“Really?” She lifted the lid and her face lit up. She pulled out the cloth inside.

“It’s a Hawaiian muumuu.”

She let it unfold. “Oh, it’s beautiful. Should I put it on now?”

I nodded. “You remember where the bathroom is?”

“I do,” she said.

“But first.” I handed her another box. She excitedly lifted the lid. Inside there was a bright red flower. “That’s for your hair.”

She was positively beaming. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked down the hall to the bathroom. When the door shut, I went to my room and put on a bright red Hawaian shirt and a plastic lei. Then I went back to the dining room. When she walked in, I just stared. She had never looked more beautiful. Her eyes sparkled, and the soft fabric of her dress hung gracefully on her body. She was glowing. I was tongue-tied.

“Look at you,” she said. “You look so cute.”

“I’d much rather look at you.”

“Thank you,” she said coyly. “I like the flower. I thought it was plastic, but it’s real.”

“I know. They look fake. It’s called an anthurium. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

She just smiled at me.

“I have a lei for you too, but it really is plastic.” As I draped the lei around her neck, she kissed me. Then she whispered, “Mele Kalikimaka to you too.”

I pulled out her chair, and she sat down.

“For dinner I made us a Hawaiian luau feast. At least the best I could do in Utah. I’ll be back.”

I went to the kitchen and brought back our first course: a bowl of pineapple chunks in heavy syrup and two virgin piña coladas with little paper umbrellas.

She clapped with delight.

“There’s a Polynesian woman at Heller’s. She told me what to make.”

Over the next hour I brought out ham and white rice, rice noodles, and yams.

As we were finishing the last course, she said, “I can’t believe you really made all this.”

“Pretty much. Except what’s next.”

“What’s next?”

“Glad you asked.” I went to the kitchen and brought back a pineapple upside-down cake. “Dessert.”

I set it down at the table and cut two pieces, serving hers first. Then I sat down, watching her expectantly. She took a small bite.

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious.”

“Do they eat that in Hawaii?”

She picked up a piece of the cake and held it to my mouth. “You try it.”

I took a bite. “That is good.”

“Told you.”

For a moment we just looked at each other. The earlier excitement had evolved into pleasant peace. Then I said, “Remember that night when I asked you how you really know when you were in love?”

“Yes.”

“I understand.”