Illumine Her (28 page)

Alana pulled back. “You’re going to fire him because he’s married now?”

Chase half shrugged. “He quit. He wants to move here to be with your sister. I can’t hold him back. Besides, he’s been more a friend than employee.”

“Don’t you need him?”

“I’ll look around for someone. Someone I can trust. Perhaps I’ll hire you?” One corner of his mouth was tugged upwards.

Alana laughed out loud to hide the loud thump of her heart. “Right. Because now I know all about your deepest, darkest secrets.” Chase beamed down and twirled her around before reeling her back in and clasping her waist firmly with his hand. The sensation almost took her breath away.

Alana quickly changed the subject. “So, why did you give all that money to the hospital?”

His brows furrowed before he answered her. “Because I promised myself I’d return after the influenza. The money is a small gift in comparison to the number of lives lost. It’s to redeem the suffering your people went through.” She was again swept away by his thoughtfulness. There was no arrogance attached to this act, just a genuine sense to give.

Alana breathed softly as she lowered her eyes to the buttons on his shirt. “That’s incredibly generous and kind hearted of you, Chase.”

He shook his head and cleared his throat. “It’s the least I can do since I couldn’t do anything about it before. I needed to do this.” He squeezed her hip for emphasis.

She sensed his turmoil. “Has it helped?”

“What?”

“Do you feel you’ve been…redeemed?”

He inhaled sharply and looked away.

“It wasn’t your fault and you shouldn’t feel responsible for something that was out of your hands, but I can understand how you would want to do something selfless to feel better about a dark situation.” She spoke quietly. “It’s being put to good use, and a lot of people will get the treatment they need because of your generosity.”

She knew that part of the money was being used for dialysis units—diabetes being the number one killer in Samoa.

Chase swallowed and frowned. “I’m not doing it for recognition.”

“I know that,” she responded softly before her mouth turned into a sly grin.

“Why are you smiling?”

This made her smile more.

“Well, it’s just that you breezed in with your fancy car and delivered one heck of a speech in Samoan at the
‘ava
ceremony. I’d say it was hard not to notice.”

Chase grinned and his eyes lit up. “Yeah, I couldn’t get out of that one no matter how hard I insisted. Besides, it was good practice for my rusty Samoan. It’s been years since I used it.”

“How did you learn it?” she asked.

“It’s taken me years but I studied and learned some of the languages in the Asia-Pacific region—the area I take care of.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Wow, that’s incredible!”

Chase’s mouth curved into a grin. “Did you know that there are over 800 languages in Papua New Guinea alone? I stuck to Tok Pisin though. Much easier. When you’ve lived for as long as I have, there’s some time in between missions for a lot of things... Time to learn a craft, earn several degrees, collect authentic items, invest, travel to exotic locations.”

“That’s impressive, Chase. Life’s been good to you.” She returned a genuine smile. “Is there anything out of your reach?”

He looked away. “I can think of a few things.”

That statement made her heart flutter. What did he mean by that? Alana licked her lips and gazed at his chest.

“I was impressed when I first heard you speak Samoan,” she said, revisiting their earlier conversation.

Chase smiled against her forehead, and when she looked back up at his face, he gave her a look that made her think that he knew all along. Well of course he would have. He would have sensed it from her aura that day at the
‘ava
ceremony.

“So tell me, when do you see yourself in your sister’s shoes?” he asked.

“When?” she raised one eyebrow and shrugged.

“You do want those things, don’t you? The man, the big wedding, a family.”

She glanced over at Kane and Malia and saw his beaming smile and her radiant face. Yes, she wanted that. She wanted someone to look at her the way Kane looked at her sister and everything that came wrapped up in it. Warmth. Love. Intimacy.

“Yes. I want that,” she admitted. “Marriage, children, but minus the big, fat Samoan wedding. If I can get away with it, which will be a miracle in itself. I would love to get married at dawn with only a few people in attendance.”

“At dawn?” He arched an eyebrow.

“Yes. It would be magical to start a new chapter in my life at first light. And because it’ll obviously be dark, I want lots of fairy lights.” She sighed dreamily.

Chase stared at her. “Rebel,” he finally stated and she laughed.

“I know. Can you imagine the look on Aunty Malae’s face? She’ll probably be up the whole night with a fit.”

Chase grinned before his face was replaced with something more serious. “I hope that what you wish for will come true, Alana. The man that you’ll marry will be a very lucky person.”

Before she could form a response, he spun her around. When he pulled her back to his chest they rocked to the music in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

“This flower in your hair smells good,” he said quietly.

Alana gingerly fingered the white gardenia that was pinned to the side of her updo. “It does.” She smiled. “It’s actually my favorite flower.”

“Because of what it symbolizes?”

She frowned before she laughed out loud. “I honestly don’t know what it symbolizes.”

She’d never thought to find out. Despite being the daughter of a florist, and surrounded by a plethora of tropical flowers, she never stopped to wonder. To her it was simply a beautiful array of petals that emitted a heavenly scent.

