It's All Relative (63 page)

I
wrote this story back in my early writing days. The first release of this book was very raw, very rough, and I’ve spent a lot of time overhauling it. Thanks to my wonderful beta-readers, it was suggested that the book only be through Kai and Jessie’s POV. Originally, I had included Millie’s and Mason’s POV. I had thrown those into the first edition to make it clear from the very beginning that Kai and Jessie weren’t really related. I thought it might turn readers away if they didn’t know that right from the start. But the extra POVs made the book too repetitive, so ultimately I decided to remove them. Hopefully readers stick through the ick-factor and discover the truth about Kai and Jessie, because they really do have a wonderful love story, and I’m thrilled to finally be able to publish it!

For fans of the original draft, or for those of you who are curious about what was cut, I’ve included the extra POV scenes for you. Enjoy! And thank you for reading Kai and Jessie’s story.

Cut Scenes

(Cut scene #1. This scene takes place at the end of the second chapter, right after Millie tells Kai and Jessie they are cousins. It is told in Millie’s POV.)

M
illie Harper had seen a lot of things in her long life, and she’d lived as full of a life as one person could be blessed to have. She’d found her true love at a young age, and they had filled their modest home with an exuberant, loving family. Millie had enjoyed every aspect of raising and caring for her children. Her beloved husband had provided her with the opportunity to stay home with their brood, teaching them, molding their young minds. She’d encouraged them all to seek out what they wanted in life, and to live to the fullest, just as she had.

As a result, she’d ended up losing them all. All nine of her beautiful children had left the nest to carve out lives of their own. Her youngest son had remained in Denver the longest, sticking close to her side, but eventually a prestigious career in D.C. had called him away from her too. His youngest child, Jessica Marie, was the only family member that remained in the state, and she looked after Millie, as if Millie were the grandchild.

Millie’s oldest son was Kai’s father. He’d traveled the farthest away from the pack, and Millie had done her best when she was younger to visit with him often. At first, she had enjoyed the visits with her son’s family on the tropical paradise they called home. She’d found room in her heart to welcome and love Kai’s mother, and when Kai was born, it had been a cause for celebration. He had been difficult for them to conceive, the only one of her children who’d had difficulty in that area. The rest of her kids had four or five children each. Her oldest daughter had even topped her number with ten.

But Kai had been a miracle for her son and his young wife, and the trio had made Hawaii a warm, loving home. Then things had soured, and the marriage had ended. Millie had stopped visiting not long afterwards but she’d remained as close to Kai as she could.

So, as Millie watched her favorite grandson finally be formally introduced to her favorite granddaughter, she couldn’t understand why they were having such an odd reaction. Kai’s beautiful, deeply tanned skin was paler than she’d ever seen it. His gorgeous tropical eyes were wide as he stared at Jessica, almost as if he were shocked. Jessica Marie was acting no less strange. Her mouth was wide open, and her deep brown eyes were struggling with what almost looked like disbelief. The two gaped at each other while Millie glanced between them and tried to figure out the problem. Maybe their original meeting hadn’t gone well. Maybe one of them hadn’t been nice to the other. Well, they would need to move past that, and quickly. They were family.

Just as Millie was about to disturb the odd silence, broken only by the hum of the machines in her room, Jessica started shaking her head. She took a step back from Millie. “No, no that’s not possible.” After she whispered that, Millie could have sworn that Kai flinched.

Millie bunched her brows as she watched the strange meeting. “Well, yes, I know you haven’t seen him much…or maybe ever, but he
is
your cousin.” Jessica’s hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes watered as she looked over at Millie, and then back at Kai. He lowered his head as Millie gently asked, “Are you all right, dear?”

Jessica shook her head and looked about to start sobbing, but Kai stood and placed a large hand on Millie’s bony shoulder. “We need to speak outside for a moment, Grandma.” He smiled, although it did nothing to ease the look of illness on his face. “We’ll be back in a minute, okay?”

Millie nodded, and he leaned down to give her a soft kiss on the cheek. From behind him, Millie heard Jessica mutter repeatedly, “Oh…my…God, oh…my…God…”

Millie was about to reprimand her granddaughter, but Kai grabbed Jessica’s elbow, muttered something in her ear, and pulled her from the room. Jessica had a horrified expression on her face as they exited.

Curious.

Millie strained to hear them outside her room, but her hearing wasn’t what it used to be, and she could barely make out more than the whirl and swish of the air vents circulating the stale currents. Resting back on her bed, she closed her eyes. Her hip ached a little from where she’d fallen this morning. Such a stupid accident. She hadn’t been doing anything more exciting than getting the mail. She’d stumbled on the curb, lost her balance, and landed on her side. Thirty years ago, she would have laughed at the embarrassment, brushed herself off, and sprang right back up. But with the flash of pain that had jolted through her body the moment she’d landed, she’d known she was no longer a staunch fifty-year old. She still felt like one. Heck, she still felt like a teenager. It was a shame her body disagreed.

