Page 88 of Big Island Neighbors
“You don’t have to say anything.” His voice was gentle. “Just know that I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
In spite of all her nerves, she smiled. Liam’s face relaxed, and one side of his mouth turned up in response. His eyes held hers for another long moment before he turned and walked to his truck.
He drove away, and Tara stood there in her front yard for a long time.
She turned, stepped out of the shade, and let the Hawaiian sunshine warm her face.
27
Emma
“I did it!” Emma closed her laptop with a victoriousclick.
“Did what?” Lani asked. She tossed aside the rag she held and turned to face her, leaning back against the kitchen counter.
“I signed up for that permaculture course.”
“Good for you!”
“It starts in a few weeks.” Emma’s mind whirred with everything that needed to happen between now and then.
“I can’t wait for you to whip this place into shape.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I think I need to fly home first.”
“To California?”
“Yeah. I need to clear our stuff out of our house in Redwood Grove. It’s time.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“A few weeks, maybe. I have a nephew I’ve never met, and my family’s been worried about us. I have to put Adam’s things in storage and find some long-term renters… it will be less stressfulif I give myself more time.” She took a breath and met Lani’s eyes. “Can you hold down the fort here?”
“I’ll do my best.” Lani wrinkled her nose. “You’ll have to show me how to milk the goats.”
Emma chuckled. “Can do.”
She sat back down and opened her computer to start searching for flights. Once that was sorted, she went out back to look for Kai. She knew exactly where she would find him.
Out past the orchard, across an expanse of black plastic that she had laid down to turn the stubborn cactus grass to mulch, Kai and Prince were sitting by the edge of the duck pond.
Kai had been out there just about every daylight hour since they’d stocked it with fish and foliage. Liam had brought over all sorts of water plants, including duckweed and water hyacinth, which produced the extraordinary purple flowers that they had seen at Punalu’u. Apparently they were an invasive species, but the rapid growth meant that they were an excellent source of food for their ducks.
Freddie and her babies were in heaven, splashing all day in this giant puddle that never drained away. The muscovy ducks were an endless source of delight for Kai, and she knew that he would hate to leave their animals even for a few weeks.
Who would have thought when they left California to deal with Kai’s inheritance that they would become so deeply rooted here so quickly?
These days, she couldn’t imagine raising her son anywhere else.
“Look at this!” Prince lifted a long gelatin rope out of the pond, clear goop spotted black in regular intervals. “Whatisthis?”
“Toad spawn!” Kai chirped.
“Toad poop?” He dropped it back into the water.
Kai laughed. “No, toadeggs!”
It was amazing how quickly their little pond had exploded with life. The previous day they had even spotted a baby turtle sunning itself by the water’s edge. Where it had come from or how far it had traveled to get there, she had no idea.
