Page 40 of Big Island Horizons
“I’ll kill him.”
“He didn’t do anything,” Lani said, feeling guilty. How pathetic, that she had interrupted their work day and closed the place. Just because her ex showed up and, what, talked to her?
“Like hell,” Kekoa growled. He extended a hand to Lani. When she took it, he hauled her to her feet.
“You okay?” Mano asked.
Lani nodded hurriedly, but his gentle voice nearly broke her. The corners of her mouth pulled down, and fresh tears stung her eyes.
Her uncle opened his arms, and she stepped into them. He patted her back while she cried.
When the sobs finally stopped, she stepped back and dried her face again.
“There’s syrup on the stove,” she told Kekoa apologetically. “Ginger and lime.”
“I’ll finish up here,” he told her. “My dad will take you home.”
“What if he follows us?” she asked her uncle. “I don’t want him to know where I live.”
“He won’t. But I’m not taking you to your house yet. I’m taking you to your auntie.”
“Okay.” Her mouth pulled down again, and she clenched her jaw against more tears. Her gratitude for her family was tainted with shame for the situation she was in, guilt for causing them trouble, and embarrassment for getting involved with a man like Zeke in the first place.
“Come on.” Mano put a gentle arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go home.”
14
‘Olena
Within ten minutes of getting the alert on her phone, ‘Olena had a pot of hot chocolate ready to go and a bag full of warm clothes packed and in the car. As she filled her thermos with steaming hot chocolate, she called her cousin.
“What’s up?” Lani answered.
“Kilauea’s erupting again.”
“What? Now? Is there an evacuation order?”
“No, no. It’s the summit. We’ve got to go see it before the crowds hit.”
“And driving up to an active volcano with our kids doesn’t sound at all unhinged to you?”
“Girl, you were off island for too long. When’s the last time you visited Kilauea?”
Lani was silent for a moment. “When I was a kid, I guess.”
“And you don’t remember how far from the lava you are standing up on the rim of the crater?”
“Um. Not really?”
“It’s like looking at the beach in Waipio Valley from the viewing area.”
“Yeah?”
“Anyway, the eruptions the past couple years blow anything we saw when we werekeikiout of the water. I’m talking fountains of lava, Leilani. Rivers of lava. Glowing lakes of it.”
“From a safe distance.”
“Duh.” ‘Olena rolled her eyes. Like her mama bear self would bring those babies anywhere close to danger. But she didn’t take it personally; she knew Lani’s nervous system was all out of whack from the stress she’d been under lately. “I’ll be there in five minutes, and you’d better be ready. We’re going to show our girls some liquid rock.”
