She stopped and gazed at the floor above them. “As long as I live, I’ll never forget that day in the light tower. But I wasn’t courageous enough to take responsibility for my actions and accept punishment. Instead, I fled Pavee Cove, never to return, until today.”
Sam struggled to keep her emotions in check. “Why did you come back now?”
She smiled. “To set you free. And to make sure you don’t lose Aidan like I lost Morgan.”
Samantha’s eyes widened with disbelief.
“Aidan is your one true love, as Morgan was mine. It’s too late for me, but your life with Aidan has just begun. You couldn’t quite get your act together in Portland, but the two of you were destined to be together. I realized that from the first day you came to my office for help and told me your problem.”
Sam was stunned. “Did you know who I was?”
Her mother nodded and smiled. “Yes. You were wearing my cross necklace; the same one you’re wearing now.”
Samantha touched the smooth gold cross.
“I almost fainted when I did realize it was you,” Teagan chuckled. “I couldn’t believe I was getting a second chance with my daughter! One look into your beautiful blue eyes and I knew you were my child. I believed God was giving us both another chance.”
Feeling a rush of tears about to fall, Sam said, “Didn’t you ever look for me after you left Pavee Cove?”
She nodded. “I searched for you for years. Claire and I stayed in touch, and neither of us knew how to find you. We suspected the social worker had put you in foster care. Claire never received any documents addressed to me about giving up my rights to you, so there was no way to trace you. It was as if you’d dropped off the face of the earth.”
Sam hiccupped. “Bev Landers was the name of the social worker who took me away from you that day. She didn’t put me in foster care. She kept me, changed my name to Samantha, and raised me as her own.”
Teagan nodded again. “Samantha is a pretty name, but so is Remy.”
Sam’s heart twisted, and her bones ached from the loss of time and maternal love. “I’m confused about Chad and Aidan.”
“They both exist, but in parallel universes. Chad existed in the only reality you’ve known before coming to Pavee Cove. Aidan is the same man, except that he lives in an alternate world, a world that you discovered by peering into the captain’s spyglass.”
They both gazed at the sleek instrument, which lay on the sofa next to Teagan. “It wasn’t a coincidence that the two of you met each other in Portland,” she continued. “But the accident took away your chance for love with your soul mate. I couldn’t let that happen. I knew of the one way in which Chad could come back to you, whole and healthy and ready for love.”
“The spyglass.”
“Yes. That’s why I didn’t tell you who I was when you started seeing me. If I’d told you I was your mama, you would have wanted to stay with me.”
“Of course I would have, Mama. I’ve missed you so!” She grabbed Teagan’s hand and placed it against her own cheek.
“I’ve missed you, too, sweetheart. More than you’ll ever know. But it’s a mother’s job to sacrifice her own happiness for the happiness of her child. I thought I was doing that when I handed you over to Bev Landers. But that was a mistake. Luckily, I was given the chance to help your dreams finally come true. If I’d told you who I was after Chad’s accident, you wouldn’t have come to Pavee Cove. If I hadn’t gotten you to this lighthouse, you wouldn’t have found the spyglass, which means you wouldn’t have met Aidan. Do you understand?”
Sam did understand. Finally. She flung herself into her mother’s arms. Tears flowed from both their eyes. “Oh, Mama. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Remy.”
The boom of thunder stirred them apart. But it was the crack of a whip across the sky and white daggers lighting up the little windows that fully captured their attention. It wasn’t long before rain pounded the outside of the structure.
“Quite a storm is kicking up,” Teagan said.
The memory of the storm in Portland flashed through Sam’s mind. What a relief it was to know that even though she’d made peace with her role in the accident, she no longer had to worry about Chad. It seemed incredible to think he wasn’t lying in a hospital bed in a coma anymore. He was a mile down the beach! The trouble was he was probably still angry, or at least confused. Little did he know that his lifelong dream of finding Remy had become reality.
She jumped up from the sofa. “I have to go to Aidan. Please stay here and make yourself comfortable. I won’t be long.”
