sister jabbed him in the gut. “Don’t give me that look. It’s an honest living.”
“And it’s not necessary. You can work for me. I’ve been telling you that for years. I want to start that foundation. And now…more than ever…” He’d had the thought on the flight over, grateful that he’d taken Gia’s advice and rethought the people who managed him. Wilson’s agent, Rene Dubois had signed Kai and had inked a better, lengthier contract with a cushier bonus. He wasn’t going to struggle anymore. The foundation could get started, only now, it would be in Keeana’s name. Thinking about it, planning it, made dealing with her death less painful. Or at least, it gave him something to think of so he wouldn’t have to face the reality of her being gone.
“I think she’d like it if we did something for kids who need help with college. Kids like she was. Kids who maybe didn’t make the best decisions but still want to get an education.”
“Kai…that’s a lot to ask me.”
“Please, Na.” He lowered his head, not wanting her to see the tears if they came. “You and my pēpē, you’re all I have left now.”
When Wilson whistled, bringing Kai and his sister’s attention back to the house, the pair turned and Kai waved at his teammate again, signaling that they’d be right with them.
His teammates would leave early in the morning and Nalani would take Keola to her place so that he and Gia could pack up Keeana’s things with her family. Wilson waved a plate of burgers and nodded toward the inside of the house and Kai spotted Gia on her cell, directing Pérez with her free hand to grab the condiments Wilson had used on the burgers before she turned away, continuing with her call.
This place was nice, Kai thought, and secluded. Keeana had left it to Kai. He had half a mind to give it to her family, let them have the money selling it would make. Keola wouldn’t be with them or in this place anymore. She’d be with Kai, always. That thought thrilled him. It also terrified him. Gia walked toward the back of the house, making her way through the glass doors that led inside but stopped, sending Kai a smile and a twist of her head to hurry him. He hadn’t eaten anything all day and he suspected Gia knew it. She seemed to know everything about him—what he needed, what he wanted, what would make him upset. Gia had kept her promise. She’d taken care of everything: Kai, Keola, the funeral arrangements, Keeana’s family, the flowers, the program, even the music, security to keep everyone he didn’t want around him away and, the press release when the media began to circle the island looking for a picture of Kai and his daughter at the funeral.
He smiled back at Gia and the tension in his body eased, if only for a second as he watched her walk into the house.
“I don’t know, brah…I’d say there’s still some ohana waiting for you.”
Kai glanced at his sister, spotting where her attention had gone and for the first time, he laughed. “I wish,” he told her, offering her a hand when he stood up. “Just think about it, yeah?”
“I will,” Nalani told her brother, linking her arm through his as they walked back inside. “But I get the feeling you might not have to wish too hard.”
KAI HAD SPENT the rest of the night watching his daughter interact with Gia. They were different together. Gia wasn’t the ball busting GM with his kid that she was around the team. She braided his pēpē’s hair as Wilson and Pérez pushed tequila shots in front of him in some pathetic attempt to keep him from breaking down in front of his daughter.
“Makuakāne...” Keola asked, sitting in front of Gia as the woman combed her fingers through her thick hair, twisting the strands into sections. “Do you think you’ll stay in that building you live in for a while?”
The question came out of nowhere and Kai wondered what had made his little girl ask it. There were other things he was sure occupied her thoughts. Other questions she’d have about where her mother went. But he wouldn’t push her into asking anything until she was ready.
“I don’t know, keiki. That’s my friend’s apartment. Not mine. I’ll have to get a bigger place for you and your auntie if she comes with us.”
She frowned, leaning back against Gia, interrupting