Page 50 of Blue Hawaiian
“I did at first, but—”
With an ear-splitting shriek of feedback, the driver turned on his microphone and addressed them. As the shuttle van barreled through the darkness, he regaled them with stories of Hawaiian lore and culture, which Jess found fascinating.
When they reached the top of the mountain, the parking area was crowded with shuttle vans, buses, cars, and motorcycles. Groups of people stood around, wrapped in blankets, wearing sweatshirts and knit caps to ward off the chilly morning air, some holding thermoses or travel mugs. Brody grabbed a couple of fleece blankets from the back of the van and passed one to Jess. They followed Gabi and Marc outside to take pictures of the sunrise.
Brody placed his arm around her shoulder. “This is a great view. I wish Taylor were here to see it.”
Jess was curious about her, especially after Brody had shown her a few photos. Though he always chased after beautiful women, he’d never dated anyone that striking before. “She’s coming on Friday, right? I’m excited to meet her.”
“I still can’t believe I’m dating her. She’s so freaking gorgeous.” Brody smacked his forehead. “Sorry. I’m not obsessed with her looks. Or maybe I am. Girls like her never fall for guys like me.”
“Stop knocking yourself. You’re an awesome guy. Funny, smart, always one step ahead of the pack.”
“And yet, despite these admirable qualities, you’ve been able to resist me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Because of Connor. I’ve been fixated on him since I was twelve.”
“Kidding. But seriously, Taylor’s so far out of my league it isn’t funny. Unlike me, she has zero self-esteem issues. She’s confident, driven, and ambitious as hell.”
Taylor sounded like an odd match for Brody, who was mellow and easygoing, but if he was happy, Jess wasn’t going to judge.
The sun rose until it was a fiery ball, high above the blanket of clouds below. As an orange glow filled the sky, a few people around them murmured in appreciation. But Jess and Brody stayed silent, absorbing the breathtaking view.
After the sunrise, Gabi suggested hiking a few miles into the crater on one of the trails marked by the National Park Service. Jess would have preferred to curl up in the shuttle van and take a nap, but she wanted to be a good sport. Within minutes, Gabi and Marc had outpaced her, though Brody lingered behind to keep her company.
“You can go on ahead,” she said. “I don’t have much energy.”
“I’ll stay back here with you. Now that those two have made up, I want to give them their space.”
True enough. Marc must have talked Gabi off the ledge because they were holding hands. Every few minutes, they’d stop to kiss. Their PDA was a bit much, especially at six in the morning.
“Out of curiosity—what happened in Chicago?” Brody asked. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but…”
Jess paused to photograph the reddish-brown cinder beneath their feet, which looked like it belonged on an alien landscape. “I don’t mind talking about it. The only reason I’m keeping it quiet is to avoid stealing the spotlight. I don’t need anyone fussing over me, so I’m waiting until after the wedding.”
She kept telling herself that. But the more lies she spun, the more she suspected she was making things worse.
“I won’t spill the beans, I promise,” he said.
“When I first went out there, I was excited to live somewhere new.Chicago Livewas a fun place to work, and they paid me to go to plays and restaurants and festivals.” She stopped to catch her breath. The temperature had risen considerably in the past two hours. She was glad Gabi had suggested bringing water bottles.
“I read some of your articles,” Brody said. “They made me want to visit.”
“Thanks. For eight months, everything was perfect. Well, not entirely perfect, because Simon wasn’t easy to live with. But in March, I caught him with someone else, and he told me he’d fallen in love with her. Totally cliché, right?”
“What an asshole. I hope you kicked him out.”
“I wish. The lease was in his name, so he got to keep the apartment. He gave me two days to pack up my stuff and move out.”
Recalling that terrible month hurt less now than it had in April or May. But the pain still ate at her.
“Sorry. That’s terrible.” Brody slowed to let a group of hikers pass them. They looked hard-core, with sturdy boots, wide-brimmed sun hats, and strap-on Camelbak water bottles.
“Yeah, Gabi put up with a lot of tearful calls,” she said. “If it hadn’t been for my job, I would have considered coming home. One of my friends said I could crash on her couch so I wasn’t out on the street. Two weeks later,Chicago Livehad a major shake-up. A couple of their sponsors pulled out, plus they weren’t generating enough ad revenue. They couldn’t afford to keep all their writers, so…last hired, first fired. That was me.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone?”
“Nope. The Simon thing was bad enough, but this was worse. I figured I’d look for a new job instead. Once I had one, then I’d tell everyone I was working somewhere new.” She stopped and blinked back tears. “I applied all over, but I couldn’t find anything except temp work—office stuff like data entry and customer service.”