She hadn’t been paying close enough attention to what she’d been doing, and that had cost her a great deal of pain. Oddly enough, she’d been thinking about Kai at the time. She hadn’t realized he’d made it up here already. She’d known he’d be up soon, but hadn’t heard the official date yet. Coming up to start his new job…

Frowning, Millie opened her eyes and cast a quick glance at the door. She wasn’t sure if Kai and Jessica were right outside, or if they had gone for a walk through the hospital. Maybe they’d decided to head down for some coffee, to catch up on what their families had been up to. Millie’s eyes shifted to the clock on the wall as she thought about her son in Hawaii. It was late in the afternoon here, so he should be up and around back there.

Grabbing the phone on the nightstand, Millie dialed her son’s number. After a few rings, a confused voice answered her. “Hello?”

“Hello, son. How are you this morning?” Millie brightly said.

She smiled into the receiver as she heard her son immediately respond with, “Oh, hey, Mom. I didn’t recognize the number. I’m fine, how are you?”

Millie laughed, her joints reminding her of her ache as she did so. They’d dosed her up pretty well, and her hip felt a little numb. The rest of her was sharp enough though. “A little stumble this morning, but I’m fine. My granddaughter is taking good care of me.”

There was a pause on his end, then, “You okay? Really?”

Millie scoffed into the phone. “Honey, I’ve had nine kids. A little tumble is nothing.” Her son laughed into the phone, and she took that moment of levity to make her reason for calling known. “Kai came to see me today.”

Her son immediately stopped laughing. “Yeah, I figured he would soon. He left Wednesday.”

Millie sighed as she stared at the ceiling. “What are the two of you thinking, sending him here?”

With a forced cheerfulness to his voice, her son responded, “Well, it’s a great job, Mom, and he can be close to you—”

She cut him off. She knew bull when she heard it. “That is not why he’s really here, and you know it. Don’t play me for a fool, Nate.”

She’d had suspicions for a while over her son’s true motives, and Nate had picked up on her doubt in previous conversations. He seemed a little frustrated being called out on it now. “Mom…he needs to know.”

Millie closed her eyes and shook her head. Damn…he was right. “Why, Nate? What difference does it make at this point?”

He sighed, louder this time. When his voice came out, it was laced with anger. “He deserves to know the truth. Truth matters.”

Millie opened her eyes. Her face softened as she listened to her son’s pain. “Does it? Did the truth do you any good? Did it do anything but ruin your marriage?”

He sighed again, wistfully. “Mom…the truth is important. He should know. Leilani and I both feel he should finally know. He’s an adult now.”

Millie bristled and raised her head off the pillows. “Yes, he’s an adult. Couldn’t you just sit down and talk with him like one? Did you need to send him out here…to see
him
?”

There was a long pause from her son, then in a near whisper he said, “I couldn’t do it, Mom. I couldn’t look at him and tell him… It’s better this way.”

Millie sighed. “Better for whom?”

Her son grunted in frustration. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Millie knew she was starting to strain their relationship. She dropped her head back to the pillows and changed what she’d been going to say. Instead, she softened her voice and responded with, “You’re right. I’ve never been in the position you’re in, and I don’t know what I’d do. But, son, I know you think this will help him, but I’m telling you, you’re wrong. You will only hurt and confuse the boy by forcing this upon him…and I won’t be a part of it. I won’t help you hurt him.”

Quietly, he responded with, “We’re not asking you to, Mom. We didn’t send him to you, for
you
to tell him. But it’s already been started. The ball is in
his
court now, and we’ll just see what he does with it.”

Millie grunted. “So that’s your plan? You’re hoping that
he
will break the news for you, for the both of you. Nate…you’re making a huge mistake, and I won’t help it along. Kai will never learn anything from me, and frankly, I hope he never finds out the truth from him either.”

Her son sighed, like he was exhausted. “He’s going to, Mom. One way or another, he’s going to find out.” Millie sighed; her exhale sounded just as tired. In a soft voice, her son continued, “I will tell him. If
he
doesn’t tell Kai the truth, then I will.”

Millie tried again to object, knowing it was useless; her son was set on this course. “Nate…please reconsider? Kai doesn’t have to—”

His voice harder, her son cut off her feeble attempt. “No, Mom. This has to happen. Kai has to be told that I’m not…that I’m not his father.”

Millie’s eyes watered as she pictured her son’s pain, as she pictured Kai’s future pain. None of this seemed like a good idea to her. With a stuttered exhale, she told him, “But that’s just it, Nate. You
are
his father. Even if there isn’t a speck of our blood inside him, he’s still family, and he’s still
your
son.”

Her son let out a long, tired exhale. “He has to know the truth, Mom. Truth matters.”

 (Cut scene #2. This is at the end of chapter 3, when Kai and Jessie have returned to Millie’s hospital room.)