Page 56 of Big Island Horizons
“Any sign of your missing macaw?” he asked.
“Not since he left that stand of‘ohi?a.”
“I’m sorry. He’ll turn up.”
“I hope so. Lucy’s still a mess.”
“Did getting her back into the aviary help at all?”
“Not really. I mean, it helped us. Having her in the house when she was so stressed that she was a bite risk to the kids, that was awful. But she’s still so upset. She’s screaming day and night for her mate. They’ve been together all their lives, over thirty years.”
“You’ve had them that long?”
“They belonged to my mom. She loved them so much that she moved to Hawai’i to give them more time outside, escape cold New England winters and give them a more natural life.
“I got together with Mitch right after my mom died, and the first thing I did when we bought that land was to build the aviary my mom had always dreamed of.”
She paused and looked at Liam. “You repairing it meant a lot to me. Thank you.”
“Happy to help.”
Hands clasped around the warm mug, she walked across the room to the wide window that overlooked the ranch. She couldn’t see Cody, but she could see the tree that he was hiding in.
“Everything else okay?” Liam asked, coming to stand beside her.
“Not really.”
He looked at her, patiently waiting.
“Cody saw us together the other day, and he kind of flipped. I’ve tried to talk to him about it a couple times since then, but he just clammed up.”
“You hadn’t told him about us?”
She looked up at him in surprise. “Have you told Maddie?”
“Yeah, I told her that I was taking you out the other day.”
“And how did she react?”
He smiled sheepishly. “She’s happy for me.”
“That’s sweet.” She sighed and looked out at the green and gray. “I don’t get why Cody blew up.”
“It hasn’t been long since his dad left.”
“I don’t think that’s it.”
“It could be that he thinks he won’t stand a chance with Maddie if their parents are dating.”
She looked at him in surprise. “What? Him and Maddie?”
“Haven’t you seen the way he looks at her?”
“No. I guess I haven’t.” She frowned fretfully out the window. “Do you think that we should back off?”
“No.” Liam’s laugh was a low rumble, and he put an arm around your waist. “We can take this as slow as you’d like, but I’m not putting a teenage crush ahead of what’s between us. This is real, Tara.”
She set her tea down on the windowsill and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
