Courageous Love: A Christian Romance Novel (The Hawaii Love Series, #1) (13 page)

Daniel instinctively reached for his wallet. He was glad his bags were locked safely in an airport locker.

“Where do you suggest I stay then?” he asked. “Once I get my ticket, I’ll be back on the next bus to Honolulu and on the first flight out.” Daniel realized that he had spoken curtly and hoped he hadn’t offended Michelle. He didn’t want her to think he was anxious to leave. But he was engaged and had a fiancée, a wedding and a boring job waiting for him back home. The whole image suddenly made him less anxious to leave.

Michelle nodded as she started climbing the stairs to her room. “Don’t worry, you can just stay here, we have plenty of room. And then Ano or another staff member can get you on a flight tomorrow.” She continued mounting the steps, not even thinking about what she had just offered.

Daniel watched her disappear from sight. Stay here? Had she just asked him to stay here? His mind began spinning. He was engaged to be married and his fiancée wanted him home—now. He was in a stranger’s home, a beautiful stranger, and he was just invited to spend the night there. He looked out the window, unsure what to do. He wanted to stay, there was no doubt about it; he was drawn to Michelle.

Daniel struggled with indecision. He didn’t want to lie to Kimberly, he couldn’t. But he didn’t want to upset her needlessly. He wanted to make the right decision and be a man of integrity. And he knew that so far, he hadn’t done anything wrong other than have feelings of attraction for Michelle. But he knew he had to tread carefully. After all, he was engaged to be married to Kimberly.

“Who is staying the night?” boomed Larry Clemens’ voice from the top of the stairs. He darted down the steps and stopped when he saw the back of a tall stranger in his living room. Memories of Justin and Michelle’s escape came rushing back to him. “Who are you?” he commanded.

Daniel turned with a start, recognizing Larry from the family portrait in the front hall. He was older than in the photo but appeared just as stern. “Um, hi Mr. Clemens, I’m Daniel Louis.” He walked toward Larry with his arm outstretched.

Larry stood stone still and just stared. He looked at the tickets in Daniel’s hand and felt the familiar grip of fear claw at him. He immediately envisioned Michelle and this stranger running off to the airport together, just like she and Justin had done eight years earlier. Larry was not about to let that happen again. Not when he finally had Michelle back in his life.

“F
ather,” said Michelle, rushing down the stairs to Daniel’s side. She knew immediately what her father was thinking and didn’t want to subject Daniel to his harassment. “Father, this is Daniel ...” she realized she didn’t even know his last name. Michelle looked down at his ticket, which she held in her hand, and then continued, “Daniel Louis. We got our tickets mixed up at the airport and he just came here to get his back.” Michelle looked at Daniel and then at her father. She knew instantly that her father wasn’t ready to believe her, not when both of them stood there with tickets in their hands.

“I don’t know what you two are up to, but you are not allowing this man to stay in my house!” Larry said firmly, keeping his voice just below hollering range.

“Father, it’s not what you think ...” Michelle tried to rationalize with Larry. “Really, this nice man ran into me at the airport, and we collided, getting our tickets mixed up.”

“Actually, I bumped into her,” Daniel felt it necessary to take the blame. He could see Michelle’s father was short on compassion and didn’t want to get Michelle in any more trouble than she might already have.

Larry’s hard eyes darted toward Daniel then moved back to Michelle. “That is just a lie. I know you are trying to trick me again, just like you did before. This Daniel man is your husband and you’re trying to hide the fact from me!” Larry pointed at the tickets in their hands as clear evidence of the plot.

“Father, no!” said Michelle, pleading with her father to understand. “I just met him at the airport, really!”

“Oh, so he’s a new boyfriend? Another flake like Justin?!” Larry went on, not having anything to do with the charade his daughter and her friend were trying to pull off. “You may have fooled me once, but you will not fool me again!”

“What ...” Daniel looked to Michelle, confused by what Larry was saying. “Who’s Justin?”

“She didn’t tell you?” Larry asked. “She didn’t tell you how she ran off once before? She left college, her homeland and her family all to be with some flake of a guy? And now,” Larry turned to Michelle, his eyes aflame with accusation. “And now, she’s trying to trick me again!”

