She walked for several blocks along the docks before she spotted the Pelican, a handsome ship with a black steel hull and a glossy red stripe running along the top deck. She was completely ignorant of ships, but surely that was a smokestack on the top, and a large room near the front had wrap-around windows on all sides—was that where the captain steered the ship?

Unlike ships on the neighboring dock, there didn’t seem to be much activity on the Pelican. Could the harbormaster have been mistaken about Gray being aboard? Aside from two men swabbing the decks, the ship looked abandoned.

“Why are you here, Annabelle?”

The voice came from directly behind her, startling her so badly that she almost dropped the box of glass vials, but Gray helped save it just before it hit the ground. He returned it to her hastily, as though it burned his skin.

She recovered her composure quickly. “Hello, Gray. I never did get a chance to admire your ship. It certainly is impressive.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked again. There was no hint of softening in his iron-hard face, but she didn’t let it discourage her. She’d known this wasn’t going to be easy.

“I met David Fairchild a few days ago. Did you know he was back in the States?”

Gray folded his arms across his chest and glowered at her.

“Because I think you and he have a lot in common. He’s also very curious about all manner of useful plants and has amassed quite a collection. He brought back pistachios. Have you ever tried one?”

“You have sixty seconds to tell me what you’ve come for, and then I’m throwing you off this dock. Your clock just started.”

She lifted her chin. “Can you throw me off this dock? Or is it like a public sidewalk where anyone has the right to stand? I came here prepared to be humble and obsequious, but you’re making it hard, Gray.”

A bit of humor flashed in his face, but it vanished quickly. “Why are you here, Annabelle?” he asked again. Wind ruffled his hair, and she longed to reach up and stroke it back from his face.

She turned the box and unlatched the lid to display the empty glass vials. “These are for rice samples,” she said. “Rumor has it you’re heading to Madagascar, and we expect they grow some unique rice cultivars. If you could collect some grains—”

“No.”

“Because I have a feeling you’ll be collecting some for your own research, so it shouldn’t be any bother to—”

“Come on, Annabelle!” he snapped, both hands on his hips as he moved in closer to glower down at her. “You didn’t really expect me to agree, did you?”

“No, but I had to try.”

He looked flabbergasted as he held his arms out wide. “Why?”