“A counter, some bookshelves…” He shrugged. “Easy.”
“What’s in it for you?”
He shook his head like he didn’t quite understand the question.
“Well?”
“Why wouldn’t I? Help you, help the town… it’s good for everybody. This is my home. My son’s home. I want to fix what’s in my power to fix.”
“A rising tide lifts all boats,” she murmured.
“That’s aloha. That’s how it’s always been here.”
“It doesn’t feel right.”
He tilted his head again, confused. “What?”
“On an island where no one can afford rent, I just skate by?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“It just seems weirdly… privileged.”
Kekoa laughed. “What’s wrong with good luck?”
“It doesn’t seem fair, that’s all.”
“Fair,” he scoffed. “You know what I think?”
“What’s that?”
“They don’t want us to have community.”
“Who’s ‘they’?”
“All dem capitalist buggahs!” He grinned as he broke into pidgin, but he was earnest too. “They want us to pay for everything community used to give us. Food, houses, childcare. They want everybody to move far away from their families andwork for big companies just to pay for what we already had in the village.”
She nodded thoughtfully.
“Who says that life has to be hard?” Kekoa’s expression softened. “People love you here, Laurie. They want to help you get back on your feet. Let them. Let us.”
“Okay,” she agreed quietly.
“Good.” He nodded with satisfaction. “You’ll get back on your feet, and you’ll build something that benefits the whole community. It’s a win-win.”
“Okay,” she said again. “I’ll try.”
She finally climbed up into the truck, and he shut the door behind her. The ride home was short and silent. When they got back to the Madeira place, he said goodbye with a friendly wave and went back to his family.
In fifteen years with Chris, all he had ever done was tear her down. Any dream that she shared with him was dismissed as unrealistic, with the underlying implication that she was incapable.
Then she mentioned her dream to Kekoaonce… and he immediately cleared a path for her to do something that had felt impossibly out of reach.
She wasn’t sure what to make of that.
14
Oakley
