Second Shot K.O.K (The Brooklyn Bears: Season 1)

25. Sunset

TWENTY-FIVE

SUNSET

Nalani

S ince Philadelphia, when we found out we were expecting, I stopped avoiding the inevitable and started really thinking about what is important to me. The top of that list is my marriage and family. My law degree is important, but how I obtain it isn’t anymore. I will be taking online courses to achieve that goal at my own pace.

My priorities have shifted. I will be raising my children and teaching them to love by loving them the way love should be done. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be working, because I will.

Two weeks ago, Koa and I mailed my father two options: one was an offer to buy him out of whatever thirty percent of Kāne Resorts is valued at by a team Koa and I hired; the other was that he could remain in charge of thirty percent of what the resort would become in the future. I offered a thirty percent profit share of what the properties would become and a generous annual salary. I did not offer the information on my plans because I wasn’t sure exactly what it would be, not at that time, anyway.

Right before we left Dallas, as discussed with Koa, I let my girls know their suspicions were right—I am pregnant.

“So, no Hawaiian wedding this spring?”

“Of course, that’s still on,” I assure her.

“You’ll be all pregnant,” she states the obvious.

“Which is why we’re going to have just a tiny ceremony tomorrow and the reception?—”

“Oh my God, we aren’t ready for this!” Sophie freaks out.

“No, I?—”

“Ready for what?” Dash asks.

I look back as he and Koa head toward us, and he must just know I’m in a crap spot.

Sophie takes my hand and turns me back to face her. Smiling, she pulls me into a hug. “It’s going to be the best Hawaiian spring wedding.”

“And I’m going to have the best maid of honor.”

She leans in for a tighter hug. “I’m so happy for you.”

“And I’m going to be just as happy for you one day soon.”

Arriving in Māui, I am prepared to feel a bit anxious, expect it even, but walking out to the waiting car with my fiancé by my side, I’m not at all. Like, not even a tiny bit. Why? I am growing the essence of our love inside of me, and it’s times two.

Yes, Koa didn’t just put one baby in me; he put two.

Koa squeezes my hand. “How are you doing, little māmā?”

“I’m ready.”

“You sure about that?” he asks.

I had a talk with Tūtū a couple of weeks ago, where we discussed what she knew of my family’s history on Dad’s side. When I asked specifically if there was any way his brother had any children, she hesitated a little too long. She acted as though she didn’t remember where she’d heard it, or what the girl’s name was, but that it was a possibility he had a daughter. And yes, I might have taken advantage of the fact she was tired, but she mentioned that she was a friend of mine at one point, and she had met her.

When I mentioned it to Koa, it didn’t take more than half an hour for me to realize who that girl could be.

The car stops in front of us, and the window rolls down. She rolls her eyes at me then looks at Koa. “You’re killing it out there.”

He opens the door for me, and I slide in. “See you upgraded your vehicle.”

“Not for you,” she huffs.

“The three of us had a conversation a week ago.” Koa shuts the door. “You’re on the same team now.”

“Never wanted to play,” she says, smashing the gas.

I laugh. “Me neither.”

Koa steps in, “In that case, it’s not about how you play; it’s about winning for whatever reason you think best represents what’s best for the land.”

“This coming from a man who could buy the whole island,” she grumbles.

“Oh my God, Alana, lay off my man. You like him!”

“Nalani, I’m fine,” he assures me.

“I’m angry, okay?” Alana snaps. “That bitch didn’t want me to have any of this, so why are you forcing it on me?”

“Pull over—now,” Koa demands.

“Fine, whatever. Walk,” she huffs, and does just that.

“She was old, and now she’s dead.” I start to open the door, but Koa stops me.

“You’re not taking this stress with you,” Koa says then looks at Alana. “And you’re not driving when you’re?—”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” she says like a freaking child.

He slides out, opens the driver’s door, and tells her, “Move.”

She glares at him.

“Now.”

She climbs over the console and into the passenger seat, crossing her arms while Koa adjusts the driver’s seat then slides in.

He looks back at me. “You good?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m fine, too, thanks,” Alana snaps.

“What you are, Alana”—he hits the signal then pulls out into traffic—“is pissed off and focusing that on Nalani for something she can’t control. She said you were friends, and then you just weren’t, so something happened there.”

She doesn’t say anything, and I sure as hell have no idea, so neither do I.

“You two need to figure that out, and you’re gonna have to shine a light on it for her. She’s been handed a shit ton of responsibility but also could make the kind of money that could change lives. She wants you to be a part of it.” He chuckles. “And she doesn’t have to.”

“She’s trying to look good in your eyes.” She forces a laugh.

“She doesn’t have to try; I’ve been in love with her from go.”

“And she fucked you over just like she did me. You got rich and?—”

“That’s not what happened,” I mumble. “It was so much more than that, Alana, and right now, I don’t trust you enough to tell you.”

“I tried to trust you. When my dad got sick?—”

“I didn’t know your father was sick until long after you stopped talking to me, and I sent a card when you didn’t respond to my texts. Then, the next semester, I tried to hug you, and you pushed me away and said, fuck off, rich bitch .”

“Bullshit. Before that, I asked you about your uncle, and you told me?—”

“This, I remember. I told you my family never talked about him because Mele disowned him.”

