take some time to forgive me, for us to be friends…” Koa stalled on that word.
She shook her head even as nervousness welled within her.
She knew what she had to do. She had to take this chance now because she now knew what life was like without Koa.
Maybe this would blow up in her face, maybe she’d spend nights awake regretting it, but what she knew for sure is that if she let this chance go by, she’d regret it even more.
“I don’t know that we were ever actually friends,” Mia said.
Koa dropped her hands. “Right.”
A shy smile came to her lips. “We were kind of enemies, and then I had this pesky little crush on you.”
Koa’s eyes focused on her smile, a small one of his own responding to hers.
She knew Nat was going to ream her out for this.
How could she forgive him so quickly when he’d broken her heart?
But Mia knew from her marriage that there were actions that couldn’t be forgiven and misunderstandings that had to be forgiven.
Because really hadn’t it been his mom’s action that had hurt them both?
Could he have trusted her and come to her? Yes. And in the future he’d better. But his reaction made so much sense. Mia couldn’t help but instantly forgive him.
“My crush wasn’t pesky or little,” Koa replied, lightness entering his countenance.
Mia’s smile grew. “So I’m saying I can forgive you….”
“But we can’t be friends?”
Mia shook her head. “We can’t just be friends. But we can be friends that go on dates,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders as if she didn’t make the rules.
“Just like that? You forgive me?” Koa said the words as if they were unbelievable.
“You did bring my favorite poke bowl,” Mia said, lifting the bag.
Koa grinned.
“And honestly, this was something that happened to both of us. I can’t blame you for your reaction. But if we continue on as ‘friends,’” Mia emphasized the word, “you’d better communicate with me much better in the future.”
“I can assure you, I one hundred percent will,” Koa said quickly.
“Then I forgive you.” Mia’s grin was so wide it hurt her cheeks, but she was just so ridiculously happy. Something she couldn’t have imagined even hours ago…yet here she was.
Koa shook his head, his eyes still conveying the unbelief he felt.
A few moments later, that unbelief was replaced by determination. As if he too wasn’t going to squander their second chance.
“Then it’s appropriate for me to ask you on our second date?” Koa asked.
Mia nodded enthusiastically. “But only if it involves a helicopter,” Mia teased.
“I don’t know about the helicopter. I’d rather not have Preston on every date we go on.”
Mia laughed. “Okay, no helicopters,” Mia said dramatically with a sigh as if she was giving up all her hopes and dreams.
“But what about sharks?” Koa offered.
Mia laughed again but noticed Koa wasn’t joining her. She sat up straight. “Wait, for real?” she asked.
Koa nodded.
Mia bit her lip, thinking about the vast ocean.
She’d never been the kind of girl to dream of swimming with sharks.
But then again, she’d never been the kind of girl who would have moved across the ocean all by herself, taken a job at a school she’d never seen, and ridden a helicopter on the first date. Maui Mia was one of a kind.
And Maui Mia had a handsome, kind, wonderful man who wanted to take her on adventures. Could Maui Mia say no to that?
“Let’s go,” Mia said standing up from her bench.
“Like right now?” Koa asked, his eyes big.
Mia nodded, loving that she’d thrown him off kilter. He kept her on her toes, and she wanted to do the same for him. “I’m guessing you know a guy with sharks?”
Koa laughed. “Something like that.”
“Can your guy get us in now?”
Koa considered for a second before nodding. “I’m sure he can.”
“Then yeah, right now.”
“I like the way you think, Ms. Goodman.” Koa stood taking Mia’s hand. “And Mia,” he swallowed as he looked into her eyes. “Thank you for forgiving me. Truly.”
Mia nodded before he continued. “This might be a bit much for a second date, but life without you?” Koa squeezed her hand gently. “It’s pure sadness.”
Mia smiled softly, completely understanding Koa’s sentiment.
She held his hand tighter, knowing that she wasn’t going to be letting go of him anytime soon. And judging by the look on Koa’s face, he wouldn’t be letting go either.
As they jogged to Koa’s truck, Mia felt a lightness and freedom she hadn’t experienced in a long time. A feeling of peace, of home, that she’d been missing for too long.
She didn’t know what would come of their future. She knew it wouldn’t always be easy. But what she did know was that on that day she chose Koa and life with him and he was choosing her.
And for Mia, that was more than enough.