Michelle jumped in, embarrassed that her father would reveal all of this to a stranger. “Father, can’t you just leave the past in the past? Why are you bringing all of this up again?”

Larry continued as if he hadn’t heard Michelle at all. “Are you going to dump her too?” he asked Daniel.

“Father!” Michelle screamed, mortified that her father was sharing such painful and intimate details with this stranger. “It’s not like that! I told you, he just came to return my ticket! And because he was so nice and took the effort to come all the way out here, I thought it would only be decent to offer him a place to stay for the night!”

Daniel looked at Michelle and could see the hurt in her eyes. Her father just stared as if he hadn’t heard a thing she said. Larry looked back at Daniel and noticed his purity ring. Daniel and Kimberly had vowed not to engage in sexual relations until they were married and had chosen to wear purity rings as a symbol of their commitment.

“So, you lie again!” Larry said, jabbing a finger at Daniel’s hand. “When did you get married then?”

Michelle looked completely confused. “What? Married? What are you talking about?” She glanced at Daniel’s finger, saw the ring her father was referring to and blinked in shock. How come she hadn’t noticed it before? Was Daniel married? What was she doing even thinking of inviting a strange married man to stay the night at her home? She was attracted to him, who wouldn’t be? But now that she knew he was married ...

Daniel immediately realized what Larry meant. “Oh no,” he said, raising his hands up in defense. He held his hand out as he spoke. “This is just kind of an engagement ring. I’m engaged,” Daniel realized as he said the word ‘engaged’ that he better clarify it for Larry, and for Michelle.

“Not to her,” he said, pointing to Michelle. Michelle tilted her head, slightly offended at the callousness by which Daniel had brushed her aside. “Oh,” he backpedaled, realizing he might have hurt her feelings. This whole situation was such a mess, and Daniel was very flustered. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean,” he said, trying to gather himself. “I’m engaged to Kimberly, my fiancée in California.”

Larry and Michelle stood silently waiting for Daniel to continue. “Here,” he said reaching for his phone. He tapped a few buttons and then held the phone up to Larry. “See, this is Kimberly, my fiancée. We’re getting married in three months.”

Michelle watched as Larry’s face softened the tiniest bit. And then she glanced at the beautiful woman in the picture as Daniel showed her, too. Blonde, Michelle thought. It figures.

“What’s all the commotion?” asked Elizabeth, entering the living room from the back of the house. Kahili and Mave appeared behind her.

“This man claims he is here to return a ticket to Michelle,” Larry said to them in his most accusatory tone.

“Mother,” Michelle began, trying to remove the image of the beautiful blonde from her head. “This is Daniel Louis. I met him at the airport,” she stopped and corrected herself as she looked at her father. “We ran into each other accidentally at the airport, bumped into each other and got our tickets mixed up.” She turned back to her mother as her father rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“And Daniel was kind enough to come out here to swap tickets so he could get back to California and to his fiancée.”

“Oh,” Elizabeth said politely, turning to Daniel. “Well, that was very kind of you. Nice to meet you, I’m Elizabeth Clemens.” She held out her delicate hand and Daniel shook it gently.

“My pleasure, but,” he continued, “it seems there is a misunderstanding, and I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“Your daughter has invited this stranger, this man she says she doesn’t even know, to stay in our home!” Larry boomed, trying to take control of an uncontrollable situation.

Elizabeth looked at Michelle for an explanation. “Mother,” Michelle began. “Daniel is trying to get a flight out, but because of the limited bus schedules, he won’t be able to fly until tomorrow. I thought it only appropriate to offer him a place to stay for the night since he went to all the trouble of coming out here. Besides,” she looked at her father and then back to her mother. “He’s staying at the Corinthian, and you know how bad the theft is there.”

“Well, he ain’t going anywhere for a good while,” interjected Kahili. “And he sure looks hungry now! How about some lunch folks?” Kahili smiled, ready to fix everything with her fantastic native cooking.

“Thank you Kahili, that will be fine,” Elizabeth said and turned toward Daniel, “And it is no trouble at all. Thank you for going out of your way for Michelle. And we would be happy to have you as a guest in our home.” She paused and looked at Larry, who stood in complete silence. “We ALL would be happy to have you stay. Mave, please show Daniel to a guest room. And Daniel,” she said as she turned back toward him. “We apologize for any inconvenience and for any rudeness. Please, you are our guest, and we welcome you.” With that, Elizabeth brushed past Michelle and paused in front of Larry, giving him a cold hard stare. Kahili simply smiled before disappearing into the kitchen to begin prepping lunch for the new guest.

