“A lot of help, Mama!” Grace said. “I can’t have you stranded on some island with your health as it is! Besides, you’re not up to watching a nine-hour race!”

“I’ll just watch him come in. I was there for every competition you had, and even though you hated me, it meant something, didn’t it?”

“I didn’t hate you,” Grace argued. “We were at odds, that’s all.”

Mikhail said something in Russian. Something passionate. Everyone looked at him. “Was good for mother and daughter, though a challenge for coach.”

“I’ll take Lin Su, the wheelchair, the walker, everything we need. I’ll get Virginia right on it,” she added, speaking of her assistant, still based in San Francisco. “She’ll find us some superior accessible accommodations not too far from the race.”

“The place will be overrun with people!” Grace said. “It’s ten days away! You’ll never get anything. And if you do, it will be inconvenient. And who’s going to drive you around the island?”

“Virginia can do anything. She’s been booking my travel for years. Lin Su will drive or maybe we’ll get a car service. Lin Su learned to drive in Boston. She can handle a little island traffic. And of course we’ll take Charlie.”

Lin Su was suddenly all ears. “What?”

“I wouldn’t leave him out of this excursion. This could be my last trip. I’m still in relatively good health. If I’m sitting down I don’t fall. My only real problem is fatigue and I manage that by planning ahead. Besides, Charlie is probably the most dedicated of all Blake’s fans. Charles, when is your birthday?”

Charlie, looking a little stunned, answered slowly. “June thirtieth.”

“And tell me, did you have a celebration?”

“Yes,” he said. “We went out to dinner and I had presents. A couple of apps for my phone. Clothes for summer and stuff like that.”

“This is a belated birthday present.”

“Winnie,” Lin Su said. “It’s too much. Charlie has school.”

“We won’t go for a week,” Winnie said. “Just a few days. We’ll have a wonderful time. Of course we can’t count on Blake until he’s recovered from his race, but that won’t keep us from having a good time. And Charlie will learn some important things.”

“We might distract Blake,” Lin Su said. “We might distract him and do more harm than good. I know your heart is in the right place but remember what he said—he plans to the second. He’s not flexible when it comes to his performance. It would be a bad idea. Grace is right—a small celebration when he gets home is better.”

“Bull,” Winnie said. “We’re going.”

“No!” Lin Su said. She took a breath. “If you insist I go, maybe Troy can keep an eye on Charlie while...”

“We’re going,” Winnie said. “I’ll speak to Blake to be sure we won’t be an inconvenience, to be sure he isn’t distracted by us. You, me and Mikhail and Charlie.”

“Ah. Madam has included me,” Mikhail said, lifting his drink to his lips.

“No,” Lin Su said. “I have to put my foot down. It’s extreme and indulgent.”

“Ma,” Charlie said. “Come on!”

Lin Su jerked her head sharply in her son’s direction and said something harsh and adamant. The only trouble...it wasn’t in a language anyone understood.

It silenced the table again.

“That was interesting,” Troy said. “You get that, Charlie?”

“That was another no,” Charlie said. “With swearing.”

“Sleep on it, Lin Su,” Winnie said calmly. “I’ll speak to Blake tomorrow if I can catch him. I’ll make sure he doesn’t veto the idea. If he doesn’t want us there, we’ll think of another excursion. But damn it, I’m in the mood for some tropical weather. And I’d love to see my friend Blake do some damage in Kona.”

* * *

While clearing the table and washing up some dishes, Lin Su appealed to Grace to put a stop to this extravagant and complicated idea.

“You’ve been with us over four months, Lin Su. Does it appear that once Mother gets an idea, you can talk her out of it? And didn’t you say in your interview that travel wasn’t out of the question as long as you had time to prepare?”

“You said it wasn’t likely, that’s why I didn’t mention Charlie at the time. I don’t want Charlie to get the idea people will be giving him things like trips to Hawaii! In the long run, it won’t do him any good. Ever since coming here to work for Winnie, things have been handed to us left and right, from the new school to the loft! A trip to Hawaii is so...so... It’s just huge, that’s all.”

“It’s actually a nice idea,” Grace said. “Listen, I’d intervene for you if she started going completely crazy and suggested taking Charlie out of school for long tours out of the country, but a few days in Hawaii to watch his best friend race?” Grace shrugged. “That’s actually nice of Mother. She is, under all her bossiness, a very generous person.”

So she appealed to Winnie, suggesting spoiling the boy would make his life more difficult in the end.

“As hard as he’s worked?” Winnie asked. “He should be so proud of himself. He’s been completely dedicated. Stop worrying so much—it’s a few days and we’ll have a nice time.”

“He shouldn’t get any more attached to Blake,” Lin Su said.

“You’re too late, my dear. He’s already attached. To Blake and to all of us. Just as we’re attached to him.”

She knew this in her heart. It was true. They were all good friends now, though she tried to keep things in perspective. Charlie had always known people she worked with and for, but this took it to the next level. They were almost a family and she was very grateful. What she didn’t want was for Charlie to feel what she’d felt when that family that she counted on, her adoptive parents and sisters, abandoned her, as if they’d never been family at all.

She had tried to protect him from everything. She hadn’t been able to so far.

“Have you ever been to a luau, Lin Su?”

She had. And she’d been younger than Charlie.