13. Emma
Emma
“Nearly done?” Lani asked, stepping into the kitchen.
“Just about. Butterfly pea is the last batch.”
“Is it ready?” Kai shouted. He tumbled over the back of the sofa, followed by Rory. “I want to see!”
“Me too!” Rory shouted. She skidded to a halt beside her cousin. “What are we seeing?”
“It’s a magic trick!”
“It’s chemistry.” Emma poured the bright blue liquid into a glass decanter full of ice and lemonade, where the acid from the lemon juice turned the whole mixture pink.
“It’s pink lemonade!” Rory shouted. “Is that how you make pink lemonade?”
“It’s how we make pink lemonade,” Kai said proudly.
“We’ve done this before,” Lani said to her daughter. “Don’t you remember?”
“But this one is so big!”
“It is.” She looked at Emma. “How are you going to move that thing?”
“I’ll manage. I’m at least as strong as Juniper.”
“Stronger!” Kai declared.
“Thanks, buddy.”
“She’s not still lifting those!” Lani said, horrified.
“No, Cody does all of the heavy lifting these days. But Juniper used to do it by herself. She was doing five markets a week at one point, plus working for Nate.”
“Kids these days,” Lani quipped. “No work ethic.”
“Mom, can I have a sandwich?”
“Not right now, Kai. Lunch will be ready soon. You can eat with everyone else.”
“But I’m hungry now !”
“Then you can go forage.”
“Aw man!” Kai scuffed his bare foot across the tile floor. Despite Emma’s best efforts, it was dusted with dog hair and bits of grass – a true farmhouse.
“What’s forage?” Rory chirped.
“It’s looking for food outside,” Kai grumbled.
“There’s lots of food outside!” she said brightly. “There’s bananas and carrots and fennel and—”
“Okay, okay! Come on. We can climb the rambutan tree.”
“I love rambutan!”
Emma chuckled as they ran out the door. She hefted the glass container full of lemonade off of the counter, and Lani whistled.
“Girl, look at those muscles!”
“Farm chores have done me good,” Emma said, a bit breathless as she carried the lemonade out the door and down the steps. Her blue dress swished around her knees as she walked.
“No kidding. And it’s nice to see you wearing some real clothes.”
“As opposed to running around nude like I usually do?”
“As opposed to Adam’s ratty old t-shirts. Is that a new dress?”
“I’ve had it for years.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“It’s been hanging in my closet since I got here.”
“You’re lucky it didn’t grow mold.”
“There’s a reason our closets have no doors.” Emma set the lemonade down on one of the tables they’d set up in the shade of the orchard. “Man, that’s heavy. I don’t know if Jun and Cody are typical of their generation, but they certainly give me hope.”
“Yeah, nothing says hope for the future like a teenage pregnancy.”
Emma gave her a playful shove. “You’re just a bucket of laughs today.”
Lani grinned, unrepentant, and they headed back towards the kitchen.
“Where are the lovebirds, anyway?”
“I’m not sure. I asked Cody to get her off the property while we set up. I think he took her down to the cliffs for a picnic.”
“That’s nice.”
“He’s a nice boy.”
Lani paused and looked at her. “Do you think they’ll make it?”
“I really do. Adam and I did. We were even younger than them when we met.”
“You two aren’t the norm.”
“No, we’re the gold standard.” Emma grinned, accustomed to the mixed emotions that flooded her chest whenever she talked about her late husband.
She held tight to her gratitude and let the rest drain away.
“But Jun’s exceptional, and so is Cody. They’ve got a real chance, I think. As much as anybody.”
“I can’t tell if having a baby makes their chances better or worse.”
“It’ll be hard. It’s hard on anybody. But it’s probably easier when you’re young and full of energy – provided that you have a good support system, which they do.”
“Speak of the devil,” Lani muttered as they walked up the kitchen steps.
Emma blinked at her in confusion. “What?”
She gestured through the carport towards the front of the property, where Tara had just pulled up in her big white van.
“Tara’s a friend,” Emma reminded her dryly. “We like Tara.”
Lani wrinkled her nose. “Tara disappeared off the face of the planet the second Jun showed her a positive pregnancy test.”
“She did not.”
“She totally did!”
“Okay, maybe a little.”
“I haven’t seen her in months!”
“She’s been busy.”
“We’re all busy , Em. She pulled a vanishing act.”
“She’s got three homeschooled kids, a growing business, and she moved her whole menagerie up to Liam’s ranch. She’s been busy.”
“She bailed on Jun. Probably encouraged Cody to bail too.”
“Lani, stop. She did not.”
“We’re just supposed to smile and pretend that she didn’t disappear for the duration of the pregnancy?”
