Luke had mainly two things on his mind as he drove back to town. One, how much he’d enjoyed what seemed like just him and Amelia together during dinner for no other reason than two people on a date. He had become so vulnerable he’d opened his heart to her. The sharing felt right and good at the time. Afterwards he felt he’d told too much, and it made him realize how Amelia might feel talking about the past.
They’d seemed to relate as a man and woman on a date. On the beach, however, there was again the reason for their being together and memories of the past that weren’t all pleasant.
He was sorry if he’d focused too much on himself and not enough on the reason for being on this island and with Amelia.
Maybe he could get her back to pleasant memories. “If you’re not busy tomorrow,” he said when they returned to the Matti-Rose, “is there somewhere we might go?” He expected a no.
She looked away from him and through the windshield. The moonlight lay softly on her face. “Since Wanda and the children are away, it would be the perfect time to clean house.”
“I could help,” he said. “I’m a decent volunteer.”
Her gaze slid in his direction, and the warmth in them held a glimmer of mischief. “Or we could go see the Kona nightingales,” she said, her eyes widening.
“What a choice,” he mused. Watching the smug look on her face, he thought she was playing a game. “Kona,” he said. “That’s the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. Let’s see. Nightingales are birds. Ah, the birds that sing at night in the Kona bushes?”
Her eyes lifted to the roof of the car for a moment then back at him. “Like Joe said, you have to see them to believe it.”
That brought them back to Joe. Him, anyway. After all, that is what these excursions were about. Although there had been moments when he felt it was just him and Amelia, how could a guy—supposing he wanted to—compete with a dead war hero?
He reviewed that thought. No, it had not been vindictive. Regardless of what was to be or not to be for himself, he could not begrudge his brother any kind of happiness he might have had in his short life.
Don’t feel guilty.
Don’t be envious.
No, thank God that Joe met a girl like Amelia. And wrote to him about her.
“So,” Amelia said, “have Delia make us some omelet sandwiches in biscuits, and we’ll be on our way around eight o’clock.”
“Is that a.m. or p.m.?” Her look of confusion made him laugh. “Night … ingales.”
“Oh, no. They’re out in the mornings—eight o’clock a.m. And this is casual. You will definitely need an aloha shirt. And a bathing suit.”
“Is there a place where I might buy those?”
“Many places.”
He started to get out of the car and turned back. “Could I pick you up?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ll be here.”
He suspected her living quarters might leave something to be desired since she never let him pick her up there.
She grinned. “In the morning.”
“Fantastic.”
And that was the thought jumping into his mind when he saw her the following morning—fantastic. She walked into the dining room while he was drinking a cup of coffee and waiting for Delia to box up their breakfast.
She saw him immediately and strode toward him, wearing a red-lipstick smile that matched the red open shirt she wore over what appeared to be a brightly flowered bathing suit top. Her midthigh green shorts, matching the green leaves in the top, revealed what he’d already recognized as lovely, shapely legs. Her sandaled feet sported red toenails. She came up to him with a smile and held out a bundle.
“I called William last night, and he brought over some clothes this morning that might fit you. You two seem to be about the same size. I shouldn’t have said you’d need to wear certain clothes.”
“No?” He pretended to be insulted. “Then what’s this bundle?”
She shook her head, and her long ponytail swished from side to side. “I mean, I shouldn’t have made you think you would have to buy clothes.”
He grimaced. “You mean, I could swim in my denim hiking clothes?”
She scoffed then. “Ha. You do that, and I might lose you in the ocean.”
Would she mind … losing him?
She quickly turned her head toward the buffet bar. “If you want to try these on, I’ll have a cup of coffee.”
He took the bundle, drained his cup, and went upstairs to his room. He thought he was more muscular than William, but William was a couple of inches taller than he. He’d never worn a bathing suit that skimpy, but he knew he’d look weirder on this island in a boxer-style suit. He thought he looked to be in pretty good shape, if he didn’t compare himself with some of those surfers he’d seen.
The tan-colored shorts fit well and reached to his knees. He’d seen many men in town and even in restaurants with their shirts open and their chests showing. He laughed at himself in the mirror as he buttoned the white shirt that had green palm leaves all over it. At least it wasn’t flowers. Then he unbuttoned a second button. Yes, showing a little bit of masculine chest would be all right on a day like this.
He brushed his teeth and looked at himself again. His face had tanned, and his hair had grown longer than his conservative style. He’d been a soldier for so long he felt a little strange looking like a man, a carefree one at that. But he was dressed like William, and the day’s excursion was in memory of Joe.
Would he ever be just Luke? He wasn’t sure who or what that was anymore.
When he returned to the table, he felt he’d blushed for the first time in his life when Amelia gave a low whistle and looked at him with a teasing gleam in her eyes. “You no longer look like a tourist.”
“I no longer feel like one.” He picked up the cardboard box from the table.
“Okay,” she said after she was in the passenger seat and he beneath the steering wheel. “We’ll drive along the west side, along Queen Kaahumanu Highway.”
At a certain point she said, “Pull off the road when you can.”
He did and switched off the engine.
Her eyes scanned the landscape. “We might as well eat while we’re waiting.” She got the box from the floorboard and handed him a sandwich.
He stared at her.
“What?”
“Are we going to sit here and watch coffee bushes grow?”
“You object?” She took a bite of sandwich.
His glance swept over her as she ate. “Not at all.” He took a bite of the sandwich.
He’d finished his breakfast, and she had only a little left when she pointed and spoke with a mouthful. “Umh. There.”
He stared. “All I see is some kind of animal. A couple more are coming this way.”
She swallowed and licked her lips. “Those are the Kona nightingales.”
“In the States I believe we’d call that a donkey.”
“Well,” she said saucily, “in the States they don’t carry coffee across the rocky terrain to the coffee mills.” “They do that, huh?”
“No. They used to. Since the war, the coffee is taken by jeeps.”
The handsome animals came closer. They had long floppy ears, brown satiny coats, and big soulful eyes. “Why are they called nightingales?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” she said. “There is a sweet, musical sound to their braying that you can hear in the quiet night. So they’re called Kona nightingales.”
They gracefully and slowly made their way across the road to the other side. “Beautiful animals,” he said appreciatively.
She agreed. “But you see how dangerous it is for them. There is much debate about putting fences up or putting them in zoos. They have caused accidents at night when they’re crossing the roads.” She smiled at him. “Joe liked Kona coffee, too.”
“We seem to like many of the same things.”
Her tongue came out and touched her lower lip. And he saw her blink slowly. Did she think he was talking about her? Was that allowed? “Hmmm,” he said, leaning toward her and peering out the window beside her. “I never would have imagined my brother and I would both like donkeys.”
She gave a little laugh. His being the brother of Joe and wearing William’s clothes didn’t endear him to her in the slightest.
Not that he wanted it to.
It just reminded him of what might have been if he’d had a normal life without a war. But he wasn’t the only person who thought those things. After all, it had been a world war.
“Next stop”—she pointed ahead—“the beach.”