Page 60 of Big Island Weddings
“I can understand that.” Tara put a bowl of gooey carbs down in front of Nell, and she inhaled the fragrant steam. “Careful. It just came out of the oven.”
Nell poked and prodded the food with a fork, releasing more steam. “How about you and Liam?”
“We’re great,” Tara said halfheartedly.
“You sound great,” Nell replied, teasing.
“I just wish we had more time together.”
“It must be hard, with businesses to run and kids at home. I’m guessing teens are almost demanding as babies, in their own way.”
“Not our teens,” she said with a laugh. “Cody’s been such a huge help to me. I’m not sure how I would manage without him. Then again, I wouldn’t need to earn as much without him eating me out of house and home.” She laughed again and shook her head. “No, our teens are pretty incredible. And we only have a couple more years before they’re gone, so that takes priority. We have the rest of our lives to be together, God willing. But these years with my kids… I wouldn’t give that up for anything.”
Nell nodded along, understanding perfectly. She ate a bite from the bowl in front of her, and concentrated flavors of tomato and basil exploded across her tongue. The thinly-sliced breadfruit between slices of eggplant tasted like fried dough. She forked up another bite that was rich with farm-fresh ricotta.
“Tara, this is phenomenal. Your food is always good, but this is just insane.”
“Oh good! This will be dinner for me and the kids tonight, and then I’ll make it for next week’s meal delivery.”
“For A Place of Refuge too?”
“Yep! I usually make a big pot of something for the food kitchen at New Horizons, but A Place of Refuge gets the same stuff that my meal deliveries does.”
“That’s amazing, Tara. It’s so good of you to include them like that.”
“It’s just another customer for me! I’d donate the meals if I could, but I can’t afford it.”
“Then who–”
“Emma! You didn’t know?”
Nell dropped her fork. “Emma pays for the meals?”
“Ever since she found out about the place! Some of my customers buy meals for friends and family, usually meal trains for new mothers or elders recovering from surgery, but Emma’s the only person who buys that many meals every week.”
“Wow. I had no idea.”
“You know that her husband died last year?”
“Yeah, Kai’s dad.”
“Right. He grew up here in Pualena, and he left her well set up… I think she was just looking for a way to give back. She’s been talking about starting her own non-profit, but for now she’s just funding the meals herself. It’s a win-win for me. I’m so happy to send meals to A Place of Refuge every week – and I’m grateful to you for driving!”
“I’m happy to do it. I’m looking for ways to give back too, but I don’t have anywhere close to the resources that Emma does.” She bit her tongue, hoping it didn’t sound like she was begrudging the woman anything, especially given that she was so generous to everyone around her while still grieving her husband.
“We all do what we can. These years are so hard, because we’re already pouring everything we have into our kids.”
“Maybe the trick is finding things we can dowithour kids,” Nell said thoughtfully between bites. “Isn’t that how we instill the same values in them?”
“My kids have been a huge help with this new business. I should do a better job of actually showing my face at the food kitchen and bringing them along. It would do them good to see the people they’re cooking for.”
“I bet they’d like that. Maybe we could bring the kids to A Place of Refuge sometime. There are always kids living there, and your twins are amazing artists… we could offer a painting class or something?”
“They would love that.”
“Awesome! I’ll ask Halia about it today.” She finished the phenomenal food and gulped down a glass of iced tea that Tara had set down in front of her.
“Keys are in the van,” Tara said when she stood.
