Page 16 of Big Island Horizons
She did that now, uploading a picture of herliliko’icurd with the caption,Twelve more jars! Get one before they’re gone. Goes great with yogurt - we still have some in the cooler.
She was just opening the gate when Mitch drove up, so she opened it all the way to let his car through and then closed it behind him.
After a brief midlife crisis on the mainland, her ex-husband had found himself an apartment up in Hilo. The place had bunk beds for the girls and a convertible couch for Cody, but so far only Paige had spent the night there, on the condition that her dad drive her to her riding lesson the next day.
Their two farm dogs greeted Mitch with ecstatic exuberance, relieved as always to discover that this missing member of their pack was still alive and well.
“Hey Tara,” he greeted her, still petting both dogs. “Are the girls ready to go?”
“Probably not,” she said with a tired laugh. “Piper’s inside, if you want to go tell her you’re here. Paige is out back. I’ll go find her.”
She left him out front with the dogs and looped around to look for Paige, who had taken Rory to see their new baby bunnies. The kits were in their cutest stage, two-week fluffballs with bright eyes and downy-soft fur.
She found them right where she expected to, nestled into a shady patch of lawn with the tiny rabbits in their laps. Paige was always so sweet with little ones, and it warmed her heart to see them together.
Both of her girls were scheduled to start attending the Pualena Playschool co-op the following week, and she liked the idea of them getting more time with kids their age and with younger ones too.
She waited a while, loath to interrupt them, but finally said, “Hey sweet pea, your dad’s here.”
“Already?” Paige popped right up to her feet. She looked down at Rory and said, “Sorry, I’ve gotta go. My dad’s taking us to the hot ponds.”
Tara held her hands out for the tiny brown kit that Paige held. “I can put the bunnies away and walk Rory home.”
“Thanks mom!” She carefully handed the baby over and then sprinted towards the house.
“Five more minutes?” Rory asked, looking up at her with big brown eyes.
“Sure.” Tara settled down on the grass next to the little girl. “Five more minutes.”
She could so clearly remember her girls at this age. Or, stranger still, Cody as a five year old. He had still been an only child, and they had explored all over the island together. Back before Tara had quite so many animals and a daily milking schedule.
She loved the life that she had created for herself and her children, but she missed those days too. She missed the freedom of being able to explore the island on a whim, hike to waterfalls or go snorkeling in the clear waters of the western side.
Maybe it was time to shift the balance a bit and carve out more time for adventures with her kids while they were still in the house. It seemed like just last week Cody had been as small as the neighbor kids, and now he towered over her.
Before she knew it, he would be off living his own life. They all would. Cody was just a couple years from eighteen, and even her baby girls were nearly halfway there.
It was a bittersweet thought, and she didn’t want to spend the last years of their childhood working so hard that they hardly had time together.
“Time to go,” she said gently after Rory had spent another ten minutes with the kits.
“Okay,” the little girl agreed with a sigh.
They put the babies back in with their mother, and Rory reached up to take her hand as they walked out along the road and let themselves through the front gate at the Kealoha place.
Dio greeted them with so much enthusiasm that Rory fell on her butt trying to escape the pup’s slobbery kisses.
“No!” she shrieked with laughter. “Dio, stop!”
“Dio, come!” Lani shouted from the front porch.
The dog turned and sprinted across the lawn, and Rory pulled the skirt of her dress up to wipe her face.
“Thanks for walking her home,” Lani said as they got closer to the house.
“Of course,” Tara replied. “I’ve been thinking that we need a little gate in the fence so we don’t have to go out to the road every time. Then we could just send the kids through.”
“Emma and I keep saying the same thing. That or a ladder.”
