Page 49 of Big Island Horizons
“Please can he come, Mama? Livie loves him!”
“Their yard isn’t fenced.”
“He can stay inside with us!”
She sighed and looked at the dog. She knew how much he hated to be left alone.
“Okay.”
Dio immediately jumped up into the cab after Rory. Lani thought about moving him to the back, but they would only be in the truck for a few minutes. She grabbed his leash, tossed it into her bag, and went to open the front gate.
When she parked on the street and went to close the gate behind her, she saw Tara out restocking her produce stand.
“Did you find your missing macaw?” she called as she pulled the gate shut.
“Kind of,” Tara called back. She closed the cooler she was stocking and walked to meet Lani next to the truck. “I found him, but he was about seventy feet up in an?’ohi?atree.”
“And he wouldn’t come down?”
“He was scared to, I think. I was there a long time, calling to him, but no luck. I went back the next day with more food and a recording of my other bird calling for him, but he was gone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“At least I know he’s alive. Maybe he’ll come back. Or at least land on the ground somewhere so I can go get him. He’ll come down when he’s hungry enough… I hope.”
“Here’s hoping,” Lani said as she climbed up into the truck. “I asked my family to keep an eye out.”
“Thanks.”
“Mama!” Rory whined.
Lani pulled a face. “Okay, we’ll see you later.”
“Bye,” Tara said with a wave.
She drove the short distance to Tenn’s house and clipped Dio’s leash on before letting him out of the truck. There wasn’t much chance of him running off anywhere when there were kids to hang with, but she wasn’t going to let a passing mongoose derail her whole day.
“Hey,” Tenn greeted them at the door.
Rory brushed past him and ran into the living room, shouting, “Livie!”
“Word of warning,” he said in a low voice after he’d kissed her hello. “My parents are here. They came an hour ago to drop Olivia off, and they still haven’t left.”
“Okay,” she said, not sure why his parents warranted a warning.
“They’ve been asking to meet you, and I keep putting them off. Olivia told them that Rory was coming for a sleepover tonight, so I think they’re trying to ambush you.”
“You don’t want your parents to meet me?”
His eyes widened, and he shook his head. Stepping out onto the front step, he closed the door behind him.
“I’m nervous about you meeting them, not the other way around.” He smiled apologetically. “My dad’s pretty laid back, at least with new people, but my mom can be a lot.”
“Really?” she asked with mock surprise. “The woman who named her son Alfred Lord Tennyson Nakamura can be a lot?”
He smiled ruefully. “I guess I didn’t want her to scare you away.”
“Not possible.”
