Page 34 of Two Tickets to Paradise

Whoa. It felt like an overfull suitcase.

"I got it." Maile reached out and tugged the bag out of Cora's arms by just the plastic strip at the top. "We handle these all the time at the bowling alley."

As Cora stood by and watched, Maile tore a hole in the back and upended it into the cooler with hardly any effort.

"Oh, the bowling alley! Cam told me about that! I'm so excited! I love bowling."

Maile grinned at her as she reached for a box of Kona Brewery Longboard beers. "Awesome! We're having everyone over there for Thanksgiving. We'll make sure you get to bowl as much as you want."

"That would be awesome! I'm not one for watching sports, so when Cam and I were at home he'd watch sports, and I'd sit on the couch and read."

Maile reached for another box and Cora was happy to pick it up so they could put the drinks in the cooler. "You and my cuz will get along. She loves reading. Me?" Maile's expression was almost comical in nature. "I'm not a reader, unless it's True Crime stories."

"Hey." Cameron came over and looked at Maile with a note of annoyance in his expression. "You're not giving my sister alcohol, right?"

Maile turned to face him, butting her hip up against the counter as she nailed him with a glare. "No, but she's an adult. You said she's over twenty-one. Right?"

"Right." Cameron dropped an arm over her shoulders and Cora shrugged it off before taking a half step away. "Hey, I'm just making sure she's not going to get drunk."

"Cam!" Cora's eyes widened as she glared at him. "Stop!"

"She can have juice or pop. I don't want her getting drunk and her... friend taking advantage of her under my roof tonight."

"Oh my God, Cameron! Stop!"

Cora turned on her heel and walked into the living room to get as far away from Cameron as she could. In the back of her mind she thought she should probably stay and try to argue with him, but a quick turn of her head showed that Maile had noproblem getting toe to toe with her brother and there was no evidence that she was about to back down.

Cora got as far as the glass wall that faced the lake and folded her arms across her chest.

She watched as Vince, working with the other men, helped to set up a couple of grills in the back on the cemented patio. He was laughing along with the others and looked like he was enjoying himself. Cora was thrilled that he didn't seem to be upset.

She wasn't used to Cameron acting like this, but while she could deal with it, she was really glad that Vince wasn't hearing what Cameron was saying to her.

"Cora?"

Hearing the softer tone of voice, she turned her head to look and saw Maile's cousin, Kawehi wiping her hands on a kitchen cloth just a few feet away. "Hi."

Kawehi tilted her head toward the kitchen. "Want to come in and sit with us?"

Cora turned away from the window and saw that Cameron was gone. Maile was leaning on the counter with an open Long Board Ale can in her hand.

"Come on over, girlfriend." Maile gave her a wink. "Here, drink this before your stick-up-his-ass brother sees that I'm offering you the 'hard stuff.'"

Cora lifted a brow at her. "Hard stuff?"

Maile shrugged. "Not that we have any of the hard stuff, but you'd think I was planning to offer you wine we made in the toilet or something."

Cora burst into laughter and had to take a moment before walking closer to take the can in her hand. "Who makes wine in the toilet?"

Maile shrugged. "I think I heard it on a crime show once."

Cora gave her a broad grin. "You watch a lot of crime dramas?"

Maile half shrugged and half nodded. "I'm all drama if you ask my cuz over there." Maile waved her hand at her cousin. Kawehi was opening a large plastic bowl. "She's the level-headed one in the family. You'll see her around, probably more than me. She's married to Pallas, Axl's boss."

Kawehi opened another plastic container, and Cora craned her neck to see what was inside. Shredded carrots by the looks of it. "I don't think anyone's the boss of Axl," she smiled and looked up at Cora. "He's kind of an immovable object when he wants to be."

Cora rolled her eyes. "I think he's more of what Maile called him, a jerk." She gave Maile a wink. "It seems like he's changed since he moved here to Hawaii with the Marines. He's got a... an edge that he didn't have before."

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