“And then your mother told my mother I’d asked. She was so—” She clamps her mouth shut like she’s said too much.

“My mother is not me.”

“Not at all,” Koa growled.

“And I’m not the man who got my mother pregnant. I don’t give a shit about money.”

“Nalani doesn’t need the money, either, but she does care about the land and that it’s been in your family for generations, and she doesn’t want it sold.” He glances back. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I assure him then look at Alana. “Our family owned the land before the islands were colonized. I want it to stay that way. I want our children’s children to own this land.”

“What if I told you that I want nothing to do with it, but I want my daughter to have that option one day.”

“How old is she?” I ask.

“Why?”

“Can you just answer the question and stop looking for an angle where there isn’t one?”

“She’s a year and a half. Her father is not in the picture. I take care of her. My mother watches her when I’m in school and when I’m doing this.”

“What are you going to school for?”

“I don’t want anything, but I’d like her to make that decision one day. I’m getting my doctorate in physical therapy, so we’ll be just fine.”

Koa chuckles, and I smile. Hell, I think our babies are smiling in my belly.

Of course, Alana gets it twisted. “What’s so funny? You two think I can’t?—”

“Two of my teammates’ wives are physical therapists, and Nalani’s been throwing around ideas, and she’s been stuck on thinking it would be one hell of a place for athletes to go when they need to heal their bodies, their souls, and their minds. A five-star vacation with the best rehab programs money can buy.”

She tries not to act interested but asks, “And how would you do that from New York City?”

“We hire the right people, we don’t have to be. But we’ll be here from the season’s end to the beginning, because we want to spend as much time here as we can with our kids.”

She glances back.

“The ones we’ll have next summer.”

She closes her eyes as she sighs.

“The other option was to keep it as is and watch it get swallowed up by the competition from corporate resorts.”

“And how will your parents feel about you asking me to be part of this?”

“I don’t really care, Alana. What she did to you, to our friendship, is disgusting, but that wasn’t the last time she kept me away from someone I cared about, and he’s allowed it.”

“So, you think they’re just going to hand over the keys to the Kāne empire?”

“It was Mele’s, and when she died, there were stipulations in her will that I had to adhere to in order to inherit the majority.”

“And how do I know you won’t fuck me over if I dive headfirst into this?”

“Because there will be a family trust. It will go to our children when we’re gone.”

“You need to think about it?” Koa chuckles as he pulls into the rental car parking lot.

“Why are we here?” she asks instead of answering.

“We’re not staying here tonight. We’re heading to Wailea to get married. I really want you to think about this, and I really hope you don’t share this information with anyone. We’ve given my father two options. I don’t want her to influence him to stay, knowing this business idea will be much more lucrative than anything they’ve done to keep it going.”

“When do you need a decision?”

“We’re not jumping into anything for a while. You have Koa’s number, if you want to reach me.” I open the door. “He can give you mine.”

As I’m sliding out, she says, “Congratulations, Lani.”

“You, too.” I smile. “I hope one day to meet her, and I hope she and our children will be friends like we once were and still would be if she hadn’t fucked that up, too.”

Koa meets me at the front of the vehicle and pulls me into a hug. “You good?”

“I am.”

“You did a good thing, little māmā.” He steps back and places his hand on my belly. “Now, let’s go do something great.”

Ten minutes into our drive, I get a text.

Alana:

I still have your number. I’m in.

The sun is dipping low in the horizon, the beautiful shades of orange and gold kissing the blue waters as I stand barefoot, digging my toes in the sandy beach. Inhaling the scent of the salty breeze mixed with tropical flowers, for the first time in over three years, I feel the island surrounding me with its hug as the kiss of the salty breeze from the ocean slides across my lips. The ends of my long, white gown, with pieces of both Koa’s mom’s, Tūtū Kaleia’s, and Mele’s gowns thoughtfully stitched under the hem, caress my body in a soothing way. My heart is racing, but it’s not nerves; it’s the joy bubbling inside me, knowing that, in moments, I will walk out from behind the surf shack, and Koa will be standing at the shore, and when I meet him, our lives and love will be bound together where we first saw each other—under the Hawaiian sky.

When I hear soft island music playing, I take a deep breath then my first step out into the open. I see him waiting for me, his size thirteen seriously sexy feet bare in the sand, dressed in a white linen shirt and khaki pants cuffed up to his ankles, a green lei around his neck, standing tall under the arch adorned with tropical flowers from Tūtū’s garden. His parents, Tūtū Kaleia, and the priest who will marry us are beside him. He’s never looked more handsome.

I don’t walk slowly, and I don’t run, I just go to him.

As I get closer, he holds out his hand, and I take it, feeling all the warmth Koa gives off, hoping I give him the same back.

The priest begins and uses words ancient and unfamiliar, but they carry a rhythm that feels like a heartbeat. We exchange vows and rings, we place leis over each other’s heads, and then, eyes glistening, his lips quirk into that soft smile that has always melted my heart.

He leans forward, his forehead gently pressing against mine, and whispers, “Ke aloha nō, ku?uipo. Mau loa.” He kisses my forehead then whispers the meaning. “My love, my sweetheart. Forever.”

*The End*

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