“You were a troublemaker,” she teased, finding her voice. Memories of their schooldays were slowly coming back to her. He had been in the same class as Akemi. “Mrs. Johnson was always making you sit outside.”
“I couldn’t sit still,” he admitted.
“And now?”
“Now I don’t have to sit at a desk,” he said with a shrug. “I get to build things.”
Mahina came in and grinned at them. “You two get lost back here or what?”
Kekoa winked at Laurie. “I was just giving her the grand tour.”
“He built this place himself, you know,” Mahina boasted. “And the new house too.”
“I built the house, but I can’t take credit for the garden.” He grinned at Laurie. “My mom’s the green thumb. I’m better with trees that have already been cut down.”
His mother asked him a question that Laurie didn’t catch; she was too slow in looking away from Kekoa. It was always strange, coming home and seeing how much some people had grown and changed while she was away.
“‘Io hates his new mattress,” he was telling Mahina. “He wants his old one back.”
“What’s wrong with the new one?” she asked.
“Too soft, I guess.” He looked at Laurie. “I’m just going to grab this old one, and I’ll put the new one in here. Are you going to take the place?”
She looked uncertainly from him to Mahina. “We haven’t discussed the rent.”
“I’ll leave you to it.” He lifted the mattress down from the top bunk, holding it like it was full of air, and maneuvered it deftly through the bedroom door.
“So,” Mahina said. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful,” Laurie replied. A knot grew in her stomach as she waited to hear what it would cost to rent this little one-bedroom house.
Whatever it was, she resolved to work hard enough to be able to afford it. The place already felt like home.
“What’s the monthly rent?”
Mahina shrugged. “We’ve never rented it out before.”
Laurie waited.
“I’ll tell you what. You and your baby go ahead and move in and get back on your feet. When you’re ready, you pay what you can, when you can.”
Laurie put a hand over her mouth, suddenly fighting back tears.
“Do you mean it?” she asked when she found her voice again.
“Sure I do.” Mahina put a warm hand on her shoulder. “You’re family.”
“Auntie–” she started, but Mahina cut her off.
“Don’t argue. After everything that your family has done for our community? Anyway, it’ll make me happy to have you both here. I miss my grandbabies.”
Kekoa came through carrying a brand-new mattress. He was laughing.
“Mom, you see them almost every day.”
“I miss having them in the house!”
“They’re all here right now!”
