The family included not one but two babies, and Dawn was overjoyed to have them around. Throughout the day and night, she could almost always be found holding one of the babies and chatting with guests.
Filling the house was having exactly the effect on her mother that Anne had hoped it would; day by day, she could see her coming back to life.
Since this was a group that enjoyed a long, leisurely breakfast, Anne went all out on the food that day. She made ‘ulu waffles with lilikoi sauce, wild boar sausages, and Kona coffee. There was also a platter in the middle of the table loaded with slices of mango, papaya, white pineapple, lilikoi, and bananas.
Like Dawn, the matriarch of this family was a young grandmother. Latrice and her husband walked the cliffs every morning at first light, then came back and spent the day with their kids, who ranged from twelve up to to grown.
The two women had become fast friends almost immediately, and they both sat at the table that morning. Latrice had the one year old snuggled in her lap, and Dawn was holding her new friend’s six-month-old grandbaby.
“We havegotto do something about that hair,” Latrice said. “Go full silver if you want, but those roots arenota good look.”
“Mama,” one of her daughters interjected, “you leave her alone!”
“I will not. I’m sorry, Dawn, but I cannot look at this anymore.”
“Stop trying to work on vacation,” said another relative. “You’re five thousand miles away from your salon.”
“I don’t need anything but a box of dye or a pair of scissors.” She gave Dawn a critical look. “Or maybe both.”
“I wouldn’t say no to a haircut,” Dawn conceded with a hint of a grin.
“My scissors are in my bag.” She handed off her grandbaby and headed upstairs. “We’re gonna get you fixed up.”
Five minutes later, they were out in the backyard.
Dawn sat in a folding chair, and her tired blonde hair was floating to the ground. Latrice was cutting itshort, nearly to her skin at the nape of her neck. In the front, she left it as long as she could while still getting rid of that two-toned look; only an inch or so of new silver hair remained.
Anne watched through the window as an edgy new pixie cut appeared out of the frizzy ruin of her mother’s neglected hair. Somehow, the new haircut lifted and lightened her whole face. Even though what remained was silver-gray, Dawn looked twenty years younger than she had when Anne first arrived.
Her cooking had helped with that; hearty breakfasts with guests and meals with the grandkids had filled the hollows of her mother’s face and brought her back to a healthy weight.
Dawn had gotten her color back too, tan shoulders and pink cheeks replacing the sickly pallor that her skin had taken on during those long months spent sitting indoors, first nursing her husband and then mired in grief.
“You look like a new woman,” Latrice announced when she’d finished.
“I feel… lighter,” Dawn said, running a hand over her hair.
Her friend beamed. “You like it?”
Dawn’s answering grin was girlish. “I do. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Truth be told, I just couldn’t stand to look at it anymore. Now if you really want to thank me, you’ll convince that green-haired grandbaby of yours to let me do the same for her.”
“Unlikely. Unless you want to dye it some new outlandish color.”
“No need,” Zoe said flatly as she walked out of the ‘ohana unit. Her hair, now faded to a sickly yellow-green, was tied back in a loose braid. “I can manage.”
“At least let me trim those dead ends,” Latrice said.
“No.” Zoe walked past them and up the back steps. “Thank you.”
“Do you want some breakfast?” Anne asked as her eldest daughter walked into the kitchen.
“No thanks. I’ve got work.”
“Some food to go?” Anne tried.
Zoe hesitated a moment, then grabbed one of the ‘ulu waffles. “Thanks.”
