Page 28 of Big Island Sunset
“It’s weird.”
“To them it won’t be.”
“If they grew up as brothers,” he started, and then shook his head. “It’s not like Jun would give us her baby. She’s too stubborn.”
Fern’s heart jolted at the ‘us’ but he seemed hardly to have noticed.
“I don’t think I could handle it anyway,” he murmured, like he was talking to himself. “I really don’t.”
“It’s not all or nothing. You can be there for Juniper without raising the baby yourself. She’s the one who needs your support.”
“A grandson the same age as my son.” He sighed, dropping his head back against the couch to stare up at the ceiling. “That feels so trashy.”
“Is that what you’re worried about?” she asked in a tone of mild reproach. “What other people will think?”
“Honestly?” He sat up straight and looked at her. “Yeah. I’mreallynot looking forward to telling my parents. They just about disowned me when Laurel got pregnant, and they werenothappy about Juniper switching over to independent study just when she was in the final stretch of her high school years. To them, it was the same as dropping out. And now this.”
“They came around eventually, didn’t they? With Juniper?”
He sighed and nodded. “They adored her.”
“They’ll love this baby too.”
“They’re so far away. And now… how can I ever move back if Juniper’s raising a baby here?”
“Slow down. You don’t know where she’ll be in a few years. Honestly, you don’t even know if this pregnancy will stick. She’s not even showing yet.”
“That’s true,” he said, looking thoughtful.
“What matters is whether or not you’re supportive of her right now, whether you make her stress worse or help to ease it.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I botched this whole thing, didn’t I?”
“The day’s not over yet.”
“You think I should go back?”
“What do you think?”
“I should go back. In a little while.” He leaned back and sighed, then looked at her with a lopsided smile. “You don’t mind dating a grandpa?”
“Why would I?” she asked with a grin.
He shrugged. “It’s just… weird.”
“I’m older than you are,” she reminded him.
His eyes widened. “Are you really?”
“I turn forty this year.”
Humor glinted in his eyes as he asked, “What makes you think that I’m younger than that? I’m about to be a grandfather, after all.”
“You gave me a copy of your ID along with your rental agreement.”
He wrinkled his nose in a good-humored way. “Oh yeah.”
“You’re thirty-eight, right?”
