Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“By the time he returned home, Rose had agreed to marry Lucas Winchester. He was a good man and eager to run the lighthouse. Rose’s family approved, and Daniel came home too late to stop the wedding.”
“How sad,” June murmurs.
“Not at all, my darling girl,” Annabelle says, waving June off. “If they’d married, the three of us would be very different than we are. We might not be here at all.”
“True,” June says. “Did Daniel pine for her for a long time?”
“He did, from what I heard,” Annabelle confirms. “But, about a year later, he married my great-grandmother and moved on with his life.”
“Wow,” Sarah says. “And still lived just a stone’s throw away from his first love.”
“It’s been said that Rose and Daniel maintained a relationship long after they both married and had children,” Annabelle says, leaning forward to whisper loudly. “That they just couldn’t stay away from each other. But that could just be gossip.”
“I think that would be hard to do in such a small town,” I speculate.
“You’re probably right,” Annabelle agrees. “But I did hear that he once gifted her with a car after her husband died.”
I stare at her and then look over at June and Sarah. We all smile.
“I think I still have that car,” I tell her and explain about the Ford we found in the barn.
“That could be it,” Annabelle says. “Isn’t that romantic? I mean, if they carried on while they were both still married, he was a cheating bastard, but still. It’s a little romantic.”
“Wow, all this time, this was the history, and I had no idea. I’ve been up to this house countless times over the years, and unbeknownst to me, it belonged to my great-great-grandmother’s first love. It’s just crazy.”
“There’s so much history here in Huckleberry Bay,” Annabelle says. “Many tales similar to this one. The roots run deep in this community. Perhaps, before I die, I should write a book about it all.”
“Oh, you absolutely should,” Sarah agrees.
“I’d have to keep it unpublished until after my demise so no one could get mad at me while I’m alive. I know too many juicy secrets.”
Annabelle laughs in delight, and I pull the photo of DP that I found in the trunk and pass it to her.
“Well, look at him.” She presses her red lips together and examines the picture. “I’ve never seen an image of him this young. He was a handsome young man.”
“He was hot,” June says, looking over her grandmother’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I see what Rose saw in him,” Sarah adds, joining them. “Do you have photos of Lucas?”
“I do. I found a whole photo album full of old pictures. Some are even made of tin.”
“That’s a treasure,” Annabelle says with a smile. “How lovely. Now, what are some other fun little tidbits of gossip I can tell you? Oh, yes. Let’s talk about the Hart family and how they used to come into all the gold they used…”
“That’s a lot of gossip,” Wolfe says. It’s later in the day, and we decided to come to the public beach in town and go for a walk on the sand together. “But I’m glad you were able to get some answers about Rose and DP.”
“Me, too.” I step around a washed-up jellyfish. “I know I’ll come up with more questions as I dive deeper into the family tree and Rose’s things, but I’m happy to have that chapter closed. Oh, did I tell you that I went to see Cordelia and her sisters?”
“I don’t think so. What happened?”
“I accepted their proposal to own the kitchen side of Luna’s Light. They were so excited, and we spent about an hour going over some things, like menus and kitchen ideas. I’m so relieved that I made that decision, Wolfe. It takes a huge amount of stress off of my plate.”
“I’m glad you did, too.”
I grin and take Wolfe’s hand, link our fingers. “Do you remember when Tanner was out here surfing when he was a senior and ended up getting hit in the head with his surfboard?”
“Yeah, there was blood everywhere, and June screamed that it would lure in sharks.”
“I mean, in her defense, it could happen.”
“Has anyone seen a great white shark off the shore of Huckleberry Bay?” he asks me.
“Uh, yeah,” I say and laugh at him. “You know there are. They hunt the sea lions.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Anyway, Tanner might have bled a lot, but he walked away from it pretty much unscathed.”
“He always did have a hard head,” Wolfe says. “Do you remember when our dads tried to build us a treehouse one summer, but the tree was old and fell apart?”
“They were so defeated.” I lean over and kiss Wolfe’s biceps. “But it all worked out. We were probably too old for a treehouse then, anyway. It wasn’t long after that we started not hanging out as often.”