Page 48 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
For the next several minutes, Reid discussed the history of the lighthouse and then shared the plans for the festival. He ended his talk by sharing about the arts and crafts tent as well as the mini-marathon.
A little girl in the back raised her hand, and Reid pointed to her. “Can we walk in the walk and run?” she asked.
“Of course. If you’re interested, you can ask an adult to find the festival’s website and then sign up for it. We’ll have information out soon, and we’d love for you to participate.” He turned toward Kaiah. “Did I miss anything?”
She shook her head. “Nope. You did great.”
“Mr. Turner,” a little boy called. “Tell us about being a firefighter!”
“Do you see a lot of fires?” a girl asked.
Reid leaned against the board. “No, we don’t see many fires.”
“What do you do then?” a boy asked.
“We help out in other places,” he said. “The other day one of the homes on the beach had a deck that collapsed.”
“Oh no!” a few students said.
“Were the people okay?” another asked.
“Thankfully the people at the house only had a few small injuries.” He motioned for Kaiah to join him in front of the classroom, and she complied. “Ms. Ross is a journalist. That means she learns about things happening in the world and writes stories about them for people to read. Do you have any questions for her?”
Nearly a dozen hands shot up in the air, and Kaiah chuckled before calling on a little girl.
“Why did you want to become a... a journalist?” she asked.
“Because I’ve always loved to read and tell stories,” she began. She talked about writing stories when she was around their age, then shared some of the fun places she’d visited for her stories.
When she finished, Ms. Mason walked toward them. “Let’s thank Mr. Turner and Ms. Ross for joining us today.”
A chorus of thank-yous followed before Piper took Reid’s hand again. “Can I show you and Miss Kaiah my project before you go, Daddy?”
“Of course,” Reid said.
Piper guided them to her desk, where a stack of stapled construction paper with the words “Piper Turner’s Book” sat decorated with rainbows, the sun, clouds, and a couple of cats, all drawn in colorful markers.
She pointed to the cover. “It’s my storybook.” She turned the page to a drawing of a house with smoke billowing out of the chimney, a colorful cat peeking out the window, and plenty of flowers smiling in a garden. “That’s our house.” She pointed to the window. “Ariel is watching those cats that like to run past.”
“Nice job,” Reid said while sharing a smile with Kaiah.
The next page featured a drawing of two stick figures, a tall one and a short one, along with a cat. The words “Daddy,” “Piper,” and “Ariel” were written under them while they stood by the ocean. Birds flew in the bright blue sky while clouds and the sun smiled down. “That’s me and you at the beach, Daddy.”
“You did a great job,” Kaiah told her.
“I agree,” Reid chimed in.
“There’s more.” Piper flipped to a page with more people on it. “Here we are with Nana, Auntie Becca, Uncle Cash, and Astrid.” She flipped to the next page, featuring what looked like a stick figure holding a baby with the words “Mommy and Piper” written beside the picture.
“And that’s me and Mommy.”
Reid focused on the picture while tears burned the backs of his eyes.
After four years, sometimes grief punched him in the gut nearly as hard as the day of Brynn’s memorial service. For a moment he couldn’t speak. He hoped Piper and Kaiah wouldn’t notice the tears filling his eyes.
A hand rested on his shoulder, and he looked over to where Kaiah’s face formed a sympathetic smile, sending warmth straight to his heart.
“Here’s the end,” Piper said, showing him a page covered with flowers, rainbows, Ariel the cat, and a few hearts. “Do you like it, Daddy?” she asked, her dark eyes pleading.
