Authors: Angel Payne
“Good point.”
Tait glanced
down at his feet. “Think we should put on shoes?”
“Hmm. Probably.”
“Do you have any
idea where we’re going?”
As he issued the
question, Lani walked back through the living room, pink robe replaced by a
dress apparently borrowed from the same closet. From the photos in the house,
Tait knew Franz had a couple of biological sisters. Thank fuck they were
similar in size and coloring to Lani. The dress was stunning on her. It was
pink, too, but in a darker shade, pulling out the gorgeous glow in her cheeks and
the color in her lips. Her hair hung free now, brushed to a sheen so smooth it
reminded him of black latex.
Fuck
.
Yeah.
Pink was nice
but black latex? The best invention since shoelaces. And Christ, would that
woman’s curves look amazing in a corset formed of the stuff, cinching and
exposing her in all the right places…
Shelve it,
Bommer. High up and far,
far
away.
“Uhhhh…what’d
you say?” Kellan finally blurted.
He swallowed
before answering. “Just—errr—asked if you knew where we’re going.”
Kellan chuffed. “Does
it matter?”
“Very good point.”
*
* * * *
He was damn glad
they’d decided to put on shoes. That didn’t stop him from feeling five kinds of
underdressed and unsanitary from the second they’d exited the car at their
final destination. As they walked down a pretty stone pathway shrouded by thick
tropical trees, he still kept jabbing both hands through his hair, hoping the
thick strands would, for once, behave.
Kellan walked up
and punched him in the shoulder. “You want to relax, Benson groupie wannabe?”
“Huh? What the
hell?”
“You’re coming
off like a pretentious ass from a hair product commercial. Worse, you’re
missing all this beauty. Look at this place! It’s like the freaking
Jungle
Book
.” The guy scooted in close enough to murmur, “You know, this’d be an
awesome spot for a nudist colony.”
He seized the
chance to land a counterpunch into Kell’s arm. “It’s a
church
, you bozo.
Show some respect.”
“Right. Because
look where all your forced time in Sunday School got
you
.”
“At least I’m
not a heathen, walking around here with nudity on my mind.”
“Why is it even
called that? Sunday School needs a new name. Maybe even a new image.”
“Are you really
skipping down that yellow brick road?”
Lani slipped
between them from behind, looping her arms beneath both their elbows. “You’re
both right—and wrong.” Though she pulled them along, her pace was slower,
reverent. Her voice matched. “Though the Saiva Siddhanta church
is
located here, the complex is about much more than that. It’s a spiritual
sanctuary for over twenty swamis, yogis, and sadhakas from all over the world,
furthering the Hindu principles of humanity’s unity and divinity through harmony,
generosity, and love. It’s also a center of learning for pilgrims from all over
the world. Besides all that, it’s amazing.”
With every word
she spoke, Tait felt a smile growing, and his stress liquefying. He watched the
same effect taking hold of Kellan. At face value, the syntax of Lani’s words were
normally hippie-talk hooey he blew off faster than incense ash, but the peace
on her face, joined with the music of her voice, worked a strange magic on him.
As he lifted his head and peered around, the feeling grew. The place really was
amazing. Though there wasn’t a square foot of this island that wasn’t
breathtaking, the sanctuary grounds were like Kauaˋi in ultra-high-def,
with towering banyans, eucalyptus, and palms overlooking bushes that were
covered in lush vines that sprang from carpets of ferns. The air was better
than any florist shop on the planet, a bouquet of plumeria, hibiscus,
sandalwood, lilies, and even a little cinnamon and curry. As they climbed a
gentle slope, he glimpsed a sparkling river that was fed by postcard-perfect waterfalls.
Kellan tugged at
Lani. Though he kept his voice down, as well, there was no missing the tease to
it. “So how am
I
right and wrong?”
Her smile
quirked with her unique style of mischief. “Let’s just say you’re not the first
one in this party to think about ‘doing the naked’ in this neighborhood.” As
Kell smirked and preened, she hurriedly added, “Which means that unlike Tait,
we
both
need more Sunday School.”
“Pffft.”
“Do me a favor
and elbow him,” Tait quipped. After Lani obliged by giving Kell a good-natured
nudge, she added a smile that rivalled even the scenery for radiance. Tait
couldn’t take his eyes off her. She’d always been double-take beautiful, but
something about this place and this mountain added layers to the pull she had
on him. In every part of his mind…and body.
Hell. The
natural-and-naked fantasy party had a brand-new member.
He needed to
steer the topic elsewhere.
Now
. Thankfully, the feat wouldn’t be
difficult. Clearly, Lani loved this place. He’d simply enroll her as their tour
guide. Maybe that would haul his mind from the scene that unfurled in his head,
of stretching her out on one of the grassy riverbanks, stripping her nude and
worshipping her as a newly-inducted goddess of this place…
Tait Gabriel
Bommer, you’re in church! Straighten up and pay attention, or there will be no
cookies at hospitality for you.
Wonderful. Like his
senses needed any more havoc today.
“Okay, mom,” he
murmured, holding onto the sweetness of the memory for a tiny moment longer. If
he closed his eyes and concentrated hard enough, he could almost smell the
Juicy Fruit gum she always kept in her purse…and her floral shampoo…and the
cracked leather of her Bible…
“Okay who?”
Lani’s soft inquisition
made him cough hard, before shoving Melody McKay-Bommer to the back of his soul
again. “Nobody.” He locked down his smile. “Nothing important.”
“You sure?” Her
gaze flicked over his face. A breeze sifted through the trees, blowing her hair
at him. It smelled like flowers…
This whole place
smells like flowers, you dumb shit
.
