Page 272 of The Romance Adventure

“Chip never said they died in the boating accident,” CJ says softly as if he knows this is a losing battle. “He said they were in a boating accident. We were to assume they died.”

“But they never came home.” The splinters of being orphaned still sting from time to time.

CJ, expression set, says, “Not yet. And that’s why Chip did this.” He waves his hands at the room in general.

“And this is why we bicker, draw lines. Don’t answer each other’s phone calls.” It also pains me that we all got swept up in our respective lives and forgot about life here and Chip. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

“Not everything is black and white, fixed in one way forever. It could be that some stories we heard had truth to them. With new details, aspects sometimes change,” CJ says.

“Or it could be some people take things too seriously,” Royal mutters.

“But you claim I don’t take things seriously enough,” CJ fires back.

Hoping to avoid their typical argument, I say, “People change. For instance, I’ve always been seen as a flirt, a rascal, and not necessarily reliable. But I can be a gentleman too.”

Everyone laughs.

“A flirty, rascally, wonderful gentleman,” Harley says.

I smirk.

“What are they putting in the water around here? I’ve never heard you say a nice thing about Ryan in your life,” Royal says.

She sticks her tongue out. “Takes one to know one.”

Laughter threads through the room, releasing some of the tension.

“Maybe we’re all not quite what we seem, like Mom and Dad,” CJ says.

The tension snaps right back into place like a rubber band.

“Wish I’d been able to meet them,” Harley says softly as if sensing I’m walking the tightrope of that tension.

“They would’ve liked you, I bet. Dad was an art history professor.”

“And an antiquities forger,” CJ says.

Ignoring him, I say, “Our mother was a librarian.”

“And a treasure diver. Night diving was her specialty. She held a second-degree black belt in jiu-jitsu and was an expert rock climber. She spoke four languages too,” CJ says with pride.

“Sounds like an amazing woman.”

“She was an amazing mother,” Royal says.

“As confirmed by Chip’s diary, they were both on the hunt for the Coroa de Lágrimas. The Lost Crown of Tears,” CJ adds.

“Let’s wait until Mag gets here before we go down that rabbit trail,” Royal says, gripping the back of his neck.

I clap CJ on the back. “In a roundabout way, those old stories of pirates and treasure are what brought us back together.”

“Chip gets credit for that,” CJ says.

Royal grunts. He’s come around in a lot of ways, but the subject of our parents and CJ’s insistence that they’re not gone is still a sore spot. It is all for all of us and we have different ways of coping.

Isla says, “Magnus and Lally wanted to let the dogs out before they came over in case we’re here a while.”

“Luke loves dogs—especially General, Lally’s mutt.” I tell them about how General will stand there, let Luke hold on to his back, and very slowly they’ll take steps together. It’s like his very own, living and breathing walker.