Page 90 of Big Island Sunrise
“Why do I want to help you?” He made it sound like a ridiculous question. Maybe it was. But in the world beyond Pualena, she had learned that not everyone offers help out of the goodness of their heart or the joy of giving. That spirit ofalohacould be found anywhere, but not everywhere. Some people, when they offered help and shelter, expected your heart and soul in return. Zeke had wanted to own her. And her baby.
She just nodded, looking him in the eyes. “Why?”
“I don’t know, Lani. Why is your uncle out clearing a road he doesn’t live on? Why did you spend your morning looking for Kai’s dog?” He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “Why did I tutor you in precalc like it was a part-time job? It’s just what people do.”
“Not everyone.”
“You’re home now. You don’t have to do this alone anymore.”
Without thinking, she reached up and touched his face.
Surprise flashed through his eyes, and a hesitation - wondering if he was misreading her, maybe. Slowly, he brushed a strand of hair out of her face. His thumb traced the curve of her cheek.
When she didn’t pull away, his gaze softened. He kissed her, his lips barely brushing hers before he straightened up again.
It wasn’t enough.
Lani took a step closer. “Kiss me again.”
Tenn’s smile lit up his face. She only saw that beautiful grin for a split second before his lips were on hers, fierce this time, a promise that she wasn’t ready to wrap her head around. This time, she was the one to step back.
“Be patient with me?” she asked. Her hands still rested on his chest.
“Lani King, I’ll be whatever you need me to be. We can take this as slow as you like.”
She pressed her face against his chest, and he put his strong arms around her. They didn’t crush or constrict. She didn’t feel suffocated, like she had for so many years.
She just felt… held. Supported.
Loved.
28
Emma
Nearly one hundred sunrises had passed them by since they came to the Big Island. Emma had risen to greet most of them, sipping her coffee or milking the goats as pink and orange swept across the sky in slow motion. But she had never driven the short distance down to the sea cliff to watch the sun crest the horizon. Until today.
She rose and dressed in the dark, leaving the lights off to avoid waking Kai, who had climbed into her bed around three in the morning.
As a rule, Dio wasn’t allowed in her bedroom, but today she patted the quilt, inviting him to jump up and sleep beside his boy. He hesitated for a moment, incredulous, then jumped up onto the bed and stretched out, pressing his back against Kai’s.
“Good boy, Dio,” she whispered. “Don’t eat the cat.”
Purring, Zuko climbed into the warm valley created by the sleeping giants and sprawled out on top of them. It was such a cozy scene that Emma was tempted to climb back under the covers, but she headed out through the dark morning and climbed into her car.
The neighborhood was already stirring and she passed other cars along the main road, all of them driving towards town and the highway. She was the only one headed down to the water.
Or not quite, she realized when she reached the tiny gravel parking lot and saw two other cars. Fishermen, maybe, or campers.
She closed her car door quietly, mindful of the sleeping households on either side, and walked the short path down to the coast.
They were well above the water here, some ten or twenty feet above the ocean on these black lava-rock cliffs that stretched for miles along the coastline. Not so high that bigger waves didn’t splash up over the edge and fill small pools with sea water.
The air here was filled with a moving mist, the tang of salt and rock and ironwood groves.
She found a high, dry place to sit and watch the stars blink out of sight one by one.
Today she wore Adam’s old hoodie the right way round, and in the front pocket she carried a small lacquered box. She sat with both hands in the front pocket of the hoodie, tracing the familiar lines of the wooden box with her fingertips.
