I try not to stare, wondering where this is coming from.
What抯 she talking about?
Hawaii hardly seems like some bitter ordeal to grind through. But I抳e clearly touched an emotional nerve.
She whips her head around, pretending she抯 stuffing another cookie in her mouth, but she isn抰 fast enough.
I notice the hot tear that rolls down her cheek.
揌on, forgive me, but I抦 not sure what you mean,?I say gently, moving closer.
揑t抯 just…it抯 so gorgeous here, but we haven抰 been since I was a kid. I just didn抰 think I could ever be happy here again. Not after…？She pauses. 揂fter my mom washed up on the beach…this place felt like poison.?
I freeze. Turn. Stare at her.
揥hat??It comes out in a stunned whisper.
She sniffs hard, still not looking at me.
揑 actually thought I was allergic to warm beaches for a long time, Eliza. When Dad took me to Asia, my throat closed up. I couldn抰 breathe. Some kind of anxiety or panic attack. We spent like the whole time in the hotel because just walking by a beach upset me that much.?
I can抰 decide if my heart skips or breaks for her.
揧ou poor thing,?I whisper, laying a soft hand on her back. 揑抦 so sorry, Destiny. I didn抰 know what happened to your mother.?
She抯 ugly crying now, wiping red eyes with her shaking hand.
揑-it抯 fine. The point is, I smiled. I laughed. Every day I抳e been here. I even got on a boat and surfed and swam with turtles… I couldn抰 have done any of that without you. Oh, and I was worried about Dad, too, but he looked so happy with…with you.?
揥ell, he抯 got a lot to smile about considering he抯 signing a contract for the world抯 most expensive coffee,?I say carefully, still feeling a little shell-shocked.
Wow. So, this is the big tragedy everyone keeps tiptoeing around.
No wonder she抯 been so busted up.
揧ou know what, new rule. Nobody gets to be sad in Kona. Not if you want to avoid the eight-armed hug.?
揈ight-armed what??she echoes.
I throw my arms around her and pull her into a bear hug, wrestling her around until she laughs. 揑 octo-hug you like I have eight arms.?
揌ey! Not fair,?she whispers, but I抦 glad she抯 smiling now.
揝o your parents梱our family, I mean梐ll stayed here when you were young??I venture.
揧eah. This was a messed up place for us until this trip,?she says, her face dropping again. 揗om died here and Dad…he just completely changed.?
Sadness pierces my heart.
A terrible thought invades my head.
Has Cole been making love to me? Or a memory?
Am I a surrogate for his dead wife?
Bile churns in my gut so violently I almost gag.
Destiny moves away from me, and that抯 when I notice a golden turtle hanging around her neck, glittering in the sunlight.
揥hoa. New necklace??
She looks down, pinching the turtle between her thumb and forefinger. 揙h I桰 found it in Mom抯 old room…？
Her mom had her own room? Has her own room?
Like some kind of memorial or shrine to her?
I wonder.
I also wonder if the late Mrs. Lancaster slept in a separate room from her mister? And if so, why?
揝he still has a room in the house??I ask neutrally.
揧eah. She had an artistic side, and I guess she liked to paint there. Kalani梠ne of the older housekeepers梥he said my mother was a great painter. And she loved the lighting in that room best every time she was here.?
So, she didn抰 have her own room-room then.
She had a studio.
And apparently it抯 still there, filled with her belongings, a shrine to someone they clearly can抰 forget…
I don抰 even know what I抦 supposed to feel.
Probably not this weird mix of sadness and worry and self-doubt foaming up inside me.
揟he staff kept everything the same since we left. I finally worked up the courage to go in there this morning. The necklace was just sitting on her dresser with a few other things. Maybe I should抳e left it, but…it抯 a turtle and it抯 so pretty. I thought somebody should wear it rather than leaving it sealed up like a museum piece.?
揋ood call, Dess. It抯 stunning.?I reach out, gently fingering the necklace, smiling at the intricate detail etched in gold. 揑t feels like a nice way to remember Hawaii.?
To remember her, too, I think, but I feel too weird to say it.
When a man comes up behind us a second later, I jump.
揟oo much caffeine? Don抰 tell me梱ou have to taste everything personally before the big meeting, huh??Troy Clement belts out a messy laugh and grins. 揥ay to go, Miss E-lectric. Your campfire coffee sealed the deal.?
It抯 hard to smile back when I barely care.
Right now, I just want to get as far away from this place as possible.