by Marie Force
Dara followed Linda into the circular building.
“This is a mudroom of sorts. You’re welcome to use the beach chairs and anything else that’s been left by the previous occupants. Some of our good friends have had this job in the past, and they absolutely loved it.”
Linda went up a spiral staircase to the first floor, which housed a galley kitchen and a living room. “The bedroom and bathroom are up there,” she said, pointing to the stairs that led to a second floor.
Trying to be polite, Dara went up the stairs to check out the accommodations and noted the king-sized bed and bathroom with a standup shower. It wasn’t fancy, but it would do. As she headed for the stairs, her eyes were drawn to the panoramic view of the island and the ocean. She went for a closer look and found herself interested in something for the first time in longer than she could recall.
The view was stunning. From this vantage point, she could see there was a beach at the bottom of the cliff and wondered if it was accessible.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” Linda asked.
“Sure is,” Dara said. “The beach down there… Can we get to that?”
“There’s a set of stairs that take you right to it.”
Dara nodded and turned to face Linda.
“If there’s anything at all that you need, you only have to give us a call.” Linda handed over a slip of paper with several numbers on it. “We want you to feel at home here.”
“I’m not sure it’s possible to feel at home anywhere anymore.”
“It is,” Linda said. “It’s going to take some time, but you’ll get there.”
Dara looked directly at Linda. In her eyes, she saw compassion and understanding. Oliver had told her about the letter he’d written to apply for the job. “Have you been where I am?”
“Not quite, but I did lose an unborn baby who I’ve mourned for more than thirty-five years. It’s not the same as what happened to you, not even close, but…”
“Grief is grief.”
“Yes, I suppose so. I just want you to know… There’s an amazing community that lives year-round on the island, and if you’d like, I’d be happy to introduce you to our family and friends. A few of the former lighthouse keepers have interesting stories you might relate to.”
In her past life, Dara might’ve been interested in meeting new people and hearing the stories of the people who’d lived before them in the lighthouse. Now? Not so much. “We’ll see what happens.”
“Of course. The offer stands. Gansett Island is a great place to live. I hope you’ll find some peace here.”
“That’d be nice.” And with that, she’d said more to this perfect stranger than she’d said to anyone close to her in more than a year. What was there to say?
They went downstairs to where Oliver was having an animated conversation with Mr. McCarthy. That he could smile like that and make conversation with strangers made her want to punch him. What was wrong with him?
“We’ll leave you to get settled,” Mr. McCarthy said. “Did Linda give you our numbers?”
“She did,” Dara said. “Thank you.”
“Please call if there’s anything at all we can do to make you feel more comfortable,” he said.
He seemed like a nice man, someone she might’ve been interested in getting to know if things had been different.
“Thank you for meeting us,” Oliver said, shaking hands with them both before he walked them down to see them out.
He returned a few minutes later carrying suitcases that he took up to the second floor. “Wow, the view from up there is amazing,” he said as he came back down with more pep in his step than he’d had in months.
Oliver took two more trips to the car, unloading the small amount of personal items they’d packed—bed linens, towels, extra blankets, Maisy’s things and some kitchen essentials. Everything else they owned was in storage, waiting for them to figure out what would happen after this year on Gansett.
They’d sold the house where disaster had struck and could live comfortably off the proceeds for a while, but sooner or later, they’d have to go back to real work. She couldn’t for the life of her imagine working at the level she had before—or at any level, for that matter.
“Let’s make the bed,” Oliver said.
She followed him upstairs and went through the motions of putting sheets and a quilt on the bed. They’d been told there was no air conditioning in the lighthouse, but that they wouldn’t need it most of the time.
When they were finished, Oliver sat on the edge of the bed.
Since she didn’t know what else to do with herself, Dara sat next to him.
“I’m hoping we can find our way out of the nightmare here,” he said softly.
“I don’t know if that’s possible.”
It was the most they’d said to each other about their new reality in months of uncomfortable silence on the subject of Lewis and the hell they’d been living in since his death.
“We have to try, Dar. What choice do we have?”
They had no choice, but she didn’t want to try. That would take more energy than she could muster.
“Do you want to check out the beach?”
She didn’t, but she’d do it so he wouldn’t give her that soulfully imploring look that she was so tired of seeing from him. “Sure.”
Chapter 7
“There it is,” Slim Jackson said as Gansett Island came into view, and he experienced the usual feeling of homecoming after being away from his favorite place. They’d spent a rare summer week off-island in Bryn Mawr to celebrate Erin’s parents on their anniversary, but it was good to be home. “You got this, babe?”
“Uh, I think so.”
“You’re ready. All those touch-and-go landings you did in Florida last winter were getting you ready for this.” She’d piloted this entire flight, from takeoff in Philadelphia straight through to the approach to Gansett. He was sitting in the right-side seat, acting as her copilot, not that she needed one. His love was a natural with all the sensibilities of a seasoned pilot, and he’d never been prouder of any student than he was of her.
