“It made her tough,” I laugh.
“That’s for sure.” Danielle unbraids her hair and piles it all up on the top of her head in a messy bun.
“Isn’t that heavy?” I ask, motioning to her hair. “Especially when it’s wet?”
“Yeah, but I guess I’m used to it. I’ve always had long hair. I’d miss it way too much to cut even though I’m so tempted every now and then.”
“It would drive me crazy.”
“Eh, it’s not too bad. I won’t miss finding hairs in my butt crack though.”
“What?”
Danielle laughs and grabs her shorts from the rock. “It happens to everyone with long hair, trust me. Hair just like falls out and goes right down in between my butt cheeks.”
“You’re being serious?”
“Yes! Ask anyone with long hair.”
I shake my head. “I am not asking anyone if they pull hair out of their ass.”
“Not really out of your ass, just the crack.” She pulls her shirt over her head and takes another lingering look at the waterfall. “I’m starving.”
“I didn’t know talking about pulling hair out of your crack could be so appetizing.”
A smile pulls up her face. My God…this woman is so beautiful. “You’re not the only one who is always hungry, Dawson.”
“Then let’s go get something to eat.” I look at my watch. “We need to hurry, though.”
“I don’t even know what time it is. It feels like we just got here while at the same time I know we’ve spent a decent amount of time here already. Do we have time to get food?”
“If we hurry, we should be fine.”
“Should be?”
I stand, reaching for my shirt. “Let’s not get lost this time.”
“You admitted we were lost.” She puts her shorts back on.
“Call it what you will,” I chuckle. “But we got here, right?”
Danielle freezes, taking her hands off the button she was about to snap into place and looks into my eyes. My heart is in my throat, and I swallow hard, pushing it back down. “You are right,” she says, and she gets a distant look in her eyes. She looks out at the water again, and I watch as different emotions dance across her face. “We got here.”
She’s not just talking about the waterfall, and I wait for her to go on. But she doesn’t, and she finishes buttoning her jean shorts and then picks up the backpack, putting it on. I hold out my arm, and she loops her arm through mine. We start toward the trail again, stopping to let a large group of hikers coming up to the water pass us by. They’re seeing the waterfall for the first time, and their reactions are pretty priceless.
“Tourists,” Danielle says, shaking her head. “You know I come here once and I’m basically an expert. Though I do wish I could come back and finish the rest of the Road to Hana.”
“We will,” I tell her, deciding it right then and there.
“When? The wedding is tomorrow and we’re leaving the next day.”
“I didn’t mean this trip. We’ll come back to Hawaii. Do things on our terms.”
She comes to a halt, turning to look at me. Her sea-green eyes are wide, and her face is slack with shock.
Then she smiles.
The jingling of dog tags gets our attention, and a very muddy yellow lab comes barreling down the path, dragging his leash behind him.
“Brody!” someone yells. “Get back here!”
Danielle goes to pick up the leash and the dog whirls around, jumping on her and smearing mud all over her top.
“Hey, buddy,” she says, petting the dog, whose tail is wagging hard, making his whole butt wiggle. It reminds me of Dexter, and I don’t care how lame it makes me to admit I miss my dog right now.
“I’m so sorry,” Brody’s owner says, panting as he slows to a walk and grabs the leash. “Brody, down!”
“It’s okay,” Danielle says, giving Brody one more pet before he tries to come and jump on me. “I like dogs.”
I scratch Brody under the chin, getting mud on my hands but not caring. Dex would have a hay-day on this trail too and would be just as muddy if not muddier.
“He’s only a year old and has too much energy.” The owner struggles to hold onto Brody, who gets excited to see the water.
“He’s a sweet boy,” Danielle tells him.
“He’s lucky he is.” The owner shakes his head. “Sorry you got all muddy.”
Danielle waves her hand in the air. “I was already muddy before. It’s no big deal.”
Brody pulls his owner forward to the water, and Danielle loops her arm through mine again. “And now you’re thinking about Dex, aren’t you?”
“How’d you know?”
“Dex is to you what cats are to Quinn.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I am not that borderline certifiable.”
“Depends on who you’re asking.”
Shaking my head, I start forward. “We need to get going if we want to stop at the farm truck.”