Page 6 of Big Island Weddings
Eager to help, Kai poured a bottle of ice water down her back. Juniper shrieked, but her screams quickly turned to laughter as she went up a tree after Kai.
“You should spray for those,” Kekoa said to Nate. “They spread quick.”
“Nobody’s gonna help with da harvest if every tree is covered in those buggas,” Mano added.
“It’s on my list.” There was a slight edge to Nate’s good-natured voice, irritation and exhaustion. His voice was smoother as he continued, “With so much ripe fruit, I haven’t had time for much else.”
“You want I come spray da orchard?” Mano asked.
“No,” Nate said quickly. “No, that’s okay. I’ll get to it soon.”
“Why don’t you hire some help?” Kekoa asked.
“I’ve been trying. I have listings up. I can’t afford to pay much more than minimum wage, and nobody wants to work for that.”
“Hard to live on minimum wage in Hawai’i.”
“The trick is to hire people who don’t have to pay rent,” Tara said with a grin. She pointed to her son, Cody, who was up a tree handing bunches of lychee down to his sisters. “I bet he’d be happy for some seasonal work.”
“I could use the help,” Nate admitted.
“Cody’s a good worker,” Tara assured him. “Reliable.”
After lunch, they continued to work in the shade of the orchard. Most of them kept picking while ‘Olena and her parents got to work processing the fruit for sale. They removed the red globes from their branches carefully, without breaking the fragile skins, and put them into gallon-sized bags that Natewould sell out of a cooler by the roadside the next day. Another cooler full of fruit went into Tara’s van to be taken back to her place and sent out with her weekly meals.
After their friends had gone home, Nate and ‘Olena walked up the hill to the highest point on the property, the spot where he planned on building them a house someday. Mahina stayed down in the orchard with the girls, but Mano came huffing up the hill behind them to answer Nate’s questions about leveling the hilltop in preparation for a home.
‘Olena let their voices wash over her without really listening, comforted by the sound of her two favorite men making plans for the house that her girls would inherit someday. The orchard shone in the golden light of late afternoon, and her eyes roved over the tops of the trees to the sea.
The men continued talking behind her and her daughters’ laughter floated up the hill, wrapping her in the warm hope of moving towards a dream.
3
Nell
Nell moved nervously around her kitchen, inventing tasks to keep her hands busy.
The dishes were done and there was a snack tray for Cassie ready to go in the fridge. The bright blue tea made from flowers that they had picked just outside their door was strained and chilling in the fridge as well.
They had settled into their little cottage almost immediately. The ‘ohana unit was homey to begin with, and lush gardens all around contributed to the feeling of being home.
Inside, Lani’s painted flowers climbed up the walls and doors.
Outside, fragrant tropical flowers bloomed everywhere.
Laughter filled the space during the days, the clucking chickens and bleating goats providing a gentle backdrop to the kids’ play. At night, there was no loud music, no shouting. Theonly sound was the steady chorus of coqui frogs:co-QUI, co-QUI,all night long.
Nell felt more at home at the Kealoha place than she had anywhere else in her adult life. The cottage and gardens wrapped her in a sense of safety that she hadn’t felt since her dad died and her mom sold their family home.
Now, finally, she could provide that same sense of home and safety to her own children.
“She’s here!” Cassie squealed. She threw open the front door to reveal Juniper, who had developed something of a rockstar status among the littler kids.
Emma’s seventeen-year-old niece was grown-up sized but still climbed trees and played and colored with them. Cassie adored her.
“Ready to go?” Juniper said to Nell. Her tone was lightly teasing, and Nell felt her cheeks color. Hazards of being a redhead. She was about to go out on her first date in years, and she was all nerves.
“Yeah,” she said. “Just about. He should be here any minute. There are snacks for Cassie in the fridge, and some pureed food for Everett too. He just went down for a nap, so he’ll probably sleep for an hour or two.”
