Bamboo and Lace (39 page)

“Do I have to look at you when I answer?” Lily needed to know.

“No.”

Lily's eyes dropped to her lap. “I realized this morning, when I was talking to the Lord about all of this, that I like you more than anyone I've ever known.” Lily glanced at him but looked down again. “I think that's where the question must have come from.”

“I like you too,” Gabe said softly, not really afraid of being overheard but wanting to go slow and easy with these new feelings. “I've liked you for a long time, even before we met.”

“Did Jeff talk about me that much?”

“Not constantly, but enough that I knew you were special.”

“Gabe,” Lily said, having just remembered his earlier comments, “I need to tell you that I have also been thinking about the adoption issue. I've realized how special it is that Bailey is expecting right now.”

Gabe waited, not sure where she was headed.

“However, I'm not jealous, Gabe, not in the least. My mind has also been on my friend Ling. She was seven months along in her pregnancy when I left. I'm not jealous of her either, but if I had the chance and was needed, I would take her children and raise them as my own. Bailey's too. In a heartbeat I would gladly become a mother to Peter and Celia, or to my friend Ling's children, Faith, Hope, and Charity, and love them with all my heart. I think it's wise that this subject stays open between us, but this is the way I feel right now.”

“Thank you for telling me. I've had more time to accept the situation, but at times I've struggled terribly. Never having considered foreign adoption, I now have a whole new direction in which to think. I thought I would have to content myself with being an uncle, but you've helped me to see that there might be challenges in whole new ways.”

“I don't think I know what you mean.”

“I'm not borrowing trouble, Lily, but I am trying to be practical. The first obstacle in the path is that I can't father children myself. The second frustration is that I would probably never qualify for a U.S. adoption. I would be foolish to think that all will be smooth sailing now that you've suggested foreign adoption. Some complication could easily come up on that road as well.

“All that to say I've got to keep trusting and not holding on too tightly to what I think would be the ideal. I've got to let God, in His time, introduce me to all of the options. Have you heard of foster child care?”

“Yes, I've read about that.”

“It would be my goal for us to adopt so the children would be our own, but I need to hold that loosely because it might not be God's plan. Foster parenting might be the way God could use us best.”

“I hadn't thought of that. How does it work exactly?”

Gabe told Lily what he knew, and as he was coming to expect from her, she had probing and insightful questions. He wasn't able to answer them all, but when she was through, he then questioned her about the adoption methods in Kashien.

The family roamed in and out, and while the two were aware of them, they were not interrupted. They talked for a solid two hours before Lily realized she had needed to use the bathroom when she came in and never had. Excusing herself, she finally went on her way, her heart thinking once again that getting to know someone was nothing like she'd ever imagined.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gabe was in the process of slowly changing his clothes—his mind was too full of Lily to be rushed—when someone knocked on his door. Even before Gabe could open his mouth, Ashton's head popped around the door.

“You decent?”

“Rarely.”

It was their standard joke, and Ashton came into the room as though he'd been invited. He flopped onto his brother's bed and lay on his side, head pillowed in his hand, staring at Gabe.

“Come on in, Ash.” Gabe said dryly.

“Thanks. So tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“When you asked her.”

“When I asked who and what?”

“When you asked Lily to marry you.”

“I haven't.”

The youngest Kapaia looked comically skeptical.

“What are you up to, Ash?” Gabe questioned him, going back to folding his shirt and finding an old T-shirt to wear with his swimsuit.

“What am
I
up to?
I'm
the guy on the sofa, dozing in and out, blissfully minding my own business when I wake to hear Lily say, ‘We would get our baby from Capital City and be free to leave with her that day.'”

Gabe smiled but didn't say anything, and Ashton became very serious.

“I take it you've talked about your cancer?”

“Right.”

“And Lily thinks you can adopt from Kashien?”

“She's sure of it.”

“How do you feel about that?”

Gabe smiled. “Excited. I mean, Lily and I have a long way to go, but foreign adoption never occurred to me.”

“Am I wrong in thinking that Kashienese adoption would be even easier with Lily having dual citizenship?”

“I think you must be right, but that didn't come up.”

“But you haven't asked Lily to marry you?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Gabe laughed. “It's a little soon for that.”

“It's not too soon to talk about adoption, but it's too soon to talk about marriage?”

Gabe threw a balled-up piece of paper at him.

“I'm not sure what you think you heard, but Lily was not being specific to the two of us. She was only explaining the process to me.”

