Chapter 9

Lisa wrestled with her thoughts, trying to get them to play nice inside her head. “I don’t usually consider myself someone’s girlfriend until we’ve kissed,” she finally said.

“Oh, I see.” Cal nodded, his eyes trained on the ground as they walked through the parking lot. “I’m…not ready to do that.”

“I know,” Lisa said, squeezing his hand. “It’s our second date, Cal. I’m not ready for that either.”

“So maybe you’re not my girlfriend.”

“I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m fine with the label.” And she was. In fact, such a label excited her—when it came to Cal. He wasn’t the type of man to date four girls a week and call each of them “baby” the way one of her “boyfriends” had.

If he wanted to call her his girlfriend, she really was fine with that.

He stepped up to the ticket booth and started talking to the woman in the window. A few minutes later, they had tickets—with a clear view—and entered the amphitheater. The space spread before her, and Lisa took a deep breath and sighed as she smiled.

“I love this place,” she said. She really felt like she’d entered a new city—a hidden gem in the tropical rain forest. The amphitheater had rows and rows of semi-circles leading down to a stage. She’d never been here for a live play, but a huge, curved screen rose from there. The movie would be shown there, and she’d watched from her table before, as well as from a seat in the amphitheater itself.

The rows were grass, but they also had chairs, so when it rained, they could still show movies without people sitting on the wet ground. She’d been here when it was raining, and a huge cover had been raised to protect the entire area in front of her.

The atmosphere buzzed with energy as people chatted and laughed, moved between tables, and enjoyed themselves. The top of the amphitheater was open, with dozens and dozens of tables, some for big groups, some for only two.

“We’re table ninety-one,” Cal said, looking around. “I have no idea where that is.”

“We’ll find it,” Lisa said, linking her arm through his. “Are we sharing?”

“No, table for two.”

“Mm, romantic,” Lisa said, pressing into his side. “Did you order the buffet or the menu dinner?”

“Menu,” he said. “I’m sorry. I should’ve asked you what you wanted.”

“I would’ve chosen menu.” She smiled at him, and added, “That’s forty-seven. Let’s go back this way.” She led him to the right, stepping around a waiter and a busboy, several other people, and entering the maze of tables.

“Eighty-five is over there,” Cal said, and Lisa took another right.” A minute later, they found table ninety-one, a cozy little table with a pineapple in the middle for decoration. Lisa took in a breath of the perfumed air, as tropical fruit trees, palms, and banyans made up two sides of the outdoor cinema. And the building where they’d bought their tickets made up the fourth side, creating an intimate space though it was so large.

“Did you see your daughter?” Lisa asked, because Cal was obviously searching for her.

His attention came back to her. “No, I didn’t. Let’s sit.” He pulled out her chair for her, and Lisa sat. Not a moment later, a waiter appeared and picked up the receipt Cal had put on the table.

“I’m Jonathan, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Menus,” he said, pulling them out of the front pocket of his apron. “Drinks for you tonight?”

Cal looked at Lisa, and she smiled up at the waiter. “Mango lemonade.”

“Water for me,” Cal said.

“Do you not drink soda?” she asked as Jonathan left.

“Not usually,” he said. “A few years ago, I had four kidney stones from all the cola I drank.” He gave half a shrug. “I gave it up then.”

“Flavored lemonades are my kryptonite.” She laid her arms on the table and leaned into them. “What’s yours, Cal Lewiston?” She cocked her head, trying to see more of this man.

He chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t know if I should tell you. I feel like you’re going to use it against me.”

She glanced up as the waiter set her pale orange lemonade on the table. “Definitely,” she said, stirring the straw around in the glass.

“Do you guys need a few more minutes?” Jonathan asked. “We take kitchen orders until an hour before the end of the film. Tonight, that’s at eight-fifty.”

“We need a minute,” Cal said, opening his menu for the first time.

“I’ll circle back,” Jonathan said.

Lisa looked at her menu too, but she already knew what she wanted. She pretended to look for the salmon pinwheel with wild rice she loved, but she really just watched Cal search the tables in his view.

Something was going on with his daughter, and Lisa wondered if she should suggest they just go find her. Her stomach clenched, because she hadn’t prepared herself to formally meet his daughter tonight.

