Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone who reviews this story. It helps a lot to know that people are actually enjoying this story.
HarryPassionFan: Thanks for being my fourth reviewer and submitting the tenth review for this story. Keep reading the secrets will be out very soon! Maybe even by the next chapter but I haven't decided yet.
John Chubb: I did think about making Sami's hair blonde but then changed my mind. You never know though she may get tired of the black and maybe I'll have her dye it blond. Sorry Nikki and Sami are no relation to Dana or Ryan. They just happen to have the same last name.
Slytherin-Angel44: Here's more Tommy and Nikki cuteness for you.
"Oh good you're dressed," Nikki said once Tommy opened the door of his cabin and let her inside.
"Yeah, I was just about to come over and see if you were ready, I thought maybe we could take a helicopter ride and tour the island," Tommy replied.
"That sounds great but I kinda already made plans for us," Nikki confessed.
"You made plans for us?" Tommy inquired.
"These past few days have been so great, I mean you took me surfing, shopping, we've gone out to dinner, you even arranged for us to go swimming with dolphins, so I decided it was time I did something for you," Nikki explained.
"That's really sweet, so what's the plan?" Tommy asked.
"It's a surprise, you'll just have to come with me and find out," she told him.
"Ok, Ms. Mitchell, I'm all yours," Tommy said after giving her a quick kiss.
Tommy and Nikki left the ship and there was a car waiting for them. They drove down the Haleakala Highway until they came to the Haleakala National Park in Maui.
"Hi, my name is Nikki Mitchell, I'm looking for Dr. Bader," Nikki said as she went up to the front desk once they were inside the park's welcome center.
"Dr. Bader, told us to be expecting you, we'll alert him of your arrival," a park employee told her.
"You know Haleakala is the largest dormant volcano on earth," Tommy stated as they were waiting.
"Yeah, I read that in the tour guide," Nikki responded.
"I actually applied for a few digs here in Hawaii after graduate school but then I went to work for Mercer Industries so I never got to go on any of them," Tommy told her.
"That's very interesting," Nikki said as a smile crept on her face.
"Ms. Mitchell, I'm Dr. Jeremy Bader," a blonde haired guy who appeared to be in his forties greeted them.
"It's nice to meet you, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," Nikki told him.
"It's my pleasure, and you must be the Dr. Oliver I've heard so much about," Dr. Bader said.
"So do I finally get to know what's going on here?" Tommy asked.
"Dr. Bader here is a fellow paleontologist and he's agreed to let us accompany his team on a dig today," Nikki revealed.
"If you two will excuse me, I'll go and see how the arrangements are coming," Dr. Bader said as he left them alone.
"This is unbelieveable, I can't believe you arranged for me to go on a dig," Tommy said as he pulled Nikki close to him.
"I just wanted to do something to show you how much I've enjoyed spending time with you," Nikki told him.
"You really are an amazing woman," Tommy replied as he kissed her.
"You're pretty amazing yourself," she said once they broke apart.
"How on earth did you arrange all this?" Tommy questioned.
"I just did a little asking around and it wasn't too hard convincing Dr. Bader to let us join him, I can be pretty persuasive when I need to be," Nikki told him.
"Alright, everything's set, if you'll just follow me," Dr. Bader said.
He led them outside where a van was waiting. He then introduced them to the three members of his team and the van headed up to the summit of Mt. Haleakala.
"This is the skeleton of an animal that we assume was buried in the 1600s around the time when the volcano last erupted, it was discovered accidentally by some hikers a few weeks ago and as you can see we are only in the beginning stages of the excavation," Dr. Bader informed them once they got the site of the dig.
"It is so great to be a part of something like this," Tommy told him.
"You owe it all to this beautiful woman standing next you," Dr. Bader replied.
"She really is something," Tommy said as he stared into Nikki's eyes.
"Let's get started shall we, Dr. Oliver you and Nikki can work with Austin, he'll help you get the tools that you need, I'll be working just over there with the other," Dr. Bader said as they got started.
"Tell me again why you chose teaching rather than getting to do this everyday?" Nikki questioned after they had been working for awhile.
"That's a long story, basically when things didn't work out with my job at Mercer Industries, I needed a steady income to pay off my school loans and stuff so when my friend Hayley told me there was an opening for a science teacher in Reefside I figured it was the right move, besides I always knew I could find digs to work on in the summer," Tommy explained.
"You know when you said you were a paleontologist I thought it sounded like a pretty boring job," Nikki admitted.
"Let me guess, you thought all I did was sit around and read books on dinosaurs," Tommy replied.
