Page 50 of Big Island Weddings
“There you are!” Darlene said. “Moving slow today? I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. Come on through, I’ll make you a plate.”
‘Olena walked into the kitchen and mechanically spooned food onto a plate, then sat down next to Luana with a heavy sigh. Her day had been too long and too tiring to deal with this well.
She hardly registered the chatter between her mother and Darlene until she heard Mahina ask, “How long will you be staying?”
“Until we see these two safely married. I wanted to come early and help with the planning. They eloped once already. I figure they owe us a proper wedding this time.”
Nate gave ‘Olena a wary, apologetic look. If anything was going to make themwantto elope again, it was Darlene and her machinations. But the girls were so excited to be a part of the ceremony this time… and she knew them well enough to know that if they kept it to just the four of them, they would refuse to count that as arealwedding.
“They haven’t even set a date yet,” Mahina was saying.
“Well of course not,” Darlene scoffed. “You can’t set a date without venues.”
She set a heavy binder on the table with a thump and used one of its color-coded tabs to open it to a middle page. “Now, this church is a bit small, but they have availability as soon as next week.”
‘Olena looked between Nate and Mahina, stunned. She said little as Darlene gave them the grand tour through the binder she had created. Finally, after the girls had watched an entire movie with Mano, Darlene declared that she was ready to go home and rest. She gathered up the binder in both arms, walked to the door, and turned to look expectantly at her son.
“I’ll be out in a minute, Mom.”
When the door closed behind her, Mahina covered a spluttering laugh with one hand.
“This is crazy,” ‘Olena said.
“At least you won’t have to hire a wedding planner,” her mom told her.
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
Mahina patted her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out.”
“And soon!” Mano added from the living room.
“I guess I should be flattered that she’s this excited to have me as a daughter-in-law again.”
“She was furious with me when I let you go,” Nate said quietly.
“I thought she never liked me.”
His mouth quirked towards a smile. “It’s the principle of the thing.”
Mahina chuckled and shook her head. “I may not have a binder to prove it, but I feel more or less the same way. We’re all glad to see the family mended and together again.”
“And the sooner you get hitched,” Mano muttered from the living room, “the sooner she can go home.”
“We could always elope,” Nate said into her ear.
“I couldn’t do that to the girls,” she told him.
The truth was,shewas looking forward to a wedding too. A real one this time, celebrated by and with their community.
She was an intensely private person, and a private ceremony had felt right the first time around. At first, she had been tempted to do the same thing again. There was an appeal to the idea of quietly paving over their mistakes and moving forward. But she didn’t want shame to keep her from what she truly wanted: to celebrate this new beginning with their friends and family.
She hadn’t shown anyone, not even Nate, but she had basically created her own binder. It was digital, a virtual pile of links and photos and other inspiration. If she printed it out, it would dwarf Darlene’s.
“What doyouwant?” he asked.
“I want to marry you. I want a real wedding, with everyone we love. And I want to do it soon. Like, really soon, before your mom books a venue and bulldozes her way through the whole thing.”
“But where?” Mahina asked.
