Alessandro Aikau, an anthropologist visiting Hawaii from Boston, has been given rare permission to spend a month on the abandoned and forbidden island of Kaho'olawe.
Kem, whose family has been entrusted with the sacred upkeep of this battered piece of paradise, at first resents Alessandro's unusual assignment. As the two men come to know each other, Kem begins to realize that there is a deeper, mysterious meaning to the man's presence on the island. He begins to sense it is a ritual atonement. But for what?
Kem's kahuna parents won't divulge the secret, and neither will Alessandro, even as the two men become deeply attracted to one another, and Alessandro suffers several bad accidents, faces continual sabotage, along with a strange invasion of the island.
Will Alessandro survive his twenty-eight-day ritual, and if so, can he find love with Kem in this abandoned paradise?
Alessandro waited as the rain pelted him. Tropical rain was like that. It came down hard and fast as if the sky had a grievance, and then, just like that, it would stop.
He waited until the boat was too far out for him to swim to it. True, he could have jumped into his own vessel and hightailed it back to civilization, but he wouldn’t, and he couldn’t. He walked to the ocean’s edge, watching the small launch disappearing across the horizon.
As quickly as it came, the rain went. A tropical shower, so common in the islands, seemed cruel on this island, which looked like it yearned for a good, solid rainfall. He held a drop of moisture on his tongue and tasted it. Sweet.
He was surprised how long he was able to hear the chanting of the kahuna aboard the small craft, offering prayers to the deities who governed the island. Seeking Alessandro’s protection as they departed, he wondered if the three water goddesses might be listening on such a beautiful day? Maybe. He could believe in anything with this view. And with this silence. He’d never been in a place so peaceful. Did one even exist?
Alessandro’s camp was in the picturesque curve of Hanakanai’a, its name meaning Bay of Dolphins. He could hardly wait for the spinner dolphins he’d heard visited the islands each day to come and frolic for him. He’d brought cameras and electronics galore. He would record every moment he could.
He knew rain was a significant harbinger of good luck in the islands. No rain, no rainbows. He tried to block the image of sexy Kem making a rainbow for his niece…
