16. Lani

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The text from Kekoa came in as Lani was getting her stuff together to run out the door.

You gave him the TRO?she texted back.

Fool’s been SERVED! You shoulda seen his face.

Thanks,Lani messaged him.

She paused on her way to the front door, waiting for the sensation of relief that she hoped was coming. But… nothing. Just the same anxiety that had plagued her for weeks.

She was grateful to her cousin for serving Zeke with the temporary restraining order. It had been the smart thing to do, and it would be helpful to have some documentation in place in case things escalated.

But just the fact that he was still in town made her uneasy. She hated that he had gone back to Haumona again, even if their plan of serving him with the restraining order had banked on him showing up at her workplace.

What would he do now that she had taken legal action? She felt frightened to go to town, stymied from living her usual life.

Everything felt off. And she still hadn’t told Tenn.

“Mommy!” Rory threw the front door open and stomped her foot. “Let’s go! Livie’s waiting!”

Lani made herself smile. “Okay, baby. I’m ready.”

“Can we drive?”

“Sure.” Lani had tried to get her daughter into the habit of walking the short distance to Tenn’s house, but she didn’t feel like walking down the main road today. It made her feel exposed and jumpy. She would rather be in her uncle’s old truck than walk out on the side of the road with her baby girl.

“Yay!” Rory cheered. She ran to the truck and pulled open the door. “Come on!”

Dio paced next to the truck, whining fretfully.

“Please can he come, Mama? Livie loves him!”

“Their yard isn’t fenced.”

“He can stay inside with us!”

She sighed and looked at the dog. She knew how much he hated to be left alone.

“Okay.”

Dio immediately jumped up into the cab after Rory. Lani thought about moving him to the back, but they would only be in the truck for a few minutes. She grabbed his leash, tossed it into her bag, and went to open the front gate.

When she parked on the street and went to close the gate behind her, she saw Tara out restocking her produce stand.

“Did you find your missing macaw?” she called as she pulled the gate shut.

“Kind of,” Tara called back. She closed the cooler she was stocking and walked to meet Lani next to the truck. “I found him, but he was about seventy feet up in an ?’ōhi?a tree.”

“And he wouldn’t come down?”

“He was scared to, I think. I was there a long time, calling to him, but no luck. I went back the next day with more food and a recording of my other bird calling for him, but he was gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

“At least I know he’s alive. Maybe he’ll come back. Or at least land on the ground somewhere so I can go get him. He’ll come down when he’s hungry enough… I hope.”

“Here’s hoping,” Lani said as she climbed up into the truck. “I asked my family to keep an eye out.”

“Thanks.”

“Mama!” Rory whined.

Lani pulled a face. “Okay, we’ll see you later.”

“Bye,” Tara said with a wave.

She drove the short distance to Tenn’s house and clipped Dio’s leash on before letting him out of the truck. There wasn’t much chance of him running off anywhere when there were kids to hang with, but she wasn’t going to let a passing mongoose derail her whole day.

“Hey,” Tenn greeted them at the door.

Rory brushed past him and ran into the living room, shouting, “Livie!”

“Word of warning,” he said in a low voice after he’d kissed her hello. “My parents are here. They came an hour ago to drop Olivia off, and they still haven’t left.”

“Okay,” she said, not sure why his parents warranted a warning.

“They’ve been asking to meet you, and I keep putting them off. Olivia told them that Rory was coming for a sleepover tonight, so I think they’re trying to ambush you.”

“You don’t want your parents to meet me?”

His eyes widened, and he shook his head. Stepping out onto the front step, he closed the door behind him.

“I’m nervous about you meeting them, not the other way around.” He smiled apologetically. “My dad’s pretty laid back, at least with new people, but my mom can be a lot.”

“Really?” she asked with mock surprise. “The woman who named her son Alfred Lord Tennyson Nakamura can be a lot?”

He smiled ruefully. “I guess I didn’t want her to scare you away.”

