Meet Me in Hawaii by Georgia Toffolo (novels for beginners txt) 📕

It had gone from zero to one hundred in a flash. He’d forgotten all about the food cooking and his good intentions to take the evening slowly, he’d been so caught up in her and the fact that she’d reciprocated. Every urgent movement of her mouth against his, her fingers over his shirt, in his hair, neither coming up for air, proved as much.

But when he’d turned away and rescued dinner, the woman he’d looked back to hadn’t been the same. A shutter had come down and it was still in place now.

Plus, she was jumpy, on edge, the slightest brush of their fingers and she was snapping her hand away, her eye contact brief, making him want to keep talking just to bring her attention back to him.

‘What food did your father like to cook?’

‘All sorts,’ she said, looking at her plate and twirling the noodles around her fork. ‘He was from here so lots of traditional Hawaiian dishes, poke and rice was a fave, but then he’s just as great at a Sunday roast – his lamb is to die for.’

Her smile was bittersweet, and he could catch the sudden thickness to her voice. He didn’t want to make her sad, but he did want her to open up to him. To understand her better.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve had a Sunday roast. How are his Yorkshires?’

She pinched her thumb and index fingers together. ‘The best.’

‘It’s a shame he didn’t pass his skills on to you, then.’

She gave a soft laugh and scooped the food into her mouth, her eyes still distant but more relaxed now. She shook her head as she chewed and swallowed it down. ‘That was definitely Koa’s territory, he had the patience for it, whereas I just wanted to tear it up and throw it together. I’d drive Dad crazy and the kitchen would become a war zone, hence why Mum started taking me out of the house, leaving the men to enjoy it in peace.’

‘Were you not envious of your brother for having that time with him?’

‘Nah, it was best for everyone’s sanity. And we always ended Sunday with a family surf so long as the weather wasn’t too horrendous – in fact, we’d start and end most days in the sea when we could.’ That bittersweet smile was back and then she gave a little laugh at whatever memory she was reliving. ‘We used to have competitions too.’

She looked across at him and his throat closed over. Her eyes glistened with emotion; her beauty magnified all the more by her sorrow.

‘Competitions?’

‘Yeah, we’d race down to the water, all four of us, grab our little notepads and pretend to have our own surf comp, we’d do the whole panel thing, scoring each other up, announcing an overall winner.’

He smiled. ‘What was the prize?’

She gave a little shrug. ‘Anything from the last helping of pudding to getting out of washing up for the week.’

He held her gaze, trapped in the swirling pools of green. ‘You miss them?’

‘The competitions?’ she teased and then her eyes were serious again. ‘More than I want to admit.’

She looked back to her bowl, but he could tell she wasn’t really seeing it. ‘I miss how it was before… I miss the people they were, the people we all were, the times we had before Koa left us.’ She lifted her gaze to the ocean. ‘I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to have anything close to what we had before we lost him.’

He wanted to reach for her. Pull her into him. Ease her pain. But he wasn’t sure she’d welcome it, not after the change in her. He took up his wine instead, keeping his fingers busy to resist the urge.

‘You should talk to them. I know you said you’ve tried, but having seen you out there, on the waves, it’s a part of you. Asking you to give it up would be like telling you not to breathe.’

She gave him a sad smile. ‘You say that even though it’s dangerous?’

He laughed softly. ‘I can see why they’d prefer you took up knitting, or something else equally safe.’

‘I’m not sure about that – you haven’t seen me with a knitting needle.’

He laughed with her now, happy that she was still able to joke.

‘They loved to surf once too, maybe you just need to remind them of that?’

She shook her head, her smile disappearing. ‘It was as much a part of them and they still gave it up. When Koa found out that they’d quit, he was so upset and he told them as much, but he was tired, and they just wouldn’t listen.’

‘Maybe it’s time you tried again? Remind them that Koa would want them to surf too?’

She gave a gentle scoff. ‘My gran tried a few years back and it totally ruined Christmas.’

‘Your gran?’

‘My mum’s mum. But it just became a slanging match, them declaring me selfish, inconsiderate, insensitive – you name it, that was me – and I just shouted back, but I couldn’t find the courage to say what I really thought, that they were cowards, living in fear and insisting I do the same. That… that Koa dying didn’t mean we all had to stop living. I just couldn’t bring myself to say it.’ She shook her head, her fingers trembling as she raised them to her lips. ‘Suffice it to say it didn’t end well… I try to see Gran on her own when I go back, but she’s still torn between interfering for my parents’ sake and trying not to push me away.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s hard.’

‘That’s families all over.’

She took up her wine glass and saluted him with it. ‘I’ll drink to that.’

He sipped at it his own, his eyes shifting to the view as he considered all that she had told him and trying to think of a way to help, some advice to give, but then what did he know