Page 2 of Big Island Weddings
She winced at the familiar name. Paola was a coworker of hers back in their cruise ship days. They’d gone out to the bars together the night that Lani met Lorenzo.
Paola had flirted with him, but he’d invited Lani back to his room.
“I did not know her at first,” he continued, “but she still knew my face, even after so much time.” He sounded baffled by this, as if he hadn’t been blessed with the kind of face that belonged on movie posters and ads for expensive cologne. “She asked me sit down in the cafe where we see each other, and she tell me about you.”
“She told you about my pregnancy,” Lani murmured.
“She tell me that I have a daughter,” he said with wonder. “She take out her phone and show me pictures. She is so beautiful, Lani.Bellissima.”
She stared at him for a moment in consternation, slow to understand. There were no pictures of Rory online, not that anyone could access. She had shared a handful on social media for her family to see, but those profiles were locked down.
Her stomach bottomed out as she realized that Paola was still her ‘friend’ online, even though they hadn’t spoken since Lani quit her cruise ship job six years ago.
A slow anger burned away the shock. How could that woman go behind her back like this? To put him in contact with her would have been one thing, but to show him pictures of Rory? To send him her way with no warning? She could hardly wrap her head around that.
“She told you where I work?” Lani asked quietly.
“Yes, she show me pictures of this place!” His smile faded as he took in the grim look on her face. “Mi dispiace… I am sorry, Lani. Maybe I should call before I come. But after so much time, I do not know how to start, or what to say. I have missed so much already. I just want to see you, face to face, and to meet our girl.”
Remorse twisted in her chest as she stared at him. She was amazed thathewould apologize toher.
“I tried to find you,” she told him. “When I realized I was pregnant. But I didn’t know how, didn’t even know your last name.”
“And so you raise her yourself.” His eyes were sad. “I want to help. I want to… how you say… make up lost time? I thought, face to face is better. After so much time, only writing seem… not good. But maybe I make mistake.”
His English seemed to falter the more he got flustered, and her heart hurt for him. Had he learned it just for Rory? She couldn’t bring herself to ask.
“Do you want to see more pictures?” she asked instead.
“Yes,” he said immediately. “Please.”
She pulled out her phone and found the most recent picture of Rory. She was holding up a painting from school, beaming with a wide smile that showed off the new gap in her front teeth. Her dark hair was back in a braid, and there was a streak of lime-green paint on her cheek.
Lorenzo held the screen up to his face and gazed at the picture with such adoration that Lani’s heart cracked in two.
“Her full name is Aurora King,” she told him, “after the aurora borealis.”
He glanced up from the screen and murmured, “L’aurora boreale.”
“She was born under the northern lights,” Lani explained.
“Northern lights,” he said slowly, testing out the English words. Then he grinned. “Aurora King. This is a good name. A strong name. Like the goddess.”
“Who?” Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion, and his grin grew wider.
“You do not know Aurora? She is an ancient Roman goddess.Dell’alba… how you say? The start of the day? First light?”
“She’s the goddess of the dawn?”
“Yes! Of the dawn.”
Lani drew in a sharp breath as something clicked into place. “The town that we’re in, this town I grew up in…”
“Pualena?” It was strange to hear the word in an Italian accent.
“Yes, Pualena. It’s the Hawaiian word for dawn.”
“It is a good name,” he said again, returning his gaze to the picture. He glanced back up at her with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. “An Italian name.”