The waiter returned, and Lisa beamed up at him, closing her menu. “I’ll have the king salmon pinwheel, please.”

“Just came in an hour ago.” He smiled back at her, and he seemed more like the type of man Lisa would go out with. Had she come to the outdoor cinema with her girlfriends, she’d try to get Jonathan’s number before the movie started.

Tonight, though, she wasn’t even sure what she’d ever seen in a man like Jonathan.

“I’ll have the sirloin,” Cal said, handing the menu over. “Medium-rare.”

“Baked potato or mashed?”

“Mashed,” he said. “White gravy, please.”

“Be right back.” Jonathan left again, and Lisa focused on Cal.

“Steak?” she guessed. “Is that the kryptonite?”

“I already told you coffee was my love language.”

“Really? It’s coffee?” For some reason, that disappointed her.

“Well, Hawaii has some of the best coffee in the world,” he said. “You know we have huge coffee bean farms here, right?”

“Not on this island,” she said.

“Yes,” he said. “There’s one on this island.”

“No, they shut it down.”

“No, someone else just bought it.”

Lisa didn’t keep up with all the coffee dealings on the island of Getaway Bay, so she conceded the point. “So if you love coffee so much, why didn’t you order it tonight?”

“It’s after six,” he said. “I don’t drink coffee after six, or else I can’t sleep.”

“I think I’m caffeine immune,” Lisa said with a smile.

“Now, if you really want to know what gets me excited, you’ll put a scoop of pure vanilla bean ice cream in my coffee.” He smacked his lips and grinned like a little boy on his birthday. “That’s my kryptonite.”

“Coffee float,” Lisa said, surprised. “I’ve never had one of those.”

“I’ll get some of our local coffee and make you one.” Sparks flew from his eyes, and Lisa liked the electricity between them.

She giggled and ducked her head, forgetting that she’d tied her hair up tonight, and it didn’t fall down to hide her face the way she wished it would. Her trademark move was to tuck her hair and look up at a man through her eyelashes.

“I’ll be right back,” Cal said, his voice hard as granite.

“What?” Lisa watched him jump to his feet and stride away. She watched him go, where he stopped several tables over.

His voice was loud, but the din in the large area kept his words from making sense in her ears. She got up and went after him, because he seemed upset—and so did the teenage girl he was talking to.

She arrived at the same time Cal asked, “And who is this? Where’s Travis?”

“Dad,” Sierra said, her face bright red. “I didn’t come with Travis.”

“You asked if you could go to the outdoor cinema,” he said, glancing at Lisa.

“But I never said I was coming with Travis.” She glanced at Lisa, who tried to flash her a smile before she looked away. But the teen seemed to look right through her, and wow, that stung.

“You should’ve told me if you were coming with a boy I don’t know.” Cal glared at the boy in question. “How old are you?”

“You don’t have to answer that, Justin,” Sierra said.

“Someone better answer it,” Cal growled.

“I’m seventeen, sir,” Justin said, and he seemed semi-mature to Lisa. Her heartbeat ping-ponged around in her chest, because she didn’t know what to do in this situation. Side with Cal? Calm him down? Walk away and let him deal with this obvious family matter?

“You realize she’s fourteen years old?”

Justin looked at Sierra. “I, uh, actually thought she was older than that, sir.”

“Justin,” Sierra said.

“Maybe he didn’t ask,” Cal suggested, a slight sarcastic note to his voice. “Did you just let him assume what he wanted to?”

Sierra didn’t answer, and she looked at Lisa again.

She sucked in a breath. “Cal,” she said. “Maybe we should talk about this later.” She glanced over her shoulder to see Jonathan standing at their table, setting their plates of food down. “Our dinner just arrived.”

Cal looked at her, the frustration in his expression plain to see.

“Cal,” she said again, slipping her hands around his arm and hugging it. She wasn’t sure what else to say. She didn’t want to tell him how to parent his daughter.

“I’ll take her home right now, sir,” Justin said.

“Dad,” Sierra said, and Cal looked back at her.

“I don’t want her home alone.” He looked at Lisa. “Would you mind if they joined us?”

