Ch 84~Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

The landmark Rachel saw out the plane window was sacred ground as far as she was concerned.

Diamond Head.

If there was a single place on Earth that could be more sentimental for her, she couldn’t think what it would be.  Diamond Head meant so much to her in so many different ways. 

It had been a favorite haunt for her and Nick’s family. 

It had been the place she went to heal after her breakup with Jon, and she’d hiked the volcano more times than she could count.  Each and every time she pushed herself up the trail in the hopes that she could sweat out just a little of the pain of losing him.

It was also the place from which Jon had reached out to her, taking the first small step that would bring him back to her life – this time for good.  Though they’d never been there together, that mountain was the one place that she knew without a doubt that they’d both been standing while longing for the other. 

When she finally was able to drag her eyes from the Hawaiian landmark and to his face, it wasn’t colored with the smug gloating that she’d expected.  Rather, their affection filled eyes connected and it became but one more moment when the two of them spoke volumes without ever saying a word.  There was no doubt that he knew her every thought and feeling in this moment, and Rachel had no trouble deciphering the soft stroke of the back of his hand against her cheek.    

She had to admit that he’d been right on the money when predicting that she wouldn’t care about his morning breath after a look out the window.  He was even right that she’d kiss the life right out of him without a second thought.  Morning breath, the stubble on his face, the messy bed head, the coffee in his hand…  They were all just details that would forever encompass this beautiful memory in the making.  Rachel lovingly ran her fingers over the disheveled mop of hair and bent to press her lips against his.

“You…” she breathed, still close enough to feel the warmth of his lips against hers.  “…have given me amazing, beautiful gifts.  Some were worth millions of dollars and some worth only the pennies it cost for the paper you wrote some silly note on.  But this…?  This is priceless, Jonny – absolutely, positively priceless.  The U.S. Mint couldn’t print enough money to pay for everything this moment represents.”

He didn’t even try to put any more space between them, and his morning-gruff voice soft when telling her, “One of the most miserable times I’ve ever spent in my life was at the top of that fucking volcano.   I’d plotted this grand scheme to show up in Hawaii and get you back, thinking there wasn’t a chance you could turn me away – and then found out you weren’t even here.” 

Jon chuckled quietly and gave a slight shake of his head.  “I planned an entire tour around this damn place and you weren’t even fucking here.  Well this time around I’ve got you – even though I’ve spent most of the tour trying to keep you with me – and I’m going to enjoy Hawaii like everybody else does.”

He finally leaned back and chucked his knuckle under her chin so that he could look her squarely in the eyes.  “And you know what?”

“What?”

“This time when I drag my old bones up that mother fuckin’ hill, you’re gonna be right by my side. Period.  So I hope you brought tennis shoes.”

“I can’t remember but, if not, I’ll buy some,” she assured him agreeably.  “It’s going to be wonderful, baby.  You couldn’t have chosen a more perfect spot for this trip.”

“I’m glad you’re happy with it.”

“I am.  Now which hotel are we at?”

“Hotel?”  He flopped over onto his back, grinning up at her.  “I dunno if you remember this or not, but when we first started going out you told me you had always wanted to go to Kauai while Nick and your kids only wanted to hang at Waikiki.”

Rachel  nodded.  It wasn’t a crystal clear memory, but she remembered. 

“So that got me thinking,” he continued.  “Why not see all of the Hawaiian islands?”

Giddiness and excitement swelled up inside her.  Honolulu and Diamond Head would’ve been enough to make her happy, but actually getting to visit all of the islands?  That was the stuff dreams were made of.

“I figure the easiest way to see a bunch of islands is from a boat, right?”

This just kept getting better and better.  Sipping tequila from the deck of the obscenely lavish ship he would’ve chosen, taking a dip in the Pacific when it got too warm, and ferrying off to the tropical beauty of the islands when the time came all sounded heavenly. 

“Good call, handsome,” she commended, patting his chest.  “I know how you love those big fancy yachts.”

“Ha.”  His grin adopted the smugness she’d expected from him earlier.  “You think I’m so predictable, don’t you, Rach?  You assume that I have to have some 200 foot ship to be comfortable, don’t you?”

“Well, kind of.  Yeah.”

He blew a raspberry at her, making her laugh in surprise.  “I’ll have you know that we are, in fact, spending our vacation on a catamaran.”

A catamaran?  One of those ‘barely a boat’ things?  Seriously?

Rachel was convinced that she knew Jon better than just about anybody and, while she wouldn’t describe him as high maintenance, he had definitely grown used to the good life – and had gotten her used to the good life. 

In her world the good life wasn’t a catamaran.  A catamaran was…  Well, it was to the sea what a pup tent was to the forest – it got the job done, but that was all it did.

Oh boy.  This is going to be an interesting vacation.