Page 27 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
After signing a few forms, Kaiah walked out to the parking lot and sat down on a bench. A warm, gentle breeze caressed her cheeks as she looked out toward the lighthouse. She longed for a beacon like that to show her where to go.
She pulled her phone from her backpack purse and considered calling Kamryn to give her an update. But at this hour, Kam wasprobably busy with clients at her accounting firm. No matter what she was up to, Kam had much better things to do than listen to her sister whine about her predicament.
Unlocking her phone, Kaiah pulled up Reid’s number. She could text him and ask for his advice, but he most likely was ready for her to leave so that his life could get back to normal. He, too, had better things to worry about.
The weight of anxiety pressed down on her shoulders as she let her head fall into her hands.
She was stuck in the middle of nowhere for the next few weeks.
Weeks!
All her plans were ruined. What was she going to do now?
After taking a few minutes to sit quietly on the bench, Kaiah sat up straight and shook her head. That was enough time spent feeling sorry for herself.Chin up, her mom used to say whenever her daughters were despondent. Kaiah had to keep her chin up and act like the adult she was.
Now she just had to figure out how to solve this predicament.
Reid crossed the parking lot toward his Suburban.
“We’re not giving up,” Becca insisted. “This town needs that festival, and we’re going to make it happen, no matter what the committee said.”
Reid blew out a deep sigh. At his twin’s request, he’d met her at the Coral Cove Historical Society that morning to discuss the town’s spring festival, and the meeting had not gone the way he’d hoped. Despite Reid and Becca making a case for how important the festival was, the board still insisted that years of low attendance were forcing them to cancel it.
“And how do you think we do it, Becks? Do you have a few thousand dollars lying around that we can use for the marketing budget?”
“No,” she snapped. “But there has a be a way. We just haven’t found the solution yet, so we’ll just keep trying stuff until we do.” She looked out toward Main Street and then back at him. “I’m going to talk to the mayor, and then I’ll call the president of the PTO. I’ll call you later.”
“Sounds good.”
Becca pulled her phone out of her pocket and began punching buttons. “Hi, Claire. Is Mayor Whittington available? Yes, I’ll hold. Thanks.”
As he climbed into his car, Reid heard his phone ding and was surprised it was a text from Kaiah. He thought maybe she would’ve asked for a ride today, but he was disappointed he hadn’t heard from her all morning.
Kaiah: Any chance you can pick me up from CC Car Care?
Reid: I’d be happy to! I’ll be there in a few.
He motored to the other side of town and spotted her sitting outside the shop. The deep crease in her brow told him something was wrong, and his stomach tightened. Hopping out of the SUV, he met her at the bench.
“Thanks for coming,” she said while her fingers moved over the straps on her backpack purse.
“No problem.” He sat beside her and angled his body toward hers. “Everything okay?”
She released a sigh that seemed to have filled her whole body,and she slumped back against the bench. Her defeated expression reminded him of when Piper had missed a dance step at her recital last year after practicing for weeks leading up to the performance.
“The parts for my car are coming from Europe, which means they’ll take a fewweeksto get here. I don’t know what to do now. I could rent a car, but that doesn’t seem too smart considering how much the repairs are going to cost me.”
Reid picked at a loose piece of wood on the bench as a plan clicked into place. He glanced at his phone. It was almost twelve. “Are you hungry?”
“Uh.” Her pretty blue eyes widened for a moment. “I guess so.”
“Let’s go to lunch.” He stood.
She studied him. “Okay...”
“I think I might have a solution that’ll help us both out.”
“I have a proposal for you.”
