“I made lilikoi sauce,” she started, but Zoe shook her head.
“This is fine.” She took a bite of the waffle. “We should get going.”
Anne turned to see who was included in this ‘we’ and found Noah standing just inside the front door. Her hand flew to her chest as her heart skipped a beat.
“You’re like a ghost!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t even hear you come in! How long have you been standing there?”
He smiled apologetically. “I just got here.”
“We’ve got work,” Zoe said. She grabbed a jar of coconut water from the fridge and headed for the front door. Her father passed her in the living room, moving further into the house instead of leaving it.
“Nani’s lychee trees are going off.” There was a slight anxiety in his eyes that belied his easy tone, and Anne sensed an invitation coming. “She offered us the lion’s share if we do the picking for her.”
“We should get going,” Zoe said again, hovering near the front door.
“Yep.” Noah acknowledged their daughter with a quick nod and then turned back to Anne. “Do you want to come?”
“I’d love to.” Anne glanced uncertainly at her daughter.
“Are the kids around?” Noah asked.
“No. They’re out walking the cliffs with Halia.”
“Just us, then.”
“One big happy family.” Zoe rolled her eyes and walked out, letting the screen door close behind her with abang.
Maybe Anne was imagining it, but she could almost swear that she’d heard a hint of real longing beneath her daughter’s sarcasm… like Zoe’s inner child still longed for reconciliation asmuch as Anne did, but she was trapped behind the wall that Zoe had built around her heart.
She looked uncertainly to Noah; he winked and walked out after Zoe, gesturing for her to follow.
Anne took a fortifying breath and remembered Halia’s advice: Just keep showing up.
She slipped on a pair of sandals, grabbed a shopping bag, and followed him out the door.
Zoe cast one dark look at the bench seat of Noah’s cab and then climbed into the back of the truck. It was an open truck bed. No seats, no seatbelts.
“There’s plenty of room up front,” Anne told her.
“Pass.” Zoe crossed her arms and settled into the pickup box.
“We’ll get pulled over,” she worried.
Zoe snorted. “Not in Pualena.”
“Let her be,” Noah said. “We’re not even getting onto the highway.”
Anne bit her lip and refrained from saying anything else. Reluctantly, she climbed into the cab without her daughter.
It was a short drive through Pualena, and they drove along without speaking. Cheerful Hawaiian songs played quietly on the radio. Anne stared out the window, overly aware of Noah’s hand resting just a few inches from hers.
Nani’s property was up near the highway. There was a small lychee orchard behind the house – too small to have any serious commercial value, but laden with too much fruit for the auntie to pick herself. She was still spry at seventy-five, but picking that amount of fruit was hard work.
Each tree was covered in massive clusters of red lychees, and the air was rich with the citrus-rose scent of the ripe fruit.
“Is that little Annie Kalama?” Nani cried when Anne climbed out of the truck. She hurried towards them with her armsoutstretched. “It’s been ages, but I’d know that freckled face anywhere.”
“Aloha, Auntie.” Anne smiled and accepted Nani’s hug. “It’s good to see you.”
