Cal stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind him. His shoulders were slumped, his tie half -off, and there was a drained look behind his eyes.
“Hey,” I said, my voice carrying across the room.
He flinched, startled, then saw me. “Hey. Sorry—I didn’t think you’d still be up.”
“You didn’t answer your phone.”
“I know.” He held it up sheepishly. “It died. I kept asking Hal if I could borrow one of his chargers, but he had a dozen devices already hooked up. I’m sorry.”
I nodded once. “I figured.”
Cal stepped out onto the porch and collapsed onto theoutdoor sofa beside me with a long exhale. He kissed me and I could taste miso and sake.
“You’ve had dinner?”
“Yeah. We were starving. I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to vanish on you.”
“You didn’t vanish.” I kept my tone light. “You just disappeared into a finance wormhole and forgot you have a very emotionally available husband.”
He looked over at me. “Are we okay?”
I didn’t answer right away. The breeze was warm on my face, and I was determined to stay calm in the moment.
“I tried not to let it get to me,” I admitted. “I really did. But you were gone a long time, and I didn’t know where you were, and… Hal has that whole ‘I summer in Monaco’ energy. It messes with my sense of perspective.”
Cal reached over and took my hand. “I get it. I do. He’s… draining.”
“You’re allowed to have meetings,” I said. “I just need to know I haven’t fallen off the radar. That I still matter in the middle of the numbers.”
He squeezed my hand. “You matter more than anything in the world. And soon, there’ll be a tiny little person in our lives who matters to me just as much as you do. So tell me, how did your talk with Leilani go?” He kissed me again. “Tell me everything, my sweet sensitive husband.”
I smiled, and over the next twenty minutes I filled him in on the beach, the banana bread, the ginger-cinnamon-turmeric chai, and how Leilani somehow made everything feel calm and present, like time moved slower around her in the best possible way. I told him about the royal bloodline, Makani’s title and thekuleanathey carry.
Cal listened and smiled as I talked, and I could feel the night reshaping itself around us. A better shape. A hopeful one.
“So?” I asked, when I’d finished. “What do you think?”
“I think we’ve found her,” he said softly. “She’s everything we hoped for. And more.”
I nodded. “I was scared I’d feel unsure. But I don’t. Leilani’s the one.”
Cal leaned over and kissed the back of my hand. “Then let’s move forward. Together.”
“We’ll talk to Tessa?”
“First thing tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll tell her we’re ready for the next stage. So long as Leilani agrees to it as well.”
I leaned my head against his shoulder, the tension melting away. “I think she will. I know she will.”
CHAPTER 19
We angledthe laptop just right on the kitchen counter so the slatted shutters behind us looked appropriately tropical but not too “wish you were here,” and I tried very hard to pretend my hair wasn’t doing something weird in the humidity.
Cal looked perfect. Because of course he did.
I was in a fresh T-shirt, trying not to sweat through it, and holding a cup of herbal tea like it was a shield.
“Do I look casual enough?” I whispered, as the loading wheel for our Zoom meeting began to spin.
