That last part was looking less likely, though, with everything going on.
“That’s an unusual statement, especially coming from a woman,” he said.
“Which part?”
“That sharks have been your whole world.”
The sky darkened behind him, which only made the tiki torches brighter, casting dancing shadows across his face. From the deck of the Reef House, a slow, sultry steel guitar started up.
“It’s true,” she said.
“You seem kind of young to have a PhD,” he said.
People always thought she was younger than she was. Probably because she was thin with owl eyes and a dark fluff of wavy hair. Here her curls were more like ringlets of seaweed. “Yeah, I get that all the time. I started early. What about you? What brings you to these waters and this hotel”—she realized they didn’t know each other’s names—“Mr.... ?”
“I’m Luke. And you are?”
“Minnow.”
Again, one side of his mouth flickered. “Minnows are freshwater fish,” he said, as though she might not know.
“To be fair, they also live in brackish water, but yes.”
“And you’re a saltwater fish,” he said, in all seriousness.
She laughed. “You’re perceptive.”
“So I’ve been told.”
It was hard to tell what was going on here, and she realized he’d dodged her question.
She came at it from a different angle. “That sure is a nice boat you have. Do you do fishing charters?”
The muscles in his jaw flexed. “I’m working on it.”
“How come you’re staying here at the Kiawe?”
A line of tension rose between them, palpable as the salt air on her skin.
“Are you staying here?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then what makes you thinkI’mstaying here?”
“My bad. I guess I’ve seen you both times I’ve come here, so I just assumed.”
He glanced over at the Reef House and the trees out front, all strung through with lights. It felt to her like he wanted to walk away but couldn’t quite get himself to. As though there were some invisible fishing line holding him in place. A lead weight.
“Those lights are going to disorient the turtles. They were all over the beach this morning,” he said. “Have you seen them yet?”
Something wasn’t quite adding up. Why would he care about the turtles? To his credit, though, he was right. But why the evasiveness about where he was staying?
“No, and maybe you should tell Mr. Sawyer to shut down the light show. Looks like you know him.”
“I do. And he’s not the kind of man who likes being told what to do.”
Minnow was growing more curious about Luke by the minute. “How did you know about light and turtles?”
