Real Mermaids Don't Sell Seashells by Helene Boudreau Read Free Book Online

replied, but I could tell Cori was bummed by my reaction. “Also, um. You’ll waste all your phone battery downloading videos like that.”
    A light tap sounded on the door joining our room with Mom and Dad’s.
    â€œOkay, I think I finally got your dad settled,” Mom said as she entered our room.
    Dad’s three umbrella drinks and the drama of my elevator rescue must have done him in because Mom had tucked him in to bed. We filled her in on everything that had happened at the Straw Market with Dillon and the cruise ship.
    â€œWell, between that and the elevator, you’ve certainly had an eventful afternoon!” Mom said. “But it sounds like this Dillon boy is pretty convinced something is going on.”
    â€œRayelle’s mom says he’s constantly causing trouble around the market,” Cori chimed in. “Her mother caught him stealing once, and he was kicked out of the market for six months. He’s on probation for now but it looks like he’s up to his old tricks again.”
    â€œYes, but we all know how people can be quick to judge,” Mom said.
    It made me think of the ladies back at Dooley’s Drugstore and how they’d said those things about Mom and Dad. I hadn’t told Mom about those ladies because I didn’t want to upset her. Nothing should ruin their happy day. We’d worked so hard to get to where we were, having our family all back together. It was going to be amazing, going back to Port Toulouse after Mom and Dad made their marriage official, no matter what the rumor mill had to say.
    â€œJade,” Mom continued, “do you think there’s something to this boy Dillon’s story?”
    â€œMaybe. I’m not saying it was an actual body, though,” I replied. “Officer Ensel is right—it’s probably nothing. He said they’d call if they needed to ask more questions.”
    â€œDid you at least manage to get a look around the market?” Mom asked.
    â€œYeah, but I didn’t get any stuff for the wedding, so the whole trip was a bit of a bust,” I said. “How did you do with the planning here?”
    â€œWell,” Mom said with a sigh. “The Alyssum already has five weddings booked for Saturday and Sunday so the only thing they can do is get us in for a sunset ceremony at the gazebo on the beach for Saturday evening.”
    â€œOh, that’ll be pretty,” Cori said.
    â€œThey don’t have any staff to help, though, so the actual planning is up to us,” Mom said, shuffling through the pile of papers and brochures she’d accumulated, trying to sort out the wedding reservations.
    â€œWhen is everyone arriving?” I asked.
    â€œEddie and Bobbie are sailing down from Florida on her sailboat and should arrive on Thursday or Friday,” Mom said. Eddie was Luke and Trey’s grandfather and apparently had made a bit of a love connection with Bobbie over the many hours of video chat they’d had while trying to come up with designs for a mer-to-human synthesizer, which Dad called the Merlin 3001. Bobbie lived in Florida and she had helped Luke turn into a mer-guy for the first time since he was a baby that past spring.
    â€œMy parents and the Martins are flying in on Friday,” Cori added.
    â€œSo everything needs to get organized in the next five days?” I asked, picking up a brochure for wedding cakes.
    â€œIt’s going to be tight but honestly, I don’t want this to take over our whole week,” Mom said with a smile. “Hopefully we can enjoy a bit of our vacation in the meantime.”
    â€œCan we go Snuba diving?” Cori asked, leafing through a few of the flyers she’d nabbed in the lobby. “Oh, and paragliding. And, oh right! We can swim with sharks!”
    â€œGah! Not the sharks again,” I said with a laugh.
    â€œYes—let’s do it all,” Mom said, stroking Cori’s hair. We’re on