Then Comes Marriage by Emily Goodwin

Author:Emily Goodwin [Goodwin, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Ink
Published: 2016-06-28T21:00:00+00:00

~*~

“It’s not that late,” Rachel says when dinner ends. We talked and laughed throughout dinner, missing half the hula dancing because we were engrossed in conversation with each other. We’re the last to leave the luau, and we walk hesitantly from our table. “Do you want to walk along the beach with me?”

“I would like that.”

“Isn’t it amazing how this place is beautiful even in the dark?”

Like you are. “It is.”

We’re a decent distance from the hotel, and the shore isn’t perfectly smooth like it is near the resort. We carefully pick our way over rocks until we land in wet sand. We both take off our shoes, walking in ankle-deep water, going in the opposite direction of the hotel, but who cares?

I don’t.

“How old are you?” Rachel asks, kicking at the water.

“Thirty-one.”

“You’re old.”

“With age comes experience.” I smirk. “How old are you?”

“Don’t you know that, Mr. Stalker?”

“Humor me.”

“Twenty-four,” she tells me and bends over, picking up a rock and tossing it into the water.

“Favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“I like yellow,” she says. “And black. What are you doing tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. I came here with no plans.”

“I had plans. Nothing grueling, but there was stuff I wanted to see.”

“Like what?” I ask.

“I wanted to do the whole road-tripping the Road to Hana thing.”

“Why don’t you go?”

She watches the water and takes in a deep breath. Moonlight streams down above us and the crashing of the waves against the rocky shore is as hypnotic as the sway of Rachel’s hips. “It’s not really something you do alone.” A moment of defeat crosses her face. She blinks, long lashes coming together, then shakes her head and smiles.

It’s the fake smile, and it’s to convince herself.

“If you want—” I stop myself. What am I doing? She might not want to spend more time with me.

“Yes,” she says. “I’d like that.” Wind tousles her hair. “I have a rental car already booked too. I have a lot of stuff already booked. Do you like hot stone massages?”

“I’ve never had one.”

“They’re nice. Not quite as relaxing as a regular massage, in my opinion.”

“I’ve never had one of those either.”

Even in the dark, the shock is obvious on her face. “You’re just talking professional here, right? You’ve had your shoulders rubbed by…by someone I’m sure.”

“Yeah,” I say, though I can’t remember the last time anyone touched me. After Ben was born, life was all about him and making sure Deirdre was comfortable. I get a flash of his toothless smile, the way he’d wrap his little fingers around my thumb. Losing him broke me in more ways than one, and the day he left the walls went up. And a moat. Filled with sharks. I swore off love, never wanting to let anyone get close to me ever again.

“What is the Road to Hana?” I ask.

“You’re in Maui and don’t know what the Road to Hana is?”

“It appears so.”

She looks at me skeptically for another second. “It’s the Hana Highway that connects Kahului to Maui. There’s several stops along the way, mostly sight-seeing stuff.

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