Page 55 of Emi's Hero

She went willingly.

“Sweetheart, they’ll be over-the-moon happy to have their daughter back. And they’ll love you with all their hearts. You’re a beautiful woman, inside and out.”

Emi sighed. “I hope so. I want Sara to know her grandparents, to feel the love I knew growing up.”

“She will,” George said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

“I miss my baby,” Emi said.

George turned her in his arms.

She rested her cheek against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

For a long time, they stood silently, holding each other.

Voices sounded from the direction of the barn.

George and Emi stepped apart, leaning casually against the rail.

Hawk and Kalea walked hand in hand in the starlight, talking softly with each other.

They stopped halfway to the ranch house and embraced, sharing an intimate kiss.

Then they laughed and continued toward the house, arm-in-arm.

George found himself envying the couple. He hoped one day he’d feel as free and easy and totally in love as Hawk and Kalea.

He had to remind himself it hadn’t always been that way for them. They’d had to find their way to each other.

George glanced at Emi. Her face glowed a faint blue in the starlight. Her mouth curved in a gentle smile as she watched Hawk and Kalea approach the house.

“They make a beautiful couple,” she spoke quietly, barely above a whisper.

George had to lean closer to hear her words. He smiled at her observation, having thought the same. “Yes, they do.”

“Hey, you two,” Kalea called out as they climbed the stairs. “Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

“It is,” George said.

“It’s so clear, you can almost see Mauna Kea.” She pointed in the direction of the tallest mountain in Hawaii.

George and Emi descended the steps and looked out over the horizon at the dark silhouette of the mountain.

“I bet the astronomers are hopping tonight in the observatories,” George said.

“One of these days, I’d love to go inside one of the observatories,” Hawk said.

“I might have some connections,” Kalea said. “I’ll see which strings I can pull.”

“You know the way to a man’s heart,” Hawk gave her a loud smack of a kiss. “You’ll have to excuse us,” he said to George. “We need to get our beauty sleep. Big day for all of us tomorrow.”

Kalea snorted as she walked ahead of Hawk into the house. “Beauty sleep. As if. We won’t get to sleep before midnight if you have your way.”

“My way,” Hawk was saying as they entered the house. “You’re the one who can last all night. You’re like that battery bunny.”

“First one to the bedroom gets to be on top,” Kalea said.

Footsteps pounded up the staircase. The echo of Kalea’s giggles lingered even after their bedroom door slammed shut.

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