“I want to be here,” Oakley said in a rush, and more tears fell. Her eyes were red, which turned her irises an extra brilliant shade of blue. “I want to live in Pualena and homeschool the girls and just slow down. I want to be closer to all of you. But anytime I try to talk to Trent about any of that, he acts like I’ve lost my mind.”
“He’s either in his office or on the mainland,” Anne said with a frown. “It doesn’t seem like it would changehislife much.”
“Exactly!” Oakley burst out, throwing her arms wide. “That’s what I said!”
“And? What did he say to that?”
“He acts like I’d be ruining the girls’ lives by taking them out of private school to teach them myself. Every time we talk about it, he manages to convince me that I’m being horrible and selfish to even consider uprooting them like that.”
“You’re an amazing mother,” Anne said quietly, squeezing her sister’s arm. “You would never do anything that wasn’t in their best interest.”
“I just want more time with them. But maybe he’s right. Maybe thatisselfish.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I don’t know how we got here. Anne, I don’t think he loves me anymore. He doesn’t evenlikeme anymore.” Oakley put her face in her hands and began to sob.
Anne put both arms around her sister and held her until she finally stopped crying.
“Sorry,” Oakley said when she got her breath back. She brushed at the spot on Anne’s shoulders where her tears had soaked the fabric of her sister’s shirt. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.”
“This is so stupid. I’m flipping out over nothing.”
“Your marriage is on the rocks. That’s not nothing.”
“But I have everything I always wanted. I built this perfect life for us. I should be happy.” She broke down sobbing again and collapsed in slow motion, sitting on the forest floor and burying her face in her knees.
Anne sat down beside her and rubbed her back until she stopped crying. Eventually, Oakley untied the bandana that was holding her blonde hair back; she used it to blow her nose and mop up her face.
“Sorry,” she said again. “I’m a mess.”
“Please stop apologizing. I’m here for you. Always.”
“I miss you.”
“I’m right here.”
“Two hours is too far. It feels like I’m cramming my whole life into the weekends and just going through the motions the rest of the time.”
“That’s no good.”
“I’m trying to find a balance. I pared way back on the girls’ activities so that wecancome down here most weekends. But it’s still not enough. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re not crazy,” Anne said firmly.
“I’m so tired,” Oakley admitted.
They sat together, leaning back against the same tree, and she rested her head on Anne’s shoulder.
Anne wished that she could just scoop up Oakley and the girls and move them into the big house in Pualena. Trent could move to the mainland for all she cared.
But she held her tongue. That was Hayden and Harper’s dad.
Anyway, he and Oakley had been together for a long time. Chances were, they would make it through this rough patch – and when they did, Anne didn’t want to have said anything negative about her brother-in-law.
All she could do was listen and give her sister a shoulder to cry on – even if she would rather drive up to Waimea and slap some sense into Trent herself.