“Jun is still pregnant, last time I checked. And she’s here for the baby shower. And she’s our friend .”
“Eh.” Lani moved her hand in a so-so gesture.
Emma laughed. “You’re incorrigible.”
She winked and disappeared into the house. Emma went to meet Tara, who was pulling food out of the back of her van.
“Need a hand?”
Tara grinned at her over the gate. “That would be great, thanks.”
As soon as the gate opened, Dio bolted through and sniffed at Tara’s feet, his whole body wriggling in excitement as he greeted their long-lost neighbor. Then the twins came out of the van, and his excitement doubled.
“It’s been a long time,” Emma said, lifting a stack of containers.
“It has,” Tara acknowledged. She glanced at her own property and looked quickly away. “I’m happy where I am, but it still hurts to be here. It’s so weird to see our old home from the outside. I don’t like seeing the yard all overgrown.”
“Then don’t look,” Piper said, running through the gate ahead of them. Tara rolled her eyes and they walked through the open gate, leaving Paige to close up behind them.
As they were setting the food out – still covered – in the orchard, a trickle of guests began to arrive. Lani greeted them at the front gate, leaving Emma free to chat with Tara. With the kids jumping on the trampoline as they caught up, things started to feel more normal between them.
“Emma, this one’s for you!” Lani shouted from the carport.
She walked around to the front yard, greeting friends and acquaintances in passing.
Keith waited for her near the fence, half hidden by the oversized leaves of the ‘ulu tree.
Kai ran by with his friends and a casual, “Hi, Keith!”
Emma felt grateful that her son had gotten to know her new beau as a friend, just another steady member of the strong community they had found in Pualena. She hoped that it would be an easy transition for him as she and Keith gradually found their way towards something more.
She hoped that they could find their way towards something more.
“Hello,” she said, surprised and pleased to see him. “I thought you had class today.”
“I do. I need to get back to the farm in a minute. I just wanted to drop this by.” He held up a small canvas bag filled with roots and bulbs.
“What’s this?”
“It’s black turmeric.” He broke one small root in half to reveal the bright blue flesh and a strong, camphor-like smell. “For her collection of medicinals. It makes a powerful tea.”
“That’s so thoughtful.”
“And this too.” He gestured to a banana keiki that she hadn’t seen amongst the low-lying plants surrounding the ‘ulu tree. “For Jun and the baby. Should start producing by the time he’s up and running. Saba variety. It’s her favorite.”
“Thank you.” Emma kissed him lightly on the lips, like it was the simplest thing in the world – and in that moment, with no time to overthink things or work herself into a state of anxiety, it was. A tranquil warmth suffused her when he kissed her back.
Keith’s hands found her waist. He rested his forehead on hers – not pushing for more or going in for a second kiss – just making contact and extending the moment. And in that moment, Emma felt a settled sense of safety that had eluded her for a very long time.
They stood that way for a while, sheltered by the ‘ulu tree and hibiscus bushes, just breathing together. The greenery around and above them moved and whispered in the wind, like the whole world was breathing along with them.
“You should get to class,” she said at last.
“Right,” he said, not moving his hands from her waist. “Class.”
“Go on.” She took a step backwards.
“Dinner tonight?” he asked, and a smile overtook her face. The thought of seeing him again filled her with a warm sense of anticipation.
“Yes.”
“Okay.” He closed the space between them, claiming a second kiss, and then he moved away.
Emma stayed beneath the ‘ulu tree a minute longer, one hand on a steady branch as she worked to regain her equilibrium.
Then Cody’s car pulled up out front, and she sprang into action.
“What’s going on?” She heard Juniper’s voice from the other side of the lilikoi-covered fence. “Why are there so many cars?”
“Surprise!” Emma ran to the gate and leaned over it, beaming at Jun. “It’s a baby shower!”
“Hello!” a voice shouted down the street.
Fern ran up, her long legs moving gracefully even as Theo bounced and giggled in the carrier on her back.
“Are we late? I’m sorry! We’ve been potty training and it’s all turned into a bit of a production.
He won’t sit on the potty unless there’s a certain song, but the toy that plays the song broke and so I had to find it online – anyway, we’re here now. ”
“You’re right on time,” Emma assured her. “The guest of honor just arrived.”
“Hi, Dad.” Juniper looked past Fern to Ethan, who came jogging up the road.
“Hey there, Junebug.” He strode up and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “How are you feeling?”
“A bit tired,” she admitted.
“We have comfy chairs set up in the orchard,” Emma told her, taking her arm. “Come on through.”
Cody held the gate open for them, then waited for Fern and Ethan to walk through before closing it behind them.
“Is this all for me?” Juniper asked as they came into sight of the gathering in the orchard.