Page 61 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
Cash tilted back in the chair. “Listen, it’s okay to talk to someone. If you don’t want to talk to me or your sister, I get it. Please know you can always reach out to one of the staff counselors. They’re here to help you. You are never alone.”
“Yes, sir.” Reid nodded.
Cash gave him a small smile. “Dismissed.”
As Reid headed out of the office, he squared his shoulders. He would get his emotions under control. He had to. His job and his sanity depended on it.
Chapter 15
Reid unlocked the front door and stepped inside his house. The soft patter of feet sounded before Ariel appeared in the foyer. She uttered a quiet meow before rubbing up against the corner of the wall.
“Mornin’, Princess Ariel,” he whispered. “Are you the only one awake?”
She meowed again and then skedaddled toward the kitchen.
He left his large duffel on the floor before joining the cat in the kitchen. Ariel walked circles at his feet, singing her usual morning chorus of meows while he filled her bowl with fishy canned food. Once she was settled with breakfast, he padded down the hallway and stopped at Piper’s door, which had been cracked open enough for Ariel to escape.
Reid pushed on the door and leaned his shoulder on the doorframe. Piper was snuggled on her stomach, holding her favorite mermaid doll in her arms while her soft snores punctuated the hum of the air conditioner.
He bit back a yawn and glanced toward his bedroom across the hall. He considered crawling into bed and trying to get some sleep before Piper woke up, but he’d already struggled through a sleepless night at the station. Surely he wouldn’t get any sleep at home either. For years he’d managed to bury the memories and guilt that haunted him after Brynn’s death, but the accident yesterday had unlocked it all. He’d worked so hard to move forward, to push through life with his sole focus on being the best father he could be, but his resolve had started to crack yesterday. And that terrified him. He needed to find a way to cram the ugliness back down, deep in his soul, back into the locked box. He had to ignore the pang that was radiating through him—especially today, on Brynn’s birthday. It was always one of the toughest days of the year, along with the anniversary of Brynn’s accident and Mother’s Day. He missed his best friend.
Pushing off the doorframe, he turned to leave, but something on his daughter’s dresser caught his eye. He walked softly across the room and found a card made out of construction paper. In Piper’s adorably messy six-year-old handwriting, “Mommy” was scrawled, and the paper was decorated with flowers, rainbows, and mermaids. His heart constricted as he pictured her working hard on it.
Opening the card, he found a stick figure drawing of what looked like a woman with long, light brown hair standing by a little girl with dark brown pigtails and a multicolored cat. Below it, Piper had written:
Mommy,
Hapy brthday! I luv u sooooo much. I mis u. Ariel dos to.
Luv,
Piper and Ariel
The backs of his eyes began to burn, and his throat closed around the lump forming inside it. His daughter would always miss her mother. And he would never forgive himself for what happened to her.
Taking a deep breath, he gingerly laid the card back on her dresser before walking out to the hallway. His eyes focused on the closed guest room door, and he imagined Kaiah asleep in the double bed. He’d hoped she would’ve been up when he arrived home, but he couldn’t blame her for sleeping past seven. He just looked forward to seeing her.
In fact, part of him wanted to knock on the door, wake her up, and tell her about his shift, including his emotional breakdown. If he felt comfortable talking to anyone, it was definitely her.
But he didn’t want to overwhelm Kaiah. It wasn’t fair of him to take his trauma and dump it at her doorstep. She didn’t ask for that.
But he couldn’t help it. He was tired of having no one to trust with his heart. In fact, his heart was screaming for him to dive in headfirst and see where this friendship could lead. But at the same time, he had Piper’s feelings to consider. If he dove in headfirst and things didn’t work out, Piper’s heart would be broken for sure, and he’d already done enough damage to Piper when she lost her mom.
Shaking his head, Reid retrieved his duffel and headed into his bedroom. He retreated into his bathroom and took a long hot shower before pulling on a pair of athletic shorts and a plain gray T-shirt. Then he returned to the kitchen and began to cook, losing himself in the task of making French toast.
When he heard footsteps behind him, he craned his neck to where Kaiah stood in the doorway, her purse and bag thrown over her shoulder. Her wavy blonde hair was swept up into a thick ponytail with wisps falling around her face, and her bright blue eyessparkled in the morning sunlight. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Well, good morning,” he said. “How’d you sleep?”
“Great. Thanks.” She pushed an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “How was your shift?”
“Fine,” he said, but he averted his eyes, not wanting to pour his heart out to her—not now. Instead, he pointed to a platter of French toast. “Hope you’re hungry.”
She waved off the offer. “Oh no, none for me. I need to get started on my next article. I’ll see you and Piper tomorrow.” She shouldered her tote bag and backed out of the doorway.
“Kaiah,” he called, his voice sounding more urgent than he’d intended. “Wait. Please.”
She whirled around, her expression full of curiosity.
