Page 32 of Big Island Moonlight
“Remember how it ends with her baby? Because that was the end of her childhood, becoming a mother. Even though she was still a minor. Actually, it ends when her mom hands her the baby and tells her to handle it, and she sleeps the whole night with her son without crushing him or anything, and she realizesthat she’s more capable than she thought.” Juniper paused for breath. “She was my age.”
“She was.”
Juniper thought of Angelou’s second biography, of the utter shambles that was her life between seventeen and twenty… and she decided not to talk about that one. They lived in a much softer world than Maya had, with an immense amount of support.
She would be okay. She had to believe that she would be okay.
“Mama!” Kai’s voice sounded from upstairs, high and reedy, and Emma was on her feet in an instant.
“He’s been having nightmares again,” she explained, already halfway across the kitchen.
Juniper finished her tea, and then she heaved herself to her feet and started making waffles. By the time Kai and his friend came downstairs, the first two were already done.
“You’re a rockstar,” Emma said gratefully.
She and Kai left after breakfast to take Prince home to his grandma, and Juniper puttered around the house.
Despite her best efforts to keep things organized, her knitting projects and library books were scattered throughout all three floors. She moved slowly, collecting the flotsam and jetsam of her life and piling it all on the kitchen table, just steps from the back door. When the first two floors were clear, she went up to the tower room to collect the rest of her things.
She didn’t own much. Her clothes fit into two big paper shopping bags. Her books took three trips down the stairs. After that, one last trip to gather some odds and ends and take her pictures down from the wall… and that was it. Like she had never been there at all.
The view from the third floor was glorious. The trees in the orchard moved fitfully in the breeze, and the ocean glinted just afew miles away. She gazed wistfully out the window for a while, feeling melancholy, and then she made her final trip down the stairs.
Emma returned midmorning, closely followed by Nell and Hugh. They gathered up the last of Nell’s things – she really didn’t have much left at the cottage, maybe even less than the pile Jun had gathered on the kitchen table – and Nell said a tearful goodbye to Emma.
“Oh, this is so silly,” Nell laughed through her tears.
“We’ll still see each other all the time,” Emma told her. “Nearly every day when the playschool starts up again.”
“I know.” She wiped her tears away with both hands. “This place was just such a sanctuary for us. Even more so than A Place of Refuge. You gave us a home, Em. That was… everything. And now I’m leaving you to take care of the goats and garden all on your own! That wasn’t the deal.”
Emma laughed. “I can handle it.”
“Thank you,” Nell said, hugging her.
“You are so welcome.” She squeezed her tight and then stepped back.
“There you are!” Hugh rounded the corner and beamed at Nell. Everett’s laughter filled the air; his soon-to-be stepdad had slung him over one shoulder like a sack of sweet potatoes. “Are you ready to go? The girls are begging for lunch.”
“I’m ready.” Nell stood on tiptoe to kiss Emma’s cheek, and then she ran to take Hugh’s hand.
Emma turned to Jun and spread her arms wide. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Let’s get you moved in.”
It was the work of minutes, carrying everything that Juniper owned across the lawn and into the little cottage that stood beside the garden.
“I should go make Kai some lunch,” Emma said as she set down the final stack of books. “Are you okay to settle in on your own?”
“I think I can handle it,” Jun said dryly.
“Get your clothes and books put away,” Emma advised. “That will go a long way towards making the place feel like home.”
“Okay.”
“Do you want to have lunch with us? It should be ready by noon.”
