Page 17 of Big Island Horizons
“Well, if you want to put one in, you’re welcome to. I don’t know that it will ever make it to the top of my ridiculous to-do list.”
“I hear that.” She smiled and shook her head as Rory grabbed a throwing stick, used it to pick up a rubber ball, and ran off to play fetch with Dio.
“Hey, would you be willing to watch the girls for me next Friday? They’re going to start at Pualena Playschool, but I’m wondering if you could bring them home and maybe feed them some dinner? There will be food to heat up at my place if that’s easier.”
“Sure, I can do that. Why, do you have a hot date?” She said it flippantly, just to tease, but her eyes widened gleefully when Tara blushed. “Oh my goodness, you do!”
“I might.” She covered her face with her hands, embarrassed to be caught blushing like a schoolgirl.
Lani hurried down the steps and pulled at Tara’s sleeve until she sat down beside her. “Tell me everything.”
“I’m going for a hike with Liam.”
“Your friend Liam? The silver fox who helped Emma build that pond?”
She felt her cheeks turn a deeper shade of pink. “That’s the one.”
“Go you!” Lani bumped her shoulder into Tara’s. “Is it, like, adatedate?”
“Very much so, yes.” She nearly repeated Liam’s words –I’ve loved you for years– but couldn’t bring herself to speak them aloud. They were too important to share, somehow. Almost sacred.
“Good for you,” Lani said.
“Thanks,” Tara said, half laughing. “I didn’t think I’d date again ever, never mind so soon after my divorce.”
“Girl,same. I wasn’t remotely interested in dating again. Heck, I was half convinced that good men didn’t even exist. Not in our generation, at least. Even after Tenn and I reconnected, I kept trying to avoid him or push him away. I’m lucky he was patient.”
“You feel like you made the right decision? Even if the timing was bad?”
“I know I did.” Lani’s voice was quiet and fierce. “My ex-husband took so much from me. He would love to take this too. He wants me to be as miserable as he is. But I won’t let him steal my peace of mind, or my happiness.”
Something in her voice sent a chill up Tara’s spine. She reached over and put her hand on Lani’s knee. “Is he still trying?”
Lani nodded heavily. She pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to Tara, showing her an anonymous text message and a picture of her at work.
“He sent this?” Tara asked. “Is he here on the island?”
“I don’t think so. He just wanted me to think that he was.” She sighed and took her phone back. “I did a reverse image search and found that picture on some random travel blog. They had posted it on social media too, and tagged the shave ice place as a location. So it’s not like he took it himself. He’s just trying to scare me. Again.”
“I’m sorry. That’s awful.”
She shrugged and pocketed her phone. “It is what it is. I don’t know how he even got my new number. You can find anything online, I guess, if you have enough free time.”
Tara rubbed a hand up and down her back, the way she did with her kids when they were feeling down. Eventually Lani brightened and stood.
“Look around, though.” She spread her arms, gesturing at the verdant front yard and the bright Hawaiian day. Rory was running circles around the house with Dio. “Look at everything I have to be grateful for. I won’t let him rob me of my peace. I refuse.”
“That’s the spirit.”
They said their goodbyes, and Tara walked home. Mitch was still there, waiting for the girls to pull their things together for a night at his place, and she felt a fresh wave of gratitude for their easy transition to coparenting.
The initial shock of their split had been emotionally grueling for every member of the family, but she was deeply grateful to have avoided the ugliness of custody battles and extended acrimony. From what she had seen from her friend’s experiences, their relatively smooth transition was unusual. And to have her ex-husband actively trying to make her life hell… she could hardly imagine.
When she hugged her girls goodbye, she hugged Mitch too. He froze for a moment in shock, then returned the hug with a light pat on the back.
“You’ll drop them off tomorrow after dinner?” she confirmed.
“Yeah.” He glanced over his shoulder to check that the girls were in the car with the doors closed, then turned back to Tara and said, “It kills me that Cody hasn’t even been to my place.”
