Page 44 of Try Me

She told herself to let go of his hand, but when the engine started and the rotor blades started slicing through the air, Pearl clutched Declan’s hand hard enough to break his bones.

“You can do this,” he said, speaking close to her ear so she could hear him over the noise of the death machine.

She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. A moment later, they lifted into the air. Pearl felt like her stomach was still on the ground as they took off into the sky. Declan pried his hand away from Pearl’s so he could reach forward and grab two headsets. He fixed one over Pearl’s hair and then donned his own. The headsets were equipped with two-way radios, making it possible to communicate during the flight.

Declan settled his arm around Pearl and she tucked herself against his side. She didn’t want to look down, but as the helicopter rose higher, and they began to pass over the interior of Oahu, Pearl couldn’t help but stare at the landscape beneath them. They were passing over the center of the island where the most fertile lands sprouted with rows of pineapples. To the west, the Waianae Mountain Range separated central Oahu from the Leeward Coast. To the east, the Ko’olau Range broke through the surface of the earth to stretch along the entire length of the island.

For a few minutes, Pearl forgot to be nervous. The view took her breath away. Declan’s arm around her shoulder was a comfort, his chest against her side was solid, and she could smell the now-familiar scent of his aftershave.

Her nerves came back as they zoomed over the North Shore, leaving Oahu behind and only the waters of the Pacific ahead. What if they crashed? They would die a watery death.

Declan’s mouth moved, and she heard his voice in her headset. “You’re doing great,” he said.

His voice sounded like he was speaking through a can, but it comforted Pearl.

“Thanks,” she said.

She didn’t feel great, but she didn’t feel like she was going to throw up, either. She was going to make it.

“How long is the flight?”

“Less than an hour.”

Pearl settled against the warm wall of Declan’s chest. His arm draped over her shoulder, and his head tilted toward hers as he gazed out the window. Some of her fear dissolved, allowing room for her mind to wander to what awaited them in Kauai.

Pearl had grown up hearing her Hawaiian family “talk story” about the waves they had surfed throughout the islands. Pearl’s mother and grandmother were both surfing legends. Pearl’s heart began to race with anticipation instead of fear. Then the helicopter dipped low and her heart rate skyrocketed.

“Talk to me,” she told Declan. “Distract me.”

“What should I say?”

“Tell me something about you I don’t know,” she suggested, then turned to look at him. She read the sympathy in his gaze. Feeling devious, Pearl knew this might be her only chance to get some answers she’d been dying to know. “Why does Nate handle your dating life?”

Declan stiffened, his eyes flicking from hers to the window and then back. “I’m a screwup,” he said. “A drunk.”

Pearl gasped. “I’ve never seen you touch the stuff.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I’m not a drunk.”

“What does that have to do with dating?”

“I don’t date. I can’t get involved with anyone. I’m too messed up.”

“Everybody’s messed up,” she said, laughing a little despite her racing heart. “I quit medical school to be a surfer. How messed up is that?”

Declan’s smile quirked. “Pretty messed up. Why’d you do it?”

Pearl bit her lip. It was a long story, but a distracting one. Perfect to take her mind off her fears. She took a deep breath and started.

“It was my father’s dream,” she said. “I never wanted it.”

“Your father?” he asked.

“After my mom died, I went to live with him on the mainland,” she said. “He got sick of me pretty quickly and sent me to boarding school when I was fourteen.”

Declan reached for her hand and squeezed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I got a good education, so it was for the best. The schools in Maui couldn’t give me what I needed, and my dad couldn’t bear to look at me.” She spared him a smile, even though her blood ran cold. “I thrived on the education. Even though it was hard being so different, I loved school,” she said. “I loved medical school, too. I just didn’t have the heart to be a doctor. I always wanted to continue my mother’s legacy. She had a dream that women would be revered in surfing like they were a long time ago. She died before she accomplished her dream.”

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