“You can’t go out in this kind of weather,” Teagan complained light-heartedly.
Samantha planted her fists on her hips. “You just came back into my life and you’re already giving me advice?” she joked.
“What’s a mother for?”
Sam kissed her on the cheek and breathed in her fresh scent. “Are you staying in Pavee Cove or going back to Portland?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to stay.”
Teagan smiled. “Then this is where I’ll stay. After all, it’s my true home.”
Samantha’s smile grew so broad it almost flew off her face. “I’m going to love getting advice from you. We have a lot of catching up to do. But right now, I have to see Aidan. He deserves the truth as much as I did.” She ran up the stairs and flew back down wearing a slicker. Before striding toward the door, she grabbed the spyglass off the sofa. “This was built as an instrument to use at sea, but somehow it became something else altogether. Do you want to look into it one more time and try to find Morgan?”
Teagan shook her head. “I tried many times. A long time ago I accepted he and I weren’t meant to be. I moved on. He probably did, too.”
“Then I’m taking it with me.”
Teagan’s eyebrow arched with curiosity. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I’m not sure. I may send it back to the sea.” She blew a kiss to her mother and grabbed the keys from her purse. “Be back soon.” Rain splashed off her slicker hood as she ran down the walk to her car.
As she flung open the car door, she remembered she’d never changed the flat tire. “Crap.” Jumping when thunder rocked the ground beneath her feet, she dashed back up the walk and veered onto the sandy beach.
Several times she screamed when lightning lit up the dark sky, but her feet kept moving. The recollection of Chad struck on the ladder made her skid to a stop and re-think her decision to come out into the storm. The same thing that happened in Portland could happen to her if she stayed out there. It was stupid to take that kind of risk now that she and Aidan could be together in the only reality that counted—the one in which they were happily in love.
But she was her mother’s daughter, after all. Risk-taking seemed to be in her DNA. If she ran fast, she could be at Aidan’s cottage in no time. Once she explained her true identity, they could toss the spyglass into the ocean or bury it after the storm had passed and live happily ever after.
The rain battered her face as she struggled against the wind that howled in her ears. She looked over her shoulder to see how far she’d come and was surprised to see the tower lamp was on in the lighthouse. Its brilliant white light was pointed toward the churning, white-capped ocean.
Taking it as a sign to dispose of the spyglass right then, she staggered to the shore’s edge and raised the spyglass above her head. The roiling ocean waves would toss it and turn it, and eventually carry it out to sea, where it would never be found again.
As she extended her arm, prepared to give it her best pitcher’s throw, a bolt of lightning rocketed down from the sky and struck the metal tube. Samantha heard the crack of thunder. Before she could release the spyglass, electricity surged through her body and she thudded to the wet sand.
THE FINAL CHAPTER
The weather was picture perfect for a picnic. Seventy-eight degrees, sunny, and blue skies for as far as the e
ye could see. Not a cloud, or ant, in sight.
The picnic table was covered with a red and white checked tablecloth and set with all the fixings: fried chicken, potato salad, slaw, beans, biscuits, lemonade, and Dutch apple pie for dessert.
Aidan set the last platter on the table. “It’s time to eat. Everyone find a seat and dig in.”
When Jason filled two paper plates, Claire playfully jabbed her elbow into his ribs. “Leave some for the rest of us, son.”
“Sorry, Mom. I’m hungry.”
“Chickie, Mama,” Dylan said.
Aidan placed him in his big boy chair at the end of the table. “She’s getting your drumstick right now, little man.” He ruffled the boy’s curly brown hair.
“My grandson sure loves his chicken,” laughed Teagan.
“Mama, be sure and try the potato salad,” Remy said, placing a chicken leg on Dylan’s tray. “I used a new recipe and I’m anxious to know what you think.”
“Will do.” She lathered a biscuit with butter and honey for Dylan and then one for herself.
“These beans are good,” Jason said, shoveling a spoonful into his mouth.
