Page 1 of Big Island Neighbors
1
Lani
Lani eased herself out of bed without waking Rory, who had crawled in a few hours before dawn. She stretched her shoulders as she went to stand by her bedroom window.
A breeze blew in off of the ocean, and she took a deep breath of the incomparable island air.
The trees in the orchard glinted with morning dew, and saffron finches were scattered across the lawn like flecks of gold. Her third-story view of Hawaiian greenery was something that she would never take for granted again.
It was a perfect blue-sky day, and she intended to make the most of it.
Rory was still asleep, her arms flung up and out in goal post position, so Lani carefully opened the door and tiptoed down the stairs. Even before she reached the first floor, she could smell buttery eggs cooking in the kitchen.
“You’re up and at ‘em early,” she said as she walked in.
“Already milked the goats,” Emma said. “And I’m learning that if I actually eat something before drinking coffee, I’m sixty percent less irritable. So.”
“So I should make some coffee?” Lani asked with a grin.
Emma gave her an over-the-top pleading look. “Yes.”
She grabbed a small pot from the drying rack, filled it with water, and added a stick of cinnamon. Once it was settled over a hot burner, she stretched and yawned.
Zuko wound between her legs, and she reached down to scratch his head. The kitten was lanky these days, half grown and full of energy. He purred and pushed his face against her hand.
His orange fur and teal-blue eyes were even more vibrant now than they had been when he was tiny. The intense blue of his eyes always made her think of the pools and rivers hidden in the forests up above Hilo town.
“We should go to Hikuwai today.”
Emma paused her stirring and looked up. “Sevenwaters?”
“Yeah.” She set the pot on a free burner and turned it on. “I haven’t been there since I moved home.”
“I haven’t been since… wow. I think it was with you. When Adam and I were still in college.”
“That’s way too long.”
“Agreed.” Emma resumed her stirring. “You think the kids can make it?”
“Absolutely. Rory’s walked farther than that lots of times.”
“If I tried to take Kai on my own he’d whine the whole way, but if he sees another kid doing it…” She trailed off.
“You think he’s up for it?”
“Maybe. What if we invited the neighbors? If Cody and the girls want to go, Kai will get excited about it.”
“Sounds good to me. You think they’re up?”
“Pretty sure Tara gets up in the dark every day.”
“Shoots. Turn that water off if it starts to boil.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Emma waved her away, focused on the food.
Lani never made scrambled eggs, because she tended to get impatient and turn the heat up too high, which always resulted in a mess of rubber that stuck to the pan. Emma had the patience to cook them slowly until they were just right.
When she stepped outside, the air was bracingly cool. Nothing like those faraway mornings in Alaska, but crisp enough to wake her up.
