Nani bumped against her, and Kaia remembered how lethal her head butt had been to the shark. It was hard to reconcile the loving sea mammal nudging against her with the deadly torpedo that had saved Kaia’s life.
Later, Kaia introduced the reporters to Nani then answered their questions. They snapped what seemed like hundreds of pictures of her with Nani and the other two dolphins. Jenny joined her for several group photos as well. It had all seemed so important once upon a time, but now her personal problems outweighed her joy. By the time the crowd was gone, she was exhausted. How could she face the evening ahead?
She’d wear her new red mu′umu′u, she decided. It would give her courage. She hurried home to shower and change. Hiwa met her at the front door. The cat wore a satisfied expression as she sat on the rug and licked her whiskers.
“What have you been into?” Kaia asked, stepping over her pet. She glanced around. The cat had knocked the picture of her grandmother from the coffee table to the floor. Kaia picked it up and scolded Hiwa, who continued to groom herself without concern.
Kaia left off berating the cat and hurried to change her clothes. Was tonight going to be the beginning of a new phase of her life? She felt on the cusp of something momentous, and part of her wanted to crawl in her closet and hide. Her life had been going along just fine so far. Why did everything have to change? She scrubbed her teeth with particular care.
Hiwa followed her down the stone steps to her grandfather’s cottage. The evening breakers were rolling to shore, the white foam they left soaking into the sand. Her mother’s Volvo was parked in the driveway, and Jesse’s Jeep was just behind it. Why had he been invited to gang up on her? Kaia wanted to turn tail and run back up the steps to the safety of her house. She was about to be bombarded from all sides.
Everyone looked up when she entered the living room. She didn’t know which pair of eyes to gaze back into. She focused on her grandfather’s face. He was safest. She found a seat across from Jesse.
Her grandfather stood. “Let us open with prayer.” Bowing his head, he lifted his hands. “Father God, we your children ask your divine intervention. The power of forgiveness lies in you alone. Give us your love and wisdom today and guide us this day. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen.” He dropped his hands and folded his arms across his chest. “Today, at the request of my grandson, I have called this ho’oponopono to settle a dispute between Paie and her children. Which of you will begin?”
Not her. Kaia couldn’t look at her mother or Jesse.
“I will.” Her mother stood. “I beg the forgiveness of my family for the wrongs I’ve done to them. I offer no excuses for what I did. I was wrong.”
“I give you aloha, Makuahine,” Bane said after a slight pause. “I release any anger and bitterness to God.”
“Same here,” Mano said.
“Say the words of forgiveness, Mano,” their grandfather said.
“I give you aloha, Makuahine.” Mano looked up and met Faye’s gaze.
Her brothers turned to look at Kaia with an expectant expression. If she said the words, would it make them true? She stood and clasped her hands in front of her. “I want to forgive.” Kaia tipped her chin up and stared into Faye’s sorrowful face. “You have no way of knowing what your desertion did to me. How it made me afraid to let a loved one out of my sight. How I seek everyone’s approval and can never seem to have enough of it.”
Kaia’s voice rose until she was almost shouting.
Her mother closed her eyes and sank back against the cushion. “I’m so sorry, Kaia.”
“Calmness, lei aloha,” her grandfather said softly. “Sit down. Breathe deeply and ask God to heal your heart as we talk.”
Kaia sank to her chair and buried her head in her hands. She would like to be rid of this load she carried, she suddenly realized.
“I want to ask you something,” Bane said. “When you sin against God, what do you do?”
“I ask forgiveness.” She thought she knew where he was going with this. “But He’s God. I don’t have His infinite grace and mercy.”
Her brother stared at her a moment, his weathered face impassive. “Do you know how God feels when you hurt Him, Kaia? Do you fully understand what your sin does to Him? And what about Nani? Does she understand what you mean when you pat her and tell her you love her? Do you know if she feels betrayal or pain when you leave her?”