Larry glared at Daniel and then Michelle one more time and then quickly stormed out of the front door, pausing to get in one final word. “You,” he said, pointing to Michelle, “you, I expect to lie.” He turned and looked at Elizabeth, “But you?” He stopped before slamming the door and added, “I hoped you would be smarter than falling for that again!”

They stood silently listening to Larry’s heavy footsteps as he tromped across the front porch and down the steps. Elizabeth turned toward Daniel. “I’m so sorry about Larry, please ignore his rudeness. It’s just that he was so hurt when Michelle left with Justin. It broke his heart.”

Michelle shook her head, not wanting to relive the pain of what she put her family through. “I understand,” said Daniel. “I’m sure I would feel the same way if my daughter did that to me.”

Michelle snapped her head, glaring at Daniel. She couldn’t believe he had just said that. Who was he to judge her? He didn’t know her. He didn’t know her circumstances. After all, here he was engaged to some woman and staying the night at her house! Michelle stood there in disbelief.

“Mave,” Elizabeth prompted the maid to take Daniel upstairs. “Thank you,” she said as she walked past Michelle and into the kitchen. Michelle just smirked at Daniel and stormed toward the east side of the house, not wanting to be with her mother, her father or Daniel at the moment.

T
he bedroom was at the back of the house and had the same breathtaking view as the living room, except from this height, Daniel could see the glimpses of the ocean. Mave laid fresh towels on the bed and showed Daniel the bathroom. She opened the door to the balcony and cracked a window to let the stale air out and the island air in. Smiling politely, she backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Daniel sat on the bed and exhaled. What a day, he thought. He wasn’t sure what he was doing. He looked at the purity ring on his finger and thought about Kimberly, but quickly pushed the thought out of his head. He had been faithful to his promise, faithful to God and faithful to Kimberly. But he knew he was deeply attracted to Michelle. Daniel wondered if it was just physical, just her natural beauty that drew him to her. Maybe it was the trapped feeling he had surrounding the wedding. Maybe the Devil was using his flesh as a way to break apart the holy union he and Kimberly would share. Or ... thought Daniel, maybe God was trying to tell him something. Daniel sat back, closed his eyes and tried to clear his head as the smell of island air and Kahili’s cooking filled the room.

“Mr. Daniel,” Kahili’s voice rang from the kitchen. “Feast for all!” Kahili’s girlish giggle followed her words and hung in the air, waking Daniel up from his nap.

Daniel jumped with a start, unsure of where he was or what was happening. After he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he looked around and remembered that he was at Trinity Ranch. Walking into the bathroom, he splashed some water on his face and took a long look in the mirror. His natural good looks were still intact, but a little worn. The last two days of traveling and uncertainty had taken a toll on him. And until he could get a flight out, he wasn’t sure what was in his immediate future. He closed his eyes, said a silent prayer to God and went downstairs to join the family.

“Ano, this is our guest, Daniel,” said Elizabeth, introducing the ranch hand.

“Pleasure to meet you,” said Ano, reaching a thick arm across the table to Daniel.

“Likewise,” said Daniel, pulling the empty chair across from Michelle out. He sat down in front of a plate of chicken kabobs and let the delicious smells of pineapple, onion and peppers fill him. Kahili bounced around jovially, pouring lemonade and punch.

“This looks fantastic, thank you,” Daniel said as Kahili came to fill his glass.

“You’re welcome sweetie.” She smiled as she winked at him. “You are welcome at this table anytime.” She patted him lovingly on the shoulder and scurried away, leaving the family to eat.

“I’m so sorry I fell asleep. I hope I didn’t delay the meal for you,” Daniel said to Larry and Elizabeth. He hadn’t made eye contact with Michelle yet and was feeling awkward and nervous after learning so much about her in such a brief time.

“There’s no problem,” said Elizabeth, smiling politely at Daniel as she began eating her lunch. She glanced quickly at Larry, who was in his own world of Hawaiian flavors. He dove into his plate not wanting to be bothered with small talk.