Remy grinned. “Thanks, cousin.” She scurried around the table filling all the glasses with lemonade. “Can I get anyone anything else?”
“Sit down, Love.” Aidan patted the bench seat beside him. “It all looks wonderful and smells delicious. It’s time for you to rest and enjoy the meal with us.” He kissed her softly on the lips, and she smiled and took her place next to her husband.
Within moments, the sound of thundering hooves pounded up the beach. They all turned their gazes toward the trees to watch streaks of flying manes and tails whoosh by.
“Horsies! Horsies!” shouted Dylan, bouncing in his chair and waving his spoon in the air.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen them,” Aidan said. “Guess they’ve been staying at the far end of the beach.”
“Aidan, I love the painting you recently did of the herd,” Teagan said. “Have you got it hanging in the house?”
“We originally put it in the living room, but Dylan loved it so much, we hung it above his crib.”
“He adores animals,” Remy said, smiling. “Takes after me, I suppose.” She winked at Aidan and placed a paper napkin over her lap. It was a joke, because they both remembered a time when she hadn’t been fond of his dog. “Did I ever tell you guys how Aidan saved me from the stampede once?” she asked her family.
“Yes,” came their simultaneous response followed by chuckles.
“Several times,” her Aunt Claire said.
“How about the time he found me on the beach soaked to the skin?”
“Which time was that?” Teagan asked, winking at Aidan.
He grew serious. “Remy learned her lesson about going into storms after that last incident.”
She smiled. “If you hadn’t found me on the beach that night, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here today, together, happy, and with our loving family surrounding us.”
Aidan’s smiled returned, and his eyes glistened with contentment. He swallowed a bite of chicken and announced, “There’s a new painting of my wife hanging in my studio, in case any of you want to see it when we’re done eating.”
“You finally finished it?” Claire asked. “It sure took you long enough.”
“Don’t you know masterpieces take time, Auntie?” Remy chuckled.
Under the table, Aidan squeezed her knee and ran his finger up her thigh. “That’s because she never could find the time to pose for me. It only took five years of marriage and one child, but we finally got it done, didn’t we, Love?”
When he winked at her, her insides turned to melted butter, as always.
“And it turned out beautiful, too,” he added. “But, of course, how could it not, with a model as gorgeous as my wife?”
A chorus of “ahs” went around the table.
Paddy nudged Jason’s leg begging for food. “Can I give him a piece of chicken, Aidan?”
“One bite. No bones. Make him sit for it and then tell him to go lie down under a tree.” He grinned, flashing his dimpled Irish smile. “That dog is totally spoiled. But we wouldn’t have it any other way, right, Dylan?”
The toddler squealed with laughter when Paddy licked his kneecap.
As her family shared laughs and companionship on that ordinary summer day in Maine, Remy gazed into the faces of the people she loved—honing in on those of her handsome husband and perfect son—and silently thanked the universes for their many blessings.
Jason stopped his fork in midair and glanced between her and Aidan. His head cocked from side-to-side. “Whatever happened to that old spyglass, anyway?”
She and Aidan shared a knowing smile. “It’s long gone,” Remy said.
After all, too much change was never a good thing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stacey Coverstone is a multi-published author in a variety of genres: paranormal and time travel, humorous women’s fiction, contemporary and historical western romance, mysteries and suspense, Gothics and ghost stories, and she’s even written a book about a female pirate.
She lives in Maryland with her husband, their dogs and cats, and a paint horse named Bill. They have two grown daughters and a baby granddaughter. When she’s not writing, Stacey enjoys reading, photography, target shooting, traveling, and making scrapbooks of her adventures.
To view all of Stacey’s books with blurbs and purchasing links, please visit her website at: http://www.staceycoverstone.com. If you’d like to be notified of new releases, feel free to subscribe to her announce only newsletter group. You won’t receive any spam.
You can find all of Stacey’s books in the Kindle Store and most of them in paperback. If you enjoyed this story, please post a review on Amazon.
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The Spyglass Portal: A Lighthouse Novel Page 22
