Page 33 of Big Island Sunrise
“I’m not that bad.”
“Yeah, okay.” She could practically hear Liz rolling her eyes. “You occasionally reply to our texts, and we appreciate that proof of life, but we haven’t had an actual phone call since you left.”
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but we’re starting to settle in.”
“Don’t get too settled. We miss you.”
Emma braced herself for a wave of homesickness. But in that moment, looking out over Hilo Bay, she felt… nothing. Home had stopped feeling like home when Adam died. There, his absence was a black hole that swallowed everything else. Here, her grief wasn’t such a hungry void.
“Emma? Are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“When are you coming home?”
“I’m not sure. I have to find new homes for all of the animals. Or a tenant who wants to take all of that on. Either way, it’s going to take a while.”
“Have you posted ads?”
“Not yet.”
“You can’t hide out in Hawai’i forever.”
“I’m not hiding,” she snapped. Then she sighed. “How are you? How are the girls?”
She listened to her sister talk about life in the mountains, but she didn’t have her full attention. Her focus drifted to the green-hulled beach almonds thay lay scattered across the springy grass, the gentle crash of waves against the far-off rocks that bordered the lagoon, the faint rainbow that followed the showers that fell out over the sea.
She looked over her shoulder to check on her son.
Back behind the picnic area, Kai was laying down a trail of beef jerky.
Four hours later, he was still there.
He had spent the whole day with the puppy. His cousins and their friends had donated bits and pieces of their lunches to the cause, and he patiently fed the dog tidbits for hours. Towards the end of the day, when the other parents were coming to pick up their kids, Emma went over and crouched beside Kai.
“It’s time to head home, kiddo.”
“Okay. How do we get him in the car?”
Emma looked over at the dog. He slunk a bit further away, head and tail held low.
“Honey, I don’t think we can.”
“We can’t just leave him.” He looked at her with huge, hurt eyes. “He needs us.”
This close, Emma could see that the dog had an open wound on one of his legs. It cut deep, and the paw below it looked hurt and swollen as well. A car drove past and he ran towards the jungle, favoring his injured paw. She sighed and straightened up again.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Lani was back from work. She stood talking to ‘Olena with Rory clinging to her like a monkey.
“Hey,” Emma said as she walked up, “do you know of any shelters nearby? Ideally one that would come get the dog?”
“You can call animal control,” ‘Olena told her, “but they’ll just put him down.”
Rory’s head popped up from her mother’s shoulder. “Put him down where?”
“He’s just a puppy,” Emma protested.
