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A slow smile crossed his face. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should.”
For a long moment, they only stared at each other. Her heart hummed, but not from nerves. Whatever was happening between her and Trent, she knew he was more than a friend. He had always been important to her.
He pointed to the book in her hand. “Okay, let’s distract ourselves from your insane attraction to me by focusing on the puzzle of what the numbers could possibly mean and what they have to do with my parents.”
Liberty agreed, tugging her other hand away and opening the first journal. She read aloud: “Remember, Trey, Kens, Marshall, Brooks, Trent, Hunter—I love you. Also, your mother is making me keep a journal, so don’t get your hopes too high.”
A lopsided grin appeared on Trent’s face. “That was Dad. He did things for duty and honor, because he promised Mom.” He sighed and read the next line. “Always remember what Jor-El told Kal-El: go to the Fortress of Solitude when you need to recharge.”
Liberty put her hand up. “Wait, what?”
“My dad was a Superman freak. Like, we grew up watching the old Christopher Reeves movies and Dad always acted like Superman lore was real. There’s actually a whole thing about Superman on the wall over there.” Trent pointed to a wall on the far side of the room. “Dedicated to Dad’s love of Superman. Anyway, Jor-El is Superman’s dad, and Kal-El is Superman in Kryptonian.”
Liberty couldn’t help but laugh. “What?”
“You don’t know Superman lore?” Trent gave her a baffled look.
She shook her head. “I know a little about Superman, but it was never a thing for my family.”
His eyebrows went up. “Have you ever watched the Reeves Superman movies?”
She could feel his excitement. “Ah, no.”
Trent stood and pulled her hand up with his. “This cannot stand. It’s marathon time.”
She giggled, and the journal slipped from her hand. “Oh gosh.” She bent to pick it up.
He got there first, frowning at the old book. “Crap, the spine broke. My siblings are going to kill me. Ahh.”
She felt awful, kneeling beside him to inspect it. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, it’s my fault. I yanked you up.” Trent messed with the spine of the book and then hesitated, eyeing the edge of a picture sticking out. “What the crap?” Carefully, he pried a picture out of the spine.
Liberty was shocked. “Holy cow.”
Trent looked at the picture, then reached into the spine of the book and extracted a bunch more pictures. “This is insane.” He put the pictures down on the coffee table beside them. Trent laughed. “Oh my gosh,” he said, holding out a picture of him and his dad. “I was, like, eleven there, and Dad and I had just spent the day at the gun range. He’d just given me a lesson on how to school him in shooting.”
She smiled as she stared at the picture of a very young Trent and Hunter, both holding guns.
Trent pointed to the gun. “That’s a twenty-two. Dad taught all of us to shoot with twenty-twos out at the old gun range outside town.”
She smiled at the young boys, then noticed that his father was wearing some kind of headphones. “Why did he wear those?”
Trent looked at her incredulously. “Have you ever been shooting?”
She shook her head.
A look of disgust crossed his face. “We will have to remedy that.”
She wasn’t sure if she wanted that remedied, but she was distracted when Trent put all the pictures on the table and began sorting them.
He pointed to one. “This is Trey with Mom and Dad in front of BUD/S training in San Diego. I forgot they went on that trip.” He paused and picked up the picture. “This was all the same year Dad passed away.”
His words took her by surprise, and she focused over his shoulder on the picture.
“Isn’t that crazy?” Trent asked, almost absently. He pulled the next picture into focus. “That’s Kensi with Dad and Mom in front of the Supreme Court Justice Building in DC.” He shook his head and grabbed another picture with Marshall and their parents.
