“Are we going to the beach?” Harper asked, hopping out of the car.
“We’re going in the pool!” Pete said.
“What pool?” Hayden demanded.
“That pool!” He pointed to the squat metal silo that stood next to the house.
Oakley frowned in confusion. “Pete, that’s a catchment tank.”
“We’re going swimming in the catchment tank!”
“I don’t believe you,” said Hayden.
“Grandma!” He turned and shouted to Dawn. “Tell them!”
“We’recleaningthe catchment tank.” She grinned at her grandkids as she walked down the front steps and stepped around them to give Oakley a hug. “Hi, sweetheart. How was the drive?”
“It was fine. Do you need a hand with the tank?”
“Pete’s going to help me. Aren’t you, Pete?”
“Yes!” He turned back to his cousins. “And we get to go inside!”
“Seriously?” Oakley asked.
Dawn shrugged. “Why not? I have to shock it with chlorine afterwards anyhow.”
Oakley wrinkled her nose and made a mental note to buy mineral water for her kids. Dawn saw her face and laughed.
“You grew up drinking it,” she said, reading Oakley’s mind, “and you turned out just fine.”
There was no city water in Pualena, nothing anywhere nearby for residents to hook up to. Instead, every household had its own tank. Rainwater collected on the roof and spilled into the catchment system, providing water for the house.
Luckily for Anne and her business endeavors, their dad had installed a massive steel tank years before; it held twenty thousand gallons of rainwater. Even the ‘ohana unit had its own little poly tank that they used to water the plants.
“Grandma,” Harper said, grabbing Dawn’s hand, “can we help?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Your bathing suits are in your bags,” Oakley told them. “Take them up to Grandma’s room and change.”
“Yes!” Harper sprinted to the car to grab her bag.
“We’re really going swimming in the catchment tank?” Hayden asked.
“Are you going to help me get all the leaves and gunk out?” Dawn asked.
“Um… I guess so?”
“Then go ahead and get changed.”
“Are you sure about this?” Oakley asked.
“They’re excited, and it’s a bear of a task to manage on my own. Your dad used to clean it out every couple of months. I let it go too long.”
“I’ll help.”
“You can help me take the cover on and off. Aside from that, me and the kids can manage it.”
