Akemi rolled her eyes. “This is Hawaii. Everyone we grew up with is a ‘cousin’.”
“He’s a good man,” Anne said. “I’m happy for them.”
Oakley watched them for another minute, taking in the smile on Laurie’s face. When was the last time she had seen her little sister looking so content and carefree? She couldn’t remember.
Suddenly, and for the second time that day, she felt ashamed of her jealousy. Laurie deserved this; she deserved to be with a good man who treated her well and helped her to feel safe.
“I just hope it lasts,” she murmured, thinking aloud.
“Bitter much?” Akemi muttered.
Oakley gave her a wounded look. “I mean it. She deserves this.”
“We all do.” She stood up and walked away.
“Is she okay?” Oakley asked Anne.
“You shouldn’t have said that. About her and Lorenzo.”
“Yeah, I know,” she snapped. Then she sighed and gave Anne an apologetic look. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know you’re carrying a lot right now. But so are we.”
“I know.” She reached out and took Anne’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Areyouokay?”
“Not really.” She took a deep breath and then gave her sister a wry smile. “It’s so Anne of you to suss out something I hadn’t even admitted to myself.”
“You’ve had a rough year, and today is a hard day.”
“Is it just me, or does this family still feel… fractured? Without him?”
Anne squeezed her hand. “It’s not just you.”
“How do we fix it? Fix us?”
“Time?”
“It’s been a year and a half.”
“That’s not much time at all to get used to the loss of a man like Dad.”
“I guess that’s true,” Oakley said.
“Especially when all of us have had so much else going on at the same time.”
“How do we help each other? What would Dad say?”
“He would tell you to go apologize to Akemi.”
Oakley wrinkled her nose. “Ho’oponopono.”
Anne nodded. “Make it right.”
She sighed and set her plate aside. “Okay, okay. I’m going.”
Anne kissed her cheek. “I love you.”
