The Lady of the Lighthouse by Terri Greening

Author:Terri Greening
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: World Castle Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-03-04T21:21:07+00:00

Chapter 12

Loralei busied herself with making shepherd’s pie for dinner and tried not to think about the tension building in the lighthouse since Devon’s return. She was happy that Misha, seemingly unaware that anything was wrong, was playing checkers with Devon in the living area. As Loralei continued browning meat in the cast iron skillet and reached for the spice rack, she realized Misha was pulling on her skirt.

“Mama, I get cherries?” Misha signed to her.

Loralei, startled by Misha’s question, turned away from the stove to pat him on the head. “No, thank you, dear,” she signed. “It’s too dark in the fruit cellar for you.”

“I’ll go with him,” Devon said, standing and walking into the kitchen.

Loralei tensed at Devon’s words. “No. I locked the door.”

“What’d you do that for? Come on, Misha, we’ll get the cherries.” Devon took Misha by the hand and looked up to address Loralei. “I’ll take the key off the hook by the door.”

“Devon, no,” she said.

“Will you relax?” he said.

“Shouldn’t you two finish your game of checkers?” Loralei asked.

“We’ll finish it later. What’s the matter with you?” Devon asked.

Loralei moved sideways as Devon brushed past her with Misha and walked through the kitchen toward the lighthouse door.

“I think the key is missing,” she said desperately.

“It’s right here,” he said.

Devon scoffed and pulled the key off the hook by the door, and walked out of the lighthouse with Misha. She put her hand to her mouth and shook as she realized there was nothing more she could do. She walked to the door of the lighthouse and watched, terrified, as Devon led Misha to the fruit cellar and lifted the door to go underground. He pulled back for a moment after opening the door and appeared to direct Misha to wait for him before descending into the cellar. Loralei felt a cold drop of sweat run down the back of her neck. Even though Andre had built new shelves over Jake’s grave and had taken care to disguise the area around it, she was afraid that Devon would discover her secret. What would happen to her if he did? After a few minutes, Devon reappeared with a jar of cherries, took Misha’s hand, and yelled something to her that she couldn’t hear. She squinted to see the look on his face, but she couldn’t tell what it was. She felt her heart beat faster and her body shake violently as she waited for him to draw closer.

“The rats got in the cellar again,” he said when he reached her. “I can smell them. One must have died down there. Have your new man, Andre, get rid of them while I’m gone,” he said.

Loralei relaxed and put her hand to her heart as she realized she hadn’t been found out. She tried not to let Devon see what she supposed was her obvious agitation.

“Yes, of course, Devon. Whatever you say,” she said, swallowing and turning away.

They all went back into the lighthouse together. Loralei took one

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