Page 52 of Big Island Sunrise
This was Alfie.
“Olivia will be with my parents tomorrow. Do you like sushi?”
“I love sushi. But…” She trailed off, not wanting to assume. But he wasn’t exactly being subtle. “Alfie, I’m not in a position to date anyone right now.”
“It doesn’t have to be anything more than it is,” he replied.
“What does that mean?”
“Just two old friends catching up over sushi.”
“I don’t think–”
“They have great poke bowls too.”
“I’m still married.”
His smile fell, but his eyes held hers. “Are you still together?”
“No.”
“Is there any chance of you getting back together?”
“Definitely not.”
His smile sprang up again, an irrepressible weed. “Then it’s a date.”
16
Emma
Worms wriggled away, diving for cover as Emma raked her finger through the rich black soil.
She had spent nearly a week of long days clearing out John’s old garden beds. They were so overgrown that she never would have known they were there had Mahina not pointed them out. By the end, she had a compost pile the size of a car and a huge garden full of clean soil ready for planting.
With AirBuds in her ears and her phone in her pocket, she called her big sister.
“She lives, she breathes!” Toni answered.
Emma sighed. “Why is everyone in this family so dramatic?”
“We haven’t heard from you in months.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“What?”
“I haven’t even been goneonemonth.”
“Feels like four.”
“This from the woman who spent her formative years pinging between continents like a pinball.”
“Well, this is my first time on the other end of it. It sucks. We finally got the whole family together and then you disappear.”
Emma was quiet for a moment, tucking sweet potato slips into the freshly turned soil. Finally she said, “Toni, I had to.”
Tony was immediately contrite. “I know. I’m sorry. I was just giving you a hard time. We miss you.”