"Pretty much, yeah," Nikki agreed.
"Trust me if that's all there was to the job I definitely wouldn't have chosen it," Tommy told her.
"I've got to admit this is actually kind of fun, too bad we won't be around to see the finished product," Nikki said as they continued to work.
"Ok everyone, why don't we take a break for lunch," Dr. Bader said a few hours later.
"Sounds great," Nikki said as she put down the tools she was using.
"Follow me, we'll take the Sliding Sands Trail, I thought you two might enjoy going inside the crater," Dr. Bader told them.
"Lead the way," Tommy told him.
"Be careful, it's not called Sliding Sands for nothing," Dr. Bader said as he led them down the slippery slope.
"He was kidding," Nikki said as she started to lose her footing.
"Don't worry I got you," Tommy said as he was walking behind her and caught her before she fell.
"So what else do you two have planned while you're here?" Dr. Bader asked once they sat down and began eating.
"I don't know what do you suggest?" Tommy asked.
"You should check out Atlantis Submarines, it's the best way to check out the marine life that's native to Maui," Dr. Bader suggested.
"That sounds like fun," Nikki replied.
"Or you could go to the Royal Lahaina Luau," Austin offered.
"You know that's the one thing we haven't done since coming here," Nikki told them.
"Come on you can't come to Hawaii without going to a Luau," Austin replied.
"The man's got a point," Tommy agreed.
"Well, we better get back to work," Dr. Bader said.
"Careful, there are a lot of loose rocks up ahead," Austin called out as they made their way back up to the summit.
"Oh no!" Nikki shrieked as she slipped on the rocks and went tumbling backwards.
"Nikki, are you ok?" Tommy asked concerned as he reached the spot where she had fallen.
"Yeah, I'm fine just a little embarassed, I think I twisted my ankle," she told him.
"Here let me help you up," Tommy replied.
"We probably should have let you go up in front of us, I'm terribly sorry," Dr. Bader said as he joined them.
"Can you walk?" Tommy asked.
"I think so, oh, oh, it hurts," Nikki said as she winced in pain.
"We better get you to a doctor, I think you've really sprained it," Dr. Bader said.
Tommy carried Nikki back up the summit and to the van. Dr. Bader had Austin drive them back to through the park and to the first aid station.
"I'm sorry for ruining the rest of the dig," Nikki told Tommy once her ankle had been checked out and she learned that she had indeed sprained it.
"I don't care about that, all that matters is that you're ok," Tommy replied.
"So much for an evening out," Nikki said. The doctor had told her that it was probably a good idea for her to stay off her ankle for a few days.
"It's fine, we'll just go back to the ship and have them send us something to eat in your cabin," Tommy told her as he went to make arrangements for them.
"You're not going to believe this," Tommy said once he got back.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" Nikki questioned.
"It seems that we've missed the ship," Tommy told her.
"What do you mean we've missed the ship?" Nikki asked.
"Turns out today was the day the ship was scheduled to leave early from port and since it took so long for the doctor to get here, we missed getting back to the ship on time," Tommy explained.
"This is all my fault, if I hadn't been trying so hard to impress you none of this would have happened," Nikki told him.
"It's not your fault, and I love the fact that you wanted to do something nice for me, it just shows me what I already know to be true, that you are a wonderful, kind, caring and beautiful woman who I'm so happy to have met and spent this vaction with," Tommy informed her.
"You really are too good to be true, and really sweet but what are we going to do now," Nikki replied.
"The ship is heading for the Big Island, and we probably won't be able to get a flight there until tomorrow, so I'm going to go see if I can find us a place to stay for the night," Tommy told her.
"I can't believe this is happening," Nikki said.
"There's a hotel a few miles from here and they just happen to have a room available so we're all set," Tommy replied a few minutes later.
"I guess things aren't quite so bad after all," Nikki said.
"What do you mean?" Tommy questioned.
"Just that there are worse things than being stranded in a hotel with you," Nikki repiled.
"And what does that mean exactly?" Tommy asked.
"Oh come on, there are probably lots of women who would love being stranded with you all alone and I get to be the lucky one," Nikki answered.
"You know, I'm beginning to think you got hurt on purpose," Tommy teased.
"And what if I did?" Nikki said playing along.
"Well then, I'd just have to tell you that you didn't need to hurt yourself to have a reason to be stranded with me, all you had to do was ask," Tommy told her.
"Ok, let's not get an inflated ego, I didn't fall on purpose, but I am glad of the end result," Nikki said.