That One Time in Hawaii

Prologue

PROLOGUE

C an we talk?” His voice carried the hint of strain. The way it did after a long day in court.

I had finished packing a suitcase full of sun dresses and sandals, swimsuits and sunscreen. While we weren’t heading on our honeymoon until the week after the wedding, I was too excited to put off the task until the night before, like any sane person. My final phone call with the caterer, to make sure the salmon would be crusted just right and the appetizer crab cakes would be on separate trays from the Caprese skewers, was checked off. I was ready to let go of my to-do lists and focus solely on our big day.

Then Dane walked in the front door looking rushed as I zipped the last suitcase. His normally pristine hair was standing up on all ends like he’d been running his hand over his head repeatedly. He took off his Burberry tie and Ralph Lauren blazer, tossing them on my couch. I glanced at the clock. It was past seven—I hadn’t expected to see him at all tonight. With our families coming in the next day for the opening festivities and rehearsal dinner, we had agreed we would spend this last evening alone at our respective residences, taking care of any final wedding plans and tying up loose ends at our jobs so they could survive without us for the weekend.

I crossed the room in six quick strides and practically threw myself at him. He was tall, well-built with broad shoulders, and always the life of the party. It was something that had immediately caught my attention when we met right after college. Life with Dane was never dull.

He was wearing the deep green plaid button up I had given him last Christmas, the one that made his gray eyes and dark blond hair pop. With both my arms around his shoulders, I went in for a kiss and then he said the last thing I was expecting to hear: “I don’t think I can do this.”

“What do you mean?” A tease rang through my voice as I attempted to hide panic. “You aren’t getting cold feet, are you?”

“No, Nat.” He took a deep breath and finally looked me straight in the eyes. “I don’t think I can marry you.”

In that moment, I was pretty sure I had flatlined. I broke out into a slight sweat as I stepped back and searched his face. We had less than forty-eight hours to go before the nuptials. What was I supposed to say to that?

“Where is this coming from?”

“How’d we get this far? I mean, we met seven years ago and immediately became each other’s go-to person . . .” He paused and glanced all around the room in a panic.

“Right.” I offered a hesitant smile, still trying to recover from his initial declaration. To keep from exposing the tears threatening to fall, I rambled. “Then we eventually fell in love. And here we are, two years later, getting married. You’re going to be named partner any day now, and you’ll save the Earth one Christmas tree farm or humpback whale at a time. Is that what this is about? Are you worried about work? I promise, when we leave for Hawaii, they will survive without you for ten days. Breathe.” I demonstrated, grabbing his face between my hands and taking a deep breath in and exhaling slowly.

“No, Nat. It’s not that. Why are we doing this? Do you really want to go through with this?” He took a step back and brought his eyes back to mine, waiting for my response.