“Dad, I’m not double-dating with you and your girlfriend.” She glanced at Lisa. “Sorry. No offense.”

Lisa held up her hand as if to say, I get it. “I’m Lisa Ashford, by the way.”

“Sorry,” Cal said. “Lisa, this is Sierra, my fourteen-year-old daughter who forgot to mention she’d broken up with her sixteen-year-old boyfriend and had found another one.”

Lisa nodded at the girl. “So nice to meet you, Sierra. Your father has said so many good things about you.”

Sierra scanned Lisa, and she felt very much like the fourteen-year-old was sizing her up. She said nothing, and the awkwardness doubled.

“How about they sit near us?” Lisa asked Cal. “So you can see them, but they can still talk, and we can still talk…” She turned and waved to Jonathan, who came over. “Is there a table for these two near us?” she asked.

“Let me check with our seating team.” He smiled around at everyone and walked away.

“Cal,” Lisa said very quietly, tugging on his arm. “Let’s go sit down. Our food is getting cold.”

He looked at her with a measure of helplessness in his eyes. She’d seen a look like this before, as she worked with a lot of grooms that were completely overwhelmed with the immensity of planning a wedding.

“Come on,” she said with a smile. “They’ll sit right by us.”

“All right,” Cal said, giving one more glare to his daughter. Lisa didn’t like that his attention would be divided, but she couldn’t very well demand he move past this situation right this second.

Jonathan approached. “I can get them at table eighty-six,” he said. “It’s a few over and one row behind you.” He pointed to it, and Lisa looked at Cal.

“That’s fine,” he said. “Thank you.”

Jonathan nodded, and glanced at Sierra and Justin. “Eighty-six. Did you guys have the buffet or the menu dinner?”

“Buffet,” Justin said, and Cal growled low in his throat.

“What?” Lisa asked as everyone moved back to their assigned tables.

“She texted me the menu,” he said, shaking his head. They got back to their table, and he picked up his plate. “Would you mind switching sides with me? Then I can glare at them and still face you.”

Lisa chuckled, but she knew he wasn’t kidding. They switched sides, and Cal stared for a long minute at Sierra and Justin. He finally sighed and picked up his fork. “Sorry. When I saw her with a different boy—holding his hand and flirting—I sort of floated out of my head.”

“It’s fine,” Lisa said. “She’s your daughter.”

“Yeah.” Cal looked down at his steak. “This looks great.”

Lisa focused on her food too. “Yeah, mine is like a fish cupcake.” She loved the orange swirl of the salmon, the lentils and kale it sat on which made up the paper on the cupcake, the baby greens on top. And the sauce surrounding the fish? The best thing Lisa had ever put in her mouth.

“It sure does,” Cal said, finally smiling at her. He cut into his steak, and it looked like a perfect medium rare to Lisa. He put the meat in his mouth, and he moaned. “Oh, this is good.”

“You don’t come here very often, do you?” she asked.

“No,” he admitted. “Big crowd. Expensive food. Single.” He cut another bite of steak and swiped it through his mashed potatoes and gravy. “Doesn’t really add up to a Friday night at the outdoor cinema, you know?”

“Oh, I know.” Lisa didn’t want to tell him how many dates she’d been on here, so she just flaked off another bite of her fish and lentils, swirled it in the sauce, and put it in her mouth. Cal did a good job of staying focused on Lisa and the conversation at their own table, and she appreciated that.

The lights dimmed, and the enormous screen lit up behind her, blue lights flashing on Cal’s face. “Are they moving?” she asked. “Do you want to go down to the viewing seats?”

“They are moving,” Cal said. “But I’d rather stay here.” He met her eye and motioned for her to come over to his side of the table. “Come sit by me.”

Lisa was more than happy to cuddle into Cal while they watched a movie, and she got up and pulled her chair over to his side. He took her hand, and she leaned against his shoulder, the arms of the chair a little bit in the way.

She didn’t mind though, because Cal had finally relaxed. His hand in hers felt warm and strong, and Lisa wasn’t even sure what the movie was or what was happening. Because she was holding Cal’s hand, and she could only hope there would be some kissing in their future.

She couldn’t even imagine what a kiss shared with him would feel like, but her heartbeat was very excited about it.