Life's a Beach (3 page)

The eleven-hour plane ride was from hell. Amelia spent the first half of it curled into the window trying to hide that she was crying over the fact that she was jobless, homeless, boyfriend-less, and coffee-less. The other half was spent trying to keep Zarafina from snoring on her shoulder while the theme song from
Hawaii Five-0
blasted through her headphone. It had taken a little tracking down last night, but Amelia had found her aunt at the Y waiting as if she'd been expecting her to come by.

“You couldn't have warned me?” Amelia had said to her when she didn't seem surprised to hear what had happened.

“Some things you need to find out for yourself,” Zarafina said, and got into the taxi.

It had been easy to convince Zarafina to come to Hawaii in Jay's place. It hadn't been so easy to convince the airline ticketing counter to change the ticket. In the end, it had wound up costing an extra two hundred dollars for Zarafina's ticket, and another two hundred dollars in luggage fees—since Amelia had packed everything she owned while Quinn smirked and Jay stuttered.

He hadn't apologized. He'd even had the nerve to be confused about why she was leaving. Apparently they didn't have an exclusive relationship—which was news to her. At least he had been wearing a condom. Still, first chance she got, she was going to go to the clinic for tests, just to make sure.

“That jerk,” she gritted out between her teeth.

Zarafina snorted and shifted over on her other side.

Most people would think Amelia was nuts, taking her crazy aunt to Hawaii with her. Her sister, Stacey, was probably going to shit a brick that she hadn't taken her instead. But it was short notice, and Amelia knew Zarafina would be up for the adventure. Besides, she'd talked to Zarafina every day for the past three years. She couldn't say that about anyone else except for Quinn and Jay, which was really depressing when Amelia thought about it.

Amelia nudged Zarafina awake as the captain announced that they were preparing for landing in Honolulu. They had to catch another short flight to Maui and then it was a forty-minute drive out to the resort.

“I don't think I can do this,” Amelia said. She was so tired and strung out that she was seriously considering ripping her hair out and running screaming up and down the aisle of the plane.

“What's the alternative?” Zarafina yawned so wide her jaw popped. “Turn around and fly back to New York? Maybe you could have a threesome with what's-their-names. Beg for your old job back too, while you're at it.”

“Not going to happen,” Amelia said.

Zarafina grunted. “Then look ahead. Your future is bright and full of possibilities.”

“Right now the only thing in my future is a hot shower and a soft bed.”

“Doesn't sound so bad to me.”

They shuffled off the plane like the living dead. Since they had about an hour to kill, Amelia got them coffee from one of the restaurants in the airport. It wasn't the same as Quinn's, but at least the girl who handed her the coffee hadn't had Amelia's boyfriend's dick in her, so that was something, at least.

After she settled Zarafina in one of the wider lounge seats surrounded by their carry-ons, she said, “I'm going to go stretch my legs.”

“You go. I'll stay and watch the bags.”

Amelia thought about calling her family and letting them know what was going on, but her brain was too fried to do the math about the time zones. With her luck, she'd wind up calling at 3:00 a.m. and they would panic. She'd ease them into it at some point in the next two weeks. After her vacation, maybe she'd go back to Connecticut for a while.

Run back home with her tail between her legs, more like. When Amelia had moved in with Jay straight after college, no one had believed it would last. But not only hadn't she come crying home to her hometown of Groton, she'd gotten a good job and had been on her way to a satisfying career in hotel management. At least, that's what she'd told herself. Truth was, the Goldfish Hotel had been kind of hokey and her boss had been a skinflint.

Amelia gazed out into the sculptured garden at the airport. The sun warmed her face as she breathed in deeply. It was a treat after the canned airplane air that she'd been wallowing in for the past eleven hours.

Rolling her head around, she groaned. She was bone weary and running on the last of her adrenaline.
Here's hoping that beach therapy works,
she thought. Amelia called the hotel, hoping that they hadn't canceled the reservation—the way things had been going for her lately, it wouldn't have surprised her.

