Chapter 20: Moira

After letting me vent for several minutes, Gary was properly contrite, and I forgave him. I always forgive him, even when I want to hold a grudge. It's probably the thing I like least about the man – the fact that he can make me love him unconditionally.

We spent the drive back to Wailea discussing plans for the next few days. In the morning, Gary thought we should hike up the Iao Valley; Saralinda would have to see Dr. Anna in the afternoon. All the time we were talking, I could see his eyes flitting to the rear view mirror to check on the sleeping girl. I felt annoyed. And I felt annoyed about feeling annoyed. It made me snappish, and after a bit, Gary and I fell into a silence. I think I may have fallen asleep for a bit too, though not deeply. Really, I was just resting.

Gary pulled up to our villa and stopped the car. I felt his hand on my arm, and I let him tug me close for a hug and a tender kiss.

"We're back," he said quietly.

After a few moments nestled in his arms, I squirmed free, undid my seatbelt, and climbed half-over the seat back to wake Saralinda. Gary's hand rubbed down my back, down my bum, and down my leg until it was under my skirt, and then he slid it back up until it was resting on the squishiest part of my tushy. My nose was inches away from Saralinda's face, but my hand was reaching back to swat Gary's out from under my skirt, when she woke up and looked into my eyes.

"What," she mumbled.

"We're back at the villa," I explained.

"No – why are you wriggling like that?"

"Because Gary is being fresh with his hand under my skirt and I'm about to have to remove it for him," I said, casting my voice up to the front seat.

"Well," said Saralinda, as she leaned forward to give me a kiss. "You like him better fresh than stale."

I had to break the kiss with her when Gary's hand tried to push its way under my undies. Men!

"Come on, you two. Let's go inside," I told them.

The nap in the car seemed to have revived Saralinda, while I was still feeling a bit wiped from the snorkeling. It was already seven o'clock, but we'd had a large, late, lunch, and none of us were desperate for dinner yet, so I let Saralinda and Gary work their way through the fish book while I took it easy on her bed.

Half an hour later, I got up and splashed some water on my face, which made me realize I was thirsty. A good long drink of cold water made a world of difference, and I felt ready to rejoin the others.

Saralinda was still paging through the book, but Gary had moved on to explanations of other places we could visit on Maui in our remaining time.

"Hey guys, we should get some clothes on and find some dinner," I told them. Gary looked at the clock and agreed.

"I think we should do seafood tonight," he said. "Not sushi, though. We'll do that another night. There's a great sushi place in Kahului, but I don't want to drive that far right now. But there's the Blue Shark over in Maalaea – that's just around the corner. Sound good?"

It did sound good, and soon we were all quickly getting ready. I helped Saralinda with some makeup, since she said she wanted to look nice for dinner, but she was squirmy and impatient like a child. I was worried she was being a bit manic, and wondered if I should say something the next afternoon to Dr. Anna.

She did look nice, though.

A good white wine made up for the food, which certainly wasn't up to Michelle's standards. I ended up leaving half of my dinner on the plate, but that was fine. I wasn't doing my regular workouts and I didn't want to get more than just pleasantly plump.