Page 92 of Big Island Sunrise
She would tell Kai someday, when the tree was a steady column crowded with shining fruit. For now, it was just for her.
She mulched the soil all around the sapling and watered it well, then went inside to eat the breakfast that Lani had made.
The kids had already eaten and gone next door to Tara’s place, and she could hear their happy shrieks through the window as they jumped on the trampoline. Dio whined pitifully at the kitchen door, but there was no going outside unleashed for him until the fenceline was fixed.
“I’ve been thinking,” Lani said slowly, picking at her bowl of sweet potato and eggs.
Zuko yowled, and Lani scooped him up off of the kitchen floor. He lunged for her bowl and took a big bite of egg yolk.
“You’ve been thinking?” Emma prompted when she didn’t follow up right away.
“I’d like to fix up the guest house. Is that offer still open? Me acting as caretaker when you go back to California and rent out the main house?”
“I don’t think we’re going back to California,” Emma told her.
It felt strange to say. She hadn’t given the decision much thought since moving here. She had just let things unfold, and the island had welcomed them.
Leaving now, when her son was thriving and she had found some sense of purpose in caring for this place, would have felt deeply wrong.
“You’re staying?” Lani’s face lit up and she grabbed her hand, but a moment later worry flickered across her face. “Do you still… can we…?”
Emma squeezed her hand. “Lani, I would love for you to fix up the ‘ohana. Or stay in the big house with us, whatever you’d like.”
“We’re overdue for a home of our own, I think. It would be good for Rory and me to have our own little cottage. But I’m so glad you’re staying. Really, I wouldn’t want to live farther from you than across the yard. And it means the world to me that Rory and Kai get to grow up together, just like me and Adam.”
“Same.” She squeezed Lani’s hand one more time, then stood and cleared the breakfast dishes.
“What are your plans for today?” Lani asked.
“I have seeds to plant. But before the garden and after the goats, I think I’ll take some time to work on the cactus grass. There’s a lot to clear before we can stretch the new fence.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to do that? I can get out the weed whacker after work. It’s so much quicker than your hand scythe.”
“You have enough on your plate without taking on the cactus grass.”
“If you say so.” Lani glanced at the clock on the stove. “I should get ready.”
“Go ahead. I’ve got the kids and the farm covered.” Emma walked out the back door and looked out over the land, green and shining from the soft rain that had fallen all night.
Once the goats were taken care of, she put on the jumpsuit that she used for prickly yard work. She walked out to the shed and stood there for a long while, looking between the hand scythe and the gasoline-powered weed whacker.
Power tools had been Adam’s domain. She hated the noise and the violence of them. But the truth was, she couldn’t clear the fence line with a hand scythe. The grass at the front would grow back in the time that it took her to work her way to the other end.
She picked up the weed eater and went outside to blaze a trail.
29
Tara
The sun was setting as Tara ran through the last of her evening chores. A thick layer of rainclouds lay over Pualena, giving them a rare purple sunset. The sky overhead glowed a dusky lavender, tinting everything below a strange and shadowy hue.
The evening milking was already done, with cow and goat milk both strained and stored in the fridge. All of the animals had clean water, and everyone that needed to be in for the night was.
With all of that taken care of, Tara decided to use the last of the light to do a bit of weeding in her overgrown garden. She loved her cucumbers and tomatoes, but with so many animals it was hard to find time for it all.
The life she had made for herself was filled with never-ending work, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything. There was nothing more fulfilling than growing her own food with her children by her side. And she loved her animals, even the ones who gave her no eggs or milk in return for the absurd amount of money that she spent on feed.
“Hey Mom?” Paige rattled the fence that kept the animals out of the garden (well, most of the animals most of the time). “Have you seen my riding helmet?”
