Page 42 of Big Island Sunrise
“The weeds took over, but it’s worth clearing them out. There’s good soil underneath. Dirt’s a big deal here, you know. This neighborhood is all rock. Basically they just built houses on a lava field. John had this soil delivered by the truckload for his garden beds.”
She was quiet then, probably thinking about her late brother.
“I’m sorry that we didn’t come to visit more,” Emma said quietly. “We always meant to, but there was always something… Work, money, Kai. It’s crazy how fast the years pile up.”
“I get it. We talked all the time about going to see Lani in Alaska, but we never made it happen. I still feel terrible about that, leaving her all alone up there.” Mahina put an arm around her. “You’ve got nothing to feel bad about. It’s not like John put a whole lot of effort into going to see his grandson. You’re a mama, you were busy taking care of your own little family. Those early days take everything you’ve got. I remember, believe me. It’s the grandparents’ job to put the effort in. Of course, that’s easy for me to say, with my grandbabies all right there with me. Mano and I are lucky.”
“Kai is hurting so much,” she confided. Tears ran down her face as months of grief welled up and spilled over. “I don’t know how to help him.”
“You’re doing exactly right. You’re here. He has people all around him, people who knew his dad. Most important, he has you. You’re with him every day, loving him through it. It just takes time. Healing is a slow, unsteady thing.”
“Yeah.” Emma sniffed and wiped the tears from her face. “Thanks again for the cuttings. I’m just starting to get the hang of daily farm chores, and it’s all done me a lot of good. Clearing out this garden sounds like the perfect project.”
“Good.” Mahina squeezed her arm and released her. “Come on inside. I’m gonna eat a whole plate of that mac salad.”
13
Lani
Lani drove slowly across the high, flat plains of Hawai’i.
It was a perfect day, vivid blue skies with fluffy white clouds. They’d left the dreary gray skies of the east side behind for a Kona beach day.
The Saddle Road had taken them through a stark landscape of black lava rock and scrappy red plants, and now they were coasting through the green hills and plains that sat just above Kona.
Cars swerved around her, racing across the island at top speed, but she was in no hurry. The scenery was beautiful, and they’d found a working radio station that played local country music. The kids were content to eat their snacks and stare out the windows after a pit stop at the Mauna Kea Recreation Area, which had a great playground smack in the middle of nowhere, with biting winds and a gorgeous view of themauna.
There were any number of beaches to choose from on the Kona side, but most of them were either crowded or required a serious hike across vast fields of lava rock to access.
Lani and Emma opted for one of the northern beaches that was easy to get to but not too terribly crowded, with relatively calm water and plenty of shade.
The generous trees that rooted and grew in the sandy beaches were as astonishing to Lani as the trees that grew on solid rock. She didn’t know how they managed it, but she was grateful for the shelter they provided from the hot Kona sunshine. Even a blue-sky day in Hilo had nothing on Kona sunlight, magnified as it was by the pale sands and turquoise waters.
Black sand beaches could get scorching hot, but at least they didn’t burn you indirectly the way white sand beaches could. Not that Lani burned too easily, but she wasn’t so sure about her Alaska-born baby or auburn-haired Emma. Even she could pick up a sunburn in Kona if she wasn’t careful, especially after so many years away.
The past few weeks under the cool gray skies and intermittent winter sunlight of the east side hadn’t done much to restore her tan. Her healthy island coloring was coming back, but slowly.
“This is taking forever,” Rory whined from the back seat.
“It’s a long drive, huh?” Lani agreed. “We’re almost there.”
They were just starting to coast down the steep slope that led down to Waikoloa, so ‘almost there’ was an overstatement, at least to a four year old. She felt along the side pocket in the driver-side door of the truck, looking for Rory’s favorite CD.
“This music is terrible,” Kai said as the country station started to crackle. “Can we listen to something fun?”
“You read my mind, cuz.” She found her oldMoanaCD and popped that in.
Rory spent the rest of the drive belting off-key showtunes, which made time go quicker… for her, at least.
Finally they pulled into the long parking lot at the family-friendly beach they had chosen. There were tons of other young families there already, unloading the piles of chairs and floaties that they found necessary for a day at the beach. Lani and Emma had erred on the side of simplicity, with just an old sheet to sit on a small cooler full of food and drinks.
They were stuck for a minute while Emma wrestled sunscreen onto Kai, and Lani took the chance to look at her phone. It had been buzzing intermittently throughout their drive, but she’d ignored it.
She checked her messages now. There were a few from ‘Olena, replying to Lani’s message asking if she had any Costco requests. They would take the opportunity of being on this side of the island to stock up on some inexpensive staples.
There werealso– and she deliberately ignored these until she had replied to her cousin – texts from Tenn.
Just got a big batch of menus printed! Couldn’t be more perfect!
