Page 16 of Second Chance Summer

I go ahead and complete that.

“What next?”

“Okay. The sand you’re about to cross is wet. There’s a channel of water running through it, but you’re going to take…um…four steps, and then you’re back in the fluffy sand.”

I take four steps, feeling the water beneath my feet.

“Almost there, Nai.”

“I know. I feel your body heat, and your voice sounds a lot closer.”

“Take three steps forward and one step to the right. Then stretch your hands out to meet mine.”

I follow his directions and sure enough my hands meet his big, strong ones.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he says.

“Well done you guys,” Dr. Makalua says. “Before you take off the blindfold, Lanai, I would like for both of you to express what you were feeling during this exercise.”

Still holding Henny’s hands, I say, “I was nervous, but I knew I had nothing to worry about. Henny is good at stuff like this.”

“And what about you, Henny? How did you feel?”

“I felt satisfied that she trusted my direction. It felt nice to feel like I was trustworthy. You know, considering…”

“Can I take this blindfold off now?” I ask.

“Yes, you can take it off.”

I release Henny’s hands to undo the knot and take the blindfold off finally. My eyes instantly find Hendrick’s face like it was meant for me to look at him. He said it felt nice to be trusted, and I’m sure it did since I assumed some things about him that weren’t true. The thing is, I don’t know if this exercise really helped in the trust department with us, because I’ve been looking at him sideways for a hot minute, but now, he’s the one looking at me differently.

At any rate, after all this clouds up my mind just as much as I’m sure it’s clouding his, he says, “We did it, Nai.”

“We did, didn’t we? We make a good team after all.”

“I always knew that, though,” he says in a way that implies that I haven’t.

Dr. Makalua says, “The rest of the day is yours to enjoy how you like.”

“Wait,” Hendrick says before she walks off. “How do you think we did for the week? Did we pass?”

She smiles and says, “I’m going to write up a report for Dr. Hubert. She’ll go over the results with you.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Enjoy your day.”

Chapter 7

After that heavy breakfast, we skipped lunch and went straight to dinner, and now we’re on the beach again, walking together, but we’re not holding hands. There’s still a separation between us that I feel shouldn’t be there, but it lingers. We’re alone beneath the moon. There are no tourists out here drunk-laughing. No tropical music blaring. No therapist watching us like hawks. It’s just us, the waves, and yet, there’s still something that distances us.

When we used to walk side by side like this, we would hold hands and truly connect and enjoy each other’s presence. What happened to all of that? Does life really punch that hard, because if so, how are we supposed to hit back and endure it? Or is that even possible? Is that why Lanai suggested we only have this in paradise? Because she already knows what will happen when we return home? We get punched again?

Personally, I could stay here forever, not because of the peace and tranquility paradise beings in general, but because this is the closest I’ve felt to Lanai after months of thinking we were truly over. It’s funny how the very idea of this trip angered her, but it turned out to be just what we needed, even if it is only temporary.

“We should probably be heading back,” she says, breaking into my silent thoughts.

I turn to look at her. I want so badly to snatch her up and make love to her out here on this beach. I want to kiss her lips until they swell. I want to hold her tight and never let go. I want her to love me again. To trust me. To believe in me. In us.