Page 56 of The Lightkeeper

Frankie tore at the paper, shredding it to get to what was underneath while Lou carefully peeled the tape apart at the seams, keeping the paper otherwise intact as she pulled out the frame.

“Kit…”

“I love it,” Frankie gushed, staring at her drawing. “What is it?”

I chuckled.

“Oh my gosh, it’s a shell, Frankie,” Lou murmured under her breath.

“Obviously, it’s a shell.” Frankie rolled her eyes. “I know what a conch shell looks like.”

“Not a conch shell,” I began, grabbing the edges of both their frames and lowering them flat so they could see each other’s. “They’re Dog Whelks—orDogwinkles.”

They laughed.

“They’re the same?” Lou murmured, peering closer at the drawings I’d finished after my conversation with Aurora earlier in the week. “They look different though. These lines. Even the shape of this one is a little wider…”

“Yeah. Same species, but each one is unique.” I nodded.Just like they were.

They both looked at me, then the drawings, then at each other.

“Was this Aurora’s idea?” Frankie broke the silence, always searching for a way to keep the conversation light when her emotions got too much.

I tensed. “No. She just collected the shells.”And then told me about them.

They both looked at me disbelievingly, but neither stare was as strong as Gigi’s.

“Girls, I think Jamie is ready to do the toast. Why don’t you start ushering your guests outside?”

They both hugged me with a quick thank you and then vanished, leaving me with the formidable purple-haired matriarch of the family.

“Gigi.” My chest rumbled.

“What are you doing over here?”

“Well, I was talking to Lou?—”

“Why is Aurora in the kitchen with your cousins?” she demanded, giving her foot a small stomp.

I tensed. “Because Nox offered to make her another drink.”

She stared at me for so long, I wondered if she’d had a stroke, but I knew there was no chance I was getting off that easy.“What is wrong with you, Christopher?”

My teeth locked. “You don’t have enough time for that answer.”

“No, I don’t have enough time for your horseshit,” shehuffed, and then pointed a knobby finger in Aurora’s direction, unmistakable to everyone in the room. “You should be in there with her. She came here with you.”

“No, we rode over together from the lighthouse where we both work.” I wasn’t having this conversation right here, right now, or with her.

Gigi’s arm fell and she shook her head in dismay, sadness shining bright in her eyes when she looked at me. “Why don’t you want to live, Christopher?”

“Excuse me?” I practically choked.

“What did your fortune say?”

I fought not to roll my eyes. “Chasing dawn.”

Her head bobbed. “You have to chase the light, Christopher. You know how important it is. The light.” She paused and then slowly turned, looking at Aurora and then back at me. “Chase the light. She’s right in front of you.”

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