Page 77 of The Lightkeeper

Kit had been different these last two weeks. Since that picnic at the lighthouse, there’d been a shift. Subtle but perceptible. At least to me.The way he looked at me. Touched me.Took me.There was a deeper charge to it all. Like before he’d been caught up in the storm, and now… now, he was the storm.

In the day to day, there were the constants: How we woke up together and shared breakfast. Then I’d go back to my research and Kit to his work. Eventually, we’d both end up around the kitchen counter. Me, making my notes. Kit, sketching. I’d talk about what I’d uncovered that day or what Lou and I were thinking for the show, and he’d listen, taking it all in.

But then there were the last three days, when it was Kit’s suggestion to grab coffee and a pastry at the Maine Squeeze. A quick trip into town, but more than he’d ever suggested before. There was the way his conversations teetered on the edge of discussing the future.What happened when my semester was done? Did I have to stay for anything else? Where was I thinking of applying for a job?And finally, there was the gallery show.

Before, his sense of obligation—his need to help Lou—defined his demeanor. But now, his diligence in his drawings and his desire to come to the gallery each day to check on the progress, everything screamed different. Everything screamed change.

And I watched, hopeful that what I was noticing was the beginnings of a kind of regeneration.

“Aurora!” Lou called from the other side of the room.

I smiled. “Coming.”

I felt his gaze follow the sway of my hips as I headed to the back of the room where Lou hunched over the desk, Kit’s drawings scattered on top, where she arranged and then rearranged their positions.

“Does the sea star look best next to the periwinkle? Or the nudibranch?”

I smiled. “We probably should start referring to the nudibranch as a sea snail, otherwise, your brother is going to be in for some very interesting questions.”

Her lips quirked, and she glanced at Kit. “Interesting questions might loosen him up a bit.”

I looked over the options and then the empty spaces on the walls, thinking for a second. I was about to give her my first suggestion when I felt the brush of his fingertips on my low back, and my breath caught.

I turned, thinking Kit might have a thought of his own, but his attention was elsewhere.His hand purely to tease me.

“Let me see the two of them,” I said weakly, trying to ignore the slow circles of his fingers—and the way I’d grown to love his constant need to touch me.

For someone who’d spent most of my life trying to be hyperaware of my brain rather than society’s standards of beauty, I loved how his attention—possibly borderline obsession with my body—brought that part of me to life, too.

Heat zipped along my spine, his fingers moving lower. And lower.Too low.I practically skipped forward to go stand by Lou.

“Why don’t we try this one with it?” I traded the frame in my hand for one in hers, shooting Kit a glare over my shoulder.

The slight tip of his lips was the sweetest victory.

The door opened and Frankie charged through, beelining for her twin with hardly a glance at anyone else.“The inn is going up for sale this month!”

In an instant, the plans for the gallery show were forgotten while Frankie shared all of her news.

“I just got off the phone with Adele. She was in a meeting with the new owner this morning. He said his realtor is doing photographs next week, and then the listing will be posted.”

I could practically see the blood drain from Lou’s face as she swayed.

“Lou!” Frankie shook her. “Don’t fade on me now.”

“Right, no.” Her twin tried to pull herself together, but I understood her swell of emotions. It was one thing to have the idea—the plans and hopes and dreams—but the moment you had to take that leap… it was frightening. “I’m here. That’s great. Really great.” She didn’t sound anywhere near convinced. “I just…” I took the frame from her hands, watching her cover her face for a second. “Sorry, it just got very real. My whole life could change at the end of this month.”

I wasn’t prepared for the way her words hit me. Suddenly, she wasn’t the only one thinking about where her life would be—could be in a few short weeks.Four short weeks.

The end of the semester. I’d have to go back to Boston to finish my program. But what then? Would I look for a job back here? Would Kit want me back here? Would I be able to leave Dad—leave Boston?

Sure, he’d probed a little about my future, and yeah, I didn’t have any clothes remaining at the B&B, all of them stuffed into the dresser at the lighthouse.But he hadn’t said anything about me staying.

“This is exciting.” Frankie took her sister’s hands, giving them—and my thoughts—a little jostle with the movement. “You’ll finally be back on track to your dream.”

If there was one thing—one moment—that gave the perfect snapshot of the breadth of differences between thetwins, this was it. Frankie, practically bubbling over with excitement, and Lou, stunned and worried into silence.

Frankie babbled on for another minute or two before she apologized for the intrusion and then dashed back out because she was in the middle of a delivery.

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