Chase came out of the building and took a deep breath, taking in the Pacific air and releasing all of the frigid air conditioning he’d breathed for the last four hours. As soon as he cleared the building, his phone erupted with the texts that had come in since the last time he’d come outside on his lunch break. Scrolling through them, he found one from Jacob Riley; a picture of this year’s pee wee team suited up and ready for their first scrimmage game. It made him smile to see familiar faces and know that Jacob missed him enough to send the picture.
He replied to a text from his mom, then one to his sister, scrolled through several texts in the family group discussion, all the while walking to his favorite coffee shop. He laughed at the antics of his cousin TJ’s son while he stood in line. Finally, he worked his way down the line of texts to one from Violet.
Just seeing her name caused a visceral reaction, a slightly elevated heart rate, a sort of twinge near his diaphragm. He wondered if that would ever go away. Instead of her traditional Texas “Hey, there,” followed by some quip or emoticon, she’d sent a very simple text this morning:
Not her typical “Hey there” and in all caps. He wished she meant it as an abbreviation for the state of Hawaii and had sent it as a little clue that she’d come see him here on the island. Silly, though. She would have told him. Often, she’d send a simple greeting as a way of letting him know she’d finished her daily work and that if he called her when he got off work, he wouldn’t interrupt her writing. He looked at the time and did a calculation. It was ten-thirty at night already there. But, she’d wait up for him.
Chase missed Violet with a physical ache, but he felt very proud of her for the move to New York and her success there. She’d found a good rhythm to her day while there, and the better at full-time writing she got, the less he felt like he should ask her to change again. He hadn’t accrued enough leave at the holidays to even go back to the mainland. Just this morning, he’d looked at his leave time and contemplated a trip to New York at some point next month.
All caps right back at her. Chase grinned at his teasing, knowing that Violet would appreciate it. He approached the outdoor tiki style coffee bar and gave his usual order. Oolong tea with honey. The barista had a cup in her hand, pouring water over the teabag, before he even finished speaking. He swiped his card, declined the receipt, and turned to go find his table just as his phone sounded a text.
His head shot up, and he searched the crowd. There, under the palm tree near his preferred table. Unbelievable. Violet sat in the scant shade wearing a bright pink sundress with a flower in her hair behind her ear. She grinned and waved and stood.
He barely remembered moving toward her. One minute, he stared in shock, the other, he had his arms around her, her laughter filled his ear.
“How are you here?” he asked, pulling back and framing her face with his hands.
“I thought it was time. We said goodbye a year ago today. I feel like this whole experiment with me can be called done, and we can get on with the rest of our lives.” Her fingertips gently stroked the nape of his neck, feeling the stubble of his very short hair.
The blood roared in his ears. “I can’t believe you’re here.” He pulled her to him again and hugged her tightly. When they pulled away, he waved a hand in the air. “I’m in uniform. No PDA’s.”
She frowned, then laughed. “Public displays of affection? Oh man, I can’t imagine the temptation you’re fighting right now.”
Chase looked deep into her eyes and the look made her breath catch. Softly, he asked, “Can’t you?”
Violet felt her ears turn red and Chase grinned a satisfied grin. They sat at the small glass-topped table, and he took a sip of his coffee just to ease some of the dryness in his mouth that itched to kiss hers. “How did you get here?”
“I left JFK about seven this morning. Got in about two-thirty.” She fiddled with her empty coffee cup. “I’ll tell you, I’m glad I researched how to get on the base, or else I would have panicked my way through security.”
“Did you have any trouble?”
“Not even a little.”
He stared at her face, overwhelmed with the surprise of her presence. “Where are you staying?”
“I have hotel reservations. I haven’t checked in yet, though. I wanted to surprise you here and knew you’d get here around four.” She leaned forward and took his hand. As he closed his hand over hers, a sense of rightness in the universe draped over him. “I checked your address and found a hotel right by it. I know you don’t have a car here.”
“There are lots of modes of transportation. Geography wouldn’t keep me away.”
“I, uh…” she cleared her throat. Chase felt a little annoyance, thinking that they’d come too far in communication for her shyness to assert itself again. “I didn’t know about coming. So, I have a round trip ticket. I’m here for two full weeks.”
“That’s amazing, but I wish you could have let me know ahead of time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to take off work. I’m happy you surprised me, but getting leave is a process, and I didn’t start it. We have a lot going on right now. My CO’s a good guy, but he’s not a saint. He expects us to be on duty and get things done.”
“It’s okay! I have work, too. I know I should have come in between books, but it’ll be good to write here. We’ll see what kind of inspiration I can get with my toes in the sand. Maybe Manalynn and Lance can honeymoon in wartime Hawaii.”
Chase squeezed her hand. “It’s incredible to see you. I am overcome.”
