Aloha Rose by Lisa Carter

Author:Lisa Carter
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781426778117
Publisher: Abingdon Fiction
Published: 2016-04-20T00:00:00+00:00

11

Panic-stricken when Teah called and told him what happened, Kai’s first thought had been to search the beach or follow the road to town until he spotted her. His relief to see her standing in his own front yard under the tree that used to hold the Hayashi children’s swing had been so profound as to almost drop him to his knees.

Then, he noted the streaks of blood on her arms. Observed the tear tracks salt-dried on her cheeks. Her swollen, pain-filled eyes gouged his soul. He rushed forward and enfolded her within his arms.

“Laney.” Her hair smelled of pīkake. Just this once, he prom-ised himself, he’d comfort her. And allow her to comfort the hole inside him.

She burrowed her face in the fabric of his old polo. And he noticed how perfectly her petite form fit within the circle of his arms. How the top of her head fit at just the right spot into the hollow underneath his chin.

Her body convulsed with the lingering remnants from sobbing too long alone. “Sh-she doesn’t remember who I am, Kai. She’s forgotten me, too.”

A shudder went through him. Her arms wrapped around his waist.

“I’m so tired of being everybody’s mistake,” she whispered.

Kai pulled back so he could see her face. He nudged her chin with his finger. “You were never a mistake.”

Her knees wobbled, as weak as a newborn foal. Scooping her into his arms, he carried her into the house and out to the lanai where the sun blazed a molten gold path to the edge of the horizon. Settling her into the rattan love seat, he winced at the condition of the soles of her feet.

Closing his eyes, he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “I’m going to get some water and clean those cuts. It’s not going to be fun.”

She leaned her head upon the backrest, her eyes fixed on the sunset. “I’m tougher than I look. Survivors like me just keep going and going and going. From abandonment to cancer to Alzheimer’s and rejection . . .” Her body jerked on a sob.

Kai retrieved a basin, cloth, and water from the kitchen. He prayed the beauty of her homeland would seep into her soul in this hour of her need, healing and restoring. The depth of his feelings for her shocked him into silence as he gathered his first-aid supplies. His feelings deepened every hour they spent together. The part of his heart he’d closed off frightened and beckoned him at the same time.

He returned to the lanai to find Laney’s first Hawai‘ian friend curled in her arms and offering an intuitive solace only Kolohe could provide. After a moment’s annoyance with the stray, Kai recognized the stupidity of his jealousy at a cat in a place the secret part of Kai longed to be, too.

She bit her lip to keep from crying out when she slid her feet into the lukewarm water of the basin.

“You don’t have to play the hero for me.” Kneeling beside her, he dabbed at the cuts on her arm.

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