Page 38 of Fruit and Flash

The farm stand is stocked, with customers already stopping by. I see some taking pictures from a distance, so I don’t go up there. Instead, I go inside to get water for me and Kai. I promised to help him on building today, but I can see he’s still setting up and talking to a camera on a tri-pod. I don’t want my boots on the gravel making noise while he films.

Scrolling to the app store on my phone takes a minute, because I can’t remember what it looks like, but eventually I find the main social media sites Kai uses and download them.

It looks like one is for short videos, one for pictures and reels, and another is Youtube, which I’ve used before. Opening that one, since I know what to expect and don’t have to makean account, I look up Hale_Kai and find one new video posted today.

Kai’s smiling face comes on the screen to soft background music, the trees on my property framing him. My heart picks up at the sight of him before he even speaks, and I know I’ve got it bad.

“Aloha! Are you ready to see me get started on my tiny house renovation on the farm?”

Watching his sunny, eager descriptions and a little of the demolition, I find myself smiling and wanting to be around the man instead of seeing him on the screen. Grabbing the water and some fruit in case he didn’t eat, I head outside into the midday sun.

Kai is lugging two-by-fours into the building and I rush over to stop him. “Wait, we need to cut those to size.”

“Oh, hi,” Kai turns and gives me a smile from the doorway. He doesn’t set the wood down and I admire how his small biceps bulge in the pink tank top he’s wearing over khaki cargo shorts. “Can we cut them inside? I’ve got the camera set up.”

“Sure, I can bring the supplies and table saw over here from the shop.”

Handing him the cup of water when he finally puts the boards down, I wait until he’s drinking before leaving to get what we need. Thankfully, I have a nail gun, so that will help this go a lot faster than hammering everything by hand.

When I return, hauling the things we need in one trip, Kai has moved back out to the area in front of the little house. “Better lighting and background here. Does this work?”

“Yeah, though framing in place will be important in case the walls aren’t square.”

Kai looks at me, looks over at the building and cocks his head. “Isn’t it a square shaped building?”

Chuckling under my breath, I rub my beard to hide my laugh. “It is shaped like a square, yes, but the walls settle over time. A measurement at one spot might not be right a few feet away.”

“How fascinating,” Kai replies like I just gave him an interesting history lesson and gestures to his tri-pod. “I’m already filming, is that alright?”

“I’m good.” Setting up the table saw, I wait for Kai to join me. “I saw you posted a new video today.”

“You really watched it?” Kai bites his lower lip and I can see he needs some more validation.

“Downloaded the apps and everything. Looks good, but I came out to help you before I finished,” I explain, in case he wants to ask about something that happens later in the video. “Something to look forward to for later.”

Kai smiles at me like I made the sun rise and my whole body heats. If I have to download a dozen apps, create accounts to give him praise publicly, I’ll do it. Anything to make him smile at me that way again.

Clearing my throat, I take hold of a board. “So, do we have all the measurements we need?”

We spend some time going in and out to measure, where I see another camera has been set up with a power bank that Kai says is for doing a timelapse of the building process. I only need a couple reminders to not block the camera with my back, and I love the excuse to spend the day with Kai. We have the stud walls for the bathroom addition done in no time, and I notice we have wood left over.

“Do you want to repair the fascia boards with the extra timber?”

“Sure!” Kai agrees eagerly then his expression goes all cute and confused. “What’s a fascia board?”

Reaching out to smooth his forehead lines, I can’t help smiling through my explanation of how the boards are important.“Besides looking nice, they support the edge of the roof and gutters, if we add those.”

“We?” Kai asks in a breathy voice.

“I’m not going anywhere, Hawai’i.”

Kai seems to remember we’re filming and blinks as he steps back. I don’t want him to retreat from me, to go back to acting like I’m just the landlord with tools helping him out. As he moves away to grab the measuring tape, I realize Kai is probably putting distance between us because of me. He thinks I don’t want to be on camera showing him affection.

“I came out. To Kristen, I mean. Last night,” I clarify in stops and starts. Holding my breath, I wait for Kai to face me fully.

He seems to forget the recording, setting the measuring tape down to take one of my bigger hands in both of his. “How did that go? You seemed on good terms when we left.”

Damn. Kai’s reaction is different than I expected. I thought he’d ask how I felt or what it meant for us. Instead he asks about how my relationship with my sister is affected, showing how well he knows me already. It could also be from experience, and I wonder how coming out to family went for him.