Page 19 of Big Island Summer
Behind him, Juniper cooed at her baby brother.
“Thanks for picking us up,” he said after he’d eaten.
“No problem.”
“My buddy Rick is driving my truck up to Oakland for me to get it shipped down. It should be here in a couple weeks.”
Emma waited a beat, trying to ensure that her voice was calm and kind when she responded, “You’re shipping your truck?”
“Yeah. I can rent a car in the meantime if you want, or I can just walk. You live pretty close to town, right?”
“Right.”
“How long are you staying?” Juniper asked.
“I don’t know yet,” her dad said. “You and Em got a fresh start here. Maybe that’s what I need too.”
Juniper went silent. Her eyes, full of apprehension, met Emma’s in the rearview mirror.
“Liz put the house online for me,” Ethan continued, “on vacation rental sites. She’ll do the work of flipping it between guests, and we’ll split the money.”
“What about your business?” Emma asked.
“I couldn’t run a project right now if I tried.” His voice was gruff. “I’ve got good guys looking after everything. They can keep everything going without me looking over their shoulders.”
“So you’re staying here for good?” Juniper asked.
She didn’t sound thrilled, and Emma felt a surge of empathy from her brother. Aside from his unwavering loyalty to Laurel and the unintentional damage that had inflicted, he had alwaysbeen an amazing dad: loving, present, devoted. While she couldn’t really fault Jun for her attitude – she was young, and she was grieving – it wasn’t exactly fair to Ethan.
“I don’t know yet,” he grated. “It’s one day at a time right now, okay?”
“Okay.” Jun turned her attention back to Teddy, who was starting to fuss.
“We had talked about moving out here,” he said quietly. “Remember? Laurel and me.”
“Yeah,” Emma murmured.
“I’m not gonna do anything stupid. No big decisions yet. I just had to get away for a minute, you know? Clear my head.”
“Makes sense.”
“I’ll see if I can find a short-term rental in the neighborhood. I won’t be underfoot for too long.”
“You can stay as long as you need.”
He shook his head. “No. Thanks, but no. I’ll find something. I just wanted to be close to Jun, you know? Not an ocean away. And I needed to clear my head. Change of scenery. Keep my head above water. I’ve got two kids to take care of. Gotta keep my head above water.”
It wasn’t like him to ramble or repeat himself.
He was drowning, and Emma’s heart ached for him.
“I hope this helps,” she said.
“Yeah.” His voice was barely audible. “Me too.”
7
Lani
