Page 67 of Big Island Weddings
“It’s okay,” Keith said.
“My husband’s been dead less than a year.” It wasn’t what she meant to say, but that’s what tumbled out when she opened her mouth. She looked at him apologetically. “I’m just… not remotely ready for this.”
“Not ready for a friend?” he asked softly.
“I think we both know that’s not what this is.”
Keith held her gaze for a moment, and the intense blue of his eyes unsteadied her.
He looked away first.
“Here,” he said, handing her the bag of mushrooms. “They’re good in soup.”
A bag of ears,she wanted to tease him.How romantic.
But she didn’t want to send mixed signals. He was such a great guy that she had agreed to a hike against her own better judgment… but it all felt wrong.
Adam was a part of her. She still thought of him constantly and saw him everywhere… even here, in one of the few spots on the island where they had never been together.
She wasn’t ready to date again. She wasn’t sure she ever would be.
“I’ll see you around,” Keith said as she accepted the mesh bag.
“Thanks,” she blurted after he’d already turned away.
He glanced over his shoulder, gave her a sad smile and a parting wave, and walked to his truck. She stood watching him for a brief moment before climbing into her car.
As soon as she was alone, she felt a powerful sense of relief. Some guilt, sure, for giving Keith the wrong idea. And maybe a small amount of frustration with herself for not being capable of casual dating. Mostly, though, she felt relieved.
On the drive home, she blasted an old CD that Kai hated and sang along at the top of her lungs.
Dio heard her coming before she even turned onto their street, and both dog and boy were waiting at the front gate when she pulled up. Kai opened the long gate and then latched it closed behind her. He looked so grown up in that moment.
When Emma climbed out of her car, Kai nearly tackled her with a hug.
“I missed you!” he shouted joyfully.
“I missed you too, kiddo.” She ran a hand over his near-black hair, now highlighted here and there with sun streaks. “What have you been up to?”
“Me and Cassie made fairy houses!” he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the front garden. Dio ran circles around them, whining his excitement. “Come see!”
Deep beneath the podocarpus trees that shielded their yard from the road, the kids had constructed a whole little village of fairy houses. There were log houses made of sticks and twigs, half-buried breadfruit topped with flowers, and houses with walls of broad tropical leaves.
“Kai, this is amazing.”
“I know, right? Juniper helped.”
Their lanky orange cat slinked through Emma’s legs and towards the fairy village.
“Zuko, no!” Kai hurriedly scooped him up. Holding the cat around his middle, the seven year old let out a long-suffering sigh and looked up at his mom. “He’s been terrorizing the fairies all day.”
“Oh no!”
“Oh yes,” he sighed. “It was funny at first, but then it got really annoying.Diodoesn’t destroy our houses, do you Dio? Even though you’rewaybigger.”
“Come on.” Emma took the cat from Kai’s arms and walked towards the house. “Maybe if we feed Zuko he’ll stop terrorizing the fairies.
“Good thinking,” he agreed. “Come on, Dio! I’ll race you!”
