Page 44 of This Could be Love

“No, it’s…” I hesitated but then decided for transparency. “Well, to be honest, I really was going for Laurie’s sake. I don’t know anyone there and…”

“You knowme.”

I felt his gaze very clearly.

“Umm…but I can’t imagine you wanting me to hang around you the whole evening.” I covered up my confusion with a smile.

“No biggie. There’ll be a ton of people at the party that you’ll no doubt find way more interesting than me.” He grinned, and I found it really difficult to say what I was about to say, but I did.

“Thanks, but I think I’m just going to stay…”

“If you’re not into it, I’ll drive you back home.”

Puzzled, I paused for a moment. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why…are you offering to do that?”

He shrugged calmly. “It’d be a shame for you to have spent so long in front of the mirror for nothing.” His expression remained serious for only around two seconds, and I rolled my eyes.

“It’s just an offer. Come along or don’t. Both are cool.”

His relaxed smile said that he really meant it. And yet, I couldn’t help but note a hint of a challenge in his voice. As if he was saying, “Do you trust yourself?”

* * *

“Am I overdressed?” I asked once we were on the coastal road toward Haleiwa. I’d been wondering about it ever since he trotted down the stairs after his shower in cotton shorts and a T-shirt and stepped into a worn pair of Reeboks.

“You can go to one of Chip’s parties in a pair of pajamas. No one cares.”

Great. That was a yes. I uncomfortably slid back and forth on the seat. Vince turned on his blinker and turned left, away from the ocean. We took a gravel road that snaked through a chessboard-like series of fields, with only an isolated house here and there. Most of the time just flat-roofed buildings with carports to the side that were filled with scooters and Jeeps. Through the brightly lit windows I caught glimpses of men and women standing around stoves, families setting the table, and kids running about.

“Chip doesn’t live by the ocean?”

“No.” A mocking smile appeared on his face. “Mere mortals can’t afford anything like that around here.”

For a moment I felt terribly naïve. Over and over Gabe had mentioned how expensive life was on Hawaii, but I simply spent too much time on the court to really notice.

“In the meantime, almost all the houses along the beach are in the hands of the super rich,” Vince explained somewhat bitterly. “Or real-estate companies that rent to the super rich.” He snorted. “You don’t want to know how much they offered us for the Ohana.”

“Did you all consider it? Selling, I mean?”

“Well, yeah, at the beginning. We didn’t really know what to do with it. And both of us had our own lives. Not to mention Laurie being in the middle of her studies.” He cleared his throat. “But it didn’t feel right. It felt like we’d be betraying Jim. He always got upset about how the rich were claiming the beach. One cookie-cutter McMansion after another, pushing out the real Hawaii.”

I swallowed as I couldn’t help but think of Kay’s house, which fit that description to a tee.

“That’s exactly what would’ve happened if we’d sold. They’d have torn down the Ohana and some Texas oil tycoon would’ve put his second home there.”

A series of questions popped into my head, but I couldn’t ask any of them because we’d reached our destination. Cars and scooters were parked all over the place, and surfboards were leaning against the porch railing. The house was very different from what I’d imagined. A simple, yellow wooden building on stilts with a surrounding deck, almost overgrown with palm trees and bushes. Directly behind it stretched a mountain range whose densely overgrown rocks looked like a green velvet curtain. I hadn’t expected Chip to live in such seclusion, surrounded by nature. I didn’t really know him, but he struck me as someone who liked company and always needed people around.

I unbuckled my seat belt and got out. It was cooler up here—we’d driven quite a ways up the mountain. It smelled different too. Of wet earth and grass. The front door was wide open, and Icould hear Jawaiian music, the Hawaiian form of reggae. It made me want to dance.

“Along there,” Vince said, as I made my way toward the door.

I shrugged and followed him to the back of the house. Murmurs and laughter met us as we made our way toward the garden, which turned out to be a wild piece of land. Apart from the trees and bushes, there weren’t any boundaries. A guy in sunglasses was lounging in a hammock that had been strung between two palms, and a pretty wooden swing was hanging from a tree. A few people were hanging out in the meadow, while others were standing together on the deck. There were probably a few more people inside, which put the number of guests around twenty to twenty-five. To my horror, I was indeed overdressed. Most of the people looked like they’d come straight from the beach, in bikinis or surf shorts. I was tugging at my dress when Chip appeared on the deck. He was barefoot, wearing paisley-print shorts, and a loose-fitting T-shirt. His hair was once again up in a man bun and his three-day beard looked more like the seven-day variety.

“What are you doing here, man?” he said to Vince, raising his hand for a high five. “I thought…”