“Those people?” she hissed. “Are you serious right now?”
“You can’t just uproot our daughters.”
“I think they’d enjoy–”
“It’s not about what’sfun, Oakley. I’m thinking of their futures.”
“You’re not even there for them! You’re always working.”
“I’m working to provide for our family.” His voice was slow and stony. “It’s not about me. It’s about what’s best for them.”
“Are you fighting?” Hayden’s voice was small and nervous, and Oakley jumped.
“Hi, baby.” She scanned the beach for Harper, furious with herself for taking her eyes off of them when they were anywhere near water. Her younger daughter was still decorating sandcastles with shells and bleached bits of coral.
“Were you?” Hayden pressed.
“We weren’t fighting,” Trent said. “We were just having a conversation.”
She looked between them uncertainly.
“Do you want some lunch?” Oakley asked.
Hayden shook her head.
“Do you want to go for a swim with me?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Oakley stood and ducked out from under the umbrella. She walked down to the water, hand in hand with her daughter.
Harper’s face lit up when she saw them. She jumped up and grabbed her mom’s other hand.
Oakley waded into the ocean with her two girls.
Maybe Trent was right, she thought. Maybe she was just being selfish.
Her daughters had a good life… and her marriage was floundering even without all the stresses of a move or homeschooling, not to mention the dynamics of living near their extended family.
Did she really want to rock the boat?
15
Laurie
Laurie sat on a tiny beach she had been to a thousand times before, basking in the sunlight. She picked up a handful of sand and watched it run through her fingers, feeling dazed and untethered.
She had officially filed for divorce, and Chris had immediately responded by petitioning the court for full custody.
Every day he sent long text messages pleading for her forgiveness and begging her to come home… and when she didn’t reply to those, he sent threats instead. Eventually he switched back to apologies, and the cycle repeated.
She couldn’t block him, because she was legally obligated to facilitate contact between Mia and her father. So she just endured the stream of abuse… and saved it all in the hope that the endless string of unhinged messages would help her case in court.
In the midst of all that, she had signed an agreement with Auntie Kua. They were officially business partners; Kua would take a share of the sales in lieu of rent. Right that moment, while she lay on the beach watching her daughter play, Kekoa was pulling out molding ceiling tiles and hauling them away.
Right there, on the edges of the present moment, her worst nightmares were competing with her wildest dreams – and it was hard to feel like she had any control over what came to pass.
Beneath all the details of daily life and making ends meet, she grappled with endless anxiety. Her happiness hinged on Mia’s wellbeing. What would she do if a judge decided that the best thing for Mia would be to return to private school in Hawi? She couldn’t stay in Pualena and let Chris have their daughter five days a week. If that happened, she would have to move back and find a place there… and then her little Pualena bubble would pop, and she would be just another single mother desperately scrabbling to make ends meet in Hawaii.
