Page 5 of Beauty and the Beach

Chapter Three

Makoa was still in a daze when he dragged the Zodiac up the beach, past Dude in his hammock, and into the paddock where they kept the equipment. Kanaloa had accepted his gift and sent him someone to love. Unfortunately, Ana was a mermaid. She was gorgeous and smart and funny.

But she had a fish tail.

Makoa didn’t want to seem greedy. After all, he hadn’t specified. He had just assumed the woman Kanaloa sent would be human. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked the god of the ocean for a girlfriend.

Shrugging his polo shirt on, he ambled over to the front desk. Amelia was working the desk, answering the phone while tapping on the computer. Hani wheeled a luggage cart past him, trailed by a family of four. Taking a tag from Kai, he piled on several bags and suitcases on to a big trolley.

Racking his brain, he tried to think about what he knew about mermaids. Unfortunately, it was limited to the movie, Splash with Darryl Hannah and the cartoon that Disney put out.

“Okay, everyone in Aloha building three, follow me,” he said, and pushed the heavy cart out of the lobby. The stupid thing had a shaky wheel and cornered like a Sherman tank, so Makoa all but lifted it up and over some of the bumps in the sidewalks.

The sun beat down heavily on his neck as he pushed it towards the building with the large hula dancer painted on it. He passed Joely going the opposite way and gave her the shaka.

“Howzit Makoa?” she asked, flashing him a sunny grin.

“Can’t complain,” Makoa said, and it was true. He had a date with a girl. So what, if she was half fish? If it was meant to be, it would be. That was the song Joely and Holt danced to at their wedding. He had watched, leaning up against a palm tree and drinking a beer while all the couples joined them.

Makoa waited patiently for each of the families to open their rooms and look around before he brought their luggage in. Most tipped him pretty generously, but there were some that were too excited about being in Maui to remember. And that was okay. He could relate. It was something he tried not to take for granted.

On his way back to the lobby, he saw Zarafina setting up her pavilion and card table. She wore colorful scarves and a jaunty turban. He veered off to help her pull the tent out. It was like a gigantic pop up umbrella and it really needed two people to set it up.

“Thank you, Makoa,” she said, once they tapped the spikes in to secure it. They learned the hard way that a good blast of wind could send it tumbling over the hotel grounds.

“A‘ole pilikia.”

“Is there something you want to ask me?” Zarafina asked, indicating he sit down in one of the folding chairs.

Makoa looked around, but it seemed like the rush of customers had passed. He sank down in the chair. “I think I may have a problem.”

“Let me see your palm,” she said briskly, all business.

Zarafina took his hand and squinted at it. She traced a line and he tried not to squirm. It tickled. Every finger of her hand had a different colored stone ring. She was Amelia’s aunt who had transplanted herself here from New York City a few years ago. Zarafina fit in so well, though, it was hard to imagine her ever not being at the Palekaiko Beach Resort.

“Mmm Hmm,” Zarafina said. She closed her eyes for a moment and then nodded.

“What?”

“It is as I expected.” She opened up an ornate box and took out a large purple velvet bag. Inside were her tarot cards. Shuffling the deck, she offered it to him. “Pick a card and place it on the table.”

Makoa pulled out a card and laid it in front of him: The Lovers. It showed two people entwined, their genders unclear. They were bound together by hearts and barbed wire. It didn’t look too romantic to him.

“There is a matter of the heart that bothers you?” Zarafina asked, raising a golden brow. She had on heavy purple eyeshadow and so much black eyeliner, she tended to look like a racoon after sitting all day in the Maui heat.

“I met a girl today.”

"Where?"

"In the ocean. I thought she was drowning, but I think she was just tired of swimming."

"What's her name?"

"Ana. We're going to see each other tomorrow."

Zarafina shuffled the cards and pulled out another one: The World. “This is a strong, favorable card.”