Treasured Heart

Chapter 1

A/N: *waves* Hello! So, I'm back with a new story. As always, putting up a new story always makes me nervous, but I'm hopeful that you'll like it. I will let you know that this is a slow burn, so there won't be any rushing into the romance. Updates will be every Sunday unless something comes up. Huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her awesome beta skills.

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Bella – 2001

"Bells!" Dad called, and I looked up from the book I was reading on the couch and out the open back door. "Come out here for a sec!"

Heaving a sigh, I got up after placing my bookmark in my book and made my way outside and toward the dock where my dad was standing with a man around his own age. I grinned when I saw it was Carlisle Cullen, my dad's old college roommate. Dad and Carlisle tended to go on sailing adventures once a year, but I was usually at my mom's when they went, so I hadn't seen Carlisle in ages.

I rushed over to them and gave Carlisle a quick hug, not even realizing that there was another person beside him.

"You remember my son, Edward," Carlisle said, and I did a double take because the tall, gorgeous man beside Carlisle was nothing like the Edward I remembered. Granted, I hadn't seen Edward in about five years, but he'd definitely grown up. He was even cuter than Justin Timberlake, and that was saying something because Justin was my ultimate crush and the cutest boy I'd ever seen until now.

"Hey," Edward said with a nod, and I felt the blush on my cheeks brighten.

"Why don't you show Edward around while Carlisle and I talk?" Dad suggested, and I wanted to kill him. I was awkward enough around boys that I knew, so I wasn't sure I'd even be able to talk to Edward without drooling or making a fool of myself.

"Okay, um, follow me," I said, leading Edward toward the back of the house.

"So, uh, this is the living room," I began after we walked in the back door, and I quickly gave Edward a tour of the house, stumbling over my words and blushing the whole time.

Eventually, I led him back out to the porch where we sat in awkward silence, watching as our dads talked to each other.

"Do you dive?" he asked me after a few minutes, and I nodded my head.

"Yep. Dad taught me at an early age. He's a professor of archeology, but his true love is marine treasure hunting, so he got me diving as soon as I was able to swim. Do you dive?"

He nodded his head as well. "Yeah, but it's not really my thing."

"So, why are you guys here?"

He rolled his eyes as he told me that his dad had found some information on a shipwreck that his dad and mine had been obsessed with in their younger years.

My interest was immediately peaked. I loved doing research about shipwrecks, and it was even more cool getting to dive down and see the remains of them.

"Which ship?" I asked him.

"The Sirène," he said, and my jaw dropped.

"No way! Your dad found it?"

Edward shrugged a shoulder.

"He thinks he has."

"That's so cool," I said, and it to me it was, but Edward didn't seem all that interested.

"I guess," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at his dad.

"The Sirène went missing in the 1700's from France. Supposedly, it was on its way back to France from the British Virgin Islands. Rumor has it that there was a heart shaped brooch in its coffers that is known as the Treasured Heart. The heart is a huge ruby with emeralds and dia—"