After losing her twin brother in the 9/11 attacks on New York City, Erin hadn’t stepped foot on a plane for more than a decade, until Slim had flown her home to Pennsylvania after her father took ill.
“Talk me through it, will you?”
“Nope.”
She took her eyes off the “road” long enough to glance at him in surprise. “Nope?”
“You don’t need my help. You know what you’re doing.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course, I need your help.”
“No, you don’t.” He crossed his arms to make his point. “Bring us home, sweetheart.”
“If it looks like we’re going to crash, do something, will you?”
Slim laughed at her sarcastic tone. He loved her sarcasm, her humor, her sweet face and every other thing about her. She was it for him, and he’d never been happier than since she’d come into his life. Teaching her to fly had been one of the greatest thrills he’d ever experienced, and knowing what she’d overcome to get to this point made the victory that much sweeter.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her go through the steps he’d helped her to memorize. She paid attention to detail, which was one of many things that made her an excellent pilot. He was about to remind her to call in to the tower when she activated the radio and took care of that.
Slim smiled, his chest bursting with pride as she lined up the final approach and brought them in for a smooth, perfect landing. “Hot damn! Look at you go!”
Her delighted laughter filled him with unreasonable joy. “I did it!”
“You did it. You’re ready to solo.”
“Hell, no, I am not.” She taxied them expertly to the spot on the tarmac where he always parked the plane and cut the engines. “That’s not happening.”
“Erin, honey, look at me.”
She turned to him, albeit reluctantly.
<
br /> Slim took her chin and looked her in the eyes. “You are ready.”
“I don’t want to solo. I don’t want to be licensed. What I’ve already done is more than enough for me. It’s way more than I ever thought I’d ever do. Remember when I didn’t think I’d ever get on a plane again?”
“I remember,” he said, caressing her cheek. “And I’m so, so proud of how far you’ve come since then. I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anyone in my entire life. You just flew us from Philly to Gansett, Erin. I never touched the controls.”
“I know, Slim,” she said smugly. “I did do that.”
“So why not finish it up? Do the solo, get your license. Imagine how you’ll feel when you’re holding that piece of paper.”
“I don’t need that. This—what I just did, what I’ve been doing for months—it’s enough for me. I’ll never have the need to fly anyone anywhere like you do, and I don’t want to solo.”
“Because you’re afraid to?”
“Well, yeah, a little bit. Mostly, it’s because it wouldn’t be any fun if you weren’t along for the ride. We both know I could do it if I had to, and that’s more than I ever expected to achieve when we started the lessons. You not only taught me how to fly, you took the fear out of it for me. That’s so, so huge, and I’ll always love you for that.”
Slim leaned over to kiss her. He could never resist her, especially when she was telling him she loved him.
She placed her hand on his face. “You’re the only passenger I’ll ever have, so what’s the point of a license?”
“I think it would mean something to you to have it, even if you never use it.”
“It wouldn’t. I’m delighted to have come this far, to know I could do it if I wanted to, which I don’t. You understand that, don’t you?”
“I’m trying to. It’s something I want for you, but only if you do, too.”
“I’ve given this a lot of thought, and my conclusion is that this, what I just did, is enough. Can you live with that?”
“Of course I can. All I wanted was for you to overcome your fear of flying. That you’re also an outstanding pilot makes it that much better.”
“I had an outstanding instructor.” She kissed him again. “And now we need to get going because we have a party to get to.”
“Before we do that, hear me when I tell you that was a beautiful flight, I’m super proud of you, and I love you more than anything.”
Smiling, she said, “That’s better than any license could ever be, and besides, I already have the best license ever—the marriage license.”
“That’s true. Best license for sure.” He shifted his hand to her rounded abdomen. “How’s the Peanut?”
“Doing well, but sitting on Mommy’s bladder.”
“Let’s get going so you can stretch.”
They got out of the plane and worked together to tie it down before retrieving their bags from the back. Slim took hold of her hand as they walked to the parking lot, stopping only so Erin could use the restroom. “Best thing I ever did was pick you up on the side of the road that night,” he said as he often did.
“Stop saying it like I was a hooker or something!”
“Why stop now? It’s tradition. And holy shit, it’s hot on Gansett.”
“I was just going to say the same thing. The last time it was this hot, Jenny almost roasted to death in the lighthouse.”
“I hope the AC is working at Sarah and Charlie’s,” Slim said. “Or it’s gonna be a hot one.”
“How can it not be working?” Sarah asked Charlie. “It’s brand-new.”
“I’m working on it, sweetheart. Go do something else and try not to worry.”
“Right. Don’t worry about the AC not working on the hottest day of the year when we’ve got a hundred people coming.”
“What’s not working?” Sarah’s son John asked when he came into the kitchen wearing only a pair of shorts in deference to the heat. His blond hair was a mess, and his jaw was covered in scruff. The older he got, the more he resembled his eldest brother, Owen.
“The AC.”
“Oh damn. You need help, Charlie?”
“Only if you know how to fix an AC compressor.”
“I wish I did.” A second later, John called from the kitchen, “Uh, Mom? I don’t think it’s just the AC. The coffeemaker isn’t working either.”
