Page 5 of The Romance Adventure

Reluctantly, I answer the call. If I don’t, there’s a good chance he’ll land by helo on the roof of this building and bang the door down.

Without any introduction, he asks, “Did you get the envelope?”

“Yes.”

“Did you open it?”

“Of course not.”

“Open it.” Magnus speaks with the kind of authority that only his superiors would challenge.

Old habits die hard and I find myself pulling it out of the bin and obeying without thinking. I don’t look at the card, but a plane ticket for Miami falls out. I toss it in the trash. “I’m not going to his birthday party.”

As if he didn’t hear me, Magnus says, “We’re going.”

Stubborn defiance stiffens my muscles.

“Get on that plane. See you there.”

Even if I were going, which I’m not, I don’t fly commercial. Plus, who prints airplane tickets anymore? Oh, that’s right, my grandfather, who is squarely stuck in the past. If I didn’t know better, I’d argue that he holds CJ hostage there, too, even though he’s the youngest of my brothers and is hardly into his third decade of life.

As I finish packing, because the private plane I’m boarding later will bring me out west, not south, my thoughts wander to the more recent past. To the petite woman with her beachy, messy hair, paint splatters from top to bottom, and the most striking blue eyes I’ve ever seen. They reminded me of the ocean at a certain time of day, at a certain time of year. One I’ve worked very hard to get away from.

I’m not the type to pick apart or replay situations. I’m decisive, swift, and yeah, surly. But I recall that first moment of contact when our hands inadvertently touched as we both reached for the same muffin. It was the strangest thing, but for a second, it was like someone pushed a button and paused my life. It was brief, but I could breathe in a way I haven’t in a long time—it was like I inhaled a big, deep, open ocean breath, scented with summer, with freedom.

Then the second time our hands touched was when she tried to share half of the muffin with me, but caused a calamity on a massive and messy scale.

She’s the kind of woman who could bring down lesser men, literally. She tried to drag me to the ground as her smoothie went up and all over.

I give my head a dismissive shake, but that doesn’t do the trick. She lingers there with questions about the future, but I’ve already painted that picture and I’m at the top, flying solo.

Uninvited, my brothers barge into the image in my mind, along with my grandfather. They chatter and bicker, one mentioning this might be the last time we see Chip.

In my mind’s eye, CJ makes a case that we’ll have fun. Ryan smiles because he’s the kind of guy who’s always along for the ride as long as it’s a good one. Then there’s Magnus, the Navy pilot. When he gives an order, I’ll end up waging a battle against my sensibilities to defy him. I’ve yet to win.

At the end of a long sigh, I relent. I tap my phone and tell Angela there has been a change in plans and to postpone my meeting tomorrow.

In the imaginary painting, CJ cheers. I roll my eyes. But there’s another figure there—Strawberry Shortcake painted herself in and I can’t seem to erase her from my mind.

Isla

CHAPTER 3

After the disastrous encounter with Mr. Muffin, Allie generously gets me a replacement smoothie.

Like a normal person who knows how to walk on two legs, Gina grips her cup and the lid remains on her peanut butter banana smoothie with a cocoa cream drizzle.

“Well, that was a meet mess,” Allie says with a sigh.

“A meet what?” Gina asks.

“You know, like in those romance movies when two people⁠—”

“Exactly,” I say, then tell them about how while I gazed up at Mr. Muffin, all swoony-eyed and smitten by his smolder, he had the opportunity to wipe the smudge of strawberry shortcake smoothie from my face.

“Ooh, then he’d lick it?” Gina asks.

“Not that kind of movie,” Allie says. She explains how often the prospective couple will meet in a funny or endearing way. “Like the classic collision in the hallway where papers go flying everywhere, then as they’re picking them up, their eyes meet, and they fall in love.”