Chapter 10
“Aunt Tempi! Aunt Tempi! Look what I found!”
Alden met them at her grandmother’s front door before Tempi could even knock. He was still wearing his pirate costume—eye patch pushed up on his forehead, plastic sword tucked into his sash—and he was holding a small wooden treasure chest in both hands.
“We won,” he announced. “We found a treasure chest, and inside was a ruby heart, and I’m keeping it forever.”
“Good job, buddy,” Tempi said.
Ronin crouched down to Alden’s level. “Can I see it?”
Alden opened the chest and held out the fake Crimson Heart...a shiny red gem about the size of a golf ball. “Peak, right?”
“What is it with you and that word?” Tempi asked.
Ronin took the ruby and held it up to the porch light, examining it with genuine interest. “Very peak. You know what would make it even…peakier? If you put it in a jar of water with a light behind it. The red will glow and you can see prisms of light.”
Alden’s eyes went wide. “Can we do that?”
Ronin stood. “If your mom says it’s okay.”
Alden was already running back inside. “Mom! I need a jar! And water! And either a flashlight or some light magic!”
Tempi shook her head. He’d just made her nephew’s entire night with a science experiment. “Come on in.”
Grandma Draven’s house sat on the west side of town, perched on a gentle slope overlooking the water. The home had a wraparound porch and hydrangeas lining the walkway in deep blues and purples. Inside, they slipped off their shoes and strolled into the living room.
Everyone but Alden was in the living room doing their own thing. Charles sat in one of the armchairs, scrolling on his phone. Thora stood near the window, her phone pressed to her ear, speaking in the clipped, professional tone she used for work.
“I understand that, but the donors expect the report by Monday, and if your team can’t—” Thora paused, pressing her fingers to her temple.
“Then find someone who can. I’ll review it tomorrow morning.
” She hung up and slid the phone into her pocket with a tight smile. “Sorry about that. Staff issue.”
Charles didn’t look up from his phone. “Another one?”
Thora’s jaw tightened for half a second before she smoothed it away. “It’s settled.”
Tempi felt the familiar tug of inferiority she always felt around her sister.
Thora ran a successful nonprofit. Thora had a husband and two kids.
Thora wore silk blouses and spoke to donors and managed staff and somehow still looked perfect at seven o’clock on a Saturday evening after spending the entire day at a treasure hunt in the Georgia heat.
Meanwhile, Tempi was standing in a ripped mermaid dress that barely covered her thighs, and she had mud on her bare feet.
“There’s my girl,” Grandma Draven said from her wingback chair, holding a glass of whiskey.
Lexi was curled up on the sofa reading something on her phone. She finally glanced up and immediately zeroed in on the dress. “Oh my goddess. What happened to it?”
“Don’t ask,” Tempi said.
Lexi burst out laughing. “Just kidding. I already know.” She pointed to Ronin. “He ripped it off you.”
Tempi stared at her niece. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Adeline texted Mom. Mom told us.” Lexi grinned. “It’s all over the group chat.”
Tempi closed her eyes. “Of course it is.”
Ronin held up both hands. “In my defense—”
“There is no defense,” Tempi snapped.
He wisely stopped talking.
“You be nice to that young man, Tempi.” Grandma Draven set down the glass, stood, and pulled Tempi into a hug. She released Tempi and looked Ronin up and down. “Sit down, young man. Have you eaten?”
Ronin shook his head. “No.”
Grandma shooed him onto the sofa. “Sit. Sit. Both of you. I’ll be right back.”
Her grandmother disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a tray of cheese, crackers, grapes, cured meats, shortbread cookies, and two glasses of sweet tea. She set it down on the coffee table and settled back down in her chair.
“Now,” she said, picking up her whiskey, “tell me what happened today. I looked all over for you two after the treasure hunt started, and you both vanished into thin air.” She took a sip. “No pun intended.”
Tempi opened her mouth to answer, but Alden burst into the room holding a glass jar filled with water. The fake ruby heart sat at the bottom, and he’d taped a small flashlight to the outside.
“Look!” He held up the jar for everyone to see. The red plastic gem glowed through the water, casting a faint pink light across the ceiling. “Ronin was right! It glows!”
“That’s wonderful, sweetheart,” Grandma Draven said.
Alden set the jar on the coffee table and hopped up and down on one foot like only a kid could do. “Do you think the real Crimson Heart glows like that?”
“If it exists,” Charles said stiffly from his chair, “it would be worth millions. No one would put it in a mason jar filled with water.”
“Charles,” Thora said quietly.
Alden’s face fell, but before Tempi could say anything, Ronin leaned forward on the sofa. “You know what? I think the real one would glow even brighter than the one you have in the jar. And I think whoever finds it is going to need a real pirate to help them dig it up.”
Alden brightened. “I’m a real pirate!”
“I know you are.” Ronin tapped the plastic sword in Alden’s sash. “And you’ve got the weapon to prove it.”
“I better go practice my sword fighting.” Alden snatched up his jar and ran out of the room with his thin arms wrapped around the jar.
Thora’s phone buzzed again. She glanced at the screen, silenced it, and slipped it back into her pocket without a word. Charles gave her sister a long look before going back to his phone.
“So?” Grandma Draven said, taking a sip of her whiskey. “You were about to tell me what happened today.”
Tempi hesitated. She wanted to tell her grandmother everything—the real clues, the cemetery, the ghost pirates, DuBois’ wife. But the story wasn’t finished yet, and she wasn’t ready to share it until she knew where it ended.
“We had a great time,” Tempi said. “The treasure hunt was a hit. Everyone loved it.”
Grandma Draven studied her for a long moment over the rim of her glass. The older woman’s eyes were sharp. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me something?”
Tempi smiled. “Soon, Grandma. I promise.”
Grandma Draven held her gaze for another second, then nodded.
“All right. I’ll hold you to that.” She held her glass in the air before taking another small sip.
“But whatever it is, be careful. Both of you.” Her eyes moved to Ronin.
“Treasure has a way of changing people. Make sure it changes you for the better.”
Tempi and Ronin ate from the tray and sipped their iced tea as Grandma Draven talked about all the fun she and the other ladies had.
Thirty minutes later, Tempi hugged her grandmother, kissed Alden’s head, and endured Lexi’s final plea for Ronin to fix the dress so she could wear it.
Tempi waved goodbye to her sister, who was once again on the phone.
Her sister waved back, then turned her back on everyone and proceeded to read the riot act to whoever was on the phone.
Ronin was quiet as they walked to the golf cart.
She watched him settle behind the wheel and head back down the driveway.
He’d been kind to her nephew. He’d been respectful to her grandmother.
He’d sat when he was told to sit, and eaten when he was told to eat, and he hadn’t once tried to impress anyone.
“Ronin?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming tonight,” she said.
He glanced at her and smiled. “Thanks for letting me.”