People walk to and from in every direction, the night alive with movement and voices.
“Do you miss home yet?” Luke asks.
I shake my head. “I am home.”
When we finally make it back to the house on Kauai, Seth’s Jeep is already in the driveway. When we make our way inside, we expect him to be in the living room watching television or something, but there’s no sign of him.
Luke lays his keys on the kitchen table and strips off his suit jacket, laying it over the back of a kitchen chair.
I step out of my sparkly white heels.
I feel Luke’s hands slip around me from behind, and then the warmth of his mouth on the side of my neck. I close my eyes softly and lean against him.
Then, just when I feel he’s about to kiss the other side of my neck, we both stop when we hear the bed in Seth’s room lightly hitting the wall. I turn my head at an angle to catch Luke’s eyes.
“Is he—” I start to say, but don’t finish.
Luke takes me by the hand, and we move into the living room. Kendra’s little black purse is sitting on the coffee table, and her black heels have been kicked off on the floor next to the recliner.
Luke and I look right at each other.
“Seth won’t admit it,” Luke whispers, “but from a guy’s perspective, I think he loves the hell out of that girl.”
I whisper back, “Well, from a girl’s perspective, I think she loves the hell out of him, too.”
Luke picks me up in his arms and carries me down the hallway to our bedroom.
Five months later—Kauai, Hawaii
I’ve never been happier, or so sure of my future, in my entire life. Granted, my future isn’t as laid out as it was before; it isn’t dictated by a ladder or the money on that ladder, and I may not know what I’m doing tomorrow, but somehow the not knowing is what makes it so exciting. It took a drastic change, and to be blindsided by love, to make me see how much better, how much more peaceful and fulfilling life can be when it’s not drowned in stress and expectations and fear. It took giving up what I thought made me the person I am—my job, my stability, my meticulous life—to see that the person I am is so much more than I ever imagined I could be. I’m doing things now that I never would’ve given a second thought to.
Luke and I do everything together: surfing, hiking, camping for days on end. I’ve never had so much fun in my life, or felt so free. I’m enjoying my job at a salon on Oahu, doing nails and washing hair and sweeping the floors, while also drawing a small income on the side from my photography. I’m doing what I love and spending more time with those I love, and I wouldn’t give up this life for anything.
Luke still works at the surf school as well as co-owning the surf shop, and his paintings have begun to draw the attention of more than just tourists and local business owners looking for a nice piece to put in their offices. He paints on commission now—the last piece he sold was to a businessman in New York who saw his work at an Art Walk while on vacation. That guy told another guy, who told a woman, who told another guy over in Italy, who told another woman in Spain. He’s doing what he loves, too, and slowly making a decent living doing it.
Paige and I are still best friends, but we don’t see each other much anymore. She moved to L.A. recently and is pursuing a modeling career, even got signed on with a top modeling agency. And she’s been dating a guy who, in her words, “surpasses her list of requirements.” I’m really happy for her and I wish her nothing but the best in life. But we’re such different people living in entirely different worlds now. Despite all that, and the geographic distance between us, it’s hard to think about us ever drifting apart. We keep in touch. And she’ll be coming here to visit soon.
But I have other friends who are like my family, and I feel at home here with them. Kendra is like a sister to me now, and even though I’m not into BASE, we get along awesomely. I doubt she’ll ever be fully over losing Landon, but she’s