“I would tell him that I’m sorry for how I hurt him, that I’ve never loved anyone the way I love him.” I pause to steady my voice. “I would tell him that my biggest regret in life is not giving us a fair shot when he asked me to. And if I could go back and do things differently, I would in a heartbeat.”

With the last of my words comes more silence. I blink, and then come the tears. Just a few, and I quickly wipe them away. But I’m not embarrassed. I didn’t anticipate crying today, but I did. Because I was open and honest and free. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. That’s me being me.

I sniffle, wiping my nose on my arm. “I think that’s all I can manage. Sorry.”

Penelope’s eyes glisten with tears when she looks at me. “Don’t be sorry.” Then she hugs me. “You’re amazing, Nikki,” she whispers in my ear. “I’m so, so proud of you.”

When she lets me go, she wipes her eyes then addresses the phone screen. “Well, that’s it, everyone. Thanks for joining us.”

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.