"I told her she could come with me."
"You don't even have to tell me what she said. The fact that you're here now tells me everything I need to know."
"She doesn't want to leave Lanai," I said.
"A lot of people who live here never want to leave. I don't know that much about how she got here, but I know she has nobody on the mainland to go back to."
"She'd have me," I complained.
"That’s not enough, brother; she still wouldn't be home. Why do you want her to go with you? Why can't you stay?"
"I got an offer from a producer in LA for a new deal," I said. "If I take it, I can't stay here, I have to leave, but I don't want to leave her behind."
"You gotta choose," he said gravely.
"I don't want to choose. That's like asking me which one of my lungs I'd rather lose, left or right. I can't see a life in LA without music, but I can't see it without Abby, either."
"I can't tell you what to choose, but whatever it is, you have to find a way to be happy with it." I looked at Keno. He was saying the wrong thing to me. He was such a romantic guy; why wasn't he defending me for staying with Abby?
He was right, ultimately, but it wasn't what I wanted to hear. I was still going to lose something, whatever I picked. I told him I had to go and left. I didn't have to make the decision right now, but the clock was ticking. I knew the offer wasn't going to stay on the plate for long. What if I just refused to get back to Wes Barry and let him take his offer back? No, you didn't do that in business. I couldn't punk out like that.
I walked through the front lobby, looking over at the desk to see if Abby was there. She was, but her head was down. What did she want me to do? I felt like that would be the right thing to choose. I thought about going over there when I noticed a group walking towards the desk. They had cameras, but they weren't tourists. I could spot a herd of reporters from a mile away. I heard the flashbulbs going off and the guys shouting Abby's name.
Oh shit.
I rushed over there. Abby looked like a deer in headlights. Makani looked like she was trying to grab her and take her to the back. I could hear them asking her about her father. They weren't asking: they were yelling.
The girls were out from behind the desk, walking towards the door that went to the back. I got between them and the reporters.
"Out of the way, man," one of them yelled.
"Wait a minute, are you Nate Stone?" one guy asked.
"You guys looking for a story? I got one for you. I've been here all summer making plans to move here permanently," I said, grasping for the first thing I could think of. The guys exploded, all asking questions at once. I had them.
I glanced back at Abby. They were still at the door. I winked at her, and she smiled, letting Makani lead her away. The reporters were all still there. I started talking, anything to get them off of Abby.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Abby
I never thought I'd see the day that a swarm of men with cameras were flashing lights in my face and yelling at me about my father in Lanai. I honestly thought that I had left it behind me, which was why when it had happened, I froze. I felt like I'd just been plunged six years into the past and a scene that I had stopped recognizing was suddenly in front of me again.
But then Nate had shown up and they had left, and I was in shock and Makani had gotten me a glass of water, and then I had cried.
I wasn't upset; I was more shocked and relieved, and confused about what was happening. I didn't want to think about what I would have said to them if they had stayed around long enough.
I was glad that Nate had done what he had done. I was a little worried, though, about what he had told them. This was sort of like his haven away from the craziness of his life, too. I didn't want him to have lost it because of me and my stupid past.
By the end of the day, I had more or less recovered. Joseph had offered me the rest of the day off; that was after he had sat me down to explain to him he had had a flood of reporters in his lobby looking for me.
I had told him my story. I’d had everything altered when I’d had my name changed. Because the person I was before my name was Abby Terrell was effectively gone from the face of the earth, it was a little complicated.
He listened to me stone-faced and then told me that he understood if I wanted to take the rest of the day off and that he would take steps to make sure that that never happened again. I appreciated the thought, but I did know that having the reporters around would have been bad for business, so it wasn't totally for me.
I felt okay enough to finish up work. Makani asked me about three times each hour whether I was sure I was okay and the answer was consistently yes. The initial shock of it had been bad, but the thing was, I wasn't a kid anymore. I wasn't helpless. I loved that Nate had done what he had done, but all it made me worry about what would happen to him now.
After work, I went straight to his suite, not sure whether I'd find him there. I knocked at the door, knowing that he’d open it for me if he was in there. I flew into his arms when he opened it. I kissed him deeply, cupping his face in my hands, feeling his prickly stubble against my palms.