Page 56 of His Hawaiian Heart
I also learned that, funishment or punishment, both ended with me sitting on his lap, cradled by his arms and cuddled close. The experience hadn’t been completely pleasant, but I knew the next time my tally came due again, I’d climb over his lap and ask him to clear my slate.
By the time we left our spot, I was wearing his ring on my finger and his marks across my ass. And I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER
Samantha
It was time.
“I don’t think I can do this,” I said.
“Babygirl, you can do anything,” Sam said as he brushed a tear off my cheek.
I sniffled. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
He smiled and drew me tighter against his side. “No, it doesn’t. Oh, I almost forgot!”
He pulled what looked like a piece of paper from his pocket and offered it to me.
“You wrote me a love letter?”
“In a way,” he said. “Turn it over.”
Once I had, I gasped. “It’s Mr. Eupithecia!”
Kekoa leaned over and then shook his head. “Instead of a decal showing any one of Kauai’s magnificent places, you give your wife one with a stick? What’s wrong with you?”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Just shows what you know. It’s not a stick, it’s the caterpillar that just might help save the world.”
“It’s still a stick,” Kekoa muttered.
“It’s perfect, thank you, Sam.” I threw my arms around him and kissed him.
“I feel like I’m watching a soap opera. What’s the name of the one you are always watching, Tutu? The Kiss that Never Ends?”
“Just you wait until you find your heart,” Harriett said.
I could feel Sam’s smile on my lips and I pushed him away. “Okay, enough sadness. My dad always says ripping the band-aid off is the best way.” I reached up and hugged him for the thousandth time since we’d woken this morning. “I love you.”
“I love you too, babygirl.”
I’d known it was going to be hard, but not this hard. Funny how far away the future seems until you wake up and realize it has arrived.
Six months had passed since Sam had proposed in our special spot.
I’d had the wedding of my dreams. Nothing huge and elaborate as that wasn’t what I’d ever wanted. My parents and twin brothers had flown over and our two families had become one larger one with an ease that promised many more years of sharing our lives and our love with one another.
The guests were the same people I’d spent so much of my life with. Team members had rotated in and out over the years, locations shifted depending on various projects, but we were all an extended family no matter where in the world we might be. Katrina had been invited. She’d hugged me hard and told me she wished me and Sam the very best but she couldn’t stay. I’d hugged her back and told her I looked forward to working with her again. We’d shared some tears and both knew that therewould be friendship between us, but also understood hearts took time to heal.
Beth had agreed to be my maid-of-honor and wore a sleeveless lilac dress. Instead of bouquets, I’d chosen leis, and when I’d watched Joshua drape the flowers around Beth’s neck, I was positive we’d be attending their wedding in the near future.
Kekoa had stood beside his brother with pride and happiness beaming from his face, a purple Nuku I?iwi blossom in his lapel. My father had walked me, not down an aisle in a church, but through the ferns in the meadow where Sam had performed his mating dance and won his love’s heart. Instead of sunlight gleaming through stained-glass windows, a rainbow arced across the sky above us. The rumble of the waterfall replaced the sound of organ music.
And Sam? He’d taken my breath away the moment I stepped from the forest and our eyes met. When my father had kissed me and placed my hand in Sam’s, Sam had lifted it to his lips, kissed it and then placed it over his heart. Then he cupped my face in his palms, leaned down until our foreheads touched and said, “Breathe”.
We’d exchanged vows, where I did indeed promise to love, honor, and obey. When his voice filled the meadow with his vows, I knew there would not be a single moment for the rest of my life when I didn’t feel loved, honored, and protected.
