Meet Me in Hawaii by Georgia Toffolo (best affordable ebook reader TXT) 📗

to be in the sea, it helps them concentrate and feel like they’re getting there quicker. Even if in reality it will take just as long.’

‘Makes sense.’

‘Sure does! It gets them confident in the water too, especially if they haven’t been in the sea much before.’

Todd watched Malie swing Louis through the air and down into the sea with her. The boy gripped her shoulders: ‘I did it, Malie, I did it!’

He heard her laughter across the distance as she wiped her face down, undoubtedly getting a spray of sea water from Louis’ lips as he cheered at her. ‘You did, dude, you were awesome, give me five.’

He felt his chest warm, he wished he’d come down earlier and witnessed the entire lesson, this morning’s too. Maybe he could bring his laptop down here, work from the surf school occasionally.

‘Don’t worry, she won’t put you in the sea immediately, she’ll subject you to land work first.’ He looked back to Kalani and spied his smirk.

‘If the kids can do it, I can do it, too.’

‘You surfed before?’

‘No.’

Kalani just nodded, but his smirk was still there as he continued hosing down the boards.

‘What’s so funny?’

The guy looked him up and down. ‘I’d say you’re fit enough for it, but you’re going to need to loosen up before you hit the water.’

Malie’s words came back to him, their dance immediately after – his body overheating with the memory – the intimate movement of her body against his, and the kiss…

He swallowed. ‘Right… well… I can loosen up.’

Even he could tell he didn’t sound convincing and was about to make his excuses before heading down to the shoreline when he saw Malie come out of the water, Louis on her tail. The boy lay his board in the sand and hung back as Malie approached Tara.

Todd froze, not wanting to catch her eye and distract her. Especially when Tara had never looked more isolated than she did right now, still hunched up, her only companion Nalu, while all around her people laughed, cheered, played ball games, enjoyed the water… what would she say to her? What would she do?

And more importantly, would it work?

Malie was careful as she approached Tara. She wasn’t overly tentative, but she wasn’t quite as full-on as she’d been with the others.

She knew the girl’s history thanks to the detailed case file provided by the charity – her heart ached each time she thought of it. A house fire four years ago had claimed the life of Tara’s younger brother and left Tara herself scarred, half of her face suffering burns that no amount of surgery could conceal. And Malie knew well enough that the visible scarring would be nothing compared to what lay beneath.

Her suspicions had only been reaffirmed when Tara and her parents had turned up an hour into the lesson, the parents delivering Tara personally with an anxious apology for their lateness. It had taken some coaxing to get her to come forward and numerous reassurances from Malie to her parents that all was OK enough for them to leave. They’d done so eventually, but the sight of Tara continuing to hold herself back from the group, barely responding to the greetings of her friends as she’d looked the other way and kept herself apart, was hard to witness. It didn’t matter that the girl knew everyone in the group from back home, she wasn’t ready to trust Malie or the water enough to get involved.

She trusted Nalu, though. That much was obvious. Even now she was crouched down before him, the black hair of her bob swinging forward to hide her face as she rubbed Nalu’s belly and murmured too low for Malie to hear what she said.

And that’s when the spark of an idea hit…

‘Hey, Tara, do you think you’d like to come and try the water now?’

The girl lifted her chin and looked to the swash, her hand still tickling Nalu. ‘No thanks.’

She lowered her gaze back to her buddy, not once turning her head and Malie knew it wasn’t rudeness that kept her eyes averted, but the desire to hide the right side of her face. The scarred side.

Malie’s heart squeezed in her chest, her wish being to hold the girl and tell her it didn’t matter, it didn’t dictate who she was on the inside, she was more than the scars and the pain they brought. But she knew she couldn’t, not yet, she had to earn Tara’s trust first.

Instead, she played the hand that she knew would work. ‘You know, Nalu can surf.’

And just like that, her head lifted to Malie, her eyes wide, scars temporarily forgotten. ‘He can?’

Malie nodded, her smile instant and heartfelt. ‘Shall I show you?’

‘Really?’ The girl’s eyes sparkled as she looked back to Nalu who’d shot to his feet at the first mention of his name and now gave a bark.

‘See, he’s even telling you he can.’

Tara smiled at the dog. ‘You want to surf, Nalu?’

He barked again and her smile grew.

‘Come on.’ Malie reached out her hand and Tara eyed it suspiciously. ‘You have to come now, else it would be like telling a dog walkies and not taking him out. It would be teasing and mean.’

Tara chewed over her lip, her eyes going back to Nalu.

‘We don’t want to disappoint him, do we?’ Malie softly pressed, her hand still outstretched.

Tara shook her head.

‘And he’ll have so much more fun knowing you are watching.’

Slowly but surely Tara slid her hand inside Malie’s and got to her feet, the rise of her body in tune with the happiness lifting inside Malie.

‘We’re gonna need my board for this,’ she said, subduing her voice so as not to jar Tara and risk unsettling her.

She led them over to where her board lay in the sand. ‘How about you paddle by the shore here and that way you’ll have the best view of us coming back in?’

Tara gazed up at her. ‘You’re going to surf with