Page 10 of Big Island Horizons
A beginning.
4
Lani
Lani was up at first light. She had fallen asleep with Rory the night before, as she so often did. She would cuddle her daughter to sleep and more often than not would fall asleep herself at her five year old’s eight o’clock bedtime.
The world outside was hazy and gray, but inside her home it was cozy and light. She had added pops of color to the little house: bright pillows and blankets on the secondhand couch, a basket full of tropical fruit on the kitchen counter, golden fairy lights along the tops of the walls.
There was art everywhere, both hers and Rory’s. She had even started to paint the house itself; flowering vines crept up the kitchen cabinets, and a school of tropical fish darted past the bathroom door.
She made herself a hot cup of chai with goat milk.
That neverending chore was also an endless gift. On the days when her daughter refused to eat anything besides toast or bananas or plain noodles, she gave her a tall glass of raw milk alongside each plain serving of carbs and called it a win. And when there was a surfeit of milk, she used it to make a simple soft cheese.
It was almost worth the work of milking every morning and evening. Not the life she would have chosen for herself and not something that she wanted to be tied to long term, but she didn’t mind covering Emma’s chores for a few weeks.
Lani was so grateful to be living in the beautiful‘ohanaunit rent free, particularly on this lush green property where her daughter could run and play.
She was lucky to have family on the island. Trying to pay exorbitant rent while also paying her attorney back in Alaska to help her navigate family court was a crucible she was lucky to have escaped.
The whole process had been hard enough without worrying over whether her daughter would have food to eat and a roof over her head. The fear and frustration of going up against her ex and his lies had driven her to the brink as it was.
But she was past that now. Lani wrenched her thoughts back to the present and felt calm settle back into her body as she looked around her cozy living room.
She was finally divorced.
Free. And living the dream here in Hawai’i with her baby girl.
She had just just finished her tea when Rory came stumbling into the living room, still half asleep. She was flanked by Dio and Zuko, who had moved into their little cottage when the big house went dark and empty.
The young Belgian Malinois had whimpered and whined and mourned Kai’s departure so thoroughly that Lani had taken pity on him and let him sleep in her room. And the lanky orange kitten was just as clingy, following her around and meowing to be picked up the way that he had when he was just a bottle-fed scrap of a thing.
She had woken up that morning with Zuko on her chest and Dio at her feet; both animals had snuck up onto the big bed with her and Rory in the middle of the night.
Dio rushed forward to greet her with a wet nose and full-body wriggles of excitement, and then he disappeared out the front door. Zuko hopped up onto the couch and immediately started purring.
With considerably less enthusiasm than her animal friends, Rory climbed up next to Lani and snuggled in beside her. Lani put an arm around her daughter, and Rory pressed her face into Lani’s sweatshirt.
“Good morning, sleepyhead. I need to go milk the goats. Do you want to come?”
“No thanks,” she muttered.
“Okay.” She eased herself up off of the couch, leaving Rory and the cat to snuggle under a brightly patterned blanket. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”
Lani slid her feet into a pair of waterproof boots and tromped out through the morning mist to meet the goats, who bleated at her in greeting or complaint – she had no idea which.
It was peaceful once they quieted down, no sound beyond the morning chatter of birds and far-off crowing of roosters.
Lani got one goat onto the milking stand with a small portion of grain and set a bucket below her. She had been pitifully slow at first, to both her frustration and the goats’, but she was gradually getting faster. It still took her well over an hour to do what Tara could in half that time, but hey, she got the job done. The muck and the milk had taken some getting used to, but she had gotten into a routine.
Still, she would be glad to hand the job back over to Emma when she returned from the mainland.
As Lani ushered the second goat onto the milking stand, she put her headphones in and called Emma. She was three hours ahead in California, so the day was well on its way over there.
“You’re up early,” Emma said when she answered.
“Halfway through the morning milking already.”
