Page 69 of Big Island Weddings
A huge, calm pool burgeoned out from the river just before it reached the rapid stretch that led to the sea. The bank was steep there, the water crystal clear all the way to the deep, rocky bottom, and she dove in without pausing.
River water surrounded her, bracingly cold, whisking away her sweat and the heat of the day. She swam along the bottomof the pool for as long as she could before she burst up from the river and sucked in a lungful of air.
Tenn swam up behind her and looped an arm around her belly, pulling her against him. The heat of his chest contrasted pleasantly with the cold water. She let her limbs go loose and float towards the surface as he kicked his legs, holding them up.
“What a perfect day.” She laid her head back, resting it against his shoulder and looking up at the blue sky. A pale gray bridge bisected the sky high above the river, its long legs stretching all the way to the clifftops.
“The day isn’t over yet.”
“I don’t want it to be over. I just want to pause time and live in this moment. For a while, at least.”
They floated there for a long while, their closeness warding off the worst of the chill, until the peace was broken by a group of teenagers who jumped screaming into the water.
“And the world comes crashing back in,” Lani muttered.
The waves created by a nearby cannonball splashed her face, and she pulled her legs back underneath her so that she could tread water.
“Just as well,” Tenn said. “You’re starting to shiver.”
“Do you think we have time for a few more waves?”
“Let’s go warm up in the sun first.”
“We can warm up on our boards.”
Tenn grinned at her enthusiasm, but he shook his head. “Come back to the blanket. I have something for you.”
“I can’t eat another bite.”
“It’s not food,” Tenn laughed. Before she could ask what it was, he disappeared underwater and struck off towards shore.
She followed him, moving quickly through the clear water and across the sun-warmed rocks. The black sand was scorching hot beneath her feet, and she dove for the relief of the blanket.
“Are you alright?” Tenn took her foot in his hands and brushed it clean.
“No harm done.”
He pulled her other foot into his lap and looked at it for a moment. The shore at Honoli‘i was always covered in sea glass, and the sand itself was full of tiny pieces of polished glass. Each one was the size of a grain of sand, sparkling green and blue and amber against the black.
Tenn brushed that foot clean too, using his t-shirt to get the last of the sand, and then she folded her feet beneath her on the blanket.
“What’s the surprise?” she asked.
He grinned bashfully at her and looked around, suddenly self conscious. They were out in the open, sitting at the highest point of the ever-shifting black sand, but there was no one nearby. A crowd of surfers bobbed far out on the water, and a group of kids was taking turns on a rope swing across the river, but they were basically alone on their own little piece of the beach.
“It belonged to my grandmother.” Tenn pulled a handkerchief out of one of his bag’s many zippered pockets. The linen square was stitched with beautiful embroidery. When Lani looked closer, she realized that it was covered in plumeria flowers.
“It’s lovely.”
Tenn gave her a quick, puzzled look before the side of his mouth quirked up in amusement. He untied a knot in the fabric and spread it flat on one hand.
In the center of the handkerchief lay a golden ring.
“My grandparents were married for seventy years. They had their ups and downs, but that’s part of it. That’s the heart of it, I think. Standing beside the person you love through all of life’s ups and downs.”
Lani picked the ring up and brought it closer to her face. There was no diamond, no gems at all, but the gold band was embossed with a delicate pattern of loops and swirls.
“It’s gorgeous,” she breathed.
