Chapter 55 55: The Holy Hour

Chapter 55 55: The Holy Hour


ONE MONTH LATER

KAUAI, HAWAII



\[ R Y D E R \]

“Dad! There’s mail!” I shouted into the house and threw the big white envelope on the kitchen table.

I just came home from my morning training at the beach, and I noticed this white envelope sitting on the front porch. It was addressed to my dad from some law company. I thought it might be important.

Dad came out of his room seconds later. He picked up the envelope and muttered, “Oh, right…”

“What is it?”

Dad let out a sigh and opened the envelope. His eyes scanned the paper quickly before saying, “Nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like signing your divorce papers,”

“Ah, dad, I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know it was that thing,”

“Don’t worry, I’ll survive,” he stifled a laugh and pulled out a pen.

A month had passed since I left New York City with my dad. Kara was doing well and she was discharged from the hospital days after our special rooftop moment. Since then, my dad and I went back to Hawaii and Lacey stayed with Kara in the city. It felt weird returning back with just my dad. Everything felt so final. The divorce papers on the kitchen table said it all.

I watched him intently as dad read through the pages and signed his name on the dotted line. Dad kept saying that he was okay, but I could tell this was hard for him. He and Lacey spent four years of their life together. It mustn’t be easy.

“Hey dad, why don’t we go out and take the boat?” I said as soon as he finished signing the documents.

“Now?” he asked.

“Yeah, come on,”

Dad had an uncertain look on his face and said, “I don’t know, Ry,”

My father loved his boats more than anything. Normally, he wouldn’t say no whenever I asked him to take the boat out with him. This was a weird phenomenon.

“Why not?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Well, it’s Thanksgiving night…”

“So? It’s not like we’re doing anything anyway. Eating dry turkey just the two of us? Screw that shit,” I scoffed.

I made a great argument, but dad didn’t look convinced. I felt bad for him. I hoped this divorce thing wasn’t making him lose his zest.

“Dad, since when do you not wanna get on the boat?” I asked again. “I’ll drive?”

A small smile appeared on my dad’s face. Finally, he let out a sigh and said, “Alright, let’s take it out for a quick spin,”



Dad and I spent the evening out at sea. It was a glorious day. The sun was setting, the wind was breezy, and the ocean was peaceful and calm. We got some cold beer in our hands and we just lay around facing the blue horizon in front of us.

“It’s a great day,” dad commented.

“Yeah,” I replied.

The view was breathtaking, sure. But for the past hour, my eyes were glued to my phone’s screen. I used a picture of Kara as my lock screen and I couldn’t stop staring at it all day long.

“That phone must be much more interesting,” dad chuckled.

I put the phone away instinctively and turned my eyes to him. “Yeah, no, I’m just a little worried about Kara,”

“Something wrong?”

“She hasn’t been answering my texts. It’s like her phone is off,”

“Maybe she’s busy,” he shrugged and sipped his beer. “It is Thanksgiving week,”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,”

Once she got discharged from the hospital, Kara insisted on going back to work. She got pretty busy since then, but luckily, we still managed to find time for each other. Let me tell you something about long distance relationship, they fucking sucked.

I had a fiancée now, but I couldn’t even see her or touch her. It was pure torture. Whoever invented that shit was a psychopath. Every day, I woke up thinking about her and every night I went to sleep dreaming of her. With every minute that passed, I kept checking the time and counting down the days until I get to see her again.

Thank God we didn’t have to do this for too long. We were getting married next summer. And then we’d be together. We haven’t exactly figured out all the details. We still didn’t know where we’d be or who would move where. But the bottom line was that we’d be together no matter what.

Don’t worry though, I have a plan… and I’m working on it.

“I can’t believe my son is getting married,” dad said after a while of silence. It was like he knew what was on my mind.

“Dad, it’s still like, six months away,”

Six months, one week, and three days. But who’s counting?

“I wish your mom was here to see it,”

My dad got teary eyed at the mention of my mom. He threw his gaze away and his hand went to wipe his eye. That shit was tough to watch.

“Hey,” I said to him. “She’s always here,”

Dad smiled knowingly and nodded his head. We didn’t say another word after that. We just sat in comfortable silence for a while. I looked out into the sea and I imagined my mom being here with us. She would love Kara. And Kara would love her too.

“It’s getting late, Ry,” dad said suddenly. “We should head back,”

“Or we can stay some more? We’ve got food, we got beer…”

“No, I think we should head back,” he said rather sternly.

“Ok…” I replied. “Sure, whatever you want, dad,”



Dad was in a hurry to get home. He was driving the car and he just passed a couple of red lights. That was not something my dad would normally do. He was a good law abiding citizen. I eyed him suspiciously, wondering why the hell Vin Diesel from The Fast and Furious was here driving the car. Dad didn't say a word too. He just looked super anxious.

Maybe there’s a game on TV or something that he wants to watch?

“Dad, relax,” I said to him as he rushed out of the car and to our house. “Why are you in such a rush?”

“Because…”

Dad stopped walking and opened the front door. My jaw dropped to the floor once I saw who was standing inside my house.

“Happy November 24th, Ry!” Kara beamed from ear to ear. She was holding a can of spam in her hand with a little candle on top.

Kara…?

“Because she’s been waiting here for an hour, that’s why,” dad grinned mischievously.

I was totally mind blown, I didn’t how to react to this. Meanwhile, dad walked over to Kara and they nodded at each other. It then dawned on me that they were in this together.

“What is happening here?” I asked the two of them.

“Happy birthday, son,” dad said simply.

“Peter and I planned it all. Luckily for me, your birthday is the same day as Thanksgiving this year, so I got to go and fly out here,” Kara explained as she stepped closer to me. The little candle on the can of spam was flickering. “Happy birthday, Ry,”

“This is so insane,” I shook my head at her. “I can’t believe this is real,”

“You best believe it, ‘cause I’m here,” she stood on her tiptoe and planted a quick kiss on my cheek. “Make a wish,” she whispered.

What else could I possibly wish for?

Without breaking my gaze from her, I smiled real wide and blew the little candle. Kara let out a giggle as I grabbed her with both my hands and buried my face in hers.

I’m kissing my girl. This is real. This is absolutely real.

I couldn’t explain the kind of happiness I was feeling at this moment. I had missed her so much and to be able to hold her like this was beyond surreal. I knew Kara was feeling the same way too, because she let out a long sigh of relief as she deepened our kiss. I was holding onto her so tightly, I might have hurt her a little. I just couldn’t hold it. Having her in my arms was the best feeling in the world.

“Alright, I’ll give you two some room” I could hear my dad’s chuckle in the background.

Kara probably got embarrassed, because she suddenly pulled away. I opened my eyes and saw her smiling that sheepish smile, and her cheeks blushed rosy pink.

Damn, I wanna kiss those cheeks.

“C’mere,” I said as I took her hand and led her outside.

We could stay around the house, but with my dad being there, it felt kinda awkward. So instead, I took her to the garage.

“Wow, this place hasn’t changed at all,” she commented as her eyes scanned the room. “And you still have your bike…”

“Care for a ride?” I said as I grabbed the helmets.

“Absolutely,” she replied without waiting for a beat.

“Where do you wanna go?”

“Oh, there are so many places I wanna see! I wanna go to the beach, the drive-in theater, the cliff…” she paused for a second and cocked her head to the side, with a playful glint in her eyes, she said, “But I think I’ll have to start with…”

“Don’t tell me,” I said. “Milkshake?”

She smiled sweetly in response.

Oh, there it is. The smile that got me weak in the knees.

“Milkshake,”







\- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -