Page 12 of Resorting to Romance

I brush past Mila, the familiar smell of cinnamon and vanilla enveloping me for a moment.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get everything back to normal. Your guests will never even know this happened by the time breakfast rolls around.”

“What would I ever do without you?”

The way she looks up at me makes me hope she never has to find out.

FOUR

Mila

Learn what is to be taken seriously,

and laugh at the rest.

~ Hermann Hesse

Kai’s here. I felt horrible calling him so late at night, but I know him. If he found out I had this disaster and didn’t call him, he’d scold me relentlessly for days.

He rushes past me into the kitchen.

“I already got your toolbox out for you,” I say, following behind him. “It’s on the table. Watch out for the floor. It’s still slippery.”

It doesn’t escape me—the way he looks right now, his hair rumpled, his face that certain type of drowsy that only comes at the end of a long day. I’m not dead. I know Kai Kapule could model surfwear if he ever got tired of his job at the watersports shack. He’s muscular and fit—the sweet side effects of a job that keeps him physically active. Between the golden color of his skin, the amber of his eyes, contrasted with his dark hair, he’s the type of man women stop to admire.

By necessity, I’ve had to shut down the part of my brain that looks at a man as anything other than a friend. Right now, while Kai focuses on my disaster of a kitchen, moving to grab a large wrench and then bending over the pile of sopping wet towels to check out the mess under my sink, that piece of me has a private moment where I allow myself to look at my friend and notice how beautiful he is.

Maybe it’s the late hour. It could be the way he always steps up without hesitation to help me. Of course, I’ll never act on anything with Kai. And usually, I don’t even think twice about his looks. He’s just Kai, my friend.

I’ve got Noah and the inn. And Kai and I aren’t meant for anything other than the mutual friendship we share. I don’t date men who live on the island. We’re basically a small town, and our insular life is only heightened by the fact that we are surrounded by miles of ocean on all sides. If something went wrong between me and a man here on Marbella, I’d have to face him every day after our bad ending. And I’d have to endure the chatter and furtive glances that accompany the spreading of juicy news around town. I also don’t date transients—guests, summer residents, or people with two homes, one of which happens to be here on Marbella.

Noah and I need stability, and it’s up to me to provide that.

So, if you are doing the math, there are two dating pools in my world, and I’m not eligible for either of them. Which is fine. I’m not really in a position to do anything but mother Noah and run the inn for now. But, in another life, Kai would be … Nothing. I don’t have another life. I have this one. And I don’t have the luxury of dreaming of anything beyond what’s right in front of me.

Kai sticks his head into the cabinet under the sink. After a few moments he backs out and stands.

“Nothing looks like it’s leaking down there. I’ll just replace the sprayer head. We’ve got parts in the shed. It might be a crackin the washer or a loose C clip. More than likely the problem’s in the spray head itself.”

“Can you say that in English?” I stifle a yawn.

“Right.” He chuckles lightly. “The spray heads are usually the problem when something goes wrong with your sprayer, but it could be a part in the connection between the head and the hose, so I’ll replace all of it.”

I plop onto one of the stools I keep tucked around the island, partly from exhaustion. Mostly, I’m overwhelmed. This situation will pass. Ongoing repairs are part of home ownership. An older building of this size means more repairs more often.

Kai stands and walks over to where I’m sitting. He places a strong hand on my shoulder.

“Why don’t you go lie down on the couch in the main room. See if you can close your eyes and sleep or at least unplug. I’ve got this. You need rest.”

“I can’t just go rest while you fix my sink.”

“Actually, you can.”

“Kai.”

“Mila.”

He gives my shoulder a firm squeeze and stares into my eyes with a look that is both unwavering and kind.

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