Page 92 of Courting Danger
“Really?” Roan said, immediately dialing in on her. “You’d put them out there for everyone to see?”
“With pleasure,” she replied. “Our coastal heritage is a big part of what we celebrate and want visitors to take the time to appreciate. What better way than to show off what’s been discovered on our beaches?”
“Now I’m even more excited,” Roan admitted. “I hope we find something amazing.”
“So do I,” she said. “We should keep journals, marking down the day we found it and roughly where and how deep it was buried, along with notes describing it and anything we learn about our finds to include with the display. That way we’ve got a log of all our discoveries.”
“I’m going to start one tonight,” Roan said, looking over at Pope. “Do you have any extra notebooks around?”
“Plenty of them,” Pope replied. “I’m sure we can find one that’s easy to carry along on our explorations.”
“Sweet!”
“Speaking of sweets,” Sunshine began. “I think it’s time to start breaking out the treats, since I see nothing but empty plates over there.”
“I made sure to leave room for dessert,” Roan declared.
“Me too,” Kermit said.
“Same!” Ocean declared, before standing and collecting all the empty paper plates and tossing them in the trash bag they’d brought out earlier.
“Well then, I’ll be right back,” she said. “Pope, if you will light the table fire and break out the skewers, we’ll be good to go.”
“On it,” Pope said as he wiped his hands and began fiddling with the knob that controlled the fire pit, which quickly roared to life.
When Ocean saw Sunshine return with a bag of marshmallows, a container of warm caramel, and a larger container filled with Coco Krispies, he teared up.
“No way!” He declared, pressing his hands to his lips before burying his face against Danger’s shoulder when Danger hugged him.
Sunshine came around the table to rub circles on his back, bending so he’d hear her over his soft sobs. “Yes way. Hearing you talk about how much you loved and missed your mother’s special caramel-dipped marshmallows, I knew they’d be perfect for tonight.”
He turned from hugging Danger to hug her; murmuringthank youas he huddled in her arms. While Roan wished he had memories of something that special from his childhood, he was beyond thrilled for Ocean. What Sunshine had done, giving him yet another piece of his past back, was another beautiful example of the Jokers’ belief in family ties and the importance of keeping memories alive. Watching Ocean compose himself, wipe his tears, and put the first marshmallow on his skewer left Roan hopeful that in time, they’d forge traditions of their own and have a long lifetime together to share them.
