Chapter 30 The Note #3
Out behind the house, a strange humming started up. Minnow cocked an ear, trying to understand what she was hearing.
Tiny wingbeats?
“Do you hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what?”
She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him out back. The clouds had all been swept away, and the sky was salted with stars.
They moved toward the pond, carefully walking across the uneven ground. The sound grew louder. In the faint light from the
lantern in her hand, they saw a cloud of shimmering red dragonflies—no, damselflies—hovering over the water, wings delicate
as lace spun from spiderwebs. Hundreds of them, maybe more.
“What are they doing?” Luke asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen them swarm like this. I know that Hawai?i has several of its own species of damselflies, so
maybe this is something they do?”
He looked at her and ran the side of his hand down her cheek. “Dear God, you’re sexy.”
“These guys are the sexy ones. Look how they shimmer.”
His hand paused on her jawline and she leaned in, wanting more but afraid to admit it.
“Most people I know will never know the difference between a dragonfly and a damselfly. But you, you can hear them, can’t you?” he said.
They were on the small wooden deck built over the corner of the pond and she sat down, dangling her legs in the water. The
damselflies kept on buzzing, doing their damselfly thing, and Luke sat next to her, shoulder touching hers, thigh too. Coconut
lotion lifted off him in waves.
“I do. I hear their wings the same way I hear the stars singing or the beating heart of a fish. Is that weird?” she asked.
His hand went to her thigh and rested there, big and warm. “Not weird. It’s your special gift. I think we’re all born with
these kinds of abilities or intuitions, but most people shed them along the way when they’re still too young to remember.”
“It took me a while to realize that no one heard what I was hearing, and that not everyone loved sharks and sea creatures
the same way I did.”
“A real live mermaid.”
“I like to think of myself more as a fish.”
He laughed. “Of course you do. A fish that has led quite a life. To go through what you did and still have love in your heart,
that says something about your resilience. Another gift.”
“I did what any kid would do.”
“No, you didn’t.”
She kicked her feet in the water, enjoying its coolness. “I had the sharks.”
The damselflies were giving off their own light, if that were possible, and the surface of the pond glowed as red as a lava
lake. It was beautiful, and eerie. They sat for a while in silence, Minnow wondering what was coming next. Because when insects
swarmed or animals behaved oddly, it often portended some kind of impending disaster. She tried to tell herself it was only
her imagination conjuring up some doomsday scenario.
But of course a disaster was coming. Tomorrow morning, bright and early.
Eventually they ended up back in the house, and she realized she didn’t want Luke to leave. The note had shaken her up and
the idea of being alone here all night was causing shortness of breath.
She worked up the nerve to ask him. “Would you stay here tonight? It just feels kind of scary knowing there’s possibly someone
who is ex–Special Forces out there somewhere. And if not him, then someone else.”
“Trust me, I would have slept on that wall out front if I had to. I’m glad you asked.”
“Thank you—”
“And don’t worry, I’ll sleep in my own bed.”
He had nothing with him, though.
“Where’s all your stuff?” she asked.
“In my truck back at the hotel. George said I could stay in an old coffee shed on his property in Hōlualoa for a while, so
I’ll probably take him up on that.”
“Where’s Hōlualoa?”
“Up the mountain, above Kona. It’s gorgeous, like another world up there.”
She motioned across the room. “Well, take your pick of beds. That one over there will leave you swaybacked, though, and the
one by the door is completely lopsided. And that one is made out of bricks, but it may be your best bet.”
He grinned and his smile sent shock waves through her.
Minnow shook it off. They washed up and luckily for Luke there was a box full of extra toothbrushes.
When he came out of the bathroom, he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
She was already lying in bed in nothing but a skimpy tank top and underwear.
Any more clothes than that and she’d wake up in a pool of sweat.
The lantern was next to her on a stool that doubled as a bedside table.
She watched him flip back the quilt and ease in between the sheets, lying on his back with his hands folded behind his head.
He stared up at the ceiling. “So what’s our plan for tomorrow morning?”
“Our plan?”
“I’m a hundred percent Team Shark, Minnow. Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do.”
“You don’t have—”
He cut her off. “I need to do this for my own peace of mind. I still kind of hate myself for what I thought I was capable
of doing, all in the name of getting my feet back on the ground.” He rolled onto his side and faced her, one bed between them.
“Plus, I want to make it up to you.”
Whatever was happening here, she couldn’t fight it.
Right then, the phone rang. Minnow had no choice but to climb out of bed in her undies and sheer top and get it. “Kaupiko’s,”
she said.
“It’s me, Woody. Sorry to call so late, but I wanted to tell you not to wait for me in the morning. Just drive the boat to
Honokohau and get there before sunup. Bring Nalu with you, and also get ahold of Josh Brown and tell him to get down there,
crack of dawn.”
“What’s happening?”
“Trust me on this. You’ll see.”
She wanted to ask more, but he’d already hung up.
When she looked over at Luke, he was sitting up. “Everything okay?”
She told him.
“These guys are obviously going to protest. I just hope it doesn’t get out of hand,” he said.
“I would hate for it to backfire. Cliff has a reputation as being kind of a wild card, but I like him. He’s connected.”
She then called the resort and left a message at the front desk for Josh, saying it was urgent.
When she walked back to her bed, Luke’s eyes followed her every move. They both lay down again and this time she flicked off
the lantern. Woody’s call had sobered her and she lay there in the dark hoping she’d be able to sleep. The humming of the
damselflies had stopped, but she could hear the soft sounds of Luke breathing and the crinkling of starched sheets. Her mind
revisited the day’s events, especially the encounter with Luna, while at the same time being hyperaware of Luke’s presence
in the room.
“Good night,” she finally said.
“Sweet dreams.”
Twenty minutes later, she could tell he was still awake by the way he kept flipping from side to side. Would it be so bad
to crawl into bed with him and nestle her head in the crook of his neck?
“Minnow?” he whispered.
“Yes?”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Me neither.”
Without another thought—because sometimes thinking really got in the way of living—she went to his bed and lay down facing
him, an inch or two away. He kissed her lightly on the nose and pressed his forehead to hers.
“Turn around,” he said, rolling her so her back was to him.
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into him. Every surface of their bodies touched and she felt her whole being relax.
“There, better. Now maybe we can sleep,” he said, holding on to her as though he needed this as much as she did.
Something deep and unshakable passed between them. Minnow drifted off within minutes, sure of only one thing: Tomorrow would
test her beyond measure.