Page 45 of The Lighthouse on Plum Island
“Yes, of course.” Caroline’s eyes landed on Jennifer’s hip, and she pulled a sorry face. “I’m so sorry about that.” She walked into the kitchen and plopped the skillet on the counter before going to the freezer and getting her friend a frozen bag of peas. “What are you doing here?” She handed the peas to Jennifer. “I thought you weren’t here for another few days.”
“I decided to come as soon as I learned who Brad was,” Jennifer told her, taking the frozen peas and putting them on her aching hip. “I took the first flight to Boston, rented a car, and drove here.” She glanced at the kitchen clock. “I got in an hour ago. I did try to call you numerous times during my journey, but it went straight to voicemail.”
“Sorry, my phone died, and I left it in my bedroom charging,” Caroline explained before her brows knitted with worry. “Did you see the animals when you came in?”
Jennifer shook her head. “No, I didn’t.” She glanced toward the back door. “I did think it strange that they weren’t at the door trying to knock me over as I came in.” She frowned. “But I know they like walking down by the cove.”
“That’s what’s worrying me.” Caroline walked to the living room window and looked out into the night. “I hope if they are at the cove, they used the stairs to get there, not the boardwalk.”
“Is that thing still not fixed?” Jennifer stared at her in disbelief.
“Do you know how much it costs to repair it?” Caroline asked wide-eyed. “I don’t have that kind of money lying around right now.”
“Well, you will soon have money from the television series!” Jennifer pointed out.
“I think Danes Productions is going to take care of it,” Caroline told her.
Jennifer’s knowing look didn’t go unnoticed. “I take it you had your meeting with Brad this evening?”
“Yes.” Caroline nodded, moving toward the front door and avoiding the topic of Brad.
She kicked off her sandals and reached for a pair of rain boots perched on the shoe stand beside it. “I have to go look for my animals.”
“I’ll come with you.” Jennifer put the peas down and reached for another pair of rain boots. “Where are the flashlights?”
She looked at the stand next to the shoes, and it was empty.
“Shoot!” Caroline sighed. “They must be in Jules’s room. She and Lila camped in the front garden the other night.”
“Ah, the front garden camp nights!” Jennifer signed nostalgically. “I used to love sleeping beneath the stars with the waves crashing against the cliffs below us.”
Jennifer followed Caroline up the stairs to the attic on the second floor
“No, you didn’t!” Caroline laughed. “You were always worried about tidal waves sweeping us away while we slept.”
“Not always,” Jennifer reminded her as she eyed Jules’s new attic room. “Oh, this is lovely.”
“Jules loves it.” Caroline’s eyes swept the room until they found all four flashlights on one of the dressers. “There they are.”
She moved into the room and grabbed the flashlights from the dresser, knocking Jules diary off it.
“Shoot,” Caroline said.
Reaching down to pick up the book that had fallen open where Jules had propped her pen between the pages, her eyes landed on the words written in her daughter’s neat handwriting.
“Don’t!” Jennifer shouted and lunged for the book, snatching it off the floor before Caroline could. “This is Jules’s personal diary. You know how sacred these are to a teenage girl.”
Caroline felt her cheeks heat with guilt. She’d only caught a few words, but they’d made her go cold as they were about Reef Donovan.
“I didn’t see…” Caroline’s eyes fell on the book clutched in Jennifer’s hands. “Much. Just a few words aboutReef Donovan!”
“Oh, my!” Jennifer’s eyes widened in realization. “Does our baby girl have her first crush?”
“Don’t look so excited about it!” Caroline growled. “Jules isn’t old enough to have her first crush yet, and I’m not ready to deal with all that entails.”
“When does life ever happen to a schedule?” Jennifer pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. “And Jules is fourteen. We had our first dates at that age.”
“To a school dance!” Caroline reasoned. “It was hardly a date.”
