Page 3 of Big Island Summer
Emma sat down on the end of her bed. “Yeah. What’s going on?”
Toni took a deep breath. “Laurel overdosed.”
Emma leaned forward, the wind rushing out of her own lungs like she was releasing her sister’s inhale. Overhead, the rain pounded on the tin roof. It was a loud, distinctive racket. Soothing white noise, most of the time. An annoyance when she tried to talk on the phone.
Her poor brother.
Ethan had been so sure this time, so hopeful that Laurel had finally healed from whatever it was that had driven her to addiction time and again. Their son was a fresh start. But it seemed that nothing had changed, not really.
How many times had Laurel relapsed in the past twelve years?
Eight? Ten? Emma wasn’t certain.
The family had given up on her years ago, though they had tried their best to put up a front of positivity for Ethan. The man refused to give up on his wife. Emma admired that as much as she despaired of it, but she had always tried to be supportive. What else could they do?
“Em? You there?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m here.” She scrubbed a hand over her eyes. “Is she still in the hospital? Is she stable?”
Toni was silent for a moment. “Em… she didn’t make it.”
The breath rushed out of her lungs again, and this time, she couldn’t get a breath back in. The room spun, and she found herself on the floor beside her bed.
Toni was talking, spelling out the details of Laurel’s final overdose, but Emma could hardly hear her.
The rain fell harder, beating down on the old tin roof and streaming down her cheeks.
Her heart broke for her brother. This would destroy him. And for Juniper… she and her mother were just starting to mend their tattered relationship.
How could Laurel do this to her daughter? To her infant son?
Teddy would never get the chance to know his mother… but maybe that was just as well.
Emma curled around her legs as guilt stabbed at her through the grief. What a terrible thing to think. But after all of the heartbreak that those repeated relapses and overdoses had caused Juniper…
She shook her head and sucked in a breath, then pushed herself up to sitting.
Toni was quiet now, waiting for her to pull herself together.
“Does Jun know?”
“No.” Toni’s voice was ragged with grief. “I didn’t want to tell her over the phone.”
“Right.” Emma scrubbed a hand over her face, trying to get past the shock. “Of course.”
“I thought about coming to tell her myself. I looked at flights… but Em, Ethan’s a wreck. He can’t even take care of Teddy, so Liz and Mom and I are all tag teaming it. Between that and work–”
“No, it’s okay. I get it.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got her.”
“Will you tell her to call me when she’s ready to talk? Or you guys could just call me together? God, I wish I could just teleport to your living room.”
“It’s okay,” she said woodenly. “I’ll tell her.”
Somehow Emma said her goodbyes and extricated herself from the call, but even a minute later, she couldn’t remember what she’d just said.