“Palekaiko Beach Resort, Hani speakin',” a male voice with a thick Hawaiian accent greeted her.

That sounds promising.
“Hi. This is Amelia Parker. I was just confirming my reservation.”

“Aloha,” he said.

Something tight loosened in her chest. “Aloha,” she croaked, clearing her throat at the sudden emotion. It became real to her. She was here. She had made it to Hawaii.

“ 
‘Ae,
got you right here. You callin' from da big island?”

“Yeah, we're waiting for our connecting flight.”

“Be here before you know it. I've got you and Mr. Jay Townsend in a king, no smoking.”

“Uh, actually, my plans have changed. I need two twin beds, and my companion is Zarafina.”

“A'ole pilikia.”

“I'm sorry, what?”

“No problem. What's her last name?”

“Um…” Amelia looked back over at the lounge, where Zarafina was finishing her coffee. “She doesn't have one. Like Cher or Madonna.” After being married four times, Zarafina had decided against using any last name at all.

“Hu'ihu'i.”

“What?”

“Cool.”

Zarafina was waving her over, as they were starting to pre-board the flight.

“Okay, well, great—hooey-hooey. I've got to go.”

“Aloha.”

“Not long now,” Amelia said.

Zarafina's nose was pressed to the passenger-side window of the car. Every few moments she would sigh and say, “It's so beautiful.”

And it was. Once they'd cleared the airport and car rental place, on one side of them were mountains and fields, and on the other side was the ocean. There weren't many cars on the road, which was lucky because Amelia found herself drifting into the other lane—not out of tiredness, but because she was captivated by the white-capped waves crashing to the beach. She saw people having a cookout on a stretch of beach that was strewn with gnarled roots and wood. In the ocean, there weren't many surfers, but there were some people on Boogie Boards and a few fishermen. On Zarafina's side of the car, wild chickens darted all over the side of the road. The two women saw horses and farms, but mostly the landscape was endless stretches of land and paths up into the mountains that Amelia was dying to explore. The exhaustion of the trip faded with each mile she got closer to the resort.

Kaanapali Beach came into view, and with it all the hotels. She passed the big chains and a few condos for rent. She almost missed the turn into the Palekaiko Beach Resort because the sign was so small, but Amelia jammed on the brakes.

“Sorry,” she said to Zarafina as she took a hard left into the parking lot. Driving over a speed bump a little fast, Amelia felt her jaw crack shut. This wasn't what she was expecting.

The hotel's landscaping was filled in with fake ferns and cheesy-looking stone palm trees whose paint was chipping off. The sidewalk and the road leading into the covered parking lot were strewn with leaves and debris. Two chickens darted out in front of her, and she swerved to miss them, almost bumping into the sheet-metal frame of the entrance. Screeching to a halt, she let herself out and opened Zarafina's door. There wasn't a bell captain at the desk, so she hauled the luggage out of the trunk herself. Spying a luggage cart—which, like the hotel, had seen better days—she snagged it and pushed the wobbling cart closer. Loading up the luggage, Amelia blinked back tears.

This was not how the resort had been pictured in the ad. It wasn't chic or clean or bursting with friendly faces. In fact, there wasn't anyone around.

“I'm going to park the car. Are you able to wheel this into the lobby?”

“Sure,” Zarafina said. “Don't worry. I've been to worse places.”

That wasn't very comforting, but she forced a smile for Zarafina's benefit and went to park the car.

“This can't be happening,” she wheezed as she allowed herself to completely break down in the privacy of their rental car. Without having to worry about anyone's feelings or maintaining her composure, she allowed herself the luxury of just crying it all out. It didn't take as long as she thought it would, though. After a few lingering snivels, she wiped her face and blew her nose. Her sunglasses hid her puffy eyes.

As she got out of the car, she felt herself getting some of her swagger back. She was in Maui at an all-inclusive resort. She could drink and eat her fill. She could swim all day and sleep until noon. This was her vacation.
And,
she thought,
let's face it—it'll probably be the last vacation I'll be taking for a long while.
Maybe she'd see if one of those buff surfers wanted to have a fling. Amelia was going to go all out. She had room on her credit cards and a need for adventure. So what if the resort hadn't been renovated since the 1960s? The room would have a bed and a shower. She probably wouldn't even be in the room all that often.

