Page 365 of The Romance Adventure

“I don’t think it’ll be much longer,” an older woman with a scratchy voice says.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to tell them?” asks a male.

“No. We talked about this after you finally got back and told me the news. I had no idea about my brother. This is probably for the best,” the older woman says.

“I recognize that voice,” Lally whispers.

So do I.

Magnus and I exchange a knowing look.

He climbs the steps to the porch and knocks on the door before taking a respectful step back and clasping his hands.

A long moment passes with hushed voices going back and forth from inside. Finally, the door opens.

An older woman with a puff of white hair and a nose nearly identical to Chip’s fills the doorway. “Hello, may I help you?”

“I believe so. I’m Magnus McGregor. This is my wife Lally, my brother CJ, Chip Junior, and his wife Jolie.”

Her watery eyes jump between us before she says, “Oh my. Oh my. I can’t pretend I don’t recognize my own family.”

The words Were you going to? leap to my tongue, but I hold back.

She steps aside, letting us in. The home is modest, clean, and smells like cinnamon.

“You’ll have to excuse me. I wasn’t expecting so many guests.”

A familiar figure sits at the kitchen table, sipping lemonade. Instead of his pirate attire, Captain J, aka Gerome Jack Glandman wears slacks and a loose button-down. He gives a weak wave. His eyes are baggier than ever, his skin sallow, and his hair a map of thin, greasy strands.

“Just the man I was looking for,” I mutter.

“And there I thought you came to see your grandmother,” Aunt Lorena says.

The lines from Chip’s will now make perfect sense.

Start on the eighteenth. That’s where Royal and Isla found the first piece of the map.

Avoid the sand. The Crimson Tide was not wrecked along the bight or Sailor’s Folly.

Seek her with all your heart and might. I peer into a room with a frail woman lying in a twin-sized bed. The wind flutters the gauzy curtains.

She blinks her eyes a few times as if bringing us into focus. “I knew I’d see you one more time.”

Bring your wits. You’ll need them and each other.

I have a feeling that part still lies ahead.

Jolie

CHAPTER 11

The woman lying in the bed gestures for CJ and Magnus to come closer. They pull up a pair of chairs for just that purpose and she speaks to them in hushed tones. I catch snippets, but mostly she speaks Portuguese.

Lally talks to Aunt Lorena about her medical history and I gather that it’s time for their avó to peacefully leave this earthly life. On the way here, Lally talked a bit about her time as a nurse and commented that Mr. Edmonton, a lawyer in town, has the best doctors.

But maybe it’s too late for that. Could be too disruptive for their grandmother to travel. However, she smiles and doesn’t seem to be in any great pain.

Even though I’ve been with several people when they passed on—or were killed, unfortunately, it happens in my line of work—right now, I feel alone standing in the corner of this room.