More often than not, though, she carved out real time for play with cousins or a family swim – and in those moments, she knew that all of her hard work, and all of the trauma of uprooting their life and moving back to her hometown, had been worth it. These were the days that would shape their childhood, the people and places that they would remember all their lives.
Oakley dove into the river with her daughters, letting the cold water wash away the rest of the week. Sometimes, sitting at the kitchen table in their dim little house, she worried that the past year had taken a toll on her relationship with the girls. Then she got in the water with them, and everything felt okay again.
Parenting as they grew felt increasingly complicated. She couldn’t reset their day with a walk to the playground the way she had when they were little. But wild water still worked to restore everyone’s spirits, and thank goodness for that.
The river, so tranquil beneath the bridge and behind the beach, picked up a sudden burst of speed where it funneled along the northern edge of the sand just below thecliffs. Hayden and Harper loved to jump in and ride the rapids, then clamber out onto the beach and run back to the start to do it again. Claire and Pete and Mia all joined in, and they had a whole crew rafting down the river (minus the raft).
Oakley joined them about ten times in a row before she finally called a time out for everyone to catch their breath.
The kids went hunting for sea glass around the water’s edge, and Oakley retreated into the shade of the umbrellas beside her mom and sisters.
“Hungry?” Anne offered her a box of homemade onigiri.
“Starved.” Oakley pulled out one of the seaweed-wrapped rice balls. “Thanks.”
“I have sandwiches for the kids too.”
“Remember that beach-day hunger as a growing kid?” Akemi asked. “Coming out of the water absolutely starving. There’s nothing quite like it.”
“I can go a whole day without food and still not feel that ravenous,” Oakley agreed.
“You shouldn’t go a whole day without food,” Dawn remarked.
“Yes, Mother.” Oakley bit into her rice; there was tuna at the center.
“Laurie?” Anne looked around to find their sister behind them.
She was stretched out on a beach towel, soaking up the midday sunshine. Years of computer work and long days inside had left her pale, but now there was a healthy color to her skin. She had been getting out more lately, both with her family and with Kekoa.
It was a relief to see her looking so well, after all she had been through – and it helped Oakley to hope that her own post-divorce glow-up was just around the corner.
“Laurie!” Anne tapped her shoulder to get her attention and then signed,You hungry?
No. Thanks.Laurie’s motions were lazy and languid, relaxed from the sunshine.
Oakley moved out of the shade and stretched out on the hot sand, letting it melt some of the tension out of her back and shoulders. She scooted back so that just her head was on a blanket in the shade next to Anne, with the rest of her basking in the healing heat of the sun. A summer outdoors had given her a healthy base tan too, and she was able to soak up the autumn rays without burning.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about,” Akemi said from somewhere above her.
Oakley popped one eye open to peep at her baby sister.
Akemi was addressing all of them, but mostly she was focused on Dawn.
“I’ve decided to open my own café,” she announced.
“A café?” Oakley turned over and propped herself up on her arms, cobra-pose style. “Like a coffee shop?”
“Right. Coffee, tea, some pastries.”
“Here?” Dawn made no effort to disguise the surprise in her voice.
“Yes, here in Hawaii. Pualena, in fact.”
“We’re going to be neighbors.” Laurie came closer and grabbed a bottle of sugarcane juice from the cooler. “She’s renting the house next door.”
“Next to the Madeira place?” Dawn asked, looking confused.
“No, Mother,” Akemi said. “Next to Paradise Books.”