Page 47 of Big Island Weddings
The living room was quiet and empty – no Olivia doing arts and crafts at the oversized coffee table. She found Tenn in the kitchen, slicing and dicing vegetables. He paused when she walked in but didn’t turn.
Acting purely on instinct, she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around his chest. Her forehead rested between his shoulder blades. Slowly, the tension went out of his muscles. He set down his knife and braced his hands on the counter.
“Hi.” His voice was soft.
“Hi.”
“Where’s Rory?”
“She’s with Emma. Is Olivia with your parents?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“They missed spending time with her.”
“Is that all?”
He turned slowly within the circle of her arms so that they stood face to face.
“It feels like we’re back to living two separate lives,” she said. “I’ve been wondering if you even want us living here anymore.”
He looked as shocked as if she had stuck him. “Of course I want you here!”
“Then why are you changing everything up without even talking to me about it?”
“You’re the one who didn’t talk to me,” he said, his voice low.
“It’s felt like you’ve been pulling away.”
“I haven’t. Not on purpose, at least.”
“You’ve hardly been home.”
“I’ve been working!”
“Since when do you work such long hours?”
“Since my head chef went back to the mainland!”
Lani paused and stared up at him. “Marco left?”
“He had a family emergency. I’ve been covering for him.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I was just trying to give you space. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to take care of Olivia while I was working. You’re not my nanny.”
“What am I?”
He looked at her with a helpless intensity. “You’re my person.”
She stepped forward and rested her head against his chest. “We need to talk.” Then, realizing that she had just parroted a phrase loaded with all sorts of meaning that she wanted nothing to do with, she hurried to add, “In general. We need to get better at talking to each other. We need to communicate more.”
“I didn’t want to assume that you’d take care of Olivia with… everything else going on.” He glanced out the window and frowned. “Did you walk here?”
“The truck broke down.”
