Page 47 of Light of Day (Sea Smoke Island #1)
They all spent the night at the Lightkeeper Inn—except Carson and Fiona, of course, who joined Amy Lou in the lockup.
Judy had recovered enough to find spare bedrooms for everyone.
Tucked into a corner room on the second floor, Heather curled next to Luke and slept more deeply than she had in years.
And she dreamed. This time, the girl sat on the porch of the house and dangled her bare feet over the edge. She wasn’t afraid because her world was moving. Although she was sad, she was taking it in stride. She would survive.
She turned her head and smiled at Heather, who was holding on to the door frame as the house moved across the gravel. “It’s okay,” she said. “Don’t be sad. It’ll all be better in the light of day.”
Heather came awake with a start and found Luke sitting on the edge of the bed.
“A police boat is on its way. Chen and I are taking a boatload of suspects into town to be booked. Carson, Fiona, Celine, Amy Lou, a couple of workers who were doing Carson’s bidding. Do you want to come with us? You’ve been part of this from the beginning.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ve got too much work to do.” She felt tremendously refreshed and energized, ready to bounce out of bed and race to a computer. Or a kayak—the first thing she had to do was retrieve the flash drive.
Luke smiled at her and cupped her face in his hand. “I get it. But are you sure you don’t want more rest? You went through a real ordeal last night.”
“Yes, but this is today.” She rolled out of bed and flung open the curtains. Sunshine poured in. It’ll all be better in the light of day.
“There are secrets to be revealed, stories to be shared, and I can’t wait. Where’s Gabby?”
“Waiting for you in the conservatory. There’s coffee and a basket of donuts and a laptop and a pile of photos she printed out and?—”
Heather was already pulling on her clothes. “You basically just described heaven to me.” She rose on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around him. “Or is this heaven? I’ll figure it out later. Let’s go!”
They held hands as they left the bedroom.
On the staircase, they saw John Carmichael III being helped down the stairs by Judy Griffin. He looked about ten years older than the last time she’d seen him. The news about his wife and two of his children must have hit him hard.
“Is he on his way to sign the paperwork to sell the inn?” she whispered.
“No, the sale’s off. Tatum DeBatum just went viral for some weird sex tape thing. He needs to take a beat. Left last night.”
Thank God she wasn’t still at Boiling Point, where she might have to do a deep dive on that tape.
As John and Luke caught sight of each other, Heather felt Luke stiffen. She squeezed his hand a little tighter.
“Well, son?” John said in that commanding, gravelly voice of his. “You going to help me craft this statement or what?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Sea Smoke Island Fund, of course.”
Heather and Luke exchanged a puzzled glance. Was this an example of the dementia people were worried about?
“Those folks that were booted off this island back in the day. Something oughta be done, don’t you think?” John explained. “I’m going to start a fund to find the survivors and make it right. We can afford it.”
Good lord. No wonder Carson and Fiona and Celine had fought so hard to stop this. It wasn’t just about a potential scandal and bad publicity affecting property value. This fund would directly subtract from their inheritance.
“Well, since you’re asking, I do think something ought to be done,” Luke said slowly. “It seems the rest of the family doesn’t agree.”
“That’s where they screwed up. The kids are going to be taken care of, they just won’t have as much as before.
” He shook his head in shaggy-haired sorrow.
“And now those two have got to answer to the law and their better angels. Everyone has to some day. Listen, I might have a touch of old man brain, like Celine says.”
“That’s not the same as dementia,” Judy said fiercely. “That’s just being old.”
He shrugged his big shoulders. “My brain works slower now, and it glitches sometimes. I’m hearing more from my heart.
My heart is telling me this is the right thing to do.
I’m still in charge for now. I’ve been thinking on it for some time, ever since Denton came to me.
This is what I want. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to work, I’ll admit that. One step at a time. Details later.”
Another piece clicked into place for Heather. “That’s why you and Denton wanted Gabby’s help. She was going to nail down the evidence and write it up for you.”
