I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“You’re serious.”
“Dead serious.”
I rubbed my jaw, remembering the last time I’d visited, standing on that rocky shore while my brother walked me through his latest irrigation upgrade like a kid showing off a science fair project.
“I used to give him so much shit about it. Called it his doomsday island.”
“And now?” she asked.
I gestured vaguely at the silent aquarium around us.
“Now I’m thinking he might’ve been the only sane one in the family.”
She let out a quiet breath and looked down at the map again.
“If everything you’re saying is true…”
“It is.”
“…that island might be one of the safest places left.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
Her finger hovered over the tiny speck of land. Three hundred miles of open coastline between it and us.
“But it’s a long way.”
“About three hundred miles.”
“That’s a long way in a boat, Callan.”
“Yeah.”
“And we don’t even know if your brother is still alive.”
I nodded slowly.
“True, but even so, the island is still there.”
Silence settled between us. The noise of the generators filled the space where words should have gone.
Finally, she looked up.
“If he is alive…”
“He’ll let us in.”
“You’re sure?”
I smiled faintly.
“My brother’s a lot of things.”
“Crazy?”