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“What am I doing here?” I stare up at the wooden beams, large windows, and palm trees outside the Polihua Resort.
I’m pretty sure there’s an unspoken rule that only couples are allowed to stay here—because every human I see has a partner.
I squeeze the handle of my rolling suitcase, palms sweating, and head inside. Coupleless. Where else am I going to go at this point? “Let’s get this over with.” It’s one week of my life. I can handle one week on a beach. One week alone. One week in paradise. It doesn’t have to be miserable. Surely, I can endure it, then get back home.
All for the sake of sticking it to Kyle.
Man, my morals have faltered.
There are palm trees inside the lobby—and only half a roof. Where’s the other part of the roof? What do they do when it rains? This isn’t practical at all.
I’m still walking and staring up at the blue sky when—
“Miss? Yoo-hoo. Over here.”
I am coupleless and completely visible here!
I pause my strappy sandaled feet and turn to see a balding man waving to me. He’s smiling, and while he’s round and missing one of his bottom teeth, he’s clean and dressed for success in his white shirt and black bolo tie.
“Check in here,” he says.
“Oh.” I sigh out a nervous laugh. “Right. I was looking—” I point up.
“I saw.” His smile is wide and contagious.
My nerves are shot, but I can’t help but grin at this man. I squint, reading his name on his tag from several feet away—Makani.
“You’re staying at Polihua Resort?” Makani says. “Let’s get you settled in. Where is your other half?”
I swallow. See? Couples place. Makani will probably kick me out because I’m here all by my lonesome, no idiot partner beside me. I should have let Kyle bring Carma.
No, I really shouldn’t have. In what world does Kyle deserve to be here over me? Even if the jury is still out on whether I want to be here or not.
Who cares if I am humiliated in this moment? Kyle, the cheating scum, should never be allowed to step inside this beautiful place. That is, unless it’s raining, and then he can stand in the lobby with nowhere else to go and get rained on, while indoors—because that’s the kind of karma that Kyle deserves.
Makani clears his throat, and I realize I haven’t answered. My mouth is dry when I finally say, “I’m alone.”
“Very good,” Makani says.
I mean—it’s fine, but I’m not sure I’d go with very good. Still, he doesn’t kick me out for being alone, so I’m calling this a win.
“Your name?”
I stroll over to the counter Makani stands behind, letting go of my pink travel bag and setting both my hands on the marble counter. “Meg. Ah—Meghan Miller.”
His smile widens. “Meg, Meghan Miller, I am Makani. If you need something. I’m your man.” He gives one joyful nod, then sets his fingertips to the computer. “Kyle Wells will be arriving later?” His eyes draw to mine, his lips pursed with one brow raised. This is a question, not a statement.
I clear my throat and give a small head shake—one that Makani doesn’t seem to register. I dig down and find my voice once more. “No. Kyle Wells will not be coming.”
Makani’s eyes find mine—his, dark and sunken, seem to see so much more than I’m willing to speak. “I see,” he says, and I truly think he does. His round cheeks puff out, and his eyes slit upon me. “He does not deserve you.”
My beating heart thumps in agreement. “No, he does not.”
“Good!” Makani goes from zero to sixty in one second. Whispers to bellows, eyes popping wide and smile blooming once more. “Polihua is a destination of love. If you don’t bring it. You will find it.”
I shake one finger his way and reach down for my suitcase handle, clasping my fingers around it once more. “No, no, no. I’m not looking for love. I’m looking for…” But I don’t know how to finish that sentence. I didn’t come for a vacation, not really. I’m running away—from everyone who never believed I’d come, from the heartbreak that Kyle caused. I may not want him anymore, I may even be glad to be rid of him, but it still hurts. I’m running from the certainty of my mother, believing I’d never do something like this. I’m even running from a dead hamster named Chuck—I have no desire to break a bunch of five-year-old hearts.
This is my runaway vacay. And that’s it.
