Page 70 of Big Island Weddings
“Is that a yes?”
She closed her hand tight around the ring, terrified of losing it in the sand, and looked Tenn in the eyes.
“You could propose to me with a ring pop and I would say yes.” She half laughed as she said it, suddenly fighting not to cry.
Tenn smiled and let out a breath of relief that was itself somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Blinking rather more than usual, he took Lani’s hand in both of his and gently pried open her fist. He took the delicate band in his fingertips and slipped it onto her ring finger.
The gold glinted in the sun, brighter even than the stars in the sand.
“A perfect fit.” His voice was rough with emotion.
“Thank you.” She took his face in both hands and kissed him. Everyone else disappeared until there was nothing but the two of them, floating on the sound of crashing waves and enveloped by sunlight.
“Is that a yes?” he asked again, pulling back.
“Didn’t I say yes?” she asked, still holding his face in her hands.
“You said that you would say yes if I had a ring pop,” he said, half laughing, “and I don’t.”
“You’re trying to seal the deal without a ring pop?” she teased.
“I’ll buy you a diamond if you want one.”
“I don’t need a diamond.”
Tenn put his right hand over her left and turned his head to kiss the palm.
“You haven’t asked me,” she said.
He looked at her, dark eyes wide. They looked black half of the time, but here the sunlight revealed them to be a clear, deep brown. The same as hers.
“I haven’t?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Lani…” he took the hand that already bore his ring and held it over his heart.
She smiled at him, soaking in this perfect moment: the light that glinted off of his wet hair and shone on his sun-bronzed shoulders, the cool breeze around them that carried the salt spray of breaking waves, the hope and love in his eyes.
It was the best moment of her life, right up there with birthing her daughter beneath the spectacular green and amethyst dance of the Northern Lights.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
26
‘Olena
‘Olena found the place easily enough, and she parked her van at the end of a long line of cars. Then she sat there for a solid five minutes, trying to psych herself up to go inside.
She rarely felt self-conscious anymore, but squeezing her legs into a pair of pants that felt more like sausage casings than clothes had certainly pushed her in that direction. Being the only clueless beginner in a class full of yogis might send her the rest of the way into full-blown insecurity.
‘Olena was a confident woman, sure of herself.
But how much of that came from staying well within her comfort zone?
All it took was a pair of yoga pants and a fitted tank top to send her right back to feeling like she did when she was thirteen and suddenly taller than nearly everyone on the island, men and women alike. Her height had ensured that eyes were always on her, and she hated that.
