Page 46 of Big Island Sunset
She snatched the pamphlet from his hands and ripped it in two.
“Jun, for f–”
“This is my baby!” Juniper jumped to her feet. “A person, not a problem!”
Emma stood up and put an arm around her, trying to calm her.
Ethan stepped forward, pointing a finger at her chest. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, what it takes to–”
“Why don’t you give Teddy away?” she shouted.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“He’s still little. I bet some nice couple would love to adopthim, right? He was a mistake too, wasn’t he? His mom was a junkie, right? Shouldshehave gotten rid ofhim?”
“Enough!” Ethan shouted. “Show some respect.”
“Go back to California.” Jun’s voice broke, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t even want you here. Just go home.”
The despair on Ethan’s face just about broke Emma’s heart.
Juniper went inside, slamming the door behind her.
“What happened?” Toni asked, coming back around the corner of the house.
Ethan kicked at a rock. “She added pregnancy hormones to teenage hormones is what happened.”
“I thought you two were okay.”
“We were!” Ethan shot back, half shouting.
Toni frowned at the pieces of pamphlet on the ground. “What did you do?”
“What did I do?” he growled. Then he shouted, “What didIdo? I let her go live withyou!”
“Me?” Toni exclaimed.
Emma watched them, frozen, her stomach in knots.
“You,” Ethan shouted. “My straight-A student went to stay with her dear, quirky aunt Toni, and what happens? She drops out of high school!”
“She got her GED,” Toni said defensively.
“Right. Great. Look where it got her.”
“Ethan, stop,” Emma pleaded. “Juniper’s a great kid.”
“Stopsayingthat!” he shouted, rounding on her. “Itoldyou I didn’t like her spending so much time with that neighbor kid!”
Emma felt her face pale. The blood rushed out of her head so quickly that she had to sit back down on the porch steps.
“That’s enough,” Toni said.
“I turned to my family for help,” Ethan said, his voice low and venomous, “and youruinedher.”
“What is this, nineteen-fifty?” Toni flung her hands out in exasperation. “She’s not ruined, Ethan!”
“So you’re happy about this?”
