Page 37 of Big Island Summer
“She didn’t say anything. She just chucked an empty soda can at his head.”
Juniper cackled, setting her knife flat on the table until she stopped laughing.
“Then Ethan said, ‘I told you so,’ and she pushed him into the pool.”
“Oh man,” Juniper wheezed, “that’s hilarious.”
“Can I help?” Kai asked, standing just behind Emma’s shoulder.
She startled and nearly sliced herself with her paring knife. “Hey, kiddo. I didn’t see you there.”
“Mom? Can I help?”
“Sure.” She scanned the table, looking for something that he could do without making a mess of things. Peeling and slicing was out, and even loading the bags would probably result in a pile of ripe mango on the dirty asphalt floor of the carport.
“Can I cut the mango?”
“They’re really slippery. That’s a level of knife skills you don’t quite have yet.”
“Then whatcanI do?”
“Do you want to scoop the mango into freezer bags with a spoon?”
“Not really.”
“Do you want a bowl of mango to eat?”
“I don’t want toeat. I want tohelp!”
“I hear you, kiddo. I’m just not sure–”
“I want to help cut them! I can do it!”
She hesitated again, and he turned away in disgust.
“Ugh! Never mind!” He stomped up the stairs into the house and slammed the door behind him.
“And they say teenagers are difficult,” Juniper quipped.
“I haven’t actually raised a teenager of my own, but when I was working as a teacher I always thought that ages three to six were the absolute hardest years.”
“Didn’t you mostly teach kindergarten?”
“It’s hard, but it’s fun,” Emma said with a grin.
“If you say so.” Juniper shook her head. “I can handle Kai and Cassie for a while, but I can’t imagine trying to manage like thirty of them all in one room, day after day.”
“It’s a whole nother skill set, that’s for sure.”
They were still processing mangos, down to the final layer in the oversized cardboard box that Emma had stored them in, when Ethan got back.
“I’ll get it!” Kai shouted, racing up the driveway. “I’ll get it!”
Ethan parked his truck next to Emma’s car and walked into the carport holding Teddy’s car seat in one hand. The baby was sound asleep, his face damp with sweat from the summer heat.
“Can I leave him here with you?” Ethan asked. “I’m just going to get our clothes packed and into the truck.”
“Sure, that’s fine.”
