Page 8 of Hula

“There was this dog I bonded with. When I was getting out of the water, this big gray dog made eye contact with me and he kept staring like we knew each other! I was like what the heck dude, are you a person?”

He doesn’t have to wait for a reaction. The kids always laugh at his sense of humor.

“My down was that he ran off into the ocean, but it was really cool. There he is!”

Our attention is pulled to the large, wet, sandy dog running our way. He spots Alana and makes it to her side.

“This is my grandmother’s dog. Kanaka,” she says, trying to wrangle the wound up dog.

“That’s Hawaiian for human,” Ahn explains to the newcomers.

Jeremy hits Cash on the arm and chuckles.

“My aunt has a Weimaraner. They all stare, dude.”

The kids are charmed, showering the dog with affection. It must be taking the girl out of her head. There is an actual smile and a new mood. When her hood falls a long dark braid escapes.

“I guess he wasn’t bonding with me, as much as I thought,” Cash says with a smirk.

“I think he may have been. He doesn’t stare at just anybody.”

An entire two sentences from the new girl. Pretty certain that was a fib. But, the kindness hit its mark. Cash returns it with a dazzling smile. Her shy one confirms the impression it made.

“You live here, Alana?” Paula asks.

“No. We’re just here visiting for the summer.”

“You and your parents?”

The question sounds innocent. It is not.

“My dad and I.”

Kanaka shakes a shower of sea water and sand, grabbing all the attention.

“Stop!”

“Oh my God!”

Everyone leans out of the line of fire.

“I’m sorry! Kanaka, no!”

We are laughing and shaking out the grains of sand from our hair and faces, when a man’s deep voice joins ours.

“It’s okay. I have him. Sorry about that. Nobody’s safe when he shakes.”

The leash gets clipped, but the dog sits in the sand. He wants to stay with the group. Good boy. Dad is tall. There’s six feet of man there and maybe another inch of cool. This is no boy. Love the graying temples against jet black hair. And the hazel eyes. A mouth that makes me think of other things. Hawaiian and what? Maybe something Mediterranean?

“Can the kids take your dog for a walk down the beach?”

“If they want. He’d love it. Make sure you watch him around the little kids, Alana.”

God bless Paula. Her quest to find me a good man never ceases. She wants me to be in the kind of relationship she has with Keanu. In this case I am not immediately opposed.

Daddy man sits his ass right next to me. It does not suck when he stretches golden muscled legs out, and mirrors my position, elbows in the sand.

“Looks like you have the right idea,” he says.

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