Penelope ends the video just as Mom hurries over to hug me too. “I’m so proud of you, anak. Callum will love it.” She sniffles, then leans away so she can cup my face in her hands. Tears shine in her eyes. “I just know it.”

Doubt lingers at the back of my mind. My grand romantic gesture of publicly declaring my love for Callum was a risky call for sure, but I had to try. Now all that’s left is to wait and see what he does.

Penelope zips to the bathroom while Mom announces she’s going to fry up some lumpia to ease our nerves after such a tense event. I stand next to her in the kitchen and help her with the prep.

“Our girl really put herself out there today, Harold. For love,” she says as she dunks a half dozen lumpia in hot oil. “You’d be so proud of her.”

Chapter 22

I weave my way through the booths at the Aloha Maui Farmer’s Market in a daze. Three days since my romantic grand gesture and no word from Callum. Penelope even saved my live video on her Instagram highlights in case he didn’t catch it right away. But it doesn’t look like he’s going to see it at all. If that’s not a crystal clear sign that I’ve misread absolutely everything about us, then I don’t know what is.

I survey the array of fruits, vegetables, and other yummy goods surrounding me to distract myself from that sobering fact. Keeping busy in the aftermath of his silent rejection is a must. Even though we were never officially together, our time apart hurts worse than when I called it quits with any past boyfriend. Filling my time with work, menu planning for Travaasa Hana, farmer’s market visits, and spending time with Penelope is the way I cope.

Swimming at Big Beach helps too. No more early morning swims at Little Beach though. Too much of a risk of running into Callum. Given his radio silence, he’s made it abundantly clear he wants nothing to do with me.

I survey a lilikoi at a nearby stand, wondering if the passion fruit semifreddo I’m planning to serve for dessert at Travaasa Hana will wow like I hope. It’s two weeks until my first solo dinner service, and I want to blow everyone away.

My phone buzzing in my pocket pulls my mind back to the present and away from imaginary meal planning. An alert from Instagram. When I see it’s a message from Madeline, I let out a squeal so giddy that the people next to me gawk like I’ve grown another head.

Nikki! Oh my gosh, you have NO idea how happy I am to hear from you! Please, don’t apologize. I’m beyond thrilled you got in touch with me! How are you? Have you filmed your commercial yet? What else have you been up to? Sorry I didn’t message you back sooner; things have been so busy! But now I’m all good! OMG OMG OMG Tell me everything!