Chapter 7 Oakley
Oakley
The next few days passed in a blur of busy routine. Somehow the pristine blue skies and perfect summer air had become a backdrop to their busy days, as opposed to something that they could fully soak in and enjoy.
Oakley was constantly juggling the Pilates classes that she taught with all of her girls’ activities – and with Trent off on a business trip to the mainland that week, she was juggling it all alone.
She knew that they were overscheduled, but what was she supposed to do? Harper and Hayden loved their martial arts classes. They loved soccer and theater. They were less crazy about their swimming lessons and piano practice, but both of those felt necessary to Oakley.
Probably she should have dialed back at work with the girls out of school for the summer, but the family needed that income to pay for all of their extracurriculars.
She’d manage it all somehow. She always did.
And even with all of that busyness, she had managed to carve out an entire day for a waterfall hike with Anne and the kids. She’d packed food the night before and herded two sleepy girls into the van before sunrise to make the trek down to Pualena.
“Hey you!” Oakley shouted out the window at Pete as she pulled up the long driveway. “Ready for an adventure?”
“Yeah!” he shouted back. He was dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of trunks, with nothing on his feet.
“Go get your shoes on!”
He bolted into the house, shouting, “They’re here!”
“Can we get out?” Harper whined.
“Stay buckled,” Oakley responded. “We’re leaving in one minute. If we’re late, there won’t be anywhere to park.”
She groaned and slouched in her seat.
Oakley clicked their audiobook back on and stepped out of the car.
She was wearing her swimsuit too, a sporty bikini underneath her hiking dress.
It was practically a crime to let a full week go by in Hawaii without diving into the ocean waves or swimming in the river, but life got so busy that sometimes they went a whole month without making it to the beach or getting out for a hike.
“Summer goals,” she muttered as she jogged towards the house. “Get out in nature for a swim twice a week.”
Anne was inside, her face white with sunscreen. She wore a loose pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt. When she saw her sister, her face went into a pout.
“What?” Oakley laughed at Anne’s expression.
“Do you ever age?” she asked with disgust.
“What are you talking about?” Oakley demanded.
“Look at you.” She moved her hand vaguely up and down, gesturing to the body that Oakley kept strong with Pilates and a face that required a ten-step skincare routine. “Am I the only Aloha sister who actually looks my age?”
Oakley’s smile turned nostalgic. “No one’s called us that in ages”
“Aloha forever,” Anne said staunchly.
Sometime in early elementary school, Anne had realized that the initials of the five girls in the house – from tiny Akemi up to teenaged Halia – formed the word ALOHA.
They weren’t exactly sisters at the start – Halia and Laurie weren’t officially adopted until they were teenagers – but it was something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Somehow, Anne had known from the beginning that those two were part of their family, distinct from the dozens of other foster kids who passed through each year.
She had told everyone in town about their acronym, and for the rest of her years on the island, that was how all of the aunties referred to them.
Then they had scattered, with only Halia remaining in Pualena.
And now they were back.
“We’ve gotta get going,” Oakley said. “Is Akemi coming?”
“She went back to bed. Jet lag had her up at one in the morning.”
“How about Claire?”
“I’m here!” Her teenaged niece thundered down the stairs, all lanky white limbs and fire-red hair. Oakley made a mental note to spray her with sunscreen every twenty minutes or so. “Let’s go!”
A few minutes later, everyone was buckled into the van, and they were on the road. Usually Oakley drove her smaller car and left the gas-guzzler at home, but it was worth bringing it south to get everybody out on a hike.
The kids’ chatter was a pleasant backdrop to Annie Oakley’s conversation. They could talk forever about anything and everything.
Even living apart their whole adult lives, they had rarely gone a single day without talking. There was no beginning and no end to it – just pauses.
Having Anne there next to her made Oakley feel whole and at home in a way that she had never quite recaptured as an adult.
Growing up, she’d felt sometimes that they were a single person. Annie Oakley. And she never felt quite herself when they were apart.
They had set off to create their own lives as soon as they were adults.
Oakley might have followed Anne to college, but somehow there had been no overlap in the universities that had accepted them.
And so they had moved to two different states on the mainland and built two completely separate lives.