Her grin filled his heart. “Good.”
Violet ran her hands down the sides of her dress, enjoying the way it flowed and moved when she did. The design of dark purple flowers against the deep blue fabric pulled the colors out of her eyes in a way even she could see. The hem brushed the ground, but a slit to her knee on either side allowed for freedom of movement.
Her phone chimed an incoming text which informed her that Chase had arrived and waited in the lobby. She grabbed her purse and made sure she had her room key, then rushed to the elevator.
She’d spent the last week finding the perfect location to write. She discovered the best place was the pool at Chase’s apartment complex. No tourists, no children during the day, a trickling waterfall that soothed her mind and opened her muse, and it had covered tables so she could shade her screen against the glare of the sun.
She’d finished the book and sent it off to her agent this morning. She’d worked almost nonstop for three months on it. It felt good to have it gone and done. Mandalynn Clementine’s latest adventure would entice the mystery reading world by this time next year.
Violet and Chase had taken full advantage of every moment they could after work, and he took a four-day weekend her second week there. They explored every inch of the island they could explore. He took her to the Pearl Harbor Memorial Park. They still couldn’t go to the USS Arizona, but she explored the other memorials, the battleship USS Missouri upon whose decks Emperor Hirohito had signed Japan’s unconditional surrender, the submarine USS Bowfin which had launched exactly one year after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Pacific Aviation Museum, and Hickam Field. They went to the aquarium and took a boat tour around the island. They even went to a luau one night sponsored by her hotel.
The time had gone by so fast. She’d leave tomorrow. She turned and stared at her packed suitcase. Oh, how she wished he’d ask her to stay, that he’d admit the feelings she knew both of them had. She’d never have the courage to lead that conversation.
Shaking her head to ward off wishing, and determined to stay in the moment, she left her room and made sure the door clicked shut behind her.
Violet found Chase examining the fish tank in the lobby. She scooted up next to him intending to surprise him, but he just put an arm around her shoulder and glanced down at her with a smile.
“You look beautiful,” he said after hugging her. He wore a pair of khaki shorts and a very bright and bold Hawaiian shirt in red and yellow.
“You look loud,” she laughed.
He fingered the wooden button. “My cousin TJ lives in these things in the Florida Keys. His wife is British, and she’s had to put her foot down about what he packs when they travel to England. He always gets me a new one at Christmas. Before I even moved here, I had about ten.”
They walked out of the hotel hand-in-hand, going out the back door to the beach access. Passing the full pool, poolside snack bar, and dining area, they paused at the edge of the patio and took off their shoes. As soon as the warm sand enveloped her bare feet, she smiled up at Chase. “I love that feeling. It gives so much more meaning to the sand between my toes. I think I could get used to it.”
He smiled and squeezed her hand, then led her down the beach several hundred feet. Around some rock outcropping and under the canopy of a cluster of palm trees sat a small round table, covered in white linen with a glass-enclosed candle and a small bunch of tropical flowers sitting in the middle. Enclosed in a clear floral box in front of one chair she spotted a beautiful lei made of fuchsia and white flowers. Draped over the back of the other chair lay a lei made from Kukui Nuts.
Violet gasped at the sheer romantic image of the table and looked up at Chase. “How did you manage this?”
He winked and waved in the direction of the hotel. “I just had to name drop. I told you my uncle owns the hotel.”
“Right. I forgot about that.” A waitress appeared from behind the rocks. She wore a beautiful Hawaiian dress in the emerald and ivory colors of the hotel and carried a bottle of sparkling water and a bucket of ice. When she set them on the table, she unpacked the flowered lei and ceremonially placed it around Violet’s neck, then made the floral box vanish like a magic trick. Chase had to bend so that she could place his Kukui Nut lei around his neck. Once they sat down, she poured them tall glasses of cold water before tapping the card on the tops of their plates.
“Your menu for this evening,” she announced. “Your first course will arrive immediately.” She shifted the tablecloth and showed Chase a button that looked like a doorbell. “I’ll regularly come with each course. If you need me between courses, please press this button.” She put a hand on each of their backs and smiled. “Aloha and enjoy.”
As she walked away, a waiter in khaki pants and a Hawaiian shirt in the same pattern as her dress set plates of pickled beets, goat cheese, and roasted tomatoes in front of them, then left without a word.
Chase held out his hand, and she willingly placed her hand in his and bowed her head. He asked God’s blessing on the food but did not release her hand when he said, “Amen.”
She stared at him, breathless, anticipatory. “I don’t want you to leave tomorrow.” He didn’t ask a question, just provided the statement she had prayed he’d provide.
“I don’t want to leave.” Her voice came out in barely a whisper. “What happens if I don’t?”