“Not possible.”

“Are you sure? If you’re not up for it today, feel free to drop Rory and run. I’ll give you the all clear when they’re gone.”

“I would love to meet your parents.” Loving relatives were the least of her worries. And having other people present gave her an excuse to avoid telling him about her real worries just a little while longer.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” She gave him a playful shove. “Open the door already.”

His parents were sitting around the coffee table on the living room floor, stringing beads with the two little girls. When Lani walked in, they both got to their feet.

She recognized them from around town; anyone who had lived in Pualena for decades she recognized on sight. But she looked at them in a new way now, seeing Tenn’s cheekbones on his father’s face and his jawline on his mother’s.

The everyday miracle of family resemblances always invoked a feeling of awe for Lani. A familiar ache grew in her chest as she thought of her own parents.

As she greeted them, she realized that she didn’t know their names.

“Ken Nakamura,” his dad said helpfully, extending his hand. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

“And I’m Sonya,” said his mother. With dark blonde hair and wide blue eyes, she looked just like Olivia. Or, rather, Olivia looked just like her grandmother.

“It’s good to meet you too.”

“Tennyson,” Sonya said to her son, “why don’t you make us some tea?”

Apprehension flickered across his face as he looked between Lani and his parents, but after a moment he said, “Sure.”

“Come sit with me,” Sonya said to Lani. “I want to hear everything about you.”

“Ojiisan,” said Olivia to her grandfather, “would you tie this for me, please?”

Ken sat on a floor cushion next to Olivia while Lani and Sonya sat on the couch.

“You left Hawai’i after high school, is that right?” Sonya asked.

“After college. I went to the University of Hilo.”

“Really? You know I teach there.”

“Yes.”

“What did you study?”

“Art.”

“And did you become an artist?”

The question caught her off guard, and she didn’t reply right away. Still serenely stringing beads alongside the girls, Ken looked up and caught his wife’s eye. Lani thought that she saw a mild warning in his expression.

“She made those new menus for the cafe.”

“That’s right,” Sonya exclaimed, “the sharks and flowers. They’re very good. I suppose there are million different things that you can do with graphic design these days, aren’t there? What have you been working on lately?”

“I made some coloring books.” Lani smiled awkwardly, wondering why the simple questions were making her squirm. Maybe it was just the blazing intensity of Sonya’s attention. “And I’ve stumbled into murals lately. I did one for the community center and a few different businesses have asked me if I can paint things for them.”

“Yes, the new mural at New Horizons! It’s lovely.” Sonya put her hands together, still looking intently at Lani. “What made you choose Hilo for college?”

“I wanted to stay close to family.”

“And what changed after college?”

“What?”

“When you decided to move away.”

“My dad died at the start of my senior year.” She looked down at her lap. “We had already lost my mom when I was a teenager, and I didn’t want to move away and leave him all alone. But with him gone too, this was the last place I wanted to be. I finished up the year on autopilot; I hardly even remember it. My cousin helped me land a cruise ship job, and I left.”

“I’m so sorry about your parents,” Sonya said with genuine compassion. She reached out to pat her knee, and Lani found herself blinking back tears.

“Thank you.”

“What did you say to her?” Tenn asked as he came in with two cups of tea.

“Nothing at all!” Sonya exclaimed. “I’ve been perfectly cordial.”

He made a skeptical sound as he set down the mugs.

“Ken! Haven’t I been cordial?”

“Perfectly cordial,” he agreed.

“That doesn’t even sound like a word anymore,” Tenn muttered as he went back for the rest of the tea.

“He’s head over heels for you,” Sonya whispered when he was in the kitchen. “You know that, right?”

Lani smiled bashfully. “Yeah. I know.”

A few feet away, Rory let out a sudden wail that made Lani jump.

“What?”

“It broke!” she exclaimed, on the verge of tears.

“It’s okay,” Olivia said. “I’ll help you make another one.”

