Page 84 of Big Island Horizons
“Actually, I was going to say that I’d really like that.”
“But we don’t have time?” Her voice was uncertain now, hopeful.
“We’ll just have to make time.”
Piper beamed. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. I’ll talk to Emma about a work trade, see if she can handle the farm chores for us once a week. We can get out and adventure more.”
The twins whooped, and in the rearview mirror she saw the teenagers exchange a smile. Liam reached out and took her hand.
“Maybe a less strenuous adventure next week?” she asked quietly.
He chuckled. “I’m thinking hammocks. We can set up somewhere and kick back while the kids adventure. Maybe get a fire going at sunset.”
“Hammocks sound good.”
Every cell in her body glowed with contentment as she drove on down the curving coastal road.
31
Lani
On Kai’s seventh birthday, she found Emma crying in the kitchen at dawn.
When Lani knelt beside her and put a hand on her back, Emma jumped in surprise. She mumbled an apology and wiped at her face with both hands. The skin around her eyes was red and puffy; Lani wondered how long she had been crying there on the floor.
She grabbed a fresh kitchen towel from the drawer, handed it to Emma, and sat down beside her.
Despite their best efforts, the tile floor was filthy. Muddy paw prints and tiny pieces of lava rock, dry bits of grass and the occasional chicken feather, smushed bits of papaya and stray flower petals… it seemed like the whole world got tracked in and out of the kitchen on bare feet every day.
“It’s his first birthday without his dad,” Emma said, as if Lani had any doubt in her mind as to why she’d had a predawn breakdown.
“I know,” Lani said softly.
“I’m trying my best,” she said, and another sob broke through, “but it’s so hard.”
“I know,” she said again, putting a hand on Emma’s back.
Emma leaned into her and sobbed, releasing all the grief of parenting Kai without his father by her side, the pain of watching him turn seven and knowing that the love of her life had only gotten to spend six short years with their son.
There were no words that could relieve that kind of pain. All that Lani could do was sit there beside her and wait for the worst of it to pass.
Eventually, Emma grew quiet. She sat up straight and blew her nose. And she looked at Lani with that strange mixture of pride and grief that came with watching children grow.
“I have a seven year old.”
“I remember when he was a fat little baby.”
Emma laughed even as more tears fell. “He had the biggest cheeks.”
“Now he looks just like his dad.”
“He does.” She wiped her eyes again, then pushed herself up to her feet. “I should go see to the goats.”
“How about a pot of chai?” Lani offered.
“I would love some tea. Thank you.”
