Page 25 of Big Island Summer
His whole body tensed. “Excuse me?”
“I said no! I have plans with Lani! I’m not flaking on her to babysit Teddy while you mope in your room.”
“I just wanted to spend some time together,” Ethan said, but his tone was hard. “I don’t know how much longer I can stay.”
“I thought you were staying indefinitely!”
“There’s nothing for rent in Pualena. It’s nothing but moldy hovels or insane vacation prices. It’s bad enough that one of us is mooching off of your aunt. I can’t stay here forever.”
Juniper’s face paled, her freckles standing as stark as they had before she’d picked up an island tan. Emma met her eyes, trying to tell her with a look that she wasn’t mooching, that she wasn’t a burden. They loved having her there.
“I’ll see you later,” she said quietly. Without glancing at her dad, she turned and opened the kitchen door.
“Juniper May Flores!” he shouted.
She just slammed the door behind her in reply.
In the guest bedroom, Teddy wailed. Emma started forward, but Ethan held up a hand to stop her.
“No.” He stood so quickly that his chair clattered into the wall behind it. “I’ll get it.”
She left him alone for a few minutes, long enough to drink a cup of the tea that Jun had made. It was a warming blend, spiced with ginger and turmeric.
It hurt to watch him snap and snarl at Jun, but who was she to judge? In the months following Adam’s death, she had barely crawled out of bed. Her mother and sisters – and Ethan – had kept her fridge stocked and looked after Kai. When they weren’t around, her son had spent his days watching Minecraft videos and subsisting off of yogurt packs from the fridge.
At least Ethan was showing up for his kids… or trying to.
Once Teddy had been quiet for a while, Emma walked back into the guestroom. The baby was asleep in his crib, and Ethan stood looking out the window.
“Are you ready for some food?” she asked.
“No. Thank you.”
“How about a cup of tea?”
Ethan turned to look at her, his eyes full of pain. “She looks just like her mom.”
“Does she?”
“Just like Laurel at that age.”
Emma felt her face pull into a frown, and she tried to smooth it out.
When she looked at Juniper, she saw the Flores side of the family. Her hazel eyes were just like Ethan’s – and their green-and-gold irises were the one place that Emma and her twin brother were identical.
Jun’s high cheekbones were the same as Toni’s, and she had Liz’s nose. The freckles that speckled both her nose and her cheeks were all her own. Sometimes, when she shot Ethan a dirty look, she looked just like her grandmother.
But Laurel? Emma didn’t see it.
“Don’t you think she looks just like her mom?” he pressed.
“She’s grown into a beautiful young woman,” she said. “Laurel was stunning.”
Ethan sank onto the bed and buried his face in his hands. “God, Em. What if she never gets over this?”
“I don’t know if anyone ever gets over a loss like this.” Emma sat next to her brother and put a hand on his back. “Grief doesn’t work that way. But I do know that she’ll get through it. I have faith that she’ll be okay.”
“I feel like I’m failing her.”
