Page 46 of Big Island Moonlight
For most of Rory’s life, it had been just the two of them. Life was better now, exponentially so, but Lani still felt a low pang of loss when she thought of how much less time she had with her daughter each week than she’d had a couple of years before. She wanted more time with Rory, more time with Tenn, more time together as a family… and she had no idea of where to get it.
When they were done, they got two more bowls for Olivia and Tenn and then headed home.
They walked in the door to the sound of a man’s voice speaking Italian.
“Babbo?” Rory asked, frowning in confusion.
The voice spoke again.
“That doesn’tsoundlike Babbo.”
“Mi scusi, non capisco,” the man said.
“Mi scusi, non capisco,” Tenn and Olivia chorused.
Lani walked into the kitchen carrying a paper bowl in each hand.
“Shave ice!” Olivia shouted, springing up from her chair.
“You caught us.” Tenn grinned at them and pressed a button on his phone, pausing the recording.
“I have lemon or strawberry,” Lani said to Olivia.
“Lemon, please!”
She put the bowl down and handed the other one to Tenn.
“Thanks.” He took the bowl and gave her a kiss on the temple before digging into the shave ice.
“What were you doing?” Rory asked.
“Learning Italian!” Olivia said.
“I didn’t have much patience for that app,” Tenn explained. “I wanted something that I could use while my hands are busy, so we started this audiobook.”
“Thank you,” Lani said thickly. She felt overwhelmed with gratitude and love for the man she’d married.
“Grazie mille!” Olivia shouted, waving her spoon in the air.
Lani ran a hand up her husband’s back, smiling at him when he met her eyes. He was so beautiful that sometimes he still took her breath away.
“It means a lot to me that you want to learn,” she said.
Tenn shrugged. “It’s no big deal. We just didn’t want to be the odd ones out.”
“Itisa big deal. Thank you.”
He just grinned and gave her a strawberry-flavored kiss.
“Does this mean we’re all going to Italy?” Rory asked, bouncing up and down.
Lani patted her head. “Someday,piccolina.”
“When, though?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“When you sell a thousand coloring books?”
