Page 85 of Big Island Neighbors
A warm feeling of domesticity settled over her at the sight of them, and she stood watching them for a while before marchinginto the kitchen to tackle the dirty pots and pans and containers that were stacked next to the sink.
Piper hated for anyone to play music while she read, but Tara was content to listen to the woosh of warm water over her hands and the muted sounds of the animals outside.
Her life was so busy that she rarely paused to take stock of everything she’d accomplished. But she did that today, standing at her kitchen sink and looking out the window.
A group of saffron finches settled on the ground and chattered as they searched for seeds and tiny bugs to eat. They lifted up in an indignant chorus of green and gold when a young goat ran through. A black chicken passed by, her feathers shining dark purple in the sun, and her brood of fluffy chicks raced to keep up.
She had three amazing kids and a piece of land overflowing with life. She had come to this island as a teenager with nothing – just the two macaws she’d inherited from her mother – and over the years she had built the most extraordinary life.
Her phone chimed, and she dried her hands to check it. She pushed down a sudden panic as she wondered if Cody was broken down on a dirt road somewhere. They should really get a second car.
It was just Mitch.
I’m in the neighborhood. Can I stop by? We need to talk.
Sure, she texted back.
Then she texted Emma and Lani.
Hey, can I send the girls over for a bit? Mitch is coming over.
Of course,Emma replied.
Tell them I have a new set of watercolors,Lani added.
“Thank goodness for good neighbors,” Tara breathed.
She set her phone aside and walked out into the living room.
“Hey, Lani just texted. She has a new watercolor set.”
Piper looked up from her book with a hopeful expression. “And she wants to share?”
“Yep.”
Paige gasped and jumped to her feet. “I’m going to paint aKakawahie!”
“Awhat?” Piper asked.
“Molokai creeper.” She held up her open book and pointed to a bird with orange feathers the same shade as their hair.
Piper leaned forward and peered at the page. “It’s extinct.”
“Yeah.”
“Go on,” Tara said. “Go paint.”
She was nervous about having them there when Mitch showed up. It had been a mess when they had come home to find him there the other day. Paige had cried, and Piper had shouted at him for making her cry, and in the end there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
Tara wanted to help her kids heal the rift between them and their dad, but there was something that she had to do first.
She went into her bedroom and found the paperwork that she had printed out in the middle of the night, when all three kids were sound asleep.
It was an uncontested divorce packet.
She set the folder on the kitchen counter and busied herself with finishing cleanup. When that was done, she moved on to cleaning the living room. She was nearly done tidying up when she realized that this was an old, ingrained habit: cleaning the house before Mitch got home.
Early in their marriage, when she was still adjusting to taking care of a baby on top of the small menagerie she had already collected, he would throw a fit any time he came home to a messy house – as if his working all day outstripped her working all day.
