Page 32 of Big Island Neighbors
“Of course you do. Every kid likes candy.”
“I hate candy,” she said with surprising venom.
“Okay, we can do something else then.” His voice turned sharp. “Would you look at me when I’m talking to you? What are you doing?”
“I’m coloring flowers!” she shouted.
“Okay. Great.” He was quiet for a moment and then said, “Hey Rory, the battery on my phone is about to die. I’m going to say goodbye now.”
“Goodbye,” she said in a grumpy tone. Emphasis on thebye.
The call disconnecting, and Lani went into the kitchen. Emma followed, patting her shoulder in passing before she went out the back door.
Rory was still coloring, so Lani sat down at the table.
“I like your rainbow flowers,” she offered.
Rory gave her a glancing glare. “Daddy is so annoying.”
Lani bit back a smile, refrained from any response at all.
“I don’t even like him.”
“I hear you,” Lani acknowledged.
“He breaks things,” Rory said fiercely. She was coloring so hard that the pencils broke, one after another. She just picked up the next color and kept going.
“What?”
“He breaks glass.”
Lani took a shaky breath. She was never sure of how much Rory remembered from those volatile years. It wasn’t something that they talked about much.
She didn’t know what to say, and so she set to work sharpening pencils. One by one, she shaved away the broken tips until the colors emerged.
By the time the whole set was restored to working order, Rory’s mood had calmed.
“Can we go to the beach today?” she asked.
“Sure, baby.” Lani pulled her into her lap and wrapped her up in a tight hug. “Let’s go to the beach.”
11
Tara
Every burner on the stove was full, and so were the shelves inside of the oven. She was making several day’s worth of meals at once, cooking them all at once so that she would have more time the rest of the week.
In addition to food for her and the kids, she was making extra to sell. Pumpkin-scented steam filled the room as she salted the soup.
“Mom!” Piper called. “There’s someone at the farm stand.”
Tara cursed softly under her breath as she turned off the burners on the stove.
She was grateful for the steady trickle of money that was coming in ever since she’d started posting about the family’s lemonade stand turned farmstand on social media, but it was getting hard to keep up with her normal day-to-day chores with the constant interruptions.
Their farm dogs had also found the frequent visitors upsetting, and for today they were mostly confined to the back section of the property with the sheep and cows. It would take time and attention to teach them to greet customers without ear-splitting barks.
The goats still had free reign of their front yard, and a few of the younger ones trailed her as she jogged out from the house to the front gate.
