Page 19 of Big Island Sunset
“I don’t know.” He looked worried. “She didn’t say much, just asked if I could come by today. But there was something in her voice… she didn’t sound like herself.”
“Go ahead,” she encouraged him. “I’ll get Theo out of his seat, and you can go check on Jun.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.” She opened the door to get out, but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you.” He leaned in for a kiss – a real one, the kind that had her forgetting where she was and anything that existedbeyond the two of them. Then he pulled away, and reality rushed back in. She gave him a dazed smile and slipped down from the truck.
She managed to lift Theo out of his carseat without waking him, and she stood with him cradled in her arms as Ethan drove away. Small worries niggled at her mind, but the weight of Theo sleeping in her arms filled her heart with peace.
Peace wasn’t a sensation she knew well. It was something she had chased through the years, through endless yoga classes and silent meditation retreats, something that she had fought for and grappled with.
But with Theo in her arms, tranquility felt effortless.
She looked down into his peaceful little face and smiled.
“Maybe you’re the one I was looking for all along.”
5
Emma
“Ithink I’m gonna be sick.” Juniper clutched the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Her freckles were stark against her pale, slightly green-tinged face.
“Do you want more ginger tea?” Emma asked.
“It’s not helping.”
“Ginger candies?”
Juniper shook her head.
“I have some leftover rice. I could–” Emma stopped talking as Juniper ran to the kitchen sink and heaved up bile. She walked over to her niece and held back her shoulder-length auburn hair.
After a couple minutes of dry heaving, Juniper turned on the tap. She rinsed the sink, splashed her face with cool water, and washed her mouth out.
“We have to get something into your stomach,” Emma told her.
Juniper dug into the bag of ginger candies and unwrapped one.
“Actual food.”
“Please don’t mention food,” she groaned, sinking into the nearest chair.
“You’ll feel better.”
“I doubt that.”
“Plain toast?”
“No.”
“Crackers?”
“No, thank you.”
“Is there anything that sounds edible?”
