Page 23 of Big Island Sunrise
“That’s rough.”
“But it was stupid to go look at rentals when I don’t even have a car. I need to figure that out first.”
“Figure what out?” Kekoa asked, coming through to the fridge.
“What you doing here?” his sister scolded. “You have your own kitchen.”
“There’s no food in my kitchen.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“I been busy with work.” He pulled out the leftover laulau that his mom and grandmother had made.
“No wonder your kid is always over here at dinnertime.”
He rolled his eyes and turned to Lani. “What you need to figure out?”
“I need a car.” She filled the teapot and set the lid on to let it steep.
“What’s your budget?”
She ran through the numbers in her head, thinking over the last of the savings she had left from her cruise ship days, the shares of mutual funds that she could sell. So much for her meager retirement fund. She still needed to hold at least half of that back for first, last, and deposit on a rental, so… “Three thousand? Maybe four?”
“Anything you buy for three thousand gonna be a lemon.”
She slumped, exhausted.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find you something. Fix it up. Just don’t buy nothing without me or Dad having a look at it.”
“Okay. Thanks, Kekoa.”
“You’ll get back on your feet,” ‘Olena said. “It just takes time.”
Kekoa grinned. “And you on island time now.”
8
Emma
Emma had just sat down with a cup of coffee when her new walkie talkie clicked and crackled. Kai’s sleepy voice came through asking, “Where are you?”
“I’m right outside on thelanai. Come have a cuddle.”
Kai came stumbling out a moment later wearing a fuzzy blanket like a cloak. He rubbed his eyes and curled up next to her on the bench.
As Emma put an arm around him, she felt a rare moment of peace.
The world was alive with birdsong. Bright yellow saffron finches gathered by the dozens, hopping across the lawn in search of miniscule bugs and seeds. Roosters crowed all around the neighborhood, reminding competitors that this wastheirpatch of earth and their harem.
Everywhere she looked, the rain-damp plants shone vibrant colors. Coleus plants surged all around the lanai, pushing out ruffled leaves of bright magenta trimmed with lime green. They were still wet from the rain that fell nearly every night. The water beaded on their leaves sparkled in the first golden light of morning.
She had been up for hours already. There was fresh goat’s milk in the fridge, and all of the animals had fresh water. This stillness felt well deserved, radically different from the heavy depression of the past few months.
There were a thousand things that she couldn’t even think about yet. The overgrown orchard, crumbling outbuildings, fences collapsing under the weight of weeds and vines. This place needed so much more than she had to give.
But if she pushed all that to the far back of her mind and just gave herself over to the demands of the day, there was a deep peace to be found in the rhythm of farm chores. Feeding the animals, milking the goats morning and night, slowly cleaning out the farmhouse… it all gave her a feeling of purpose that was its own kind of medicine. The to-do list that came with this hobby farm was never ending, and Emma had given herself over to it.
Back home in Redwood Grove with nothing to do, with a house that basically took care of itself and a fridge full of sympathy meals, she had sunk into a numbness that bordered on death. Here, she had a reason to get up in the morning – quite literally, things that shehadto get up and do or else other living beings would suffer.
