Page 51 of Big Island Sunset
Fern swallowed. “That’s true. I never knew her.”
His face collapsed from anger to despair. “I don’t have anything to offer you.”
“You have plenty to offer.” She paused, searching for the right words, searching for something that might remind him of who he was, how capable he was, how much he cared.
“I should never have come here,” he said mournfully. “Juniper doesn’t want me here. No one does.”
“I want you here,” she said in a broken voice.
“I’m sorry, Fern. I never should have gotten involved with you – with anyone – so soon after losing Laurel. You deserve better.”
“You’re having one bad day,” she said, moving closer. “That doesn’t cancel out all the good ones.”
He shook his head, looking down at his hands. “I don’t know how much longer I can stay.”
She froze. “What do you mean?”
“My business is a mess. The guy I left in charge just dropped the ball on a big project, and it’s my fault for bailing on him with no warning. I can’t keep running things from over here.”
“So you’re leaving? Just like that?”
“I don’t know.” His voice was tight and uneven as he fought back tears. “I don’t – I can’t do this right now. You should go.”
She hovered there for another moment, wanting to go to him. What chance did any relationship have if two people couldn’t be there for each other at their worst?
“Just go, Fern. Please.” His voice was ragged.
She turned away, lurching for the exit as if he had shoved her. She walked out onto the landing and closed the front door gently behind her.
They didn’t have a relationship, she thought bitterly. Not really.
She descended the stairs slowly, keeping one hand on the rail. She felt dizzy.
Enough. She was too old for this. Too old for the drama. It was too much.
If he didn’t want her around, she wouldn’t try to force it.
It was his loss.
Fern stomped around to her little downstairs apartment and went inside, slamming the door behind her.
Alone in her room, her bravado faded.
She thought of all of the sunny days they had spent together exploring the island, the steep jungle hikes and lazy hours at the beach. She felt at ease in his company in a way that was entirely new, and she didn’t want to lose him.
Then she thought of Theo, and the possibility of losing him forever hit her like a punch to the gut.
She crawled into bed and cried herself to sleep.
14
Lani
“Ready?” Lani asked, holding Olivia’s hand.
Tenn had gone into the cafe to cover for his head chef at the last minute, and so the little girl was stuck with her stepmom for yet another trip to the hospital. She had at least brightened a bit when Lani revealed matching dresses, each of them blue with dolphins swimming near the hem.
Olivia’s eyes were wide as she stared at the cast saw. But when the nurse moved to set the tool against her rainbow-covered cast, she jerked her arm away.
