Page 69 of The Romance Game

Royal and I look at our brother with the usual sympathy, but what if he’s not wrong? Like Uncle Eddie and the giant squid or whatever, what if CJ’s claim proves true? Something sparks in me.

“Then why did Chip say they were in a boating accident?” Royal asks.

“Because they were.”

“Which is it? They can’t have been in a boating accident and be dead?” Royal says sharply.

Isla plants her hand on her husband’s back and rubs it gently.

“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 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.

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