Page 45 of Big Island Summer
“I just came to see how you and Theodore are settling in. Do you have everything you need?”
“Yeah, we’re good.”
“Okay, you just let me know. I’d be happy to watch Theo for a while, if you need time to unpack.”
“There’s not much to unpack,” he said gruffly. “I didn’t bring much of anything.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Sorry.” He rubbed his eyes and focused, looking directly at her for the first time. “I didn’t get much sleep.”
“I know,” she said without thinking.
“I’m sorry. Did he wake you up?”
“I woke myself up,” she said quickly. “But I could hear him.”
“Sorry,” he said again.
“Don’t be. I felt bad for him, that’s all.”
“He’s sleeping now.”
“That’s good. Maybe you can get some rest too.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound hopeful.
“Okay, I’ll leave you to it. Just give me a shout if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” He looked at her for a moment, seeming to really take her in for the first time.
Then he shut the door.
Fern went back downstairs – not to her car for a hike, but back to her little apartment to hang her keys on the wall. She just wasn’t feeling the hike today. Maybe she would stay home, get some cooking done for the week.
She pulled down a jar of pigeon peas to start a batch of dal. Running through the motions of a familiar recipe soothed her nerves, as did the warm aromas that filled her little kitchen.
By the time her food was done, Theodore was crying again.
She forced herself to sit and eat, even though the wails reverberating through the ceiling made her stomach ache in sympathy – for Theo and his father both.
Emma had mentioned that her brother was a widower, and Fern had picked up a few details through the coconut wireless. She wasn’t the only one who had noticed the handsome newcomer; Pualena was a small town, and people talked.
Apparently, Theodore’s mother had passed away just a few weeks ago due to an accidental overdose. She was Juniper’s mother as well, which explained the drastic change in thebeautiful teenage girl who had been coming to Fern’s classes. She had disappeared for a week or two and then, when she had accompanied her aunt to class a few days ago, she had been an ashen shell of the vibrant girl that Fern remembered. If she’d known the girl better, she would have stepped up to support her – but she was a new student, and a young one. At least she had her aunt, and hopefully friends and neighbors who would be there to hold her up.
Ethan, though… he was new to the island and alone upstairs with his infant son. The man probably felt like he was drowning. Who wouldn’t, after a loss like that?
The attraction that she felt towards him was her own problem, completely unrelated to her desire to help. If there were a single mother struggling upstairs, Fern’s need to help her wouldn‘t be any less. If anything, she probably would have barged in and made the woman breakfast.
Women were like that, though. They pulled together and leaned on each other. It came more naturally to them. Even her mother, a rolling stone who gathered no moss, had always had a way of finding instant community and support wherever she went.
Men rarely knew how to ask for help… or even accept it when it was offered. And she didn’t want to overstep.
But when she heard Ethan’s steps on the stairs, a force beyond her control pulled her to the window. And when she saw Theo’s tear-streaked face, there was nothing for it but to walk out the door. Her long legs traversed the distance between them in a few strides.
“Good morning,” she said brightly. Then, awkwardly, “Again.”
“Hey.” Ethan gave her a quick smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sorry. Is it okay for us to be in this part of the yard?”