Her thoughts were confirmed when she joined Zarafina in the lobby and she caught a glimpse past the pool to the waves crashing on the beach.

“I can't wait to check in,” Amelia said. The lobby was empty. She tapped the bell a few times, but there wasn't any response. “Is this place still open?” Surely they couldn't have closed up in the two hours it had taken her to get here from Honolulu.

Zarafina squinted her eyes. “Here comes someone.”

A lean and handsome Hawaiian man jogged up to them in the lobby. Amelia was glad to see she hadn't been made so bitter by Jay's betrayal that she couldn't enjoy a well-built man. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a colorful shirt.

“Aloha,” he gasped out. “Sorry, I had to restock the towels by the pool.” He slipped behind his desk. She noticed he had a name tag that said
Kai.

“Where is everyone?” Amelia asked. “Or are we just early?”

“Uh, Hani is trying to figure out what's wrong with the laundry machines, and Makoa is helping another guest. We're a little short-staffed because of the upcoming sale.”

“What about Dude?” she asked.

“I don't think he's here yet.”

She gave him her information so he could look up her reservation.

“Oh, you're Amelia. Aloha. Dude said for you to come find him for your snorkeling lesson. Did you want to book any other tours right now?”

“Not right now,” she said. “I can't even think.”

“Right, sorry. Long trip, right? One day I want to visit New York City.”

“Just don't do it in the winter,” she said.

“Roger dat.”

Zarafina and Amelia exchanged an amused look.

Kai gave each of them a set of keys—keys, not plastic cards to be used with a reader. Amelia bit back a retort about how quaint that was, because Kai didn't deserve her nastiness. She was used to being on the other side of the counter, and she didn't want to be
that
guest.

“You're in the Plumeria building, room 503.” He drew an arrow on the map. “There's no elevator.” He looked at the luggage cart. “If you want, you can leave that here and Makoa will bring it up when he gets back.”

“When do you think that might be?”

Kai shrugged.

“I'll take care of it,” Amelia said, and after giving him her credit card information for any additional charges, she took control over the cart. Pushing it out of the lobby, she stopped dead to stare in shock.
Run-down
wasn't enough to describe the fading paint and the chipped façade on the buildings.

“I can't,” Amelia said, shaking her head.

“It's clean and it's not snowing. Move.” Zarafina gave her a little shove, and together they pulled the cart over the uneven cobblestones to the Plumeria building.

“Here,” Amelia said, handing Zarafina the keys. “You go up and check out the room. I'll stay here with the luggage. If you see one cockroach, come back down. I'll sleep in the lobby.”

“It's not so bad. I've stayed in worse.”

Amelia wished she'd stop saying that. It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement when you considered that Zarafina sometimes slept on a bench in Central Park. Amelia watched as she shuffled up the first flight of stairs. Scraping a heavy wrought-iron chair out from beneath an uneven glass table, Amelia sat down under an umbrella.

“I've got to take a rest,” Zarafina called out from the balcony of the third-floor landing.

“Take your time.” Amelia waved.

If she closed her eyes, the resort wasn't half bad. Like Zarafina said, at least it was clean. The ocean breeze was evening out her blood pressure, and the sounds of the beach brought a smile to her face. She was glad Jay wasn't here. He would have caused a scene and immediately moved them to one of the larger hotels that flanked the Palekaiko Beach Resort. Then she would have felt like shit. She'd gotten what she'd paid for. As long as there weren't any bugs in the bed, Amelia was going to make the best of things.

A happy family passed by her on their way to the pool. A toddler had water wings and an inflatable ring around her waist. They were all smiling and holding hands. They didn't seem to notice that the place was falling apart around them. Amelia tried to adjust her attitude, but she had a feeling that she was eight hours of sleep and a couple of drinks away from pure bliss.