Page 71 of Big Island Sunrise
Rory skipped back into the house and Lani walked cautiously towards the gate. As she approached, she caught sight of a pink cruiser in the back of Tenn’s truck.
“You bought me a bike,” she said, her voice flat.
“Not exactly. I found this at the transfer station. It was free, just needed a bit of work. I finished fixing it up today and figured I would bring it by.”
She opened and closed her mouth a time or two, not sure what to make of such an extravagant gift.
“If you can get away, I have some free time today. There’s a big empty lot a few blocks over that would be perfect for learning to ride.”
“I don’t have a helmet.”
“You can wear mine.”
“I’d have to ask Emma if she can watch Rory for a bit.”
He nodded, looking like he would be content to wait there all day.
She walked slowly back towards the house, feeling pulled four ways at once. Her first instinct was to tell him to buzz off. And if this were anyone else, if it were some guy that she had just met, she would. A politeThanks but no thanks, cold and final.
But this was Tenn. And she didn’t know what to make of that.
In a way, she felt as comfortable around him as she did around her cousins. She knew him with a deep sense of certainty, the way that you can only know someone who grew up alongside you. He was thoroughly good, she knew that.
At the same time, she was keenly aware that this man who kept showing up was very different from the thirteen-year-old boy who had carried her through a high school math class that she would have failed otherwise.
But was he really? Height aside, it seemed that Tenn hadn’t changed much. He’d always had that sunny confidence and easy-going smile. It just hadn’t affected her the same way when they were kids.
She walked into the house and saw Emma closing the door to the room where the kittens were housed. They had been successfully fed and put to bed. The process would start back up again in an hour.
“He brought me a bike.”
“Who did?” Emma looked up with a start, pulled from her own thoughts.
“Alfie. Tenn.”
“Olivia’s dad?”
“Yeah. He wants me to go with him now. To learn how to ride.”
Emma smiled, a brighter expression then Lani could remember seeing on her face since their return to Hawai’i. “Go.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m very sure. Kai and Rory just went next door to see their new baby chicks. They’ll be over there for a while. And if she comes home while you’re still gone, I could just put on a movie. She’ll be fine.”
Lani ran a hand through her hair, looking out the window. Through a break in the greenery, she could just see Tenn standing patiently by the gate.
“I can’t date,” she said miserably. “I don’t have time for this. I don’t have the space in my head, in my heart…”
“That’s what he wants. Your ex.”
She met Emma’s eyes. The certainty that she saw there didn’t stop the twisting anxiety in her gut. “You mean my husband?”
“I mean your ex. He wants to punish you. He wants you to be scared.”
Lani swallowed and nodded. Those things were true. She couldn’t argue with them.
“The legal process is slow,” Emma said gently. “It could be a couple of years before you’re fully done with this. Don’t let him take those years from you.”
