Page 13 of Big Island Moonlight
“Yeah.”
“I think she’d be glad to see you.”
“She came to the farmers market on Sunday, and she didn’t evenlookat me.”
Emma winced. “Maybe she didn’t see you.”
Jun folded her arms across her gigantic stomach. “Yeah, because I’m so easy to miss.”
“She hasn’t handled this well,” Emma admitted.
Juniper snorted in derision.
“She’s had a lot on her plate, with the move and the business and the kids.”
“She hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you,” Emma said with conviction. Her expression turned sad. “You two used to be so close. You were next door all the time, cooking with her, playing with the twins–”
“That was before.”
“It could be that way again. But someone has to make the first move.”
“She’s been ignoring me for months!”
“And you’ve been ignoring her right back. You can’t keep freezing each other out.”
“Why should I be the one to make the first move?”
“You shouldn’t have to,” her aunt admitted, looking troubled. “But if she’s not going to, then I guess it needs to be you.”
“She’s the grown-up,” she pouted.
“So are you,” Emma said with a pointed look at her distended stomach.
Jun wrinkled her nose. “Okay, I’ll come.”
“We’re leaving in ten,” Emma said as she stood.
“What happened to island time?” Jun called after her.
Her aunt didn’t respond.
Juniper sighed and quickly finished weaving in the loose ends on the two sweaters. Then she hauled herself upstairs tochange. She’d found plenty of new-to-her clothes at the transfer stations around the island. They were a great place to find maternity clothes, and baby clothes too – probably because neither of them got used for very long.
When they got up to the ranch, the twins’ party was already in full swing. All of the Pualena Playschool kids were there, plus a dozen other kids from the girls’ homeschool groups. Half of them were lined up waiting for a turn riding a trio of ponies that Liam’s daughter Maddie had brought out of the stables.
Cody was in the ring too, leading a horse that held two small kids. He was wearing a hat that Juniper had made for him, a dark yellow beanie that brought out the gold in his eyes. When he saw her, he handed the reins off to Maddie and vaulted the fence.
“You made it,” he said when he reached her. His expression was soft, and he took her hands in his.
“Here I am.” Her voice creaked with anxiety.
“Do you want some food?”
She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
He put an arm around her shoulders and stood beside her as she looked around, taking in the party. She felt stranded between the adults and the kids. Obviously she couldn’t go ride ponies with the nine year olds, but she didn’t feel comfortable joining in with the forty-somethings either.
