Page 351 of The Romance Adventure

CJ

CHAPTER 8

I could spend the hours I lie awake in bed reviewing the conversation with my brothers. Instead, I ruminate on my relationship with Jolie. Over dinner, things warmed up between us, but I’m still getting mixed signals. It’s nothing like when we were in Malaga.

And why did we both fib about how we met?

Or were we both flustered?

Why did she seem to bristle when Kurt Jerkovic came up?

Am I reading into things because that’s what I was trained to do, see between the lines, and pull apart falsehoods, or is this just a bumpy patch?

If it is, why?

“Questions, get in line and take a number,” I say, rolling over, unable to find a comfortable position.

Now, on my stomach, I consider that Jolie and I are making progress—she let me kiss her on the forehead. She kissed me on the cheek. Maybe soon we’ll pick up where we left off in the kitchen before my brothers barged in.

It’s not like I was keeping the location of my home or my wife a secret. Okay, I kind of was.

In recent months, my brothers blew my stereotypes and assumptions about them out of the water. Not sure what to do to get them to change their opinions about me, though.

Do I care?

That, I can answer. Yes, I care about my family—and my marriage to Jolie. I care a lot, but I’m forever in the dark about where I stand with them. I’m somehow never enough.

At first light the next morning, I wake up with a marriage hangover. I still don’t know our status. Are we on? Off? Somewhere in between? Maybe we just need time together. Time on a big boat. Just the two of us.

After leaving Jolie a note with instructions of when and where to meet me, I head over to the Driftwood to get the key to the Big Boat. Chip wanted to name it Lady Luck because he won it in a game of cards, but I somehow had a say at the age of six, and thus, it was christened The Big Boat.

Technically, the Big Boat is a yacht, as defined by Dutch pirate hunters during the sixteenth century. Despite our great-great-great or so grandmother being a pirate, Chip didn’t take kindly to them.

The Big Boat is an early prototype for one of the world’s first superboats. It can be sailed for pleasure or purpose. That means it is top in its time for luxury, has anti-rolling technology for an extremely smooth ride, and features all the amenities for long trips, but it can go fast, support dives, and the diesel engines make it efficient.

Oh, and it’s a sleek, dark grey with shiny polarized glass. But the best part is the underwater viewing pane in the hull. This is the problematic part that makes it unreliable, but we’re only taking it on a short trip, so if it takes on water, the bilge should take care of things.

In addition to the Grady White, I have a Munson Dive Boat, and according to the will, anything that floats, meaning the Big Boat is mine. Royal hates it because we got a little careless in a storm. We all survived, limbs intact. Though my left elbow still aches from time to time.

The Driftwood Resort property is quiet. Everything is still as I enter the office and use the familiar code to open the safe—our grandmother’s birthday. Sure enough, the key is there.

When I get outside, by my estimates, the conditions are right, which means we’re taking to the water. Feeling giddy, I have to admit that I’m a bit of a boat nerd. I never feel as comfortable anywhere as I do when I’m out to sea.

The sun barely peeks over the horizon by the time I have the Big Boat prepared. Using the hydraulic lift, I lower her into the water.

“She floats!” I exclaim to no one but myself.

The last time Chip and I took it out, he said the same thing as if pleasantly surprised. I miss the old guy, but maybe that’s why I love the water so much. He and I shared an appreciation and respect for the ocean.

After re-familiarizing myself with the controls, I cast off and head to the bridge. I’ll pick up Jolie at our dock in Palm Cove with some coffee and pastries from Beans & Books.

When I motor over there, Robyn stands at the dock, jaw lowered. “That is a big boat.”

“Indeed. Can I order a couple of coffees and the best-baked goods you have today?”

“Sure thing.” She taps the air. “Are you heading out to Sailor’s Folly?”

“Finally. Had to wait for the right tides.” I was hoping my brothers would join me, but they’re caught up in their own lives, which makes it seem like the crown is getting farther and farther out of reach.