Page 86 of Big Island Sunrise
“Thank you.”
Permission granted and phone numbers exchanged, the kids set off in search of Dio.
“Hey Emma,” Mano called as he walked over. “We gon go down to Pahoa, but we’ll be back later.” He put his chainsaw back into his truck.
“We just got a call from a friend of my dad’s,” Kekoa explained. “They need help clearing a tree. The chainsaw work back there is done. If you clear out around the fence, we can come back tomorrow to move the log and stretch some new fencing.”
“Great. Thanks so much.”
A call came through to her cellphone as Mano drove off. It was her brother, Ethan. They hadn’t talked in ages, so she put the call through to her earbuds as she closed the front gate and set off in search of Dio.
She walked in the opposite direction from the kids, going deeper into the neighborhood while they had headed towards town.
“Hello?” she said as she picked up. “Ethan?”
“Emmaline!” His familiar voice warmed her heart. “How have you been?”
“You want the short answer or the honest one?”
“How about medium?”
“Medium long or medium honest?”
“Ha ha,” he said gruffly.
“I’m good. It’s a new disaster every day, but they’re smallish disasters. Manageable. It keeps me on my toes. I’m out looking for Kai’s dog right now, because a tree brought down a section of fencing last night and he went out and got lost. How are you?”
“Everyone’s doing good over here. I handed off everything that I had going in Santa Cruz and picked up a couple of remodels here in Redwood Grove, so it’s been good. Working less, spending more time with family.”
“And how’s Laurel?” Emma spoke louder than she normally would, pitching her voice up and out in the hopes that Dio would hear her and come running.
“She’s doing great. You should see her, her belly is bigger than it ever was with Juniper. For a minute we thought it would be twins, but it’s just one big boy.”
He sounded proud and excited, happier than she had heard him in a long time. She had her doubts about his wife and her future sobriety. They all did, after so many years of devastating ups and downs. But all that she could do was hope for the best.
Well, that and be there for them during the overwhelming newborn phase.
“I know that I’ve been here longer than, well, longer than I expected. But I’ll get back there by the time the baby’s born.”
“Don’t worry about it, Em. Live your life. We have plenty of family here.”
“Are you sure?” She came within sight of the end of the road and muted herself for a moment to call for Dio. When he didn’t appear, she turned and walked back the other way.
“I’m sure,” her brother said. “Honestly, I’m not even sure we’ll be here that much longer.”
“You’re not going back to Santa Cruz?” The drug scene there had provided fertile ground for more than one relapse for his wife, and their teenage daughter wanted nothing to do with the place anymore.
“No, not Santa Cruz.”
“Where then?”
“We need to get a fresh start somewhere. It’s been nice here in Redwood Grove, but we’ve been talking about going somewhere new.”
“Like where?”
“Well… like Hawai’i.”
She stumbled into a stop. “You mean it?”
