Chapter Thirty-Five
Rowan balanced a foil pan of garlic-butter shrimp on her hip as she stepped down onto the sand.
The beach glowed with that late-afternoon gold Waikiki did better than anywhere else.
The scent of grill smoke filled the air.
Laughter sounded from the spill of groups bringing more food, gossiping in circles, and watching the surfers catch waves.
Lea and Tino were arguing over who oversalted the kalbi ribs.
Brie, Chelsea, and Kelsey sat cross-legged on a blanket, ripping open a bag of li hing mui gummies like they were performing a sacred ritual.
Cousin Howie was shirtless (of course), stirring a cooler full of ice and beer with a wooden paddle like he was mixing a potion.
The aunties had claimed a long folding table and immediately turned it into a kingdom of macaroni salad, Spam musubi, and enough poke to feed a battalion.
It was warm and messy and loud—the exact combination that had raised Rowan, shaped her, and saved her.
The exact combination she hadn’t realized she missed until she stepped into it again.
She tapped the tat over her heart and finally sensed her father’s presence.
Leave it to Jack Delaney to remain quiet until she figured crap out on her own.
“Look at you,” Lea said, linking their arms the moment Rowan set the shrimp down. “You got your glow back. Don’t lie.”
Rowan rolled her eyes, but her mouth betrayed her with a tiny smile. “It’s sunscreen.”
“It’s sex,” Lea whispered with glee.
Rowan elbowed her. “Stop. We’re in public.”
“So? Half these people saw you wipe out on a ten-foot swell in junior circuit and almost lose your bikini bottoms. You think they’re scandalized you’re finally getting laid?”
“Lea!”
Her friend cackled, tossing a mango slice in her mouth before sobering. “Okay, fine. But seriously—you good?”
Rowan looked at Kelsey, who’d raced back into the water with the other girls. They paddled out together, and she noted the girl’s loose form and skill that had grown over these past weeks. “I will be,” she said softly.
Lea followed her gaze. “That kid adores you. Not surprising. You two breathe the same way on the beach.”
“I talked to her. She’s scared about leaving and losing everything she built here.”
“And her dad?” Lea’s gaze dove deep. “What are you going to do about your suit?”
Rowan shook her head once. “He’s going back to New York.
He’s set to get his big promotion and can’t turn it down.
I told him I couldn’t go, just like we discussed.
” She gestured around them, to the aunties, the sand, the smell of grilled teriyaki.
“This is home. This is my line. And I can’t leave it. Not again.”
Lea didn’t say I know. She didn’t say good. She just bumped her shoulder against Rowan’s and let silence do the empathy work. “You told him you love him?”
“Yes. We both said it. And you know what sucks the most, Lea? I waited forever and finally meet the guy that’s my soulmate—the damn unicorn! I even got an extra bonus with Kelsey. But I can’t live someplace that makes me smaller just to keep the man I love bigger.”
Lea’s expression softened in that rare way—the one she only used during breakups and post-wipeout panic attacks. “Good girl,” she murmured. “Doesn’t make it less shitty, but good girl.”
They fell quiet. Families were spreading towels across the beach.
Someone started playing ukulele. Cousin Howie shouted at a group of kids to “stop pretending those coconuts are grenades,” which only made them run faster.
Rowan gazed at the horizon, where ocean met sky and mountains shimmered and surfers flew high for precious moments that meant everything.
“This is what I want. I even decided to put some hours in at the youth club. Teach the groms.”
Lea beamed and lifted her hand for a high five. “About time! They’ll be lucky to have you.”
“I also want to ask you something. Something serious.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Rowan laughed. “No, for real. I know once Labor Day is over you start some serious training to get ready for comps. And I want to help you.”
Lea turned serious. “You sure? It could bring back some bad memories. Not going to think worse of you for not being able to do it, Ro.”
The answer settled into her bones. “I want to. The last piece missing is being back in the world I love—surfing. If I can’t compete, I’ll find a different way in. But I’m not denying stuff anymore.”
Lea’s eyes brightened. “Then I’ll take the help.” They smiled at each other. “Will he come tonight?”
Rowan’s chest tightened. “I don’t know. He’s probably busy with meetings and prep for New York.
I don’t blame him. He’s got a whole life waiting.
” She tried for a smile. It wobbled. “But yeah. I think he’ll stay away.
We left things badly. He disappeared before morning and I haven’t heard from him since. ”
Lea squeezed her hand. “Then we’ll hold the line with you.”
Kelsey popped up clean on her board and caught the swell, riding it in with a perfect bottom turn. She stepped off and pumped her fist in the air with joy.
Rowan laughed. “Look at her,” Lea whispered. “That girl is going to own the ocean one day.”
“She already does.”
God, she wished Everett were here. Not for a dramatic goodbye or apologies or tears. Just to hold him one more time, to press her mouth to his and breathe his breath and lay her head against his chest. Her entire body throbbed with a deep ache of want.
But he wasn’t here.
It was the shirt that caught her eye first.
That ridiculous yellow tee with the cartoon chicken doing a hula—the one she’d bought him at the Dole Plantation.
The one he’d shaken his head about with the straight-faced confidence of a man who understood wearing it would be committing a fashion crime.
It bobbed between the movement of bodies on the sand, the late sun catching its faded print as the crowd parted for a moment.
Her heart stopped. Stuttered.
Then he stepped fully into view.
Everett Hale, wearing the T-shirt with worn khaki shorts, like he’d raided the dad section of a gift shop, walking across the sand with purpose, his gaze locked on her as if she were the only fixed point on his map—his true north.
The rest of the world fell away. The chatter, the aunties laughing, Howie cracking open a coconut with a machete that made everyone yell at him—it all dimmed.
Lea muttered, “Well, damn,” under her breath. But Rowan couldn’t look away.
