Page 55 of Big Island Horizons
“Forms are one thing. Actually running a nonprofit is another. I’d like to start a board of directors. Among other things, I think it will help the county to take us more seriously and unchain the community center doors.”
“They what?” Linda exclaimed. She stood and turned to peer at the front doors of the community center. “Well if that doesn’t beat all…”
“So, will you help me?”
“I would be honored,” she replied, sitting down again. “I’m sure some of the other ladies who run the soup kitchen would be happy to join your board of directors as well.”
“That’s great. My mom agreed to help, and some parents from the co-op too. We’ve got a good group going, I think. I’ll get in touch with my contact at the Office of the County Clerk and ask when we can appear before the council to present our proposal.”
“I imagine that could take a while. Hawai’i and government both run on their own time. Put those two together and, well…”
“Yeah, it’s not a recipe for getting things done quickly. But it will all work out in the long run. We’re putting the community center back into the hands of the community.”
“That sounds good to me. We don’t have to stop running the soup kitchen in the meantime, do we?”
“Technically they’ve only told me that we can’t use the building. They haven’t said anything about the playground or the outdoor kitchen. It’s a public park, after all.”
“Well, hopefully nothing gets in the way of that. You know that in some cities, people have been fined and even arrested for handing out free food?”
‘Olena shook her head. “That’s insane.”
“It’s a crazy world out there. We’re lucky we live in Hawai’i. It has its problems, of course. No place is perfect. But I think Pualena comes pretty darn close.”
The kids shrieked and ‘Olena looked out across the lawn. Fountains of colored foam were erupting from a row of bottles that they had set up along the edge of the parking lot.
The kids giggled and chattered as the chemical reactions continued to spew out tubes of foam that looped and snaked across the sidewalk.
Back behind the crowd, Tenn stood with his arm around Lani’s shoulders.
Standing just behind their girls, Nate met her eyes across the lawn and smiled.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “It does.”
18
Tara
A steady drizzle fell as she drove up the highway to Liam’s place. The whole mountainside was misted gray, with dark green ferns growing along the ground and red tail lights glowing ahead of her.
All three kids were in the van. The girls had a lesson today, and Cody had decided to tag along. To keep an eye on her and Liam? She didn’t know. But he came along often enough that his sisters thought nothing of it.
As soon as she parked, he climbed out of the car and stomped off to his favorite tree, where he climbed up into the branches and settled in to wait. Mostly sheltered from the rain, he pulled out his waterproof ereader and escaped to some other world.
“Helmets!” she called as the girls went out into the drizzling rain.
“We probably won’t even ride today,” Piper complained. “It’ll be all brushing the horses and cleaning their hooves and stuff.”
“Take them anyway. Just in case.”
“Fine.” She grabbed both helmets and ran to catch up with Paige, who had gone ahead to the barn.
Tara walked up to the house, where Liam greeted her at the door with a warm cup of tea.
“This smells wonderful,” she said as she followed him into the kitchen. “What is it?”
“Mamaki and lemongrass.”
“Mmm.” She took a sip and paused again to inhale the steam.
