Page 35 of The Moment of Letting Go

“Two weeks in Hawaii,” Alicia says, “now that’s a vacation.”

I glance over and smile at Luke next to me.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” I agree. “I like my job, but I’d take Hawaii over it any day.”

Alicia nods, beaming. “I’d take Hawaii over any job,” she says. “What do you do?”

“Sienna’s an event coordinator.” Luke speaks up for me, which I find cute and not at all intrusive.

Alicia perks up a little. “Oh?” she asks, looking between Luke and me with a curious—and maybe even hopeful—expression.

I hadn’t forgotten about Luke bringing up that charity art event earlier; I guess it just got lost in the excitement of staying in Hawaii and how crazy and thrilling and spontaneous the whole thing was. Besides, when he said to forget he said anything about it, that he would’ve said just about anything to get me to stay, I thought he was joking about the event.

“And a damn good one from what I saw,” Luke says.

My face reddens a little. “Thanks.” I’m not sure how much of my work he actually saw, but I don’t probe. I just take the compliment.

Alicia sits up on her knees on the sand and smiles at me eagerly.

“Maybe you could help out with the charity event we’re having over at the community center in a couple months,” she says. She presses her knuckles into the sand on each side of her to hold up her petite weight.

Luke shakes his head. “Well, I did sort of ask her,” he says, “but I feel weird about it now.”

“Weird why?” I ask, looking over at him.

He shrugs. “Just that you’re supposed to be on vacation and getting away from your job. I’m not going to put you to work.” He laughs. “But hey, a few pointers here and there would be awesome—but no working.” He shakes a finger playfully at me.

“Well, I’d love to check it out,” I say. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

And really I don’t mind at all. Somehow, no matter what it entails, I don’t see it making me feel like I’m at work. It could be fun!

Alicia looks relieved.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Luke says. “Melinda—she runs the community center—hosts these charity art events once a year.”

“And she’s been planning them and setting them up for … I don’t even know how long,” Alicia says, twirling a hand in the air beside her. “But she wanted to do something fresh and exciting this year”—she glances at Luke—“so she put us in charge.”

“We have plenty of time to get it all organized,” Luke says. “So don’t think about it too much—you’re here to kick back and have fun.”

“Well, count me in,” I say, beaming at them both.

Alicia looks toward the cliffs, probably eager to take her turn.

“Hey, we’re having a barbecue at our house later,” she says, “if you two wanna come—you can ride over with me.”

Luke looks at me briefly.

I shrug as if to tell her, Sure, why not?

“Yeah, sure,” Luke says. “Just let us know when you’re ready to head out.”

Alicia stands up and dusts sand from her hands.

“Are you OK to sit with your stuff?” she asks, pointing briefly at my bag.

“Oh yeah,” I tell her. “Thanks for bag-sitting.”

“No problem,” she says brightly and then heads toward the cliffs.

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