His eyes serious, he smiled and squeezed her hand, then released it and picked up his fork. “I imagine that an empty seat would go out on the airplane. There’s also something about a really expensive apartment in New York, for which you have another month on the lease.”
She took a deep breath through her nose and slowly let it out. The scent of the lei filled her senses. Blinking back the tears, she picked up her fork and took a bite of the sharp cheese and tangy beet. “So pragmatic,” she accused. “Breaks through the romance.”
“Hey, now,” He grinned. “I worked hard on the romance.”
“You did. It’s beautiful and overwhelming.”
Just as she finished the last bite of the amazing dish, the waiter appeared with the waitress at his arm. The waitress took a moment to refill their glasses and remove their plates so that he could place a dish with honey-glazed butterfish with a side of watercress salad in front of each of them.
They chatted easily through the meal. Even when the conversation died, their silence felt comfortable, normal. Violet couldn’t ever express to him how much she appreciated the way he understood how she communicated.
As they talked, the sun sank into the ocean, filling the sky with indescribably beautiful yellows and oranges. The breeze began to pick up, but the wind remained warm against their skin. If anything, the salt air enhanced the flavor of their meal and the breeze comforted and relaxed them as good food warmed their bellies, and good company warmed their hearts.
She hated to see the waitress and waiter reappear, this time bringing dessert. She knew the end of this meal would mean the end of the evening and her time here in the most romantic spot on earth. The sun had started to go down, so once the strawberry consommé appeared in front of them, the waitress lit the candle and disappeared again.
Violet took a bite and closed her eyes, savoring the mix of flavor of the sweet strawberries with the rich cream. When she opened her eyes again, she found Chase staring at her, his eyes intense in the candlelight. Suddenly nervous, she set her spoon down and folded her hands in her lap, clenching her napkin.
He kept staring at her. She had never seen this particular look on his face. As surreptitiously as she could manage, she ran her tongue along the front of her teeth. His expression didn’t change. Okay. Nothing caught in her front teeth, then.
“This is so beautiful,” Violet said, looking at everything she could except for that intense gaze. “I can’t imagine what it took to put this together. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He set his spoon down and shifted the bowl away so he could cross his arms on the table and lean forward. “Do you know when I realized I was in love with you?”
She took a fast breath. They’d never once mentioned love. “I, uh…”
“The romantic in me believes it was when you chided your sister. There you were sitting on the porch, bleeding all down your arms. Then you sarcastically called her out about her I-told-you-so moment. But, the realist in me knows it was when I watched you eat that barbecue after church. I don’t think I’ve ever had a date who so openly and unashamedly enjoyed food as much as you did that day. It made me want to kiss you until you couldn’t think anymore.”
She found her voice, finally. “I woulda thought it was my passion about the box.”
He shook his head. “No. I felt attracted to your passion. It’s really what drew me in. The way you enjoy your food nailed the door shut.” He held his right hand out, palm up. She’d shared enough meals with him to know he meant for her to take his hand. She gladly reached out, wanting the connection with him.
He didn’t speak again, but the silence felt right, now, as she stared into his blue eyes and he stared back into hers. “Do you want to know when I realized that I love you?”
“Yes.” The smile that covered his face shined as brightly as their candle. “I do.”
Clearing her throat, she looked at the flickering flame glowing behind the glass. “When I couldn’t wait to hear from you after I started writing in New York. I texted you first and waited with the phone in my hand to hear from you. I wanted to know you were proud of me. I couldn’t wait to talk to you that night.”
She looked up at him again, blinking against the reflection of the flame left in her eyes. As soon as he came into focus, she saw the ring in his hand, the diamonds surrounding the exotic looking plum pearl glimmered and flickered in the candlelight. “Do you think you would be happy moving from place to place, never having a permanent home? Could you live the army life with me? Would you still be able to create, every time we went somewhere new, even if it wasn’t the balcony of a New York City apartment or a peaceful poolside in a tropical paradise?”
“Yes,” she said, her mouth so dry she could hardly swallow. “I do.”
His eyes caught hers, and her heart pounded in her ears. “Then will you become my wife and serve by my side?”
She felt her hand tremble in his and nodded and smiled, tears filling her eyes. “Yes. Oh, yes,” she said. He slipped the ring onto her finger and stood, then pulled her to her feet.
Brushing the hair back from her face that the breeze had disturbed, he cupped her cheek and stared down at her. “I love you, Violet Pearl.”
She cupped his face with her hands and gently pulled his head down so that she could kiss him. Just before his lips covered hers, she said, “I love you, Chase Anderson.”
He kissed her. The smell of her lei surrounded them. They pressed against each other beneath the blanket of stars. The waves crashing against the shore gave a special serenade to their interlude.
The End