The Lighthouse by Jessie Newton

Author:Jessie Newton [Newton, Jessie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JEN Publishing

Chapter Eighteen

Eloise basked in the late April sunshine, the rush of the waves crashing against the shore, and the pull of the tide going back out. Robin had always been an excellent party planner, and she directed Duke and her girls to put the two coolers where she wanted them, set up the chairs, put up the shades and umbrellas.

Alice had turned into everyone’s rich aunt at the store, buying beach chairs, umbrellas, life jackets, floaties, sunscreen, and anything anyone wanted to put in the cart. She’d gotten a football, a Frisbee, sand toys, the whole nine yards.

“Charlie will want this,” Alice had said at least three items, and Eloise wasn’t sure if she’d been telling the truth or not. Her kids hadn’t arrived yet, and Alice had set her chair facing the parking lot instead of the water so she’d see them when they did.

Eloise felt like doing the same thing, because Aaron hadn’t arrived yet either. He’d called to ask if he should bring the girls or get a sitter, and Eloise had told him to make that decision himself. She was fine to meet them, she’d said.

But now, her nerves boiled in her stomach and chest, but she absolutely refused to watch the parking lot.

Eloise watched a lot of other things, and she knew Alice had something festering just beneath the surface. She knew Robin was tired and stressed and determined not to show it. Just the way she collapsed into her beach chair with a sigh as loud as the ocean waves said that. Eloise wondered if Duke heard it, if he knew how hard Robin worked to make sure his home was a place he wanted to spend time. The long hours she dedicated to his children, to being his wife, to supporting him—and everyone around her. She wondered if Duke knew what a treasure he’d gotten in Robin, and Eloise sure hoped so.

Because she saw it all.

She’d observed a change in Kelli after she’d scurried inside the lighthouse to talk to her husband, but Eloise didn’t quite know what to say to her. She sat in the chair next to Robin, always just one step away from the epicenter of what was happening. Eloise knew exactly how that felt, because she’d done the same thing for a lot of years of her life.

“They’re here,” Alice said, launching herself out of her chair. “Hello,” she called, waving as if her father and children wouldn’t be able to find them. They weren’t the only group at the beach that day, but they were the biggest.

Eloise turned and watched as Alice hugged two teenagers, the sight something Eloise hadn’t been able to imagine. At least not with the Alice she’d spent the last several days with. But she turned and led her family toward their group, and Eloise got out of her chair for the introductions.

“My twins,” Alice said. “Charlie is six minutes older than Ginny. And you guys remember my father. He married Della about ten years ago.

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