Page 76 of Big Island Horizons
“Of course.”
A taxi driver honked impatiently, and Tara hurried back to her seat. The two women were quiet as they drove away from the airport, half listening to the chatter of the kids in back.
“It feels good to be back,” Emma said as they drove down the long green highway that led from Hilo to Pualena.
“What was it like being home?” Tara asked. “Back in your hometown, I mean.”
“Good. Hard. I got to meet my baby nephew and get time in with all of my siblings and their kids, which was great. My dad was even home for most of it, which he isn’t usually. So it felt good to have everyone together. Except that only made me more conscious of who was missing.
“I stripped our house down to the bare bones and found a long-term renter, a single mom with two kids. It felt good to be able to hand that off, to put a house on the market there that’s not completely sucking the life and soul out of the place with insane rent prices. And I donated almost all of my late husband’s clothes, which was… it was really hard.”
“I bet,” Tara said quietly.
She glanced over her shoulder at Kai, who was still talking animatedly with Piper and Paige.
“My sister kept a pile of his clothes, all of the things he wore the most. She’s going to make a quilt for Kai and bring it to us when she comes to visit.”
“That’s a beautiful idea.”
Emma nodded slowly, looking out the window at the green jungle that towered alongside the highway. Almost to herself, she said, “I wish I knew how to make it stop hurting so much.”
“Time.” Tara reached over and took Emma’s hand in hers. “It’s been over twenty years since I lost my mom, and it still hurts. But it’s an old ache now, you know? Just another part of me. Not an open wound anymore.”
Emma let out a brief, hollow laugh. “I wish I knew how to suture it shut, at least.”
“You’re doing that, I think. You’re doing everything right. There’s no rushing the healing process, but you’re not letting things fester, either.”
“Yuck.”
“Did I drag that metaphor a bit too far?”
“Maybe.” Emma grinned, and Tara took her hand back to turn off the highway.
“You know what I mean, though.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“I can’t wait to see Dio!” Kai shouted, literally bouncing off the walls in the back of the van.
“Kai!” Emma scolded. “Put your seatbelt on right now!”
“But we’re not on the highway anymore!”
“Right now!”
He groaned and did what he was told. As soon as they turned onto their street, though, he was back out of his seat and pressing impatiently at the button that opened the van’s sliding back door. Given that the vehicle was still in motion, the door didn’t budge.
When Tara finally parked in front of her front gate, Kai tumbled out and sprinted next door to see his dog.
Dio, who had already been waiting at the gate since he’d heard Tara’s van, let out a whining yelp as soon as he saw his boy. His whole body wriggled in explosive excitement, and he scrambled at the fence.
Too impatient to wait for his mom to open the gate, Kai scaled the chain link fence. He landed next to his dog, threw both arms around him, and they rolled around on the lawn in a blur of fabric and fur.
“I guess that was our last trip off island for a while,” Emma said.
Tara grinned at her neighbor. “Fine by me.”
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