Page 22 of Big Island Weddings
Her bookkeeping was done, the house was clean, and the girls were with Nell for the day. ‘Olena felt a bit guilty about that, since Nell worked with kids all week too. But she had seemed eager to watch them, like she was still trying to pay ‘Olena back for the ways she’d helped her when she finally left the abusive scumbag that she had wasted years on.
‘Olena didn’t understand the way people keep track, like kindness was a currency that had to be repaid.
She shook her thoughts away and walked to the front door, opening it before Nate even had a chance to knock.
“All set?” she asked.
“The teens are manning the stand, and we’re good to go.”
“How’s it going with them?” she asked as they walked towards the truck.
“They’re good kids. They work hard. And when I told them I could only afford to pay one of them to man the stand at a time, they decided to split the fourteen bucks an hour down the middle.”
“Really?”
“They only have one car between them,” he said as he opened the door for her. “Cody drives, and I think he’s sweet on the neighbor girl.”
‘Olena clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “They’re just babies.”
“So were we,” he said with a grin.
“And look where that got us.”
“Look where that got us,” he repeated, but his voice was soft. He leaned in for a kiss and then straightened up. “Two beautiful daughters, two businesses, and a mountaintop home.”
“The home is just some sketches and a dream.” They didn’t even have blueprints yet. It would be years before they had the money to finish building the place.
“I like where we are,” he insisted. His eyes were earnest, and he leaned in for another kiss. ‘Olena’s skepticism and sarcasm faded, all her rough edges smoothed away.
How did he do that?
Nate grinned as he stepped back, and he waited for her to climb up into the cab of his truck. Then he winked and shut the door behind her.
On the road, they settled into a comfortable silence. It had always been like that with them. They could talk about anything, but there was never a need to fill the silence with empty words. They were happy just to be together, cruising up and over the saddle road.
Route 200 crossed the middle of the island, passing between the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. It had been a mess when they were kids, with so many potholes and one-way stretches that it had been better to go the long way, hugging the northern edge of the island.
Now it was a long river of unbroken pavement, smooth sailing all the way to Kona. It took them up over six thousand feet, where the air was crisp and the landscape was drastically different from Pualena.
‘Olena lived surrounded by color, endless green filled with splashes of red and yellow and pink. The constant back and forth between gray clouds and blue skies meant that they saw rainbows nearly every day.
Up between the mountains, though, there was an entirely different world. Native forests gave way to mile after mile of black lava rock, which then gave way to rolling green hills. They were starting to change from green to gold. It never really stopped raining in Pualena, not for more than a day or two, but summers were dry on the Kona side.
They wound down the mountain through grassy fields dotted with wild goats. The views across Pu?uwa?awa?a Reserve were breathtaking, with wide open slopes that gave way to the endless blue of the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
They drove a few more minutes through the lava fields on Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, and then Nate turned off towards Kiholo Bay.
The long stretch of rocky shore and crystal-blue water had been one of their favorite spots when they were young, back when they had plenty of time for Kona days and camping trips.
She felt a pang of guilt for not making that happen more often with her girls, but after managing the playschool all week, she was always too tired on weekends to take them all the way across the island.
Maybe things would be different with Nate back in their lives. He was slammed with lychee season just then, working eighty hours a week, but once that was done he would have more free time. They could take their girls adventuring, the way they had always wanted to.
Nate took her hand as they walked along the coarse black sand, and her heart lifted. It was a perfect day, warm and sunny without being blindingly hot. Sea turtles sunned themself along the beach, and they paused to admire the honu for a moment before walking on.
“We should bring the girls here,” he said, and she squeezed his hand in agreement. Carrying them back in the scorching hot afternoon sun was more than she wanted to take on, but Nate could carry their two girls – both of them tall and strong and wearing clothes sized two years above their actual ages – like they weighed nothing at all.
Keanalele Waterhole was surrounded by tourists, so they walked on without stopping.
