It was different with tourists.
Almost without exception, her guests were lovely. She fed them a hearty breakfast, and then they set off to make the most of their Hawaiian vacation.
A quiet few stayed to enjoy the house, content to simply sit on the back porch and gaze out at the horizon like retired sea captains; she didn’t mind them either.
The house was full, but it was full in a way that felt peaceful and easy.
In addition to her guests, the long table included her mother and all three of her children. There were two additional teens at the table too: Noah’s foster kids, Jasmine and Jayce. They had biked over first thing that morning, drawn by the promise of mango waffles.
Claire had become very close with the twins over the past year. They were a grade above her, but Claire was closer to Jasmine than she was to anyone else she had met since moving to Hawaii. Or anyone she had met before, for that matter.
Anne wasn’t sad to see her daughter’s shallow friendships from California fall away. She had fallen in with a shallow crowd there, obsessed with shopping and boys. They wore heavy makeup and not much else.
Jasmine, on the other hand, was generally found in hervegetable garden wearing an oversized pair of overalls. Newly sixteen and in possession of a reliable old beater of a car, Jasmine had spent most of the summer exploring the island’s hiking trails with Claire in tow.
That morning, they sat shoulder to shoulder, fixated on Jasmine’s phone. When Anne came up behind them to deliver two plates of mango waffles, she saw that they were examining a long hike up in Volcanoes National Park.
Anne grinned. This was exactly the effect that she had hoped a move to Hawaii would have on Claire, and she was grateful that Jasmine had helped her to embrace everything that the Big Island had to offer.
“Thanks, Auntie,” Jasmine said, digging into her plate of waffles.
“Of course.” Anne squeezed Jayce’s shoulder. “There are more in the waffle maker. They’ll be out in a sec.”
“No worries.” Jasmine’s twin helped himself to another plate of fruit.
After breakfast, the guests left for the day and the family drifted into the living room, but the teens lingered at the table even as Anne began to clear it. Jayce stood to help Anne carry plates into the kitchen, but the girls stayed put.
“What’s up?” she asked. “Aren’t you going to make the most of your last day of summer?”
Claire and Jasmine exchanged a glance.
“About that…” Claire started.
Anne frowned and sat down, giving them her full attention.
“We don’t want to go back to Kea?au High. We want to stay home this year.”
“Yes!” Pete vaulted over the back of the living room sofa. “Just like me!”
“Not exactly,” Claire said, but her little brother was busy dancing around the table.
“No more homework, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks!”
“You still read books,” Dawn said primly.
“Well yeah, butgoodones.” He turned to Anne. “She can, Mom. Right? She can stay home with us?”
Anne was surprised; Claire’s freshman year at Kea?au High had gone smoothly. She hadn’t mentioned homeschooling all summer.
When Anne had broached the subject the year before, Claire was so staunchly against it that she hadn’t tried again – but then they had been in a new place where her daughter didn’t know anyone, and now she had a best friend and a circle of acquaintances that they met up with once or twice a week.
“You’re sure that’s what you want?” she asked.
“We’re going to do it together,” Claire said, taking Jasmine’s hand. “The three of us.”
Anne looked uncertainly between the trio of teens. She liked the twins – loved them, in fact, the way she did her own nieces and nephews – but she wasn’t sure they would make the best cohort for Claire.
Jasmine was a good influence on her in many ways, but academics were not her strong suit. And Jayce was even worse. He was a talented carpenter with zero interest in school.
