7. Lani
7
Lani
T he lilikoi vines in the backyard were loaded with fruit: green globes that turned purple and gold before falling to the ground and filling the air with their sticky-sweet fragrance. Alien flowers dotted the wall of green, reaching out with their white and purple tendrils.
Lani walked the fenceline, filling a cardboard box with fallen fruit. The late afternoon sun was warm on her face, its last golden rays streaking sideways across the island before it disappeared to the west. It was a moment of perfect tranquility in a home that was really starting to feel like hers .
She had never felt that way in Alaska, had never felt truly safe. Even at the Kealoha place, she had never felt fully at home, had (through no fault of Emma’s) always felt like a guest who might overstay her welcome. And here with Tenn, it took a long time for her defenses to finally crumble enough for her to feel like more than just an overnight guest.
The man had hung her art on the walls before she had even moved in, and she had since painted murals directly on the walls themselves… but feeling welcome wasn’t quite the same as feeling at ease.
It took time to feel fully at home somewhere, time to settle in.
She was finally getting there, finally feeling settled and secure.
The cardboard box was full to overflowing with lilikoi, but she stood out in the yard a while longer, just drinking in the day. The tangy, tropical scent of ripe passion fruit always transported her back to her childhood summers and made her heart ache for her parents.
These days, she found that she could bear up against the grief. She loved her life too much to long for anything else.
Finally, when the shade of the mountain overtook Pualena, Lani headed inside.
Tenn was in the kitchen, as usual, making a healthy dinner for their family. She claimed a spare bit of counter and started processing lilikoi, cutting open the hollow globes so that she could scoop the pulp out into the blender.
“Smells like you brought the summer sunshine inside,” Tenn said.
“The vines are pumping out fruit so fast I can hardly keep up.”
“I can always bring a box to the restaurant if it’s too much.”
“No, I want the juice. We can freeze it. I just need to stay on top of it.”
“Leave some out of the freezer and I’ll make lilikoi limeade to go with dinner.”
“That sounds amazing. With that local honey again?”
“Of course.”
Lani pulsed the blender twice, separating the lilikoi seeds from the pulp to extract the bright orange juice. Then she poured it through a fine mesh strainer, poking at the pulp with a silicone spatula to get as much juice as she could.
At the kitchen island, Tenn was prepping ingredients for sushi rolls. It was a common weeknight meal for them, something that he had made so many times that he could put them together without much effort.
The first time that Tenn had made sushi for her, they’d had the whole ocean-view restaurant to themselves. And as smooth as that was, eating together as a family was even better. She thought back to their first date – not so long ago, really – and marveled at how far they had come.
He’d gotten a haircut earlier that week, chopping off the sun-light tips and leaving the rest true black. The clean cut accentuated the strong lines of his jaw and his sun-bronzed neck.
Her husband. The thought still took her breath away sometimes. He was hers .
How did she ever get so lucky?
“What?” Tenn asked, smiling at her.
“What what?” she volleyed.
“You were staring at me.”
She grinned. “Was I?”
“Yes.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Nah.” He flipped one hand like he was tossing long hair over his shoulder, making her laugh.
“Hey Mom?” Olivia appeared in the doorway, blue eyes wide.
Lani smiled at her. “What’s up, Livie?”
“Can you help me with my poster now?” All the big kids at Pualena playschool were working on presentations to share for a unit on local flora and fauna. Rory had pulled together a halfhearted sea turtle display, but Olivia was all in on her dolphin project. She’d had the idea of adding moving pieces, like a dolphin jumping over the top edge of the poster, and Lani had promised to help her.
“Yeah, we can do that. Do you want to go get your poster? I just need to clean up this lilikoi mess.”
“I can help!” Olivia grabbed the small kitchen trash can that Tenn emptied every night and brought it over to the passionfruit husks. “It’s the best-smelling trash in the world!”
Lani laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Olivia transferred the piles of husks over to the trash can while Lani poured the juice into freezer containers – leaving enough out for Tenn to make a pitcher of delicious lilikoi limeade – and then they wiped down the counter together and washed their hands.
“Okay, are you ready to make that dolphin jump?” Lani asked.
“Yeah!” Olivia raced to get her huge folding poster board, and Lani helped her to carry it to the kitchen table.
While Tenn finished making their dinner, they took the construction-paper dolphin they had made the day before and affixed it to a long, sturdy strip of watercolor paper. Then they used a split pin to attach the paper strip to the poster, leaving it free to spin. Standing behind the poster board, Olivia made the dolphin jump into sight and vanish again.
