“So, this luau,” he said, thankfully changing the subject. “You want me to come with you?”
“Absolutely,” I told him. “The way you start off the New Year is key in determining your fortune for the rest of the year, right?” I wished I could take back the words as soon as I'd said them. I wasn't insinuating that he should stay there with me in Hawaii for the rest of the year, just that…
But he kissed me on the top of the head, fingers still stroking down my arm. “Sounds like a plan,” he told me easily.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Christian
I stared at the computer screen as I received confirmation of my flight.
r /> I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, wondering how I was going to break the news to Gretchen. I didn't want to leave so soon, but George had scheduled the annual New Year's press conference so that we could beat out some of our competitors who would be holding theirs a few days later. The idea was, if we could get into people's heads first in the new year, then we could drum up some additional business.
I understood all of that, from a business perspective. But it meant that if I was to be part of the press conference, and part of the future of the business, I supposed, then I needed to be back in New York beginning on January 2nd at the latest.
There was a knock on the door, and I grimaced, knowing that it was Gretchen, come to take me down to the luau. I wished that we could just have one last, special night together without this hanging over our heads, but I knew that that wasn't possible. I owed it to her to let her know that I was leaving the next morning.
“Come on, come on,” Gretchen said, grabbing my arm and dragging me immediately out the door. “I'm sorry, I'm running late, and we're about to miss the big town fireworks show. Trust me, that's going to be great, and we don't want to miss it!”
I laughed a little and let her drag me along, glad that I had a bit of a reprieve, no matter how short it might be. We made it down to the beach just in time to watch the town's fireworks show, which was mirrored on a few of the beaches by locals and tourists alike, who were already getting the merriment going.
Gretchen leaned close to me, her presence a warm weight at my side, and I couldn't help feeling better than I had in a while.
But in the back of my head, I was still trying to figure out how to tell her that I was leaving early the next morning.
When the fireworks ended, we got into Gretchen's car and drove over to the beach for the luau. The place was even busier than it had been the previous time, and there were a few different fires lit, with people clustering around each of them. Gretchen laughed a little, shaking her head. “Every year, it seems like there are more of us down here,” she said, “but it's still just always locals! I don't know where they all come from.”
I laughed and followed her down onto the beach, wishing I'd had a moment to tell her about my departure when we'd been in the car. I couldn't tell her about it here when we were surrounded by so many people, and the later it got, the drunker everyone was probably going to get.
I'd need to find some way to pull her aside, at some point.
“Hey guys,” Mina said, detaching herself from the group and coming up to us, giving Gretchen a big hug.
Gretchen giggled and nearly fell as Mina went into it with a bit too much force. “Hey, girl,” she said. “How's the luau?”
“Always a good time,” Mina said, beaming at her. “I'm glad you could come too, Christian.”
“Me too,” I said, forcing myself to smile, to stop thinking about what I needed to tell Gretchen. I would just have to wait for the right opportunity.
Of course, setting aside those thoughts was easier said than done.
“You seem a little bit off,” Gretchen whispered to me a little while later.
I frowned over at her. “What do you mean?” I asked, even though I knew she was right. “I've been talking to people and everything else, same as you.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, sounding hurt at my tone. She shook her head. “Just, if you want to go, we can go.”
“Why would I want to go?” I asked, rolling my eyes so that she would think I wasn't even considering it. The truth was, leaving was probably the best idea. I wanted to enjoy the luau, but at the same time, I couldn't seem to put aside my thoughts. If I could just get a quiet moment alone with her, it would be great.
“I'm going to get another drink,” Gretchen told me, still looking doubtful and concerned. “Do you want anything?”
I held up the beer in my hand, which I had barely touched despite the fact that we must have been there for at least an hour. “I'm still good,” I told her. I was afraid that if I drank too much, I'd do something that I regretted. This night was going to be long enough already without that.
And getting longer, it seemed.
As soon as Gretchen walked off to get another drink, Lino came up to me. “You're lucky, you know,” the man said, watching Gretchen move through the crowd, pausing every now and then to laugh with some of her friends.
“Excuse me?” I asked, even though I knew I shouldn't engage the man, especially not after hearing the whole backstory between him and Gretchen. I wasn't the kind of guy to start fights usually, but if anyone deserved a good kick in the balls, this was the guy.