He didn’t rush. Everett never rushed. But there was something different in the way he moved now. Not hesitant, not conflicted, not carrying the stiff weight of a life he felt obligated to drag with him. He walked like a man who’d put something down.
And he was coming to her.
He reached the edge of the blanket where she stood. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. His gaze took her in, those dark eyes filled with a calm determination and naked love he wasn’t afraid to show.
“Hi,” he said quietly.
Rowan swallowed. “Hi.” She hesitated. “You came.”
Everett glanced around at the potluck. Kids shrieked in the water, aunties waved, Tino smirked like he knew everything, Lea watched them with her arms folded and her eyebrows sharp.
Everett’s mouth twitched like he couldn’t quite contain the insanity of what he was about to say. “Can we walk?” he asked.
She was shaky and hoped her legs would hold. She nodded and he fell in beside her, hands in his pockets, moving down toward the wet line of shore. The water lapped at their feet in gentle, steady strokes.
“You’re wearing the shirt.”
A smile tugged at his lips. Her fingers ached to trace it, lean in and pretend they could live in this moment forever. “Decided it would be a shame to ignore a fashion trend.”
Her laugh came out choked. They walked a bit more in stretched silence, but it wasn’t tense or cold. It felt more like something waiting.
“Rowan, I need you to hear this before I mess it up with too many words.” His voice came out low and steady. “Wolfe called me today and officially offered me the promotion.”
A dizzying array of emotions hit. She tried to process the pride and heartache twisting inside. “I’m so proud of you, Everett. Congratulations, you deserve this.”
“I’m staying.”
Her breath caught so sharply it almost hurt. “What?”
“I’m staying,” he repeated, slowing until they stopped completely. He turned to face her. “Not for a vacation. Not for a season. Not until things settle. I’m staying.” His throat bobbed. “For good.”
Her chest tightened. “Everett . . . you don’t mean that.”
“I do.” He dragged a hand through his hair, exhaling hard. “I was an asshole, sweetheart. I pushed you to make a decision that benefited me, then got pissed when you said no. You deserve better than that.”
Her eyes stung. The admission soothed the sting of his behavior.
“I spent the morning going over every part of the life I built—the one I thought was the only acceptable version. The job, the promotion, the money, the school for Kelsey. The whole damn skyscraper of it. And I realized something I should’ve seen a long time ago.”
Her heart thudded painfully, but she didn’t speak.
He stepped closer. “I wasn’t happy,” he said simply.
“Not for years. I was functioning. Performing. Winning at rules I never chose.” He gave a soft, incredulous laugh.
“And then I came here. And suddenly there were things I didn’t have to fix or control or earn.
I could just be me, and you loved me anyway. I’ve never felt that before.”
Her entire body stilled, waiting for his next words.
He cupped the back of his neck, the gesture rough with emotion he didn’t quite know how to handle.
“I thought if I scored this promotion it would solve everything. Prove I’d made it.
But I came to see you this afternoon. You were with Kels at the North Shore and Tino handed me a board and told me to find the answer in the ocean. ”
Rowan shook her head. “That’s so Tino.”
“I know. He pissed me off, but somehow he was right. I got back to the office and spoke with Wolfe and realized this promotion didn’t feel like a win.
It felt like a trap. One with a lot of shine and money.
And when I turned down the job, all I could think was how much I wanted to leave early to get to the picnic. To see my daughter. To see you.”
She swallowed hard. “Everett . . .”
He stepped closer, so close the warmth of him brushed her skin.
“You changed everything for me,” he murmured.
“You and this place. And Kelsey’s herself here.
She’s freer. Happier. I can’t drag her back to a life that was suffocating her just because I was too scared to admit I was suffocating, too. ”
Her lips parted. The shock of his speech blew through her, making her hot and cold, forcing her body into trembling. Everett reached out and tenderly tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. “B-but what are you going to do about work?”
“Wolfe offered me a different job.”
“Doing what?” she asked faintly.
“Running Purity Waikiki as the new general manager. Matthew is going back to Chicago, which left an opening. No constant travel, no New York grind, no pressure to be a machine. Just this. This hotel. This island. My daughter.” His voice softened. “And you.”
Emotion slammed into her with quiet force. “You want to give up everything? For . . . me?”
“No, sweetheart.” He cupped her cheeks and lowered his head. His warm breath rushed against her mouth. “I want to do this for me. That’s what the damn ocean told me. I’m not giving up anything. I’m gaining everything. If you’ll have me.”
She stared at him—at this man who had learned how to be soft without breaking, who had learned how to fight for joy instead of survival, who had learned how to choose love without losing himself. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.
“Say you’ll stay with me,” he said. “Here. In whatever way makes you feel whole. I don’t care about the shape of it. I just want you in it.”
He blurred as Rowan blinked back tears. His fingertips traced the line of her cheekbones with gentle, reverent strokes. She exhaled shakily. “Everett.” Her voice cracked. “I love you. Yes.”
His breath caught—like he’d been waiting for that one line to anchor all the rest—then he laughed, low and disbelieving, pulling her fully against him. “Thank God,” he murmured against her hair. “Because I’m wrecked for you.”
Then they were kissing, falling back into each other, as the ocean roared its approval.
She smiled against his chest. “You’re still wearing that shirt,” she said, voice muffled.
He groaned. “Do not ruin the moment. It’s our movie-worthy ending.”
She leaned back enough to look at it. “It’s even worse up close.”
“Rowan.”
“Suit.”
He barked out a laugh and her soul soared. “I can’t wait to surf at the North Shore with you.”
“I can’t wait for us to tell Kelsey the news,” she said, wrapping her arms tight around him, leaning into his quiet strength.
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Let’s tell her now, together.”
They held hands and walked up the beach toward their future.
Toward home.