BOOK 1 [with seasons 1 & 2]
Aurora Lili Routledge, or as everyone calls her; Rory, is the twin sister of John B Routledge. With the summer approaching, Rory and John B have made a perfect plan along with their friends; JJ, Pope, and Kie to have...
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Rory~
AS we made our way back to Heyward's, the air was thick with excitement, but there was an undertone of disbelief that lingered with all of us. Finding out that Pope was related to Denmark Tanny—the only person who survived the sinking of the Royal Merchant and came ashore with 400 million dollars in gold—was nothing short of mind-blowing. It felt like something out of a storybook, the kind of tale you'd hear from the old-timers who hung around the docks with a bottle of whiskey in hand. But this was real, and it made everything feel that much crazier.
The sun was starting to dip below the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over everything—a perfect setting for the bombshell Pope had just dropped on us.
"I still can't believe you're related to Denmark Tanny," John B said, his voice full of awe.
Pope looked a little overwhelmed, which was fair, considering he just found out he was related to a local legend. "Yeah, I couldn't believe what I'd heard Meemaw say a first." he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as if trying to process it all.
"But, I guess that explains why Limbrey's been so obsessed with you," I said, looking at Pope. "She said that John B and I had to know you were related to Denmark otherwise we'd not have involved you in the hunt for gold, remember?"
"Yeah, she did." Pope agreed, shaking his head, still feeling confused.
John B grinned, always ready to make light of a situation. "Yeah, but...Are we in the presence of a royal?" he asked, raising his beer in a mock toast.
"A king?" JJ chimed in, never one to miss an opportunity to turn something serious into a joke. He reached over and made a dramatic gesture, as if placing an imaginary crown on Pope's head. "We shall crown him. All hail the lord of Tannyhill!" He exclaimed in a terrible British accent, which had me snorting with laughter.
I couldn't resist playing along. "We're not worthy!" I called out, mimicking the bow, and just like that, the tension broke as laughter rippled through our group.
Carter, who had been leaning casually against one of the dock posts, joined in with a mock salute. "My liege," he said, bowing dramatically. "All hail the king of the Outer Banks! May his reign be long and his beer cold!" He proclaimed, raising his can in a toast to Pope.
Pope just shook his head with a smile, clearly both amused and embarrassed by all the attention.
"Everybody relax. Can we relax, please?" He said, waving his hands as if to dismiss the whole royal bit, but his smile gave away that he didn't mind the attention as much as he pretended to.
Sarah, who had been watching the whole thing with an amused smile sitting on another high container beside the one Kie was perched on, suddenly suggested, "Relocate Cat's Ass, question mark?"
She was referring to the hot tub that still sat in the backyard of the Chateau, the one JJ had bought months ago. It was hilarious how quickly she was adjusting to our weird little group and JJ's even weirder names for everything. The situation making me snort as I nodded.