“Perfect!” Lani said.
“Thank you!” Olivia threw her arms around Lani’s waist. “Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome!” Lani returned the hug, rubbing Olivia’s back. After a minute she said, “Let’s clean up so we have room to eat.”
“Dinner’s just about ready,” Tenn added.
“We can’t eat without Rory!” Olivia protested. “Why isn’t she home yet?”
Lani glanced at the clock above the door. “She’ll be home any minute. Come on, I’ll help you move the poster board. Would you set the table?”
“Aye aye, matey!” Olivia scrambled to oblige.
Lani just smiled and shook her head. The Pualena Playschool kids had gone full pirate lately. It was cute at first, but it was starting to drive ‘ōlena up a wall.
Tenn moved past with a huge platter of sushi and set it down in the middle of the table.
“Wow, what a feast!” Lani said.
“I may have gone a bit overboard,” he said with a wry grin. “I made a bunch of the veggie and spam rolls that the kids love. If there are leftovers, they can take them for lunch tomorrow. I’ll just whip up the lilikoi limeade and we’re good to go.”
She moved closer and put her arms around him. “Thank you for taking such good care of us.”
“It’s an honor and a pleasure,” he said, kissing her.
“Rory’s home!” Olivia shouted, running for the front door.
Tenn smiled at Lani and gave her one more kiss before reluctantly letting her go.
“Rory!” Olivia shouted from the doorway. “Come see my dolphin! It jumps!”
“Hi Mom!” Rory shouted in passing, following Olivia into the living room.
Lorenzo continued up the walkway and handed off Rory’s backpack.
“Good day?” Lani asked.
“A very good day,” he said, but his smile was sad. “She pet the animals at the zoo.”
“Yeah, she loves the petting zoo.”
“I have bought my return ticket,” he said gravely. “I leave at three months… legally, I cannot stay longer than this.”
“She’ll be sad to see you go,” Lani said.
Lorenzo nodded. He started to say something else, but Rory ran up and grabbed his hand.
“Wait, Babbo! Don’t go! You have to come see my painting!”
He looked questioningly at Lani, who stepped back and gestured for him to come inside.
“Of course,” she said. “Come on in.”
“Mama bought me a real canvas, Babbo! Look!” She pulled him through to the living room, and he gave her his full attention as she launched into a story about the underwater city she had painted. It looked more like an abstract piece than anything, but in Rory’s mind, each of those mermaid-blobs and coral-colored buildings had a story.
Lani went into the kitchen, where Tenn was pouring bright orange lilikoi limeade into four tall glasses.
“Would it be okay if I invited Lorenzo to stay for dinner?” she asked.
He froze for a second, the blender hovering in the air without pouring.
“I think it would be good for Rory,” she said apologetically, “and he won’t be here much longer.”
Tenn let out a breath and set down the blender. He turned to Lani and opened his arms. As she stepped into him, he said, “Poor guy. I can’t imagine living on a different continent than Livie.”
“He only just met her,” Lani said, but she wasn’t sure whether that made the situation easier or harder on Lorenzo. He didn’t have all of those foundational memories to bond them together, but he had missed out on so much. He may have only known her for a couple of months, but he loved his daughter as much as any parent loved their child. Lani could see that, and her heart ached for him. If she hadn’t been so foolish and irresponsible – but no. She was done castigating herself. She had promised herself that she wouldn’t do that anymore.
“I’ll grab another glass,” Tenn said. He squeezed her and then released her.
“Let’s eat,” she added. “I’m starved.”
“In this house?” he asked in mock horror.
She just laughed.
“Livie, come finish setting the table,” he said as he walked into the living room. “Hey, Lorenzo. Hi Rory!”
“Hi Dad!’ she said brightly.
“Do you want to invite your babbo to have dinner with us?”
Rory gasped. “Can I?”
“Of course. There’s plenty.”
“Will you stay for dinner, Babbo?” she asked, pleading.
“I would be honored,” Lorenzo said. “Thank you.”
The three adults were a bit stilted and awkward as they sat down to eat together for the first time, but the girls’ chatter got things moving. Before long, Tenn and Lorenzo were talking about growing tomatoes in volcanic soil and the keys to a truly great red sauce.
Rory followed the conversation with rapt attention. Her face glowed with happiness.
Lani felt another niggle of guilt, but she pushed it aside.
Whatever mistakes she had made along the way had brought them here, to this moment. Rory was thriving, and so was she. Their little family of four was living their best life, surrounded by extended family and friends who poured so much love into the two girls.
In the end, there was nothing more important than that.