My Life In Ruins

9. For A Pirate, Who Knew He Was So Mushy?

Chapter 9

For A Pirate, Who Knew He Was So Mushy?

I didn’t say another word about the ruby ring after Max and I went back up on the deck of the Elizabeth.  I kept it in the pockets of my shorts and put my hand on it every few seconds because I was being a little paranoid that I was going to lose it.  I definitely couldn’t do that.

Max sat beside me on the seat of the boat.  I looked over at him every few minutes and it looked like he was thinking hard about something.  Well, I knew what he was thinking about: the code in the ring.  I was, too, I just liked watching him thinking about it.

Wow, I sounded like a creeper.

A few minutes later, Ronny was pulling the boat back up to its place at the dock and Dad and Brielle were gathering up all of our things.  Max was still in his trance so I had to bump my shoulder against his just to get him out of it.

“Hey, we’re getting ready to get off,” I said to him quietly.

He looked at me for a moment, his eyes blank, before he looked like he comprehended what I had said.  “Oh,” he said, shaking his head.  “Sorry.  I must have spaced out there for a moment."

I smiled slightly.  "It's okay," I said.

"Sorry," he said.  "I was just..."

I got a feeling that he was going to say that he was thinking about the ring.  I quickly stood and pressed my finger to his lips, shutting him up. 

"Don't say anything," I said quietly so that only he could hear me.  "Ronny and Jeff might hear you."

Max looked me straight in the eyes as he nodded.  Reaching up, he grabbed my hand in his, lacing our fingers together, and dragged me toward the doorway of the cabin.  He leaned me against the wall and stepped in front of me, pretty much blocking me from going anywhere.

"I've got a question for you," he said. 

I raised an eyebrow.  "Okay," I said slowly.

"When are you going to tell your dad and Brielle about the ring?  And when you do, are you going to show them the code on the inside?"

I rolled my eyes.  I mean, really?  Did he think I was just going to let the two of us be the only ones to know about the ring?  Well, then only the two of us would be able to get to the next clue...if there was a next clue.  We had to figure out the code first to be able to get anywhere.  And for that, I knew I had to have the help of my dad and Brielle. 

"Of course, I am," I said.  "You might not know this, but Brielle is basically an expert in cryptography."

His eyes widened slightly.  "Really?" he asked, and I nodded, grinning.  He shook his head again, this time in amazement.  "You Landon women are full of surprises, aren't you?"  

I laughed.  "Yep," I said. 

Max laughed with me and reached up to push a damp curl behind my ear that had stuck to the side of my face.  His thumb lingered there, brushing my cheek lightly.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat from behind us and I hesitantly looked over Max's shoulder to see my dad standing there.  I pushed Max away and stepped toward him.

"Hi, Daddy," I said a little too sweetly. 

"Hey," he said, but he wasn't looking at me.  His eyes were just slightly narrowed at Max.  "Are you two ready?  We're going to go back to the hotel before we go out for dinner."