“He has high cholesterol,” Harper said defensively. “The doctor wants him to watch what he eats, so I make his lunch.”

Daniel shrugged, as if he either didn’t believe her or didn’t care. Carefully, he took everything out of their plastic Baggies, which was more difficult for the sandwich, since it had been so severely mashed.

Once he was done, he threw all the food out onto the dock and balled up what was left of the garbage.

“Hey!” Harper yelled. “You didn’t need to waste that!”

“I didn’t.” He gestured to the dock, which was now covered in seagulls fighting over the food. “I fed the birds.” Harper still didn’t look pleased, so he laughed.

“I guess.”

“Let’s go belowdecks and talk,” Daniel suggested. “It’s cooler down there.”

He went down without waiting for her protests. She paused for a minute, reluctant to follow him. But it was hot outside, and the sun wasn’t making it any better.

When Harper climbed down, she noted that the boat wasn’t dirty so much as messy, and that surprised her. He did have stuff strewn all about, but that was in large part because it was such a small space he didn’t really have places to put anything.

“Have a seat.” He gestured around him.

His bed was the most cleared-off spot, but she didn’t want to give him the wrong idea. She leaned against the table instead, preferring to stand.

“I’m fine.”

“Suit yourself.” Daniel sat on the bed and crossed his arms over his chest. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Uh…” Harper was at a loss for words because she didn’t really know what she wanted to talk about. All she knew was that she’d wanted to talk to him. It didn’t matter what it was about.

“Gemma hasn’t been around lately, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Daniel said, and she was grateful that he’d brought up an actual topic so she wasn’t left gaping at him.

“Good. She’s not supposed to be going anywhere, since she’s grounded. But that hasn’t really been stopping her.” Harper shook her head.

“So she’s still sneaking out to the bay?” Daniel asked, but he didn’t sound surprised. “You can’t keep that girl away from water. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was part fish.”

“I wish she was just going to the bay,” she admitted wearily and leaned back. “That I could deal with. But I don’t even know what she’s doing anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s so bizarre. Those girls came over last night to get her, and—”

“What girls?” Daniel asked. “You mean Penn?”