Page 94 of Kai
“Sounds reasonable.”
“Reason doesn’t count when emotion takes charge,” I murmured. “The day before I was to report for boot camp, we had a huge argument. She wanted to get married. I wanted to wait. She was mad as a hornet. She grabbed her board and stomped out of my house, fuming. I didn’t go after her. I was too busy packing for bootcamp. While I was at it, I had a good talk with myTutu wahine—”
“Tutu wahine?”
“My grandmother,” I translated. “I lived with her after my parents died. She was a force of nature. People in our neighborhood called herKupua. In the old language, it means ‘sorceress.’”
“Oh.” It didn’t escape Cece’s attention that Sorceress was her code name and the nickname I used for her.
I flashed her a rueful smile and made a confession. “When I talked to your sisters and put together your profile, you reminded me of my grandmother—strong-willed, proud, unbreakable. A modern sorceress.”
She gaped. “Is this how you think of me?”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured, but her chest swelled a little. “Will you please go on?”
“My grandmother reminded me how difficult the world can be for women and especially for mothers. I decided I would make it work between Malia and me. For the kid, you know?”
Cece nodded.
“Once I was in, I was all in. So, I also decided that if Malia had agreed to have my baby, the least I could do was support her and honor her wishes.”
“So, you got married,” Cece concluded.
“I wanted to, but…” I had to clear the cobwebs from my throat and blink off the humidity in my eyes. “The ocean had other plans for us.”
Cece frowned.“The ocean?”
“The day was overcast and rainy.” I studied the trampoline between us, tracing the thick weave between my fingers. “I knew where to find Malia. She loved the water as much as I did, and when she was upset, she always ran to the ocean.”
A shadow of a smile flitted briefly across my lips, then disappeared behind the wave of pain crashing over me. I didn’t want to remember the next part, and yet how could I forget?
I forced myself to go on. “Having made my decision, I dropped what I was doing, grabbed my board, and headed for the breakers. It was sunset, and the clouds looked like an enormous bruise in the sky. As I approached, I could tell that the surfing conditions were rough. Red flags everywhere. By the time I got there, I saw a small crowd of surfers pointing at the menacing waves. That’s when I spotted a hot pink surfboard bobbing out in the ocean.”
Cece gasped. “Oh, no.”
“I dove in.” I closed my eyes and relived the moment in my mind. “People shouted at me. They said the ocean was too rough to attempt a rescue. I didn’t care. They didn’t know Malia like I did. She was going pro. She was the best surfer I knew, and she could handle anything the ocean threw at her.”
I paused to even my voice.
“I swam like a madman, fighting the currents and the waves for what seemed forever. Finally, I spotted her surfboard. I headed toward it. When I got there, I jumped from my board, and pulling on my leash, went under.”
Memories of the murky waters invaded my head. The visibility sucked. The churn fought back, pummeling me around. I spotted something in the underwater mayhem. A listless form dangled from the leash. Malia’s long hair swayed to the tune of the currents.
“I swam toward her,” I said, recalling every terrible detail. “Eventually, I reached her. I grabbed her and pulled her to the surface.”
Malia!I remembered shouting until my throat ached. Get on the board. Now!
The next part was even harder to tell. It was only when Cece sat up on her knees and hugged me that I could make words again. As she drew back and settled her hands over mine, I ground out the words.
“But Malia didn’t hear me.” I didn’t bother to hide the desolation that cracked my voice. “She wouldn’t get on the board either. Half drowning myself, I turned her around in my arms. Her eyes opened to the sky as wide as I’d ever seen them. Her lips were blue, and her face was gray as ashes. And the leash. It kept her firmly tied to her tumbling surfboard.”
I had to pause for a few more seconds to gather my courage.
“I released my leash and abandoned my board.” I shut my eyes and clenched my fists. “It took me for-fucking-ever to get Malia back on her board. The swim back was faster with the waves at my back. By the time I made it to the beach, exhausted, beat up, and bleeding, the EMTs had arrived. I dared to hope they could bring her back. I mean, modern medicine and everything, right?”
“Right,” Cece echoed, her tone hopeful.
