Page 16 of The Lightkeeper

“He’s a little rough around the edges, right?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“I’d say he’s the male equivalent of a sea urchin—sounds approachable until you meet him and realize he’s covered in venomous spines,” I countered wryly.

Lou let out a full laugh. “Don’t let my sister hear you say that, she’ll never let him live it down.”

“Does she—do you know him well?” I adjusted my glasses, hoping my eagerness to learn more about the reclusive keeper wasn’t as obvious as it felt.

Her head bobbed in slow motion. “You could say that.”

My brow furrowed.

“Kit is our brother.”

Kit.His name was Kit.Was it just Kit? Or was it short for Christopher?I swallowed the questions before they bumbled off the tip of my tongue.

“Oh. I didn’t realize…”

“I’m Lou Kinkade,” she re-introduced herself as she picked up the cups she’d dropped. “Kit’s my older brother. Well, one of them. Jamie’s the oldest.”

“I see.” I gulped. “Well, I’m sorry for saying he’s not friendly… and calling him venomous.”This was why I stuck to science, not social sciences.

“Don’t be sorry.” She sighed. “He’s not so bad once you get to know him.”

“Oh. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”I shook my head. “He doesn’t like me very much.”

“It’s not you,” she offered kindly, and I wished there was a way tokindlytell her she was wrong. It was definitely mehe had a problem with. “Kit’s not used to having anyone at the lighthouse with him.”

“I’m mostly working outside for my research, so I try to stay out of his way. I know he has a lot of work to do.”

“He does, but he could use someone to get in his way once and a while.”

“I did that the first day and barely lived to tell the tale,” I joked.

“What? What happened?” Her eyes were wide.

“We just got off on the wrong foot. I left him a moon snail shell as an apology. He called it a carcass.” I shrugged and sighed.

“Oh, Kit.” Lou shook her head.

“To be fair, I’d just surprised him in the tower, and I think I probably crossed some invisible boundary by doing that, but sometimes I get curious and I don’t think?—”

“He let you in the tower?” She balked.

“Well, I wouldn’t say he let me…” I trailed off. “Anyway, I think we’re kind of out of feet to get along on.” I stared into my empty cup for a moment and then looked up when Lou didn’t respond right away. As soon as I saw her dismay, warm guilt flooded my cheeks. “It’s fine though. Nothing to worry about.”

What was I thinking? I shouldn’t be complaining to her about her brother. This wasn’t her problem. It wasn’t even really a problem. Sure, my heart raced and my body temperature elevated every time he got close, but that physical… attraction clearly didn’t change anything.

I stood. “I should get going?—”

“You should ask him about his art,” Lou blurted out.

“Art?” I froze.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Paintings mostly. He has a gallery in town. But you should ask him about it. Maybe that will get him to open up a little bit.”

I hummed and then muttered without thinking, “I’m notsure even a jackhammer and vise grips would be enough to pry him open, but I’ll give it a shot.”

Lou threw back her head and laughed. “Well, if it doesn’t, you’ll still have one Kinkade that you can call a friend,” she declared with a wink.

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