Page 54 of Big Island Neighbors
“You want any ice cream or mochi with that?”
“No thanks. But do you have anyli hing muipowder?”
“Sure do.”
“A bit of that, please.”
“Sure thing.”
“I want vanilla ice cream with strawberry shave ice,” Paige decided. When Tara gave her a look, she looked up at Lani and added, “Please. Oh, and mochi!”
“You’ve got it.”
Their orders were up by the time that Piper decided on chocolate ice cream with orange and raspberry shave ice.
They all sat at a table in the sunshine, eating in happy silence. The dark orange plum powder sprinkled on top of her shave ice added a sweet and sour salty kick to the perfectly balanced flavors of the homemade syrup. It felt wonderful to be in town with her girls, away from the farm for a moment.
“We should do this more often,” Piper said.
“I was just thinking that,” Tara agreed.
“Paige? Don’t you think we should do this more often?”
“Sure.” She was looking down at her bowl, scooping up the last of the strawberry ice cream. The look on her face was strangely sad.
“Everything okay?” Tara asked gently.
She looked up at her with wide, vulnerable hazel green eyes. “Are you and Daddy getting a divorce?”
A dizzy-sinking feeling almost overwhelmed her. She hadn’t planned on having this conversation sitting at a picnic table in Pualena. But she met her daughter’s eyes and nodded.
“Yeah. I think so.”
Paige’s eyes welled with tears, and she squeezed them shut.
“Good,” Piper declared, letting her grief push her in another direction. “I hate him.”
“You don’t mean that,” Tara said softly.
“I do mean it.” She stabbed at her ice cream. “He left. I hate him.”
“He’ll always be your dad.” Tara moved to the other side of the table and put an arm around Paige, who was shaking with silent sobs.
“Look what he did!” Piper shouted, throwing a hand towards her twin.
“Change is hard. But it’s for the best.”
“How can you say that?” Paige croaked. “How can you say that when he’sgone?”
Exasperation got the better of her for a moment. “He’s notdead, Paige. He’s just… confused.”
“So he might still come home?”
“To the house? No. To the island? I have no idea.”
Paige pressed her face into the crook of her shoulder and cried.
Piper watched, her expression stony. Eventually she tore her gaze away and looked down at her ice cream. She mashed it into a brown soup without eating any more.
