Page 32 of His Hawaiian Heart (Stateside Doms #26)
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 there would 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.
Grammy and Mom both shed tears when the officiant pronounced us Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Blackwell, but did so with huge smiles on their faces.
As for Cookie? He’d performed his magic yet again and we feasted.
Not at tables covered in linen and silver, but on blankets spread across the meadow.
There was not a single slice of cake in evidence, but oh, there was something far better.
Cookie had produced, not a knife to cut a cake, but a pair of tongs and then he’d stepped aside and I’d squealed like a little girl.
Dozens and dozens of cookies were artfully piled high, each layer a different flavor, but every single one was my favorite as who would ever be able to choose just one?
When my husband had asked me where in the world I wished to honeymoon, I’d smiled and said, “Pomaikai.”
It had been pure bliss. We’d made love and we’d played dirty delicious games.
I’d learned my husband was not only a master at wielding a whip against my body while I stood spreadeagled on a St. Andrew’s Cross, but that he’d remembered that I’d declared I’d want my “handcuffs” to be padded.
He’d presented me with ebony leather cuffs that were lined with purple satin.
When the tip of the whip had kissed my ass, he’d opened yet another realm as I tumbled off the cliff and soared on the currents with the sound of the hiss of the whip guiding me to a bliss I’d never before known.
I’d learned that galloping across the ranch on Sugar’s back, my hair streaming behind me as Sam on McNut raced beside me was magical. And when we finally pulled to a stop and my husband lifted me from the saddle and lay me beneath the canopy of a monkeypod tree, I discovered Nirvana.
Kekoa had shown up one day and demanded it was his turn to show me his island.
I’d finally had a chance to dig my toes in the sand as I watched the Pacific Ocean stretch to the horizon.
He and Sam had attempted to teach me to surf, and I was pretty awful at it.
When I’d come up coughing for the twentieth time, Kekoa had slid off his board and had me on his before I could blink.
I’d suggested perhaps I should just watch them surf from the beach, and he’d nixed that immediately.
My brother-in-law had insisted no sister of his was going to be a beach bunny.
Sam had agreed and the two promised all I needed was a surfboard custom-made just for me and they’d make sure it was ready by the time I returned.
For the first time since completing my fellowship all those years ago, I’d turned down not one but two invitations to join teams, one in Taiwan and the other in New Zealand.
It wasn’t due to fear of disappointing Sam, I knew he’d be waiting when I returned, but because I simply could not fathom being separated from the man who was my heart.
“Day of the Missed Flight,” Kekoa intoned.
“Don’t quit your day job, brother,” Sam suggested as we moved toward the counter. “You suck as a comedian.”
The exchange brought me out of my memories to face the truth. I was leaving the Garden Isle for the first time since my arrival.
“Better put Mr. Eupithecia on,” Sam said.
“Oh, right.” I smoothed the decal onto my suitcase and then Sam lifted it onto the scale at check-in. “I’ll think of you every time I see him,” I said. When his eyebrow quirked, I slapped his chest. “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” he said and stroked his finger over my cheek. “I couldn’t let you leave Hawaii without a decal to commemorate your research here.”
“The Caterpillar Chronicles.”
“Oh hush. You could stand to learn how to romance a girl from your brother,” Grammy said.
As Sam laughed and Kekoa pouted, she stepped forward and wrapped me in her arms. “I knew from the moment I met you we’d be friends, but you’ve done so much more.
You have made my heart so happy and brought sunlight into my grandson’s life once more. I love you, child.”
“I love you, Grammy.”
“Now, you go find that magic bug and then come back to us. We will be here waiting to hear all about it.”
It was taking everything I had not to burst into tears as I kissed her cheek, hugged Kekoa, who was no longer joking, and then clung to Sam as my flight was called.
“I love you.” My voice was shaky as I pressed my forehead to my husband’s.
“I love you, too. I’ll see you soon.” He gently swiped my cheeks with his thumbs, wiping away tears that refused to be contained.
I so wished that was true, but with cell-phones and laptops, separation from the one you loved wasn’t as final as it had been before technology had filled the gap.
I knew his military service had separated Grammy from her Harry, but she’d told me they’d never felt truly alone.
“I’ll call you when I land,” I promised.
“I’ll look forward to it.” Sam gave me a last peck before pulling back and handing me my backpack.
If I looked back, I knew I’d not get on the plane. Taking a deep breath, I held out my phone so the agent could scan my pass and then I whispered, “Aloha,” and boarded the plane.
I’d argued that I didn’t need an upgrade when Sam booked my flight.
He’d insisted I did and then suggested that if I’d rather travel for hours sitting on a hot ass, then he’d let me pick the seat.
Of course, I’d capitulated and then wound up with a hot ass anyway because, let’s face it, I loved wearing Sam’s marks.
Now, I was very grateful for his insistence.
Once seated, I pressed my forehead against the windowpane, not able to see anything but the tears streaming down my face.
I pitied whoever my seatmate would be but knew I simply couldn’t handle any conversation.
I pulled my headphones and a sleep mask from my backpack, settled my travel pillow against the window and let my thoughts replay every moment I’d spent with the man I loved.
A hard jerk jarred me awake and had me fearing I’d become blind and deaf. It took another second to realize I’d fallen asleep. I felt icky. My throat was dry, both my ears and my eyes itched and my muscles ached. Reaching up, I pulled the headphones off and then the mask.
“What’s happening? Have we landed?”