Chapter 2

"Pineapples really hit different on this island." Rebecca sat down with her drink, a ridiculously overdone monstrosity served in a hollowed-out pineapple. Unlike many of the alcoholic offerings dotting Waikiki Beach, the pool bar only served mocktails, soda, and tea. That's what Nadia nursed while waiting for Rebecca to return with her fresh pineapple juice concoction. "I never enjoy them as much back home. Must be because it's so raw here."

Nadia sat back in her metal chair with a straw permanently attached to her lips. "Never was a fan. Of course, it's in everything here."

Rebecca kicked her feet up in the spare chair at their table. Not too far away was the main pool area, filled with older kids and adults enjoying their Hawaiian vacation. Rebecca looked right at home as she leaned back and tilted her baseball cap so her scalp and face stayed out of the sun – not that they sat anywhere but in the shade.

"You gonna tell me why you're here?" Nadia asked. It had been a subject they danced around since admitting shock over seeing one another here, at this time. "I vaguely recall you saying something about going to Hawaii during Christmas, but for some reason, I thought you meant Maui."

"Plans have been upside down ever since my wedding."

Nadia raised her eyebrows, elbow resting on their tiny table. "Go on. You're a married woman now, right?"

Rebecca sniffed. "Nope."

"I see. Got cold feet?"

"You could say that." One of those feet was far from cold right now. Or so Nadia surmised as toes wiggled not too far away from her. Rebecca's flip-flops looked like they came straight from Payless Shoes, which was another reason the two redheads got along so well since meeting in the Thomas-Cole building. "I was supposed to elope with Jane to help her immigration status, right? I think I told you the story."

"I believe I was one of the few people you told."

"Right. Because I know you don't run around telling my secrets to the world."

"So, it ended up not happening?"

A shadow loomed nearby. Nadia recognized the flowery perfume before seeing the blond in a bikini and a sarong. "Are you two talking about me?" Caitlyn Adams, one of Rebecca's partners, placed her hand on the back of her girlfriend's chair. Nadia couldn't help it – her eyes went straight to the bodacious cleavage that spilled out of Caitlyn's bikini. See, on her it's amazing. On me? Not so much.

"I'm always talking about you." Rebecca's shoulders lifted as she clasped her hands over her stomach and looked up at Caitlyn. "To anyone who will listen."

"Hello, Nadia." Caitlyn ignored Rebecca's praise in favor of being cordial. "Becca didn't mention that some of our friends would be on the island at the same time."

"To be fair, it was a shock to me as well."

"I was telling her about our crazy lives," Rebecca said. "Because I have to tell someone."

A smile accompanied Caitlyn stepping away. "Have fun. The cabana calls me back."

"You guys got a cabana?" Nadia asked.

"We're staying at this hotel." Rebecca pointed to one of the top-floor suites. "Best view on Waikiki. Booked it myself. Don't ask me how much it costs. You'll gag."

"If I gagged every time I was disgusted by how much our partners spend on these excursions during peak seasons, I'd be dead."

Rebecca laughed. "I'm ashamed to admit how acclimated I am to it now. Then again, the first time Jane took me to Hong Kong, I realized what kind of freakin' insane money she comes from. Then again, your wife's family might be richer than hers. No idea, actually."

"Speaking of Jane…" Nadia referred to the woman who was supposedly the new wife of the person sitting across from her. "How did it go? What's it like joining me in the ranks of married women?"

That sigh didn't bode well for the conversation, but Nadia didn't ask any further questions. If anyone knew how to let other people say what needed to be conveyed on their terms, it was Nadia, who was all too aware of how much silence contributed to her own life. She can't leave me hanging like this, though. Either the elopement at city hall had been a successful disaster, or Rebecca had broken it off with the oldest of her girlfriends. Caitlyn's here, so it couldn't be that bad. Right?

"We didn't get married," Rebecca said. "I got cold feet as you suggested."

For some reason, that option hadn't crossed Nadia's mind. "Really? What about Jane's visa status, though? I thought that was the whole point of you two getting hitched." Nadia still couldn't believe that someone as rich and locally influential as Jane couldn't keep whatever visa she had before.

"Oh, Jane got married. Only not to me."

Nadia cocked her head; Rebecca jerked hers toward where Caitlyn had gone.

"Guess they've been married before," Nadia said.

"Maybe it'll stick this time."

Nadia's chuckle shook her straw against the ice in her glass. "Should I congratulate you on getting out of the nuptials? I honestly don't know how to react to that."

"You can react however you want. Just don't go blabbing about it until Jane's PR person has told the appropriate channels she's married to Caitlyn again. She's invested in controlling the narrative. You know how it is."

Nadia promised not to say a thing to anyone. If nothing else, I'm your girl for keeping a secret. She appreciated that in her friends – it was only natural to give back in turn.

Rebecca announced that she had an appointment of her own in another hour that she wanted to freshen up for. Nadia figured that was as good a time as ever to collect Eva and figure out what they were doing with the rest of their day. She promised me dinner on the beach, but we'll see. Eva forgot things like that more often now.

The original Ms. Warren was not difficult to locate, and not only because she was taller than most of the women at the pool. Besides, hers wasn't the only head of blond hair Nadia spotted when she did a lap around the pool area. Caitlyn hadn't been lying about her private cabana, after all. That was exactly where Nadia discovered her wife, a woman who never said no to hellos – or to mildly flirting with a curvy woman open to such innocent passes.

"…It really is the best brand for fair skin in sun like this," Eva said, one hand bouncing between her and Caitlyn, who listened with rapt attention. The curtain was parted in her cabana, and through the gap Nadia saw a pile of free drinks as well as an E-ink tablet. The view of the ocean is incredible. "Once I started using it, I never burned again. Not even a tan. Can you believe it?"

Caitlyn chuckled. "I remember when tans were all the rage. You should have seen me back then. We girls from the Midwest can be the worst at balancing a glow with skin cancer."

"My mother would have rather died than let me tan. She thought it was an affront to our ‘strong Scandinavian genes.'" When Eva put away her air quotes, she noticed that her wife had joined them. "Hey! Look who I bumped into."

"We've already said hello," Nadia informed her. "I'm super jealous of this cabana. When can we rent one?"

"Is that what you want to do? I'm sure it can be arranged."

Caitlyn sat back down in her cabana. Nadia politely looked away from the deep cleavage put prominently on display before her. Eva did not avert her gaze. God, she wouldn't be Eva, otherwise. "Maybe this is that Midwestern kid in me speaking again," Caitlyn began, "but I can't come to Hawaii and not spend a couple of days in one of these cabanas. If I pop in my earbuds, I completely block out the whole world while catching up on my reading. Highly recommended."

"The view ain't bad, either," Eva said, still gazing downward.

There was no way that Caitlyn didn't know what Eva was doing. Then again, from what Nadia openly understood about Caitlyn's love life, she didn't mind an audience. For anything. Guess that's what happens when you've been through the national pageant circuit and are now into BDSM clubs and throuples. Absolutely no shame. Nadia wondered what that was like.

"We better get going," Nadia said with a nudge to Eva's frame.

"What? Where are we going? Have I forgotten something already?"

Nadia waited until she and Eva had walked away a few feet before responding. "I just remembered that I wanted to buy some souvenirs for my parents. My mom is all about that pineapple tea they have here. You know, the one the ABC stores sell?"

"If that's what you want to do right now…"

Nadia looped her arm around her wife's. "Unless you have something else you direly need to do?"

"Yes. Yes, I do."

There was no point in asking what Eva meant – Nadia already knew, and it made her roll her eyes.