“What?” Sarah left the utility room where Charlie was working on the AC and went into the kitchen. She stopped short when she noticed the power was off to all the appliances. “Charlie! We’ve lost power. That’s why the AC isn’t working. Did we trip a circuit breaker?”
“I’m checking them,” Charlie said.
Sarah’s cell phone rang, and she took a call from Owen. “Hi, honey. You won’t believe what’s going on over here.”
“Do you guys have power?”
“No, we just noticed it’s out. Why?”
“We’re out, too. We’re hearing the whole island is.”
The news hit Sarah like a punch to the gut. “Oh my God. I have a fridge full of food, no way to cook it and it’s hot as hell. This is a five-alarm housewarming disaster.”
Her youngest son, Jeff, walked into the kitchen, brown hair standing on end, face covered in stubble and, like his older brother, wearing only a pair of athletic shorts. She loved seeing her boys a little disheveled, free to be themselves now that they were out from under the ruthless reign of their military officer father, who’d demanded their children always be “squared away.” Whatever that meant.
“What’s going on?” Jeff asked.
“The power’s out, and Mom’s melting down,” John said.
“Literally,” Sarah said, wiping sweat from her brow. “What’re we going to do?”
“Send the boys over to the Surf with Charlie’s truck,” Owen said. “We’ve got a couple of grills we can move to your house.”
“We need extra coolers and ice, too.”
“I’ll give you what I can spare.”
“Thank you, O. That’s great.” Sarah’s mind whirled with contingency plans. Hopefully, the power wouldn’t be out for long and their party wouldn’t be a complete disaster. “The boys will be there soon.”
“I’ll be over to help out in a bit.”
“Don’t worry about us if Laura needs you at the hotel.”
“We’re covered for the day so we could be free to enjoy the party. No worries.”
“Then I gratefully accept your help.”
“See you soon.”
Sarah went to plug her phone back into the charger before realizing there was no point. “Boys, your brother wants you to bring Charlie’s truck to the Surf to pick up a couple of extra grills, some coolers and ice. Can you do that for me?”
“Sure,” John said. “Can we use your grill to make coffee?”
“Do you know how to do that?” Sarah asked.
“Do it all the time when I’m camping.”
“Make it a double, bro,” Jeff said.
“Coming right up.”
While John went out to the deck to fire up the grill she and Charlie had bought for their new house on a trip to the mainland a week ago, Sarah turned to her youngest. “It’s a nice surprise to see you here.”
“Well, I was invited to the party,” he said with a grin that reminded her of Owen. Though Jeff had his father’s darker hair and eyes and Owen favored her, there was a hint of his eldest brother in him just the same.
“Of course you were, but I didn’t expect you or John to actually come.”
“We wanted to be here for you, to help you celebrate this awesome new house.”
“It is kind of awesome, isn’t it?” Sarah asked as she looked around at the open-concept contemporary with the sweeping ocean views. “We’ve been here two weeks, and I still can’t believe I actually live here.”
“You deserve this, Mom. You deserve it all. Enjoy every second of it.”
Sarah hugged him. “Thanks, sweetie. Tell me
about you. What’s going on?”
“Nothing much, which is why it was a good time to come up for a visit.”
“Work is good?” Sarah asked as she made a mental list of what she needed to do before the party at two—and wondered how she’d do half of it without power.
“It’s a job. I didn’t suffer through college to wait tables, but there’s nothing happening with the job search. I’m about to give up on Florida and move up here.”
“Really? That’d be wonderful!”
“What would be wonderful?” Sarah’s mother, Adele, asked as she came in through the kitchen door. Having her parents living in the guest cottage on their property was the best part of the whole situation. They’d been thrilled to accept her and Charlie’s offer of a new home on Gansett Island.
“Jeff is thinking about moving up here,” Sarah said.
“That would be wonderful indeed,” Adele said, kissing her youngest grandchild on the cheek.
Jeff put his arm around his grandmother and gave her a squeeze. “It’s no fun in Florida since you guys moved home.”
When Sarah had still been trapped in a violent, abusive marriage, her parents had saved Jeff’s life by intervening when he became addicted to drugs. He continued to have a tight bond with his grandparents, and Sarah would be forever grateful to them for stepping up for her son when she’d been locked in a hellish marriage. Back then, her parents and children had kept things from her that would’ve made her nightmare even worse than it already was.
“We do bring the fun wherever we go,” Adele said. “I came over to see if you guys have power.”
“Nope,” Jeff said, “and Mom is freaking out.”
She playfully bopped Jeff on the head. “You would be, too, if you had a hundred friends and family coming in a few short hours.”
“We’ll make it happen, Mom,” John said when he came in from the deck with two mugs of coffee. He handed one of them to Jeff. “Don’t worry.”
“What?” Sarah said. “Me worry?”
“This happened once during the height of the season.” Adele and her husband, Russ, had owned and operated the Sand & Surf Hotel for more than fifty years. “I think it was 1973 or 74. We were without power for days, but we made do. Somehow.”
