Before her dad got sick, Oakley only drove down about once a month to spend the weekend with her parents. They were suchyoungparents, and her life was so full; she’d always assumed that she would be able to spend more time with them later, when everything felt a bit easier.
Now Kimo was gone, and Oakley refused to take her family for granted anymore.
She could never know how much time she had left with anyone she loved.
Anne might move back to the mainland at the end of the summer. Laurie could move to another island. Worst of all, she couldpermanentlylose another one of the people she loved most in the world.
Time was slipping away, and Oakley was stuck in an exhausting routine of her own making.
She was working herself deeper and deeper into burnout… and for what? Piano lessons? Soccer practice? A private school that was bleeding them dry and robbing her of time with her daughters?
Their childhood was slipping away, and she was missing it.
Each piece of their lives had made sense when they’d brought it into the mix. The best neighborhood, the best school, the best extracurriculars. But now she wondered what it was all for.
Her daughters enjoyed the life she’d constructed for them. But theylovedrunning wild with their cousins. They loved beach days and family hikes and cozy mornings cuddled up with Oakley, sipping hot chocolate while she read them a book.
So again, she asked herself: Why was she trading her time away just to pay other people to raise her daughters?
It made less and less sense to her with each passing day.
“Do I have to?” Harper asked when they reached their destination. Oakley sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.
“I think that you should go in today, because it’s unkind to cancel on your teacher at the last minute.”
“She’sunkind,” Harper muttered, kicking at the gravel path.
“And then tonight at dinner, we can talk to dad about taking a break.”
She looked up, eyes wide. “A break from piano?”
“Yeah.” Oakley brushed a strand of hair away from her daughter’s beautiful face and tucked it behind her ear. “Sound good?”
“You’ve got yourself a deal!” Harper sprinted up the path, and Oakley chuckled.
She settled herself beneath a tree out front and caught up on work emails while Harper plugged dutifully away at the piano keys inside.
When the lesson was done, they walked into town and bought poke bowls for lunch before swinging by the theater to pick Hayden up on the way home. They walked past the colorful Anuenue Playground and down their quiet road, past their white picket fence, and into the house that Oakley had cultivated with such care.
Her life was picture perfect.
So why did she long to trade it all in for something simpler?
“Dad!” Harper shouted as they walked through the front door. “Lunch time!”
Trent worked from home, primarily as an app developer. If he was in town, he could almost always be found in his home office. Lately, though, he spent as much time traveling to the mainland for business as he did on the island.
Oakley set out the poke bowls and poured four tall glasses of mamaki tea.
“I don’t think he heard you,” Hayden said. “He probably has his noise-cancelling headphones on.”
“I’ll get him!” Harper danced away… and then trudged back ten seconds later.
“He’s on a call?” Hayden guessed.
“Yeah, but he’ll come out when he’s done.” She sat down and dug into her poke bowl.
Hayden looked to Oakley. “Should we wait?”