“I didn’t know I was putting her in danger. Apologies to her. The old tick-tock is losing some tocks.” He rapped the side of his skull. “These days, I’m not always sure what I’m doing. But when I know, I know. So, Luke, how about giving me a hand with the Carmichael family statement?”
“I’m the constable, Dad. I have to take care of business in town today.”
In Heather’s mind, Luke’s use of “dad” was significant, but she wasn’t sure if John had noticed. But maybe he had, because after a moment, John Carmichael gave a slow smile. “I can respect that.”
She felt Luke’s physical reaction to that very out-of-character statement from his father—an intake of breath, an ease of tension.
“We’ll meet later, how’s that?” Luke offered.
“You’re a good man.” With that, John Carmichael III, assisted by Judy, continued down the staircase.
Heather could barely contain her amazement as she and Luke waited, hand in hand, for them to pass by.
“How do you feel about that?” she murmured as they watched the pair make their way downstairs. “Your super-critical father called you a good man, and Detective Chen called you a good constable.”
“What do you call me?” he teased.
“We might need privacy for that one.”
He laughed and gave her a lingering kiss, then sobered. “The truth is, I’m glad my father is developing a conscience. But what does it say that when he actually tries to do something for people outside the family, everyone freaks out?”
She squeezed his hand in sympathy.
He continued his thought. “I mean, what are you supposed to do with the fact that your ancestors did some fucked-up shit and you’re still benefiting from it? Seems like Dad’s going in the right direction. Unlike Carson or Fiona.”
Heather had been thinking about this very same thing. The acts that her ancestor had committed had filtered down through the generations in the form of stories and addictions, and landed on her doorstep.
“I don’t have all the answers,” she said. “But maybe a good first step is not repeating all the same crap, like maybe skip the murder and lies and arson and theft. By the way, did you find out who set those other fires?”
“The hotel workers Carson hired. Most of this was Carson. Fiona was more of an accessory, but that doesn’t excuse her. She’ll face charges too. I’m not sure about Celine yet. The DA will sort it out. My part is done.”
As a gesture of comfort, she lifted their joined hands and rubbed his knuckles against her cheek. Her hands were so scraped up that every movement hurt a little, although any contact with him made her forget about it.
Luke bent to give her a lingering kiss on the lips. “I’d better go. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Counting on it.”
His kiss made her dizzy and happy and giddy and fizzy and all kinds of good things like that. Face flushed, she glanced across the conservatory to locate Gabby.
Corner table, next to an indoor orange tree in a square planter. Someone was at the table with her. Was that Barnaby Carmichael?
“Uh-oh,” she murmured to Luke. “Do you know where Barnaby stands in all this?”
“I hope nowhere. No one has mentioned him so far.”
They both eyed the wild-haired man propping his elbows on the table across from Gabby. He looked bigger than when Heather had last seen him. Wider shoulders. Were he and Gabby arguing? They were speaking quite intensely to each other.
“I’d better go find out what’s going on,” Heather said. “Since I’m all about being a better podcast partner now.”
They kissed a few more times, then he reluctantly released her.
She watched him step through the front entrance and into the sunshine.
Her heart flooded with warmth and hope and promise.
Wherever this thing with Luke was going, it felt real and deep.
With him, she didn’t have to run from her old self, or hold back her future self.
It’ll all be better in the light of day.
She didn’t know who that little girl in her dream was. Her mind could have invented her from her great-grandfather’s stories. But real or not, that girl held a truth in her hands.
She’d passed it to Heather, and Heather intended to take that responsibility to heart.
No one could change the past, but in her own Heather-style, she could look it in the eye, call it out for being a dirty rotten bastard, and try to do better.
The lost residents of Sea Smoke Island would get what they’d never had.
Their stories, the truth of what they’d gone through, would see the light of day; she and Gabby would make sure of it.
Thank you so much for reading!