Free Courageous Love: A Christian Romance Novel (The Hawaii Love Series, #1) by Kelsey MacBride Page A

when he looked into those enormous eyes. He thought about how he was nervous taking this trip to see her again. And he thought about what would happen if they were to have a relationship together. Before the absurdity of it all sank in, Daniel drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 8
    T he bus arrived in Haleiwa just as the sun began its descent into the Pacific. The sky was a dazzling orange red, and Michelle knew by the color that she had about an hour and a half left of daylight. She thanked the bus driver and stood at the bus stop trying to shake the sleep from her eyes before heading down the city road to the dirt path that would take her home. After walking a block, nausea overcame her and she stopped, sitting on her bags to rest and regain her composure.
    “Michelle? Michelle? Is that you girl?” The voice belonged to Kaiko, one of Michelle’s closest childhood friends. Michelle recognized the voice and began heading toward Kaiko and the other people with her. “Oh my gosh, it is you!” said Kaiko, excited and surprised to see Michelle after all this time. “You look great!”
    Michelle released her bags and gave Kaiko a big hug, surprised to see her, as well. “So do you! It has been so long!”
    Kaiko and Michelle had been friends in elementary school. They were in the same class and got very close when they realized they both had a crush on the same boy—Brandon Hamilton. He was a Haole, and even though their friends teased them, they couldn’t help but fall head over heels for the blond-haired blue-eyed mainlander. Anyone who wasn’t a native Hawaiian was seen as exotic and different. And in fourth grade, it didn’t take much else to make a young girl’s heart go pitter patter.
    Kaiko and Michelle’s backgrounds were only somewhat similar. While Kaiko’s family was fourth generation Polynesian, Michelle’s family was not. They were both from affluent farming families—Kiako’s family farmed fruit while Michelle’s beef. Kids could be cruel. And in elementary school, Michelle and her siblings endured some teasing because of her name. It didn’t matter that her family’s ranch supplied most of the beef for the island or that Lilo’s family was native to Hawaii. All that mattered to other kids was that her last name was anything but Hawaiian. Kaiko was different though. From day one, she never teased Michelle or ridiculed her. Eventually, as they entered junior high, the kids turned their interests away from childish antics and onto more serious issues. Teenagers didn’t have time to be bothered with teasing someone over their name.
    It was around that time that Kaiko’s older brother Kana began to take notice of Michelle, too. He had always known her to be Kaiko’s best friend, and since he was two years older, he had never paid her any attention. In fact, he always saw the round-faced girl as more of an annoyance than anything else. Kana was always busy swimming, surfing or helping out on the farm. But as Kaiko and Michelle entered high school, something changed. Kana began to see Michelle as more than just Kaiko’s best friend. He began to see her as a young woman. And a very attractive one at that.
    The two families were only social acquaintances. They did not run in the same social circles and only knew each other through the girls. As Michelle progressed through high school, the Clemens family became more and more prestigious and well-known on the islands. The Trinity Ranch label was on most of the beef in the local supermarkets, and everyone knew who they were. The recognition only increased Michelle’s popularity and escalated her to a position of fame within her school.
    Kaiko and Kana Palakiko were also known throughout the island. Sadly, it wasn’t for the same reasons. Their father had been a fruit and citrus farmer his whole life. The farm had been in the Palakiko family for generations. The first Palakikos had come to the island when it was first settled. They staked claim on acres of