Page 57 of Big Island Sunrise
Tenn grinned. “Oh, they’re not open today.”
She looked at him in confusion, but he was already climbing out of the truck. He circled around and opened her door for her, then led her up the stairs and into the restaurant.
“I worked here for years,” he explained as he unlocked the door. “The owner is a good friend of mine. He said it would be okay for me to borrow the place for a few hours.”
The place was small and fancy, with a long bar in front of the sushi counter and a series of tables that overlooked the water.
He seated her at the very end of the sushi bar, next to a broad window with a view of the bay. Then he disappeared into the kitchen for a while and reappeared on the opposite side of the counter with his arms full of food.
“Something to drink?”
“Water is fine.”
“Sparkling?”
“Sure.”
He poured her a glass of bubbly water and added a fresh slice of lemon before getting to work. She watched as he deftly sliced fresh fish into sashimi.
“I’m starved,” he said apologetically. “Do you mind if we start with sashimi and seaweed salad?”
“That sounds amazing.”
“I can make some rolls after that.”
He set the sashimi plate in front of her, then went back into the kitchen.
She looked out over the water. The sky wasn’t quite dark, but the lights were starting to come on in Hilo. Across the bay, she could see the steady motion of headlights on the highway.
He came out with two bowls of seaweed salad and joined her at the bar.
She picked up a piece of the sashimi. It was some kind of white fish, almost translucent. A small bowl held chili pepper water, and she dipped the fish in that before bringing it up to her mouth. It was incredibly delicious, fresh and clean, so delicate that it basically melted away. The seaweed salad was a perfect accompaniment, more hearty and savory than the sugary stuff sold at the big chain stores, which was always dyed acid green.
“This is phenomenal,” she said between bites. “Did you go to culinary school?”
“Business school,” he said with a flat voice and a wry smile. “But four years of academia was bad enough without following it with a lifetime in an office building. I moved home and worked a few odd jobs before landing here. I started out in the back and graduated to sushi chef eventually.”
“And then you bought the café?”
“Less than a year ago, yeah. Late nights here were fine in my twenties. I had the whole day to surf or sleep if I needed to. But once I had Livie full time, I knew that I needed to figure something else out. I ran the café for a year before I actually bought it. My parents helped; they’re my not-so-silent investors.
“The café is perfect because I can mostly work while Livie’s with ‘Olena or her grandparents. And if there’s a week that things get a bit out of hand and I’m working extra hours, she can just hang out with me in the café or ride along with me to get ingredients. We’re not open for dinner, so I’m always home to have dinner with Livie and put her to bed.”
“Except for tonight.”
“True,” he acknowledged. “Tonight she’s doing a movie marathon with her grandma.”
He scraped his bowl clean and stood.
“Do you have a favorite kind of roll?”
“I like?ahi. The spicier the better.”
“Spicy?ahiroll, coming right up.”
When he walked back around to the kitchen, she pulled her phone out to text Emma.
Rory OK?
