Page 61 of Secrets at Seaside
“Tony Black, you have a worried look in your eyes. Is it dirty?” She narrowed her eyes, feigning seriousness, while anticipation rushed through her veins.
He leaned so close she could smell the wine on his breath. “No, kitten. It’s not dirty. But if you’d like, I can conjure up some dirty surprises for you, too.” He pressed his lips to hers again.
“I’m…open on that front. With you, I mean,” she whispered, feeling embarrassed and brave at the same time.
He kissed her again. “Well, then,” he said in a husky voice, “I’ll have to keep that in mind.” He folded her in his arms. “But for now I would like to go up to the top of the lighthouse and release a paper lantern in honor of my father.”
Her body melted against him. “Tony, I would be honored to share that moment with you.”
He touched his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. He smelled like man and summer and love all wrapped up in one sensual scent.
“Kitten, I also want to release a lantern for the child we lost.”
Amy’s breath caught in her throat. Tears dampened her eyes as she reached deep inside herself and forced her voice to work.
“Tony,” she whispered.
“Too much?”
“No.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Perfect,” was all she could manage. She buried her face in his chest and soaked up his comfort and strength like a sponge.
They put their stuff in the car and Tony grabbed a bag from the backseat.
“How did you arrange this? It’s only open twice a year,” she asked as a young, clean-cut man opened the lighthouse for them.
As they ascended the red circular staircase toward the top of the lighthouse, the weight of Tony’s protective hand on her back helped keep Amy grounded in the moment. She kept one hand on the brick wall and the other on the railing. Her heart raced as they stepped through the door and into the cool air on the balcony at the top of the lighthouse.
“Let’s just say that I owe Caden big-time. He has a friend with the US Coast Guard, and they arranged for Kyle to let us in.”
Tony set down the bag with the sky lanterns in it and took her in his arms again. She fisted her hands in his shirt for stability, feeling emotionally overwhelmed by what they were about to do. He brushed her hair from her shoulders and kissed her sweetly.
“You okay?”
She nodded and opened her mouth to answer, but no words came.
“It’s okay. Let’s take a moment and just be together.” He held her close and she closed her eyes, reveling in his understanding and love.
She felt him lift his head and clung to him like she was never going to let go. She toyed with the idea of trying to get away with that and imagined herself clinging to him while he surfed. She smiled at the ridiculous thought and forced herself to ease her grip and look out over the water.
“Wow. This is just beautiful.” She looked up at Tony and felt so in love that she had to hang on to him again. She realized that the love they had now was even more intense than their first love, in a more mature way. It was the type of love that she knew she could count on in good times and bad. The type of love she’d never, ever hide again, for anyone or for any reason. This was true, grown-up love.
“This whole night is beautiful. Thank you, Tony, for not forgetting about me even after I told you to go away. Thanks for loving me.”
He pressed his hands to her cheeks and kissed her. “Babe, I have and always will love you, and I’ll never leave you again, even if you try to push me out the door.”
They embraced, and a long while later Tony retrieved the lanterns from the bag. One paper sky lantern was pale green and the other was white. They looked like regular decorative paper lanterns, but they were much larger, with something square attached by four strings on the open bottom.
Tony held up the white lantern and pointed to the square.
“This is the fuel cell. We’ll light it, and the heat will carry the lantern into the sky. I bought white for my father and green for…”
“For our child.” She didn’t know how those words had come so easily, but as his eyes grew serious, the words felt right, and they no longer scared her. “It was a good choice.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “Should we light my father’s first?”
“Yes.” She drew in a deep breath, feeling more and more like they were doing the right thing. She held the lantern while Tony lit the flame. Then he took the lantern from her hands and held it up to catch the air.
“Do you want to say something?” She settled her hand on his lower back, hoping to offer him the same comforting touch as he’d given her.