Chase smiled. “It signifies joy, purity, beauty, and when given as a gift, secret love.”

Alana turned her head away uncomfortably and licked her lips. She rolled her shoulders backwards in an attempt to ease the muscles there, and before she could change the subject, Chase inched his fingers from her waist to the small of her back. His large hand splayed open and she suddenly felt the familiar warm pulse that was there the day before at the waterfall. She shot her eyes up to him and he returned a slow, warm grin. His eyes held hers and she inhaled deeply when his fingers slowly swept upwards, as if they were treading softly over water, aligning her spine as he went along and easing the ache that was there minutes before. Alana held her breath and couldn’t believe he was healing her here, in front of her entire family. The act was too intimate—the feeling too sensual—and she guessed it must have looked that way too, but she didn’t dare look around to see who would be watching. She instead shifted her gaze to the front of his shirt, pretending to study the patterns on his tie. When his fingers reached the curve of her neck, the tension in her muscles and bones was completely gone, replaced with liquid warmth that tingled her from her head to her toes.

“Well,” Alana whispered on an exhale, “if you ever get fired from bringing people back from the dead, you can always resort to being a masseuse. Or chiropractor. That was amazing.” She breathed easily. “I could get used to this friends with benefits arrangement.” When the realization of what she just said hit her, her eyes widened in horror. “I meant this friendship,” she quickly corrected.

Chase chuckled and then released her when the song came to an end. Alana stepped back and her eyes widened when she saw Manu approach and come stand beside her.

“Alana,” he spoke firmly. “A dance?”

She glanced up at Chase who was studying her. “Thank you, Chase,” she said before taking Manu’s outstretched hand.

“It was my pleasure,” he responded before winking at her and walking away.

She almost sighed out loud. His magic fingers left her spirit feeling elated and her body completely at ease. The effects of getting her back aligned put her in a sleepy stupor, but the next song happened to have a catchy beat and one she recognized immediately from her university days. When Sera approached them and grabbed her hand to drag her to the middle of the dance floor, Alana laughed out loud and went willingly. Manu followed and the three of them danced together, her hips swaying to the bass of the music and remaining that way for the rest of the evening.

Chapter 19

W
hat brief bursts of sunshine appeared the following day did little to dry the damp road which was muddy and brown from cars driving over and disturbing the earth. Alana avoided the murky pot holes as she walked along the beaten path from her house to the main road, but her steps nevertheless kicked up wet dirt onto her calves and shorts.

“It’ll be fun, Sera, trust me.” She smiled at her best friend as they meandered together.

The wind picked up and ruffled the leaves, sending a spray of dew drops their way. The blanket of grey clouds overhead threatened to spill another rain shower, and Alana guessed it wouldn’t be long.

“If it’s a good day tomorrow, we’ll head to the beach, I promise.” she glanced over at Sera who seemed to be distracted.

They were both dressed in their sneakers, tank tops, and shorts, ready for some much needed exercise. A
lavalava
was wrapped haphazardly around Sera’s hips while Alana had hers draped over her shoulder. The wedding festivities were finally over, and some of the overseas guests were already making their way back home. Her grandparents had left to return to the States, and David and a few of her cousins were on driving duty to and from the airport. Sera had a little over a week left before she returned to her island, and there were still so many places Alana wanted to show her before her departure.

“Don’t worry about me, Lana. I’m just content to be here. Your family has been incredibly hospitable,” Sera said. Alana smiled. “You’ll have to promise to come to my island next.”

“Of course I will! One of these days.”

Sera suddenly halted and turned to Alana. “Is there something going on between you and Chase?” she asked.

Alana stopped in her tracks. “What? Where did that come from?”

Sera smirked. “Alana, I’m not dumb or blind. I see the way you look at each other. Like there’s some little secret you share that no one else knows.”

Bingo
, Alana thought. Truer words were never spoken. If Sera only knew what that little secret really was, she’d probably flee to the seaside and paddle herself back to the Solomon Islands.

Alana tried not to smile at the image. “We’re friends, Sera. Nothing more.”

“Uh huh,” Sera said mockingly. “Look, I don’t blame you if you have feelings for him. I mean, look at the man for heaven’s sake! Chase has the full package—looks, charm, money. Any girl would be insane not to fall for him, especially if that girl’s already nabbed his attention.”

Alana sighed heavily. Chase definitely had the whole package and more.
More like oversize baggage more
.

“He’s a complex person, Sera. I’m just getting to know him as a friend.” What Alana failed to add was that the more she learned about her new friend, the more intriguing and interesting he became.

“All I’m saying, Lana, is that, complication or not, you two seem to click well together. Besides, you can’t just keep filing guys away in the ‘friend’ drawer for the rest of your life. At some point you’re going to have to take a risk.”

“You say that as if I have guys lining up at my doorstep pining for my attention.”