Page 19 of Try Easy

Tropics Drive-In

Keoni

They stoppedat Tropics Drive-In and ordered burgers, fries, and shakes.

Keoni ate automatically, even though he didn’t feel hungry. Seeing Declan had taken him back two years to Eddie’s death. The last time Keoni had seen Declan had been at Eddie’s memorial. They hadn’t parted on good terms.

After Keoni had a chance to cool off, he’d dropped by Declan’s to apologize. Declan had already split, and he hadn’t come back yet. That was two years ago.

Keoni had seen Declan’s name on the list of invitees to the Duke last month, but he’d put it out of his mind, too angry that he hadn’t been selected.

Maybe next year, Keoni hoped.

He’d been hoping that for three years, but he didn’t let that discourage him. He knew he needed to be patient. Times were changing. They couldn’t keep ignoring Hawaiians.

Even though the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championships was named after the most famous Hawaiian surfer in the world and held in Hawaii, it was an exclusive contest. No Native Hawaiian had ever been invited. Keoni planned to be the first.

It shoulda been you, Declan had said.

And he was right. There was no one better at surfing on the North Shore than Keoni. But if he couldn’t win, then Declan was the next best thing. Keoni had meant it when he’d told Declan he hoped he’d win.

Declan could do it, too. He was as talented as anybody, and he knew the waves better than most. The only problem was that the contest was at Sunset Beach—where Eddie had died.

Declan had to keep from pressuring out on the same waves that had stolen their best friend.

“You gonna eat those?” Lou asked.

“Hmm?”

“Do you want your fries?” She pointed to the uneaten fries on Keoni’s tray.

“Nah,” he said, passing Lou the fries.

She smiled and helped herself to them. Keoni watched as Lou polished off his fries. When she was finished she pushed the tray away and climbed out of the car, taking her camera with her.

“So, where should we go first?” Penny asked.

Keoni got out of the car, leaving Bones to answer the question. He watched Lou wander off to the edge of the parking lot with her camera in front of her face. She was so absorbed in looking through the lens that she nearly stumbled over a curb.

She righted herself quickly enough and then bent down and aimed her camera up at the Tropics Drive-In sign. When she got the shot she wanted, she stood up and dropped her camera to her chest, then headed back.

Keoni liked watching Lou take her pictures. She was so completely absorbed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice what was going on around her. A hurricane could be coming and she wouldn’t see it blow by.

It reminded Keoni of how he felt when he surfed. He got lost in himself the same way Lou did.

It was easy to watch her. She was pretty. She was tall and curvy, like the paintings of the Hawaiian goddesses, and she had unusual eyes—more green than blue. But her hair was her best feature. She had it pinned on top of her head, but most of it had escaped to curl around her neck and shoulders. The sun picked up the blond and copper highlights among the strands of brown, turning it a dozen technicolor hues.

Lou saw Keoni and smiled at him. She did that a lot, he’d noticed. Something squeezed in his chest, and he amended his earlier assessment that Lou’s hair was her best feature. It was definitely her smile.

When she smiled, a dimple winked in her cheek, and her whole face lit up. Even though it hurt his mouth, Keoni felt himself smiling back.

With the lei of flowers around her neck and the camera in front of her face, Lou looked like the very definition of a tourist fresh off the boat. Keoni hated tourists, but he couldn’t help thinking Lou was cute.

No- cute wasn’t the word. The only thing cute about her was her delicate nose. The rest of her, from her long legs to her wide smile, wasn’t cute—it was sexy as hell.

“It’s beautiful here,” Lou said, coming to stand next to him.

“Hmm,” he said, dragging his eyes away from Lou to the scenery. When he saw what she was looking at, Keoni laughed. They were on a busy road in Honolulu. “This is nothin’.”

---