He interrupted me before I went on to my scripted DR history sound bite. “I know about Hispaniola. One side of the island is Dominican Republic and the other is Haiti, the first free Black republic in the world. Jean-Jacques Dessalines is a hero of mine.” He smiled when he mentioned the Haitian general who led the slave rebellion in 1804.

“That’s right.” It never got old, connecting with someone over the pieces of who I was, which others rarely saw. Being biracial, I sometimes felt lost in an in-between world. I had to constantly make a space for myself where I didn’t necessarily feel like I fit in. For Elias to not question my claim on Hispaniola brought the warm feeling in my chest back with a vengeance.

We stayed silent for a few minutes until he jumped up from the grass and pulled me to my feet. I realized then that other than shaking his hand when we met, I hadn’t reached out to touch him at all. The warmth of his skin against mine made my stomach flutter. His eyes on me were intense, like he was trying to read every thought going through my head.

We looked at each other for another moment before he let go. Then he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, which I assumed indicated he was taking off. “I’m headed to shower and will grab a quick breakfast in the restaurant. Will you be ready to go in an hour?”

Right, plans for the day. For the job I was here to do, which didn’t involve messing around with Elias in the yard of the hotel.

I nodded as I started turning away. “Yes. I told Sam I’d meet him for breakfast to go over plans, but it should be quick.”

“Good. We should leave right at 8:00. We have to do a lot of driving today. I’ve also ordered some lunches and water bottles from the restaurant to take with us. There won’t be places to stop on today’s route.”

I looked at the time on my watch and gave him a thumbs-up. “That gives me about forty-five minutes, which is more than enough. See you in a bit, and thanks for taking care of lunch.”

I turned and started walking to my room. From the corner of my eye I saw Elias watching me, and his face had that intense look again.

Like I was something he was trying to figure out, but was afraid of the answers he’d discover.