“Yeah, I’m
sure.” Since her hand was still curled under his elbow, he pressed his opposite
hand atop it while continuing to walk toward what appeared to be the temple
itself, a modest stone building with a pedestal in front that supported a
large, carved black bull. “Tell me about all this,” he appealed.
Kellan looked on,
also interested. On his friend’s face, Tait recognized the visual form of
everything
he
felt: wonderment, gratitude, peace. And as sunlight broke
through the trees, comprehension pierced his senses. Being here with the two of
them, even after what they’d shared last night, didn’t seem weird or wrong. It
was a perfect completion to the magic they’d created. Did Lani know that when
she insisted on driving across the island to get here? He received a big chunk
of that answer in the meaningful glance she lifted before fulfilling his
request.
“The tourist
guide answer for that is that the church and monastery have been here since the
mid nineteen-seventies, and things have grown from there. People make
pilgrimages from all over the world to come and experience this. I’m sure you
can simply feel the reasons why. There’s a special energy here. I wish I could
explain it better than that.”
She shook her
head as if rebuking herself for telling a silly joke, but Kellan leaned over,
securing her other hand beneath his. “Don’t know if I could’ve said it any
better, sweetheart.”
Tait gazed up at
a crew of colorful birds in one of the trees, babbling happily to each other as
they constructed a nest. “There are probably a lot of great memories for you
here, too. Did you come a lot with your parents and Leo?”
Her eyebrows
bunched again, as if that perplexed her. “The first time I came here was a
little over six months ago.”
Tait almost
stopped in the middle of the path. Her confession swiped a strange scythe of
awareness through his gut. He forced his voice to stay on an even keel while
replying slowly, “Six months ago?”
“Yeah.” Lani’s
voice still resonated with bewilderment. “It’s kind of weird, I guess. Mom and
Dad raised Leo and I with a deep grasp of our spirituality and how our energy
contributed to the universe as a whole, just like the Hindu concept of karma.
And the Polynesian gods are similar to the Hindu ones, with multiple deities
that support one main creator through their unique powers and virtues. But we
were always so busy keeping the ranch going, especially during the busy seasons
for the B and B, that setting aside the time to come here just never happened.”
He almost swallowed
back his next question but holding it in was a worse option. He simply had to tell
himself that the answer would lead nowhere, which made him grateful for the stone
bench they arrived at, atop of a scenic hill beneath a sprawling kapok tree.
He sat, planting
both elbows to his knees and sucking down air with long, steady care. “So what
changed your mind six months ago?”
Kellan sat down
next to him. Lani chose to stand. That was so okay with him. As if put in place
by a photographer wanting a shot of an exquisite island beauty, she stood in a
shaft of sunlight that haloed her hair and bathed her features in deep gold.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I hadn’t planned on it but I was in Lihue, wrestling
again with the business permits office about reopening the main house as a B
and B. As you can guess, it didn’t go well. I remember walking out of the
office in a puddle of self-pity. But it was a few weeks before Christmas, and
the rest of the world was prancing in tidings of comfort and joy.” She folded
her arms and poked a toe at the ground. “I tried opting for some retail
therapy, but when I actually snarled at a boy scout for offering to open my car
door for me, I knew something was wrong.” She glanced up at them, lips
twisting. “I sat in the jeep and lost it. Melted down. I felt so dead and
defeated, like I’d never be happy again. It was like—”
She interrupted herself
with a frustrated grunt. Tait clenched his fists to fight the assault of memory
but racked up a massive fail on the effort. He saw it all over again. Luna,
limp and lifeless in his arms. Her hand, still resting on his neck after using
her last breath to kiss him. The candy canes and tinsel at the nurse’s station,
blurred by the haze of his tears.
“It was like
what?” He managed it on a rasp.
Her face wavered
like she prepared an apology instead of a confession. “It was like…I cried for
more than just me.” He watched the mental whack she gave herself. “Agghh. This
sounds so stupid.”
“Man purses are
stupid, okay?” He latched eagerly onto the relief of the humor. “Flavored
mayonnaise? Stupid.
You
are not stupid.”
“You forgot
Twitter accounts for dogs,” Kellan added.
“She has the
picture.”
Lani beamed at
them both. “Yes, she does.” With a sigh, she spread her arms. “I’m not sure how
else to express that moment, except that my tears felt…bigger. Heavier. I’m not
one of those people that can read people’s auras or ‘sense’ when some crazy
world event is going to go down. But that moment, in the jeep, I had this
feeling that something had happened beyond my understanding.
Something
tore into my heart and ripped it open.”
Another breeze
kicked across the hill. Clouds drifted. Leaves rustled. Birds sang. Squirrels
scampered across the grass. Movement and life, in so many places…
Except Tait’s
heart.
When his chest slammed
his lungs against his ribs again, he dropped his head. His vision was filled
with the white-knuckled union of his hands while his soul and sanity grappled
at each other.
Ask her.
Ask her!
Are you kidding?
You’ve started to look at the world with a jar full of whole cookies again.
Forget this is happening. Stick to the plan. Hands off Hokulani Kail—and that
includes her mind.
Especially
her mind.
“Was it a
Wednesday?”
She didn’t say
anything right away. But Kellan did. “Fuck.” He felt his friend swiveling a
glare on him. “You had to, didn’t you?”
“I like broken
cookies.”
“
What
?
Good Christ, Tait, what the hell are you—”
“Yes.” Lani cut
him off with a whisper that exploded like a bomb. Tait jerked up his head, his
heart clenching to a stop again, as he met her gaze. Another detonation. Her
eyes, silvery and sunlit and boundless, spilled over with tears. Her lips
trembled. “Yes,” she repeated. “It was a Wednesday.”
Tait surged to
his feet. Jammed his hands across the top of his head. This time, he simply
didn’t know what the hell to do with them. He laced his fingers at the back of
his skull and did a feverish lap around the bench. Another.