Of course he wanted breakfast. He was ravenously hungry. But he was also interested in this waterfall, and maybe hanging out with Mathilda at the waterfall.
He shoved the thought aside. This could be the perfect opportunity to go back to the crash site and look around.
“Thanks for the heads up. What’s it for?”
“Excuse me?” She was already turning aside, eager to get on with her expedition.
“What are you scouting for?”
“Oh. I’m trying to locate Hector. He’s an ‘alala.” She shot him a wary glance, as if testing his interest. “Also known as Corvus hawaiienses. The Hawaiian crow. It’s a Hawaiian bird that’s now extinct in the wild. We’re trying to reintroduce it.”
“Is that difficult?” He tucked the briefcase under his arm and climbed off the table.
“Very. Their primary predator is the ‘io, which goes after them when they’re young. The hawk,” she added at his blank expression. “When the ‘alala first fledge, they don’t fly very well and they’re sort of sitting ducks for the ‘io. So to speak. Also the ‘alala’s habitat is always under threat. Their natural habitat is ohi’a forests, and those are increasingly rare. You can blame invasive species for that, including developers and humans in general.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t sound very sincere.”
How much was he supposed to care about a crow? His only impression of crows was that they had black feathers and made unpleasant cawing sounds. What more was there to know?
But he kept that opinion to himself. If this obviously intelligent woman cared about Hawaiian crows, they must be important. “I look forward to learning more about the ‘alala.” Maybe over a mai tai, he wanted to say. Or curled up on a blanket next to that fire pit he’d noticed.
“Any change in your pilot?” she asked. “Sasha asked me to check on him.”
“Not a blip. I checked just now. He’s exactly the same—except a lot more tolerable,” he added without thinking.
She frowned at him severely. “That’s not a very nice way to talk about someone who works for you.”
Oops. It was harder than he’d thought to maintain this charade. “That’s, uh, envy talking. Rory’s a tough guy to compete with. Always gets the girl, best pilot in the west, that sort of thing.”
“You’re jealous of your own pilot?” Mathilda shook her head sadly. “That’s kind of…”
“Pathetic? Yeah. That’s fair.”
“Well…” Mathilda gave the other cot a lingering glance. “I look forward to meeting him when he’s awake. Let’s hope he has no long-term effects from the trauma.”
Rory just smiled, realizing his mistake too late. By fluffing up his own ego, he was encouraging Mathilda to fall for Lincoln. Lord forbid. They’d be a terrible fit—mostly because Lincoln was godawful when it came to relationships. He never showed any interest in other people and expected everyone to cater to him. Some women went along with that, perfectly happy with the perks, but he doubted Mathilda would be one of them.
“Do you need anything else before I go?” she asked.
“No, I think I’m good. Looking forward to breakfast. When will you be back?”
“It’s hard to say, but hopefully before dark.”
That reminded him…he handed her the headlamp she’d lent him. “Better take this, just in case.”
“Thanks, that’s very thoughtful of you.”
She always seemed so surprised when he behaved like a normal human being. Did she have some kind of bad history with a billionaire?
With a bright smile, she tucked it into her backpack. “By the way, Sasha said to tell you to take it easy today. Stick close to the camp, drink plenty of water, and don’t use your arm for anything major.”
He gave her a salute. “Got it. Disappointing that I won’t be able to arm-wrestle Robert, but that’s a guaranteed loss anyway, so fine. I’ll go easy on my arm.”
She was still laughing as she pushed her way out of the tent flap. He smiled at the sound, which seemed to twine around him like a flowering jungle vine.
In the daylight, the Nahele Research Camp was only slightly less dilapidated in appearance. Wooden tent platforms built off the ground, on lava rocks and a splash of concrete here and there. Folding chairs arranged around a fire pit, a garden patch, a few chickens pecking at the ground. A solar array, a metal-roofed shed or two, a catchment tank…and that yurt, a round structure with a peaked roof wrapped in earth-toned canvas.
