Page 29 of Big Island Neighbors
“You’ll be amazed how quick some of these water plants grow, and the hyacinths are gorgeous. Huge purple flowers. We’ll get you some duckweed too, they love that stuff.
“We can run a pipe from your catchment tank to divert the overflow to the pond, and then you’ll have a second overflow area below the pond. That would be a great spot for taro.”
“Sounds wonderful, thank you.”
“I’ll check my schedule when I get home and text you about dates.” His attention was half gone; he’d caught sight of Tara through the fence, and his eyes kept drifting back to her.
Had Tara noticed that Liam’s eyes were drawn to her anytime she was near?
“It’s a plan,” Emma agreed.
“I think I’ll just go say hello to Tara before I leave.”
“Okay. Thanks again.”
“My pleasure.” He turned the full force of his smile on her for just a moment, and her first thought was that Tara was in trouble. Then he shook her hand and said goodbye.
Emma shook her head and smiled as Liam strode off to find Tara before she disappeared again. Anyone could see that he was crazy about her.
Well, anyone but Tara.
It seemed like her neighbor had no idea how much of a distraction she was to this silver fox of a man… but Emma had a feeling she was about to find out.
10
Lani
Rory pulled on Lani’s shirt. “Mama, can I color now?”
She was lost in her sketches, escaping a day that she didn’t want to be fully present in. Today was Rory’s first call with Zeke, and Lani had been dreading it all week.
“Mama!” Rory’s voice rose into a whine.
Lani looked up and blinked herself back to reality.
Kitchen table. Grumpy, precious face. Bright green numbers on the oven’s clock.
Ten minutes until the call.
“Yeah, baby. You can color now.”
“Finally.” Rory set her box of colored pencils onto the table with a thump. “What did you make for me?”
Lately, she had no interest in coloring books. She only wanted Lani King originals. And that was fine with Lani - it was less expensive to sketch her own coloring pages than it was tobuy coloring books. It was also a welcome driver for her to sit down and draw, which she hadn’t made time for in ages.
Between working at Kekoa’s shave ice place, helping out at the co-op, and general day-to-day parenting, there wasn’t a whole lot of time or energy left over for anything else.
“I drew a whole pod of dolphins.” She pushed the pile of sketches across the table, and Rory let out a happy little gasp that brightened her whole day.
“They’re chasing fish! And this one is a baby! And this one is jumping!”
“Yeah. And there’s some flowers underneath.” She’d sketched the big bushy sunflowers that grew in the front yard and dedicated another page to the zinnias that were popping up in the garden.
“I love it!” Rory spilled out of her chair to give her a hug. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” She kissed the top of her hair.
Rory climbed back into her own seat and started coloring the biggest dolphin a vivid shade of purple.
