Then they stopped for lunch in Haleiwa on the north shore after kayaking, where they spotted some turtles on the beach. On the way back across the island, there was one more stop.
Dole Plantation.
After the tour, they sat outside with an ice cold pineapple whip.
“God, it's hot,” Luke said, stretching out his legs.
“I think it’s worse when you have a hangover,” Graydon said.
Harper nodded. “I agree.”
“So, what business are you doing here?” Cooper asked.
Harper had already shared she was from New Zealand and was an author. Women’s fiction was all she’d said, as telling men she wrote steamy romance usually gave the wrong impression.
It amused her how people thought romance authors were literally their characters, but no one went around accusing Stephen King of being an axe murderer.
“Just book stuff,” she replied. “What about you guys?”
“I’ve just completed my PhD in boring old neuroscience,” Cooper said, mocking Luke’s earlier comment. “We all met at Harvard.”
“We graduated earlier than brainiac here,” Graydon said, nudging Cooper.
“What did you study?” she asked him.
“I did my master’s in architecture,” he replied.
“That’s awesome.”
“Hmmm,” Graydon said, shrugging. “My father doesn’t think so. He’s a property investor and wanted me to work alongside him, not do the, and I quote, fancy design shit.”
“Ouch,” Harper said. “That’s a little ignorant, don’t you think? Without the design, well, it’s just a roof and walls.”
“Exactly,” Graydon said. “But yeah, he’s tolerated it while I did the degree, but now we’ll see.”
Harper frowned. “I don’t understand. Why is it his decision?”
Luke leaned forward. “These two are trust-fund babies. Their lives are not their own.”
“Shut it,” Cooper said, throwing something at him. “You’re hardly living on the streets, rich boy.”
Luke laughed.
“Now, tell us about this douchebag,” Cooper said, changing the subject, and Harper flinched.
“Dude,” Luke growled at Cooper.
“No. It’s not like that,” Harper said, but she didn’t know what it was like. Or what she could say.
“Was he your boyfriend?” Graydon asked.
Harper shook her head. The last thing she wanted to do was tell them she had been involved with a guy on the island and...well, she just didn’t want them to think she was some easy girl.
“It just didn’t work out,” she said. “No big deal. That’s life, right?”
The three of them nodded and regaled her with tales of their own relationship failures. Many of which were hilarious and had her laughing.
“I’m not kidding you. She actually moved into my apartment before I got home,” Luke said. “I had only given her the key the day before.”