Page 100 of The Mistakes I've Made
“What?” I laughed. “No! Well, kind of. Jack Sparrow was actually created after the original and very real Blackbeard.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Was he super sexy like Jack Sparrow? Oh, can you wear guy liner like he did?” she asked, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.
“I think we’re getting off topic,” I said.
She looked down at her plain dress. “You know, I think we are. How about we talk about the fact that you’re some super-cool pirate—”
“He was actually a pretty horrible dude. He murdered—”
She gave me the death stare.
“I’m sorry. Continue.”
“And I’m a woman. Just a woman.”
“I thought that wasn’t okay to say.”
“Taylor!” she hollered.
I tried not to laugh, but it was hard. She was just so damn cute when she was flustered.
“You’re not just a woman,” I finally told her. “You’re Blackbeard’s wife.”
“I’m what now?”
A satisfied grin tugged at the corners of my lips. “There are all sorts of legends and stories about the many wives of Blackbeard. It is rumored that he had up to fourteen wives, but most believe this was just a stunt he did to lure women onto his boat.”
“That’s…weird.”
“Like I said, not a great guy.”
“And yet, here we are, paying tribute to this horrible dude. You couldn’t have picked the Roosevelts?”
My head twisted to the side. “You know, I could have, but I was kind of hoping to get laid after this, and I wasn’t sure that look would do it. Plus, Dean had this costume, so really, it was a win-win.”
“Okay, smart-ass,” she said with a chuckle, “tell me about Blackbeard’s wife.”
“There’s not much to tell,” I said. “Her name was Mary Ormond. She was the daughter of a plantation owner, and I’m guessing he wasn’t a great guy since he offered up his sixteen-year-old daughter to a thug.”
“Maybe they loved each other,” she said.
“I don’t think a guy like that believed in love.”
She walked toward me, slipping her hands around my waist. “Maybe she changed his mind.”
Her words made my breath falter.
“Maybe she did,” I found myself saying.
“Whatever happened to her?”
“No one really knows. Some accounts say he offered her as a gift to his crew.”
She shook her head, disagreeing. “No,” she said. “I think they ruled those seas together until the very end.”
