Page 18 of Break Line

A Polynesian man with tattoos on both arms and the side of his neck stepped into view, just behind Kini. He recognized some of the tribal markings as the same as a few of his students.

He was too late. Of course, a beautiful woman such as Kini would have a guy already. Nate mentally kicked himself. He nodded to the guy. He wasn’t about to shake his hand and congratulate him for beating him to the punch. “OK. Well, if you would like to sometime, just give me a call.”

He turned to go home, anxious to get there and sulk in private.

“Actually, I’m free tonight if you want to make it dinner.” She put her hand on his shoulder before he got out of reach.

Nate’s eyes darted back and forth between her and the tatted guy. He wasn’t in any shape to fight this guy even though he was shorter and kind of wiry. He didn’t really know what to say back to her.

“Raul, this is Nate Fletcher, molecular science and bio-medics professor at HU.” Kini stepped to the side a bit.

Raul shot his hand out to shake his. “Nice to meet you, sir. I’ll be taking classes this fall.”

The guy had a firm grip, that was something. “Maybe I’ll see you in my class sometime.”

“Raul is my cousin. He lives on Kauai, but he’s staying with me for a week, so he can tour the campus and attend freshman orientation. Hey, why don’t you go to the surf shop with us?”

Cousin? Nate’s eyes flickered between Raul and Kini.

Cousin?!

“Sure.”

They rode the elevator down to the ground level where Kini’s car was parked. She motioned for Raul to get in the backseat so Nate could ride up front.

“Have you been surfing?” It was innocent enough, Kini had no way of knowing that he was still dealing with PTSD.

“No. Not yet.” He sighed, feeling like a failure when he wanted to impress her. “Kai keeps trying to get me back out there. He offered to take me out in his boat this weekend.”

“Want some company?” Kini turned down a side street, cutting across a couple of blocks to the back lot of Stan’s Surf Shop.

Maybe his luck was changing!

“Yes!” He answered before thinking it through. Just as soon as he said it aloud, he began worrying that he’d embarrass himself.

“Uh, just so you know, this will be the first time back out on the water. Trying to work through my fears.” He shrugged, feeling deflated.

“Hey, I think you’ve already made amazing improvements. It’s a process. When you were seeing me as your therapist, you were defeated. I worried about you.”

She pulled into a spot against the back wall. “Stan’s got a big sale going on, end of summer inventory blow-out. Thought I’d get a new board, maybe a new suit.” She waited at the end of the car for him to make his way around to her.

“I’ma go ahead on in,” Raul tossed over his shoulder as he made a beeline for the door.

Kini chuckled. “My graduation present to him. I told him I’d buy him any surfboard he wanted if he finished school and graduated. Last fall he was hanging out with a gang, skipping school, even got arrested a couple of times for misdemeanors. I guess the board was a good incentive.”

“You know what’s funny? My mom gave that incentive to me as well. I was in trouble in my junior year of high school. She chewed me out good, then told me that if I thought I could get my shit together, she’d buy me the best surfboard she could afford, and we would go to Hawaii after I graduated.”

“That’s awesome! So, what board do you ride?”

“A Blackbird seven-foot longboard. Of course, it has a big chunk bit out of it, so I guess I need to get a new one. Can’t get rid of it, though, my mom got me that board.”

“Not too many haoles can relate to that kind of incentive.”

“Yeah, my buddies gave me all sorts of grief.”

He opened the door for Kini so she could go in first. The excitement of that first board hit him as he saw the back wall lined with boards. He nodded to himself.

The tide was about to turn for Nate Fletcher.

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