created conflict with her desire to go away, he was another thing. Tethering her to this place.
It frightened her.
But she also knew there was nothing she could do but embrace it. Fully and completely.
She was falling in love with him.
And life was short enough that she knew she couldn’t put that off.
If she was given love now, she had to embrace it now.
All of it.
All of him.
But she wouldn’t tell him, not yet. Not because she was scared, because she wanted this to be about...
Being here. Sharing this.
When the time was right, when it was all about them, when she was ready to... When she was ready to be with him, she would tell him.
For now, she would just let him kiss her here at the lighthouse.
For the first time in a very long time, Emma felt like all the pieces of herself had been crushed together, like she was whole. Fractured and glittering like the lighthouse itself.
29
Is it such a terrible thing to love someone?
—FROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY STAFF SERGEANT RICHARD JOHNSON, FEBRUARY 15, 1945
ANNA
It was a new day. And Anna was feeling bold. She was going down to town to talk to Adam about how well the pies were doing. And she was excited to find out what she could do to make things work even better.
She was in general feeling...good.
The talk with her mother, and the one with Thomas, had done so much to change the way she felt. It wasn’t enough anymore to sit around thinking about the fact that she had changed her life. No, she had taken the first step toward changing her life.
And the rest was all in front of her.
She was figuring out what she wanted. And, depending on what Adam said today, she had another stop in mind.
She pushed open the door to the diner, and the first person she saw was Emma. Waiting tables, her red hair thrown up into a bun.
“Hi,” Anna said, crossing the space and pulling her niece in for a hug.
“Hi,” Emma said.
“You look tired,” Anna said. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m okay. It’s... I’m at work.”
“If you need something please tell me. Emma, I’m on your team. No matter what.”
Emma offered a small smile. “I know. And I’m good.”
“Well, if you ever aren’t good...tell me.”
“Thank you,” Emma said softly.
As they separated, Anna noticed her sister. Sitting at the counter, which was not abnormal. But when Adam came out from the kitchen, the color that mounted in Rachel’s face was indeed abnormal.
And the way he was looking at her...
Well, Anna would have to be an idiot to miss what was happening there.
She had known that Adam had more than a passing interest in Rachel. He’d made that very clear.
But what she hadn’t realized was that Rachel might have an interest in him.
“Hi,” she said. “I came to ask about the pie.”
“Oh,” he said, looking at her as though he was shocked that anyone but Rachel was there at all. “Sure.”
“Hi,” she said, nudging Rachel, who hadn’t said anything to her. She felt like she should say the word one more time just for good measure. It was getting a little ridiculous.
“Yeah,” Rachel said, looking edgy.
“I just wanted to know if you were going to want more pie, if you sold the pie, if anyone committed a ritual sacrifice of the pie in my dishonor...”
“No ritual sacrifice,” he said. “In fact I have money for you.” He turned away. “Just going to go get the envelope from the back.”
When he disappeared into the kitchen, she looked pointedly at Rachel. “And?”
“What?” Rachel asked.
“Adam?”
“What about him?”
“You’re staring at him like you want to lick him. Or like you have licked him.”
Her face went scarlet.
“Oh. You have. You’ve already done it.”
“Please keep your voice down. Emma would die. He’s her boss. And no one else would understand. Can you even imagine? ‘Supposedly grieving widow hops on diner owner mere months after her husband’s death.’ Her good, sweet, local husband that everyone loved?”
“Does anyone else have to understand? As long as you do.”
“You know that they do, or they gossip a lot. And are mean.”
“Sure.”
“I don’t understand, either,” Rachel said. “I shouldn’t be able to do this yet, right? One dinner date with a guy I thought of only as a friend-ish was one thing, but this is—”
“You having fun?”
A serene smile crossed her face. “Yes.”
“Keep having fun. There’s a shortage of fun in our lives.”
“True.” Rachel took a breath. “I just... I feel like you should know. I understand why you