Lib Novel Page 21
Hollis giggled.
He returned with two plates, and a glass of white wine. He handed one plate and the glass to her.
“Thanks. I should’ve brought a plate of something.”
“We’re more than covered for food.” He sat down beside her. “Now, eat.”
The food looked delicious, the ocean was beautiful, and the man beside her mouthwatering.
“Thanks for inviting me,” she murmured.
He smiled. “Thanks for coming.”
He knewthe food was good, but he barely tasted anything.
Sawyer watched the stars appear in the sky, and firelight flicker over Hollis’s face.
She was finally relaxed, and had surprised him by eating nearly everything on the plate. She clearly enjoyed it.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she said.
He kept his gaze on her. “Yeah, it is.”
She smiled at him. “I can understand why you came here. And stayed.” She paused, pushing one toe through the sand. “It must have been a huge change of pace.”
“That’s an understatement.”
Two young boys raced past, kicking up sand.
Sawyer shot out an arm and caught one of them. “Hey, you need to watch where you’re running.” He tipped the boy upside down.
The kid giggled. “Sorry, Uncle Sawyer.”
Sawyer set Kalani’s nephew on his feet and tickled him. “Careful, or I’ll arrest you.”
That got Sawyer a wide, unconcerned grin. The boy raced off to find his partner in crime.
When he looked over, Hollis was smiling at him. She leaned back, her hands in the sand. “Do you miss the military?”
“Parts of it.” He was quiet a moment. “It was challenging, and I liked that. I liked pushing myself, and I was good at it. And I believed in what I was doing. In protecting my country.”
“What branch?”
“Navy. I was a SEAL.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow. That’s tough work.”
“I enjoyed it. And being on a team, with people I could trust. That’s special. But eventually, all the things I’d seen, the fights I’d been in… I knew I had to get out.”
She nodded, her face serious.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I don’t have family in Montana anymore, and I didn’t want to go to Florida where my mom is. Benny invited me to Maui.”
She glanced over at Benny. He had an arm around his beautiful, dark-haired wife.
“They saved me,” Sawyer said quietly. “Benny, Kalani, her family. When I first arrived, I was always getting dragged out to dinner, or a family birthday party, or windsurfing. Still am. They didn’t let me sit and brood. Much.”
Her lips tipped. “I bet you’re good at brooding.”