Two weeks ago, Maile Sedler brought home a stray dog named Sam.

He was a scruffy pug-mix abandoned at 'Alewa Heights a few days earlier. And with no hesitation her husband, Toby Kawamura, agreed to take him in.

That's the kind of guy he is.

And that's why Sedler, after 13 years of being friends, finally married him.

"Toby was always the nicest guy," said Sedler, 27, who teaches social studies at Kalani High School. "Nobody ever had anything bad to say about him. Everyone really liked him."

So did she, the first time they met in home room during their freshman year at Hawaii Baptist Academy in 1992. But not in any romantic way.

Kawamura, though, felt differently. He developed a little crush on Sedler early on. And everyone knew it.

"Oh, everyone knew he liked me," Sedler said, laughing. "And I think I always liked him, too, but I never wanted to admit it."

Sedler and Kawamura were part of the same group of friends in high school. They spent weekends shooting pool at Hawaiian Brian's or cruising through Waikiki.

After graduation, they both went their separate ways. Sedler attended the University of Washington; Kawamura went to Oregon State University. During their first spring break, they took a trip to Canada to go skiing with their friends.

Still, no romance.

At this point Kawamura wanted more than just a friendship. But Sedler didn't. They stopped talking to each other for nearly two years.

"I really missed the friendship," Sedler said. "We'd ask our friends how the other (person) was doing."

During Christmas break in 2001, Kawamura ran into Sedler at the Mai Tai Bar at Ala Moana Center. It was a little awkward, but as soon as they started talking, it was like nothing ever happened.

Then he asked her out.

It was innocent, a round of golf a few days later, maybe lunch after. She agreed.

They wound up staying out until 2 a.m., ending the night with a kiss.

"We were supposed to meet friends for karaoke after," Sedler said, "but they purposely didn't show up."

When their friends found out about the kiss, Sedler said, "They were, like, 'Finally!' "

They went out a couple more times before heading back to the Mainland. Kawamura wasn't sure about how Sedler felt — until she drove five hours from Seattle to visit him in Oregon that month.

"That's when I knew it was serious," said Kawamura, 27, who works at Costco and coaches baseball at Kalani.

"It's a horrible drive," added Sedler, laughing.

They started dating officially by March 2002, after knowing each other for 10 years.

"We knew each other so well by then, so all that was out of the way," Sedler said. "It was so natural."

Sedler had been working as an event planner in Seattle, while Kawamura was finishing up an internship in Corvallis. She loved living in Seattle; he wanted to come home. By August she had to make a choice.

"I wanted to go with him, and I knew I'd appreciate it later, which I do," Sedler said. "But I cried like crazy."

She moved into a two-bedroom condo in Makiki; he moved back home in Nu'uanu. For two more years, they dated while trying to figure out the direction of their own lives.

They were talking about getting married but not seriously.

At least not until March 17, 2004 — on his birthday — during dinner at Alan Wong's Restaurant.

Just before dessert Kawamura started complaining about his shoes. He wanted to change them. Sedler thought he was crazy.

"I kept saying, 'Why do you need to change your shoes?' It was so annoying," Sedler said.

Kawamura said he had another pair of shoes in the car and went down to get them. Instead, he brought back an engagement ring.

Back at the table, Kawamura asked Sedler, "Are you ready to get married?"

"I'm ready," she answered. "But are you sure?"

Kawamura pointed to the ring box he managed to sneak on the table without her knowing and replied, "The only thing I'm not sure about is whether this will fit."

She couldn't believe it. She said yes, then went to the restroom and cried.

Kawamura didn't actually plan to propose that night, not until he got home from work that day. He figured he'd pop the question since they were already going out to dinner for his birthday.

"This way she'd get the ring and I wouldn't have to pay for dinner," he said, laughing.

The couple moved into a three-bedroom condo just below the one she had been renting in Makiki. They were married a year later on June 25 at the Royal Hawaiian hotel in front of 350 guests.

Now, instead of cruising down Kuhio Avenue, they hang out at home watching TV or playing Nintendo. He's still looking for a full-time teaching job; she's finishing up her master's degree in education from the University of Phoenix.

And, of course, they have Sam to take care of.

"It's been an awesome and growing experience," Sedler said. "We were friends for so long. This is a dream come true."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.