“But you love her,” Ashton stated.

“I care for her very much.”

Ashton fell on his back, put his hands behind his head, and spoke to the ceiling.

“That means you'll love her eventually, which is great.” With a huge sigh of satisfaction he added, “She doesn't ever have to leave.”

“She'll still go back to Kashien.”

Ashton rolled back to his side.

“Why?”

“She told her father that she would.”

“But just for a visit, right? I mean, she won't go away forever.”

“It's hard to say what it will all look like. So much depends on her father.”

“Will she write him and tell him she's falling for you?”

“I don't know. She was going to put a call in to Jeff. He's probably the best one to counsel her right now.”

The men fell silent for a moment. Gabe picked up a pair of socks, added it to his laundry basket, and then lifted the basket in his hands.

“I'm going to start my wash and go surfing. Want to come?”

Since surfing was a huge passion for the younger man, he didn't need to be asked twice. With a plan to meet on the veranda in ten minutes, the men went on their way.

“Thank you for calling me back,” Lily said into the phone. “Did I interrupt anything?”

“No, but I'm headed out in a little while, so that's why I called back right away.”

“Will you be seeing Annika?”

“As a matter of fact, I will. She leaves the middle of this next week, so we're trying to do the weekend up big.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Speaking of fun, how are you doing?”

“I'm doing fine,” she smiled, not aware that her voice had grown very soft.

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Oh, Jeff, I don't know where to begin.”

“Do you love him?” Jeff guessed correctly.

Lily sighed. “I didn't know you could feel this way about anyone, Jeff. What will Father say?”

“I don't know, Lil.” Jeff's voice was full of compassion and understanding. “Will you write him or just tell him when you get home?”

It didn't escape Lily's notice that Jeff knew she would go home. She didn't say anything, but that meant a lot to her.

“I don't think I'll write. I'm not sure what I would say. We're going to keep exploring this until I have to leave, so I won't really know where things stand until then.”

“And will you keep your original go-home date?”

“How are things looking on your end?”

“Like I'll be a week late.”

“Okay,” Lily said, and Jeff could tell she was thinking. “I'll probably wait until you let me know for certain, but then I'll ask Gabe to help me change my flight. After that, I'll write Father.”

“We'll have a good time, Lily.”

“Jeff,” Lily said suddenly, almost cutting him off, “where did this new boldness come from? At one time I would never have dreamed to tell Father anything. Why am I able to do it now?”

“It's probably tied into how safe and secure you feel in Hawaii with the Kapaias. Are you looking at the men?”

“Yes.”

“Is it easy?”

“It is with Gabe, Evan, and Ash. It's a little harder with others.”

“But you're doing it?”

“Yes.”

“That's probably part of it too. You're feeling more confident all the way around. But don't be fooled, Lily. Father is the type of man who commands subservience from his children. One minute of being in his presence, especially in Kashien, and you'll be cowed under again.”

“Just hearing his voice on the phone did that.”

“And how did that make you feel?”

“Tired. I understand that I need to show him respect when we're in the village, Jeff, but why can't I look at him when we're alone in our home?”

“I don't know, Lil. It wasn't like this when Mom was alive. I still think you and I should sit down when I get back and decide what I should say to him in a letter. I think my representing you will help.”

“Okay, Jeff, we'll plan on that.”

With a little more talk about relationships—Jeff and Annika's, Lily and Gabe's, and both Walsh children to their father—the two rang off. Something niggled in the back of Lily's mind, something she didn't like, but for right now she couldn't put her finger on it.

At midmorning on Monday both Lily and Bailey were to be found at the bay, bamboo mats spread out as they lay under an umbrella and visited on the warm beach. Bailey was in a one-piece suit. Lily also had her suit on but had only gone so far as to remove her T-shirt, not her shorts. Atop her head was her bamboo hat, but her feet were bare so she could push her toes into the sand.

“I love sand,” Lily suddenly proclaimed.

“That's a good thing to love when you live in Hawaii.”

“True.”

They were quiet for a moment, but Bailey had too much on her mind to let it last.

“Did that one little word mean that you plan to live here?” Bailey asked, her head turned so that she was looking at Lily when she smiled.

“I don't know,” Lily said softly, her eyes on the bay.

“I hope you realize that we've all been plotting against you for ages.”

Lily turned in confusion. “You have?”

“Um-hm.”

“What kind of plotting?”

“Oh, mostly praying, but also asking questions and trying to think of ways for the two of you to spend time together.”