Page 83 of Big Island Neighbors
Her phone buzzed, and she jumped. The memory evaporated, and the quiet of the day rushed back in.
What she wouldn’t give to have her mother with her now.
“It’s your lawyer.” ‘Olena slid the phone across the table, and Lani gave her a shaky smile.
At least she wasn’t alone.
She picked up the phone and read the text message from her lawyer.
I’m here at the courthouse. Doors open in a few minutes.
She was typing out her reply when her alarm sounded, reminding her to get ready to call in. Terror gripped her, and she looked at ‘Olena.
“I’ll make some tea. You sit tight.”
Lani tried, but she couldn’t sit still. She jumped to her feet, paced, and went to pee. When she came back, ‘Olena was pouring hot water over freshmamakileaves.
Lani called in to court only to be put on a seemingly interminable hold. Her lawyer texted her occasional reassurances that the judge was just working through the other cases of the day.
‘Olena turned on soothing music and they sat between the couch and the coffee table, sipping their tea and coloring. Thefamiliar earthy flavor of themamakiwas deeply soothing, as was the steady scratch of colored pencils on paper.
They had worked their way through half of the coloring book by the time that the judge finally called Lani‘s case.
Her brain buzzed restlessly while the judge and attorneys went back and forth on legal jargon. But when the judge spoke again, she felt a glimmer of hope.
“Mr. Rankin, at the last hearing I granted you weekly visitation to be held via video chat. These records show that you appeared for only one of these calls. Would you care to explain?”
Lani strained to hear his answer, but there was nothing.
She could see him in her mind’s eye, scrunching his shoulders up and looking down the way he did when he had nothing to say for himself, and she wondered if he had missed the calls because he was passed out drunk. His part of the world was still deep in snow this time of year, which was when his drinking was at its worst… and that was before she’d left.
“I see.” There was a shuffling of papers, and the judge sighed. “Given your lack of followthrough, history of driving while intoxicated, and lack of biological relationship to the child, I’m disinclined to continue this any further. The court grants full legal and physical custody to Leilani King.”
“Thank you,” she croaked out.
“Now let’s move on to the matter of Jensen and Jensen…” The line went quiet when the court secretary on the other end disconnected the call.
Lani’s hands shook as she set down her phone, and tears blurred her vision as she turned to ‘Olena. Her cousin was watching her with a worried expression, something like fear in her glass brown eyes.
“Lani? What happened? What’s wrong?”
“It’s over.” The second word came out on a sob, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “‘Olena, it’s over. I won. I have full custody.”
She stumbled into her cousin’s arms and sobbed into her shoulder, releasing all of the stress and fear that she had carried in so long.
Her baby was safe.
They were home.
She was free.
Finally, the sobs abated and she dried her face with the first thing that she could find. It was an old t-shirt of Rory’s, tried on and discarded that morning because it was too small for her now.
Gratitude swamped her all over again and she buried her face in the pink fabric, but she was all cried out. She sat down on the couch and blew her nose. ‘Olena brought over a fresh cup ofmamakitea. Lani picked it up and drank deeply, letting the warmth of it soothe the ache in her throat.
“What now?” ‘Olena asked.
Lani shrugged and gave her a shaky smile. “I live my life.”
