He nodded.
Lexie turned and gestured to Elodie. “Will you bring me a piece of paper and a pen?”
Elodie rushed over to the table with their purses on it and grabbed a piece of paper out of a folder, bringing it over to Theo and Lexie.
Kenna watched with interest as Lexie turned back to her unconventional friend and put the supplies on the table in front of him. “Can you draw me something?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe the ocean, with a pretty beach, some buildings off to the left and a mountain.”
“Like Diamond Head?” Theo asked, looking up at her.
“Yes, exactly! And maybe a bright rainbow in there somewhere too. Everyone likes rainbows. They’re happy.”
Theo nodded and bent over the paper.
Lexie stood and backed away from the table, giving Theo room to do his thing.
“Do you really think he can draw?” Carly whispered as Lexie came back over to where the women were standing.
“I sure as hell hope so. Otherwise the walls are gonna be super boring in here,” Lexie said. “We don’t have the money to hire an artist right now.”
“We could ask Aleck,” Elodie suggested.
Kenna blinked in surprise at the seemingly out-of-the-blue statement.
“We could,” Lexie agreed. “But he’s already donated so much, I hate to ask for anything else.”
“He can afford it,” Elodie said nonchalantly.
“I know, but I don’t want to take advantage. Especially if I need to hit him up for help with something else later.”
Elodie and Ashlyn nodded in agreement, but Kenna just looked at Carly in confusion.
Elodie caught the look and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Kenna shrugged. “I guess I’m just confused about why you’ve singled out Marshall to donate money.”
“He’s loaded,” Lexie said casually, already unstacking chairs. “You’d never know it by looking at him or talking to him. He’s one of the most down-to-earth millionaires I’ve ever met. I swear I’m not taking advantage of him though. That’s why I wouldn’t ask him to pay for an artist to come in and paint a mural on the wall. He’s been more than generous as it is.”
Kenna was still stuck on the first part of what she’d said, struggling to wrap her mind around the fact that Marshall was a millionaire.
“You didn’t know? I’m sorry if we let the cat out of the bag,” Elodie said gently. “He doesn’t go around bragging about the fact his parents made a ton of money in real estate and set up a trust fund for him.”
“And he’s even paying them back for his penthouse at Coral Springs too. He told us they bought it as a vacation place, but when he was stationed here, they insisted he move in. They switched it over to his name and everything,” Lexie explained.
Kenna froze completely at hearing where Marshall lived.
God, she was an idiot.
No wonder it had been so easy to get onto the private beach. Marshall freaking lived there. And he hadn’t said a word.
Humiliation swept over her like an ocean tide.
And just like that, the best date she’d had in her entire life was tainted.
Carly obviously saw how upset she was, though she didn’t know why. She put her hand on Kenna’s arm in support.
Kenna knew she should say something, but she was still processing the fact that in all the conversations they’d had, Marshall hadn’t said one word about being rich. It stung. Bad.
She was saved from the awkward silence by Theo saying, “Done.”
Everyone’s attention turned to him as he put the pen down on the table. Lexie walked back over and picked up the piece of paper. Her shock was easy to see on her face.
“Can you draw this again? But on the wall? Really big?” she asked him.
Theo nodded.
Kenna turned to the women with a huge smile on her face. “Looks like we found our artist,” she said.
Elodie and Ashlyn cheered and rushed over to see what Theo had drawn. Carly took the chance to ask Kenna quietly, “You okay?”
“No,” she replied honestly. “But I’m not going to think about that right now. We’ve got stuff to do and I want to get to know everyone here. I can’t do that and think about how Marshall lied to me.”
Carly frowned. “Okay, but I’m here if you want to talk.”
“Thanks,” Kenna said. “That means a lot.”
Carly nodded and pulled Kenna toward Theo and his drawing. She went willingly, wanting to put what she’d just learned about Marshall out of her mind. It was too hurtful to dwell on right now.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon went by quickly. Elodie ordered lunch for all of them and they pigged out on burgers, French fries, and malasadas for dessert. Theo turned out to be amazingly talented. He might have a mental disability and questionable hygiene, but it certainly didn’t affect his artistic talent. He finished drawing the beach scene on the wall and they all got a good start on painting it in by the time Kenna and Carly had to leave.
Since Carly had to work that night, she needed to get home so she could change and drive to Duke’s for her shift. They hadn’t gotten a ton of work done on organizing the space, but Kenna was thrilled with how well everyone got along. Elodie and Lexie were just as fun as they had been the night they came to Duke’s.
Kenna heard abbreviated stories of both their dramas, and was suitably horrified. She wasn’t all that surprised to hear how Marshall and his SEAL team banded together to rescue the women. She also couldn’t help but be interested in hearing about the missions they were on when they’d met Elodie and Lexie in the first place. It was hard to visualize Marshall in full-on SEAL mode, but she had a feeling it would be impressive.
Hearing about Marshall and his friends was also a little painful. It reminded her of his deception. It didn’t help when Lexie went on and on about the ocean view from his penthouse condo at Coral Springs.
But every time he was brought up, Kenna refused to dwell. She’d have plenty of time tonight to think back over everything they’d talked about and to pick it apart.
Ashlyn was just as nice as the other two women, and when Lexie started to tease her about Slate, Kenna was surprised. The man struck her as impatient and not all that interested in a relationship. Then again, she didn’t know him very well. Ashlyn, however, was outgoing and bubbly, and Kenna had a hard time picturing her with Slate.
Of course, talk had then turned to Carly, her ex, and Jag. Carly had opened up and talked about Shawn and how good things had seemed at first, until his personality had completely changed. Lexie and Elodie told Ashlyn all about what happened at Duke’s, and how Kenna had shoved him, trying to get him to let go of Carly, before Midas and Marshall had tackled him.
By the time Kenna and Carly left, all five women were fast friends. They’d gotten Carly’s phone number, and Ashlyn had shared hers. Kenna felt good about having a new group of friends. While she enjoyed the women she met at work, it was nice not to talk shop all the time.
After promising to get in touch soon so they could figure out another time to hang out, Kenna walked with Carly toward her car.
Neither spoke until they were on their way back toward Waikiki.
“You want to talk about it?” Carly asked.