Page 51 of Big Island Weddings
A grin spread over Nate’s face, warm and slow. “I know just the place.”
18
Emma
“Bye Mom!” Kai scrambled out of the back seat as soon as the car rolled to a stop.
“You forgot your lunch!” she called after him, but he was already sprinting towards the playground.
“I’ll get it,” Nell said, chuckling.
“You’ve got enough to carry,” Emma told her. “I’ll grab it.”
While Nell unclipped the straps of Everett’s car seat and transferred him into a carrier, Emma fished Kai’s backpack out of the back seat and walked it over to the playground. Cassie ran past, and Nell caught up a moment later.
“Go on,” she said. “You’ll be late for class.”
“I have time. Anyway, I’m still waiting on Juniper.”
“Where is she?”
“Picking lychee. She left at dawn.”
“With the boy next door?”
“Yep. That ‘part-time’ job of theirs is averaging forty hours a week.”
“Lychee season doesn’t last long.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“She’s a hard worker. I was holding down a job or two at her age, but I was also getting into all sorts of trouble. Jun’s got a good head on her shoulders. You must be proud.”
“She’s a good kid,” Emma agreed. “Big plans, big dreams. She’s smart enough to make them happen, too.”
Cody pulled into the parking lot in his old gray Honda. The thing was at least a decade older than he was, but it hadn’t given him any trouble so far. Juniper popped up out of the passenger seat and waved.
“Gotta go,” Emma said to Nell. She looked for Kai to say goodbye, but he was immersed in a game of tag and utterly oblivious to her presence. “Will you make sure he grabs his bag?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, see you later.” She strode back across the damp grass, marveling at the emerald green that stretched from the playground to the parking lot. In California, the ground was brown and gray and gold. She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to the vibrant hues of Hawaii, and that was fine by her. It would be a shame to take the brilliance of the island for granted.
“Sorry I’m late,” Juniper said when she was closer.
“It’s okay,” Emma replied. “We have time.”
She held up a plastic bag bulging with lychee. “I brought breakfast!”
“Enough time to eat those before we run off.” Emma leaned against the hood of her car and pulled open one of the red globes, releasing an aroma of sugar and rosewater. She loved the sweet, floral taste of lychee. Even eating it daily now that Juniper was working for Nate, it was a treat she would never get tired of.
After they had eaten the whole bag of lychee and rinsed their hands with an oversized water bottle she kept in the car, they hurried down the highway to their final permaculture class.
All the basics of growing food in Hawai’i had been covered, from composting scraps to pruning fruit trees. They had learned about nitrogen-fixing plants, pest management, beneficial ground covers, and more. Today was a slight departure from that, but no less important: it was all about cooking and preserving local foods.
Emma had loved this deep dive into permaculture, and she was particularly grateful for the common ground it provided for her and her niece. They had bonded over the course of the weekly classes, and they were closer now than they had ever been.
Even so, she was relieved that the classes would be over soon. The spark of attraction between Emma and Keith, the teacher who ran the permaculture course, was a surprise that she had been ill prepared to deal with so soon after the death of her husband.
