Pieces of Blue by Holly Goldberg Sloan EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available For Free Download
- Author: Holly Goldberg Sloan
- Language: English
- Genre: Women’s Domestic Life Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
The family stepped through the double-glass doors into the open-air
concourse of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, and the clouds
overhead exploded with rain. The dripping palm fronds bobbed in the
humid breeze as the foursome walked under the portico to the baggage
collection area. Lindsey put her arm around Sena, her younger daughter.
The little girl’s expression was tense, and the look on Lindsey’s face was
equally strained. Lindsey took in a deep breath, telling her kids, “It’s
raining, just like at home.”
Olivia, the oldest, corrected her mother. “Hawai‘i is home now.”
At the baggage carousel, friends and family carrying colorful leis
greeted the arriving passengers. Soon more than half of the people on their
flight had wreaths of flowers hanging around their necks. Lindsey
impulsively reached for her wallet. “Come on, kids!” She headed toward an
older man in a brightly printed shirt seated on a three-legged stool. Behind
him was a glass-doored refrigerator filled with garlands of plumeria,
tuberose, carnations, orchids, and maile leaves.
Lindsey could hear the suitcases starting down the chute as she lifted
her phone and took her first photo in Hawai‘i. Her children, draped in their
newly purchased wreaths of expensive, fuchsia-colored orchids, were all
smiling. She hadn’t seen that in a long time. Then Sena’s smile dissolved.
“Mama, you don’t have a flower necklace.”
“I don’t need one, sweetheart.”
Sena lifted her lei over her head. “Here, we can take turns.”
Carlos seemed eager to get rid of his orchids. “No. Really. Have mine.”
Sena stepped back. “Don’t fight.”
Olivia answered as if taking a bite out of her sister. “Who’s fighting?”
And suddenly the spell was broken. Fatigue, disappointment, and
heartbreak were back.
Lindsey started toward the baggage carousel, angry at herself for
spending nearly one hundred dollars on the flowery strings. It felt like a real
tourist move. They were going to be living here now.
She turned around, hoping to reset, only to see the kids were gone. For
the briefest moment her adrenaline surged, then she spun in the other
direction and discovered her children talking to the flower salesman. They
appeared to be cutting some kind of deal. In seconds her daughters and son
were back at her side, their expensive orchid leis gone. Around the kids’
necks were bright blue carnations. A fourth string of the dyed flowers was
in Sena’s outstretched hands.
“We traded, Mama. So you got one, too.”
Lindsey kissed the top of Sena’s head and slipped the electric blue lei
around her neck, always startled at how easy it was as a parent to go from
fiery frustration to affection. She worked hard to keep it together as she
mumbled, “Thank you, sweetheart,” and then pulled her kids together in a
hug so tight that Olivia yelped.
“Mom, you’re hurting my ear.”
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