They worked in silence for a while, organizing the surprisingly packed room, then Jessie cleared her throat. “So, what part of Hawaii are you from?” She glanced his way. “I don’t remember.”
Kai was frowning as he placed a photo of a blonde relative he didn’t know into the box. One of the downsides of being so far away was that he hadn’t met very many members of his family. He had never imagined that would be a problem until last night. Not letting his recurring sadness enter into his voice, he answered Jessie, “Kukuihaele.” He bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling as she processed the odd-sounding name. Well, odd for someone who wasn’t used to Hawaiian names. There were several that were odder.
She scrunched her brow as she stared at him, her dark eyes curious and confused. It was pretty adorable on her, and his repressed smile broke free. “Kuk...u…huh?”
A laugh escaped with his smile, and he shook his head as he stuffed a fragile doll into the box; it looked to be about a hundred years old. “Kukuihaele. It’s on the big island. It’s pretty remote, not quite as touristy as some places in Hawaii.” With a smile, Jessie nodded and resumed packing. Feeling a need to let her know something more personal about him, he softly continued, “My mom’s home is near the beach. I used to play in the surf all day and fall asleep every night to the sounds of waves crashing. My dad’s place is farther inland, and when I stayed with him, we used to go horseback riding every night. We’d stay out until we could barely make out the trails, but the horses knew them so well, I was never afraid.”
His mind took him back to both locations, and he let himself get lost in the fond memories. When the past faded back to the present, Kai looked over at Jessie. She was sitting back on her heels, watching him. Her lips were curved into a soft smile, and he had the overwhelming urge to lean over and touch those lips again. Remembering the feel of them firmly wrapped around him made the smile instantly fall from his face. He needed to let last night go. It was wrong to think about it.
Clearing his mind, Kai started harshly shoving objects into the box. He heard Jessie sigh as she continued her own packing. “Anyway, there’s an estuarine research reserve nearby where my parents both work. It’s what got me into studying the environment.”
Standing up to put her full box in a corner, Jessie made a surprised noise. “Oh, I didn’t know that’s what you did.”
Smiling, Kai closed up his own full box. “Yeah, I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself an environmentalist, but I do have a certain respect for where we live, and would like to find a way so that we could all be on Earth…without choking the life out of it.” He gave her a crooked grin, and Jessie laughed. Such a beautiful sound.
Standing, Kai handed her the box. She placed it on top of hers, and he couldn’t help but note that they lined up perfectly. Just like they might…in another life. Hands on her hips, Jessie gave him a friendly grin. “So, instead of staying to study a tropical island, you chose to study…Colorado?”
Her never-ending disbelief that he would leave what she considered paradise made him laugh. Shaking his head, he said, “The Earth is the Earth, no matter where you go.” She responded by rolling her eyes. Shrugging, he added, “My parents focus more on protecting the coastal areas, but I wanted a broader approach. My father understood that and got me a job here, with a friend of his who used to work with him.” Kai pointed to the mountain ranges. “He runs a small research team near the base of The Rockies.”
Jessie’s grin was contagious. “In the mountains?” Kai nodded, confused by her obvious glee. With a playful wink, she told him, “You better get to work on those ski lessons, water boy.”
Kai laughed as they both went to get more boxes. That might not be a bad idea, so long as she was the instructor. But no, that probably was a bad idea.
Not too much later, they had all of Gran’s treasures neatly boxed in a corner. With only her bare furniture left, they began hauling things out to Jessie’s truck. The more time he spent with her, the fonder Kai became of his cousin. They had a similar sense of humor and easygoing personalities. It gave Kai a wistful ache to know that if things were different, she would be such an easy girl for him to date. Jessie didn’t complain, didn’t gab on and on about herself, didn’t make fun of the fact that he obviously didn’t have much in the way of possessions, and she laughed at all his stupid jokes. Yeah, if only that one pesky little fact of being related could be removed, he would ask her out on a proper date in a heartbeat.
Kai kept his head down as he warmed his hands over her heater on the ride home. Wishful thinking wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He needed to stop thinking about her as an option. She wasn’t.
“You okay?” she quietly asked.