“But those were all the blue beads and now they’re in the rug and I can’t even see them!”

“We’ll find them. It’s okay. Let’s look.”

Rory sniffed and put on a brave face. “Okay.”

“Here’s your tea,” Tenn said as he walked back in.

Lani had never seen such a grumpy expression on his face, and it made her laugh.

“What?”

“I don’t even know.” She picked up a mug of tea and blew on it.

It felt good to be distracted by everyday problems, like beads on the carpet and overbearing parents. Problems that were truly blessings, if you could just step back and take a proper look at things. It felt cozy and domestic and just chaotic enough to distract her from the real problems that were scratching at her door.

They sipped their tea and chatted as the girls rounded up the scattered beads. With Tenn in the room, talk turned to the cafe. He had just added a new pastry case featuring treats from a local bakery, and apparently the baker was an old friend of his parents. She had retired from teaching and become a pastry chef.

When Tenn’s parents finally said goodbye and left, the lack of small talk settled in like a vacuum. The girls were busy painting each other’s nails on the lanai, Dio was asleep in a patch of sun, and the living room was quiet.

“Sorry about that,” Tenn said after he had seen his parents out.

“Don’t apologize for your parents,” she said gently. “You’re lucky to have them.”

He frowned and sat down beside her, taking her hand in his. “You’re right. That was insensitive of me.”

“It’s okay.”

“Is it? You seem down. You have for a while.”

She nodded. “There’s something that we need to talk about.”

“What is it?”

She pressed her lips together and looked down, summoning her courage. “Zeke’s in town.”

“Your ex-husband Zeke? Since when?”

“I don’t know exactly. But he showed up at Haumona last week.”

“That’s why you haven’t been working your usual shifts.”

“Yes.”

He stood up and paced, filled with visible agitation.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“How did he know where to find you?”

“Tourists posted a picture online and he found it somehow.” She sighed and shrugged. “He knows I’m from Pualena, and it’s a small town.”

“Did he threaten you?’

“Not exactly.”

“What does that mean?”

She opened her mouth and closed it again, wondering how to explain. “He didn’t threaten me or do anything illegal. He just showed up at the shave ice place and talked at me. Asked questions about Rory.”

Tenn’s eyes narrowed. He shook his head and resumed pacing. “I don’t like this.”

“Me neither, but there’s not much I can do about it.” She hugged herself. “Would you stop pacing, please? You’re making me nervous.”

“Sorry.” He sat down next to her and put his arms around her.

Immediately, her nervous system settled. Not all the way, but mostly. She leaned into him and let out a breath.

“Have you filed a restraining order?”

“I did.”

“And you know where he’s staying?”

“No.”

“So how…?”

Lani chuckled. “Kekoa’s been covering my shifts. He served him today. Made his day, I think.”

“Does he know where you live?” he asked, holding her close.

“I don’t think so.”

“But you’re not sure.”

“How can I be sure?”

He leaned back enough to see her face. “How can I help?”

“I don’t think you can. All I can do is wait this out. Hopefully the restraining order will discourage him, and he can’t afford to stay here forever.”

“Will you stay here until he’s gone?” He brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Or Livie and I can stay at your place, if that’s easier. I just don’t think that you and Rory should be alone.”

“Sure,” she agreed, leaning into him again.

The truth was, she had hardly been sleeping. Just snatches, in and out of a stressful sleep. She dreamed of Zeke grabbing Rory and throwing her into a car, of standing in front of the car and screaming at him to give her her daughter back.

Then she would wake up soaked with sweat and wired with cortisol. There was no sleeping after that. And it was starting to wear on her.

When she was with Tenn, she actually slept through the night.

“At least until Emma’s back,” he said, “or you know for sure that he’s gone.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“You know we love having you around,” he murmured into her hair. “And I need you safe.”

“I need you safe too.”

A sudden fear made her eyes itch with unshed tears.

She felt safer when she was near Tenn. But what if her presence put him in danger?