Page 78 of Knot Your Sunshine
"But listen to me, going on and on. I haven't even asked how you're doing. Are you enjoying being back at the helm of the salon? How are our customers doing? Just… call me when you get this? I'd love hearing your voice. I love you, Grandma. So much."
I end the call and let the phone slip from my fingers, sleep slowly pulling me under.
We're doing it, Grandma. We really are.
Chapter thirty-one
Mia
I sway in the hammock between two palm trees, slurping coconut water.
The guys' voices drift over in a comfortable hum from the lounge chairs nearby. Something about wave dynamics has Josh using his hands to demonstrate calculations while Keanu throws his head back laughing.
Down by the water, a family builds sand figures. The littlest one, maybe four, carefully places a crown of seaweed on their creation.
"Look, Mommy!" He bounces on his toes with pride. "It's you!"
The mom's face goes through a journey. First the instinctive smile, then the slow realization that her child has created a lumpy, seaweed-draped sand blob. Her expression freezes somewhere between forced delight and poorly concealed horror.
I snort coconut water straight up my nose.
"You okay over there?" Noa calls.
"Perfect." I wipe my face, eyes watering from witnessing that moment.
But watching that little boy beam up at his mom as she ruffles his hair, something shifts in my chest and images flash through my mind.
This pack. Children. A house somewhere with a beach...
Heat floods my face, and I drain the rest of my coconut water like it might wash away the thoughts.
Since when do I think about—? It’s only been, what, a week since we met? And I'm already imagining a happily ever after?
"Another coconut water, Ms. Everly?"
I jump hard enough to make the hammock swing. A resort worker has materialized beside me, tray balanced perfectly in one hand. "Or perhaps a cocktail?"
"Yes, cocktail please," I say too quickly.
"Thank you, Kalani," Noa says from his chair. "And remember what we discussed about taking breaks. Don't push yourself too hard.""
The young man's face lights up. "Never, sir. Always a pleasure."
I take a large sip of the frosty pink drink Kalani hands me. Liquid courage. Because there's something I've been thinking about since yesterday, and if I don't say it now...
"I want to stop taking the blockers." The words tumble out in a rush.
Three heads turn toward me in perfect synchronization.
My fingers twist the cocktail stem as my face turns crimson. "The scent blockers, I—I'd like to stop. And I was hoping... maybe you would too?"
The silence stretches. One heartbeat. Two. Three.
Oh why did I say that? It's too soon for them and—
"Of course, sunshine." Keanu's face splits into a grin so bright it could power the entire resort.
"You got it, Princess." Something fierce and pleased burns in Noa's eyes.