Anne had remained in California for decades, but Oakley had moved home to Hawaii soon after graduation.
She built a career as a journalist – and even worked as a local news anchor for a while – before throwing her whole self into motherhood.
Once both girls were in school, she became a Pilates instructor and filled her spare hours that way.
Oakley had an amazing life… and yet never once had she ever felt like she’d arrived. She’d thought that feeling adrift was simply part of being an adult and making things up as she went along… but maybe it was the vast distance between her and her almost-twin that had made her feel that way.
In that moment, with her sister by her side and the kids strapped in behind them, she felt as though she was exactly where she was meant to be.
The drive to Hilo was over in a blink. Oakley navigated them through a quiet neighborhood on the edge of town and parked just a few yards from the trailhead.
“Okay!” she said as she threw the car into park. “Let’s get moving.”
“Isn’t Laurie coming?” Anne asked.
“No.” She kept her voice down, beneath the chattery noise of four kids spilling out of the car. “Chris wouldn’t let her have the car.”
“Wouldn’t let her?” Anne repeated incredulously.
“He took it to work.”
“Should we go get her?”
“I offered,” Oakley said heavily. “She said she had too much to do at home.”
Anne’s eyes went distant, worrying about their younger sister.
“Come on.” She hopped out and shouldered her backpack. “Let’s hit the trail!”
It was a long, easy walk to the river. Her girls probably would have groaned and grumbled if she’d tried taking just the two of them, but having their cousins along kept their spirits up.
“Where are we going again?” Claire huffed as they walked up the slight but steady incline.
“Hikuwai,” Anne said, short of breath.
“It means Sevenwaters,” Oakley told her niece.
“For the seven waterfalls!” Harper added.
“Are we almost there?” Claire asked.
“The river’s just on the other side of that eucalyptus grove.” Oakley pointed uphill to the towering trees that swayed in the breeze. There was already a faint scent in the air, sharp and clean.
The air was cooler in the deep shade of the trees. When they finally reached the eucalyptus grove, the kids raced forward with a fresh burst of energy.
“Can you hear the waterfalls?” Harper shouted, sprinting up the hill.
They hiked up one last steep bit of trail and were finally rewarded with a sweeping view of Oakley’s favorite place on Earth.
She loved both of her home towns with all her heart, and she had loved her New England college town. In the early years of her relationship with Trent, they had taken trips to all seven continents and seen countless extraordinary sights.
But somehow, nothing compared to Hikuwai.
The place was otherworldly. There was a magic to this verdant valley that she could feel right down to her soul.
Two rivers joined there, crashing down from the mountains and pausing in deep pools before continuing downhill in one enormous waterfall. The space swallowed the handful of hikers who had gotten there before them, generous enough that each group could claim their own natural swimming pool.
Oakley stood there for a long moment, taking in the view while the kids worked their way down the hill and towards the river.
She relished the rushing sound of the seven waterfalls, and her gaze wandered from one to another in a leisurely sort of way, almost caressing the white water and dark green vegetation that grew all around.
It was the one place in the world where her nervous system felt fully at ease.
Ironic, given the rushing water that could easily sweep her girls away.
The river was dangerous. On a logical level, she was fully aware of that – and she respected it. She had instilled a healthy level of caution in both girls at an early age, and they knew how to navigate the rocks and rivers.
On a somatic level, the place brought her nothing but peace.
The water level was relatively low that day, and they all waded easily across the first branch of the river. Then they hiked up the rocks and made their way to Oakley’s favorite pool.
The waterfall there was smaller than the others, but that was why Oakley liked it. It was low enough for the kids to climb to the top and jump into the pool below.
The water was gorgeous and clear – but even so, the pool looked dark. It was far too deep to touch the bottom, even jumping off of the modest cliff. The deep basin had roughly the same surface area as a backyard swimming pool, and the water was calm.
Safe as she felt at Hikuwai, Oakley maintained a healthy degree of caution. The bigger waterfalls were there to admire, not to approach. The tops were far too high to see, and there was no knowing when a rock or a log might come crashing down.
This waterfall, though, the calm little one. It was kid sized. Tall and loud enough to feel big to them, but short enough that Oakley could easily monitor the pool that fed into it.