Page 22 of Escape to Lighthouse Cove

“A meadow jumping mouse,” Grace mused as she flipped through the pages. “Anda woodland jumping mouse. What do you suppose the difference is? Just their habitats?” She flipped to another page. “I’d like to see a river otter. Don’t they have the cutest faces? And what about a blue whale? Aren’t they enormous!” She kept up the monologue while Jacob scanned the pages with interest, occasionally pointing to an animal that caught his fancy, but never saying a word. Grace had learned not to mind.

“Maybe you can make your own log,” she suggested when they’d finished. “So we can see what animals are still coming around. I’m sure it changes with the seasons, too. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

She was determined to start her regular walks of the island, to monitor the various populations, check on the feeders and nesting boxes. That was the one part of her job that was truly necessary, and it was within her wheelhouse, thankfully. At least she hoped it was. It had been a long time since she’d studied marine biology, but the interest, although dormant, was still there, and she liked to think, despite twelve years of dormancy, shewasa capable person.

Grace packed away their picnic as Jacob went searching for sea glass. In the distance, she glimpsed the smudge of a boat—Ned’s ferry or Becca’s trawler? She was glad she’d gotten to know her neighbor a little the other day. She hoped she and Becca might be friends. There weren’t that many options on this island, after all, which perversely had her thinking about Noah Lawrence yet again…

“Jacob!” Grace called as she stood up, the picnic basket looped over one arm. “We should head back.” The tide was coming in, and she wasn’t going to makethatmistake again. Jacob came running toward her, his hands full of bits of colored glass—green, blue, even purple. His face was alight with enthusiasm as he showed Grace his treasures and she exclaimed over them all, so grateful that he seemed so happy, like any normal little boy.

“I think you have quite a collection now,” she remarked as they started walking back toward home. “We need to find a good place to put it. What do you think—a box, or maybe a jar? If it was a jar, you could see all the colors.” She glanced down at him, willing him to answer even though she already knew he wouldn’t. Was she enabling his silence, Grace wondered, far from the first time. Yet what else could she do? “A jar?” she asked, as if for confirmation. “I think maybe that’s a good idea.”

They walked companionably toward the lodge, which after just one week was already feeling like home.Moreof a home, even than the penthouse apartment on Park Avenue she’d lived in for over a decade and had never felt as if it had belonged to her… but then, of course, it hadn’t. Everything had been in Brad’s name, with a watertight prenup that had left her with very little, save for child support, which he’d at least agreed to pay, if grudgingly. Not that she even minded the lack of alimony. The last thing Grace wanted was to be financially dependent on Brad Bellingham… or anyone.

Grace’s steps slowed as she caught sight of a figure on the back porch of the warden’s lodge. As she came closer, she saw it was Isaiah Hawksworth.

“You’re very kind to check up on me.” She greeted him with a smile as she came onto the porch. He’d been by several times already, always asking what he could do to help, and often bearing some kind of gift—a basket of oranges, a box of herbal tea. “But I’m much better now,” she assured him, fearing she’d put him out enough. “I don’t want you to worry.”

“Oh, I’m not worried,” Isaiah told her with a twinkling smile. “I’m actually here on another errand.”

“Oh?” Grace raised her eyebrows in query as she opened the back door, ushering Jacob in and then Isaiah. “And what’s that?” she asked as they headed into the kitchen. She went immediately to the kettle. “Tea? Or coffee?”

“Oh, I won’t stay,” Isaiah replied with a wave of his hand. “I came to let you know that Mr. Lawrence—that is, Noah—was wondering if Jacob would like some chess lessons up at Grayhaven. I don’t know if you’re aware, but Noah is a chess master. He and his brother competed internationally for some years, when they were much younger.” He paused, while Grace tried to get her head around this unexpected offer. Becca had told her Noah was a chess master, but she’d hardly expected him to offer lessons. “He noticed that young Jacob seemed very interested in chess,” Isaiah continued, “and he believes he has a lot of potential. If you’re interested…”

“Oh, well I… ouch!” Laughing a little, Grace glanced down at her son, who had yanked hard on her arm and was now staring at her intently. She knew what that meant. He wanted lessons. He loved chess, and it was probably the thing he missed most about the expensive prep school he’d gone to, back in New York. Maybe the only thing.

“I think Master Jacob may have something to say about the matter,” Isaiah remarked with a small smile.

“So it seems,” Grace returned wryly. Why had she even hesitated? Here was an opportunity for her son, one he actually welcomed. Of course she would accept. Even if it meant seeing Noah Lawrence again.

Especially if it did.

“Shall we say, tomorrow at three?” Isaiah suggested. “I’ll make sure Mr. Lawrence is ready to greet you.”

Which was slightly odd phrasing, but then Noah did seem reclusive. Grace nodded and murmured her thanks, and with a cheery wave Isaiah headed off. And now, she thought as she closed the door after him, she could spend the next twenty-four hours obsessing about seeing Noah Lawrence again.

What waswrongwith her?

In the end, though, Grace didn’t obsess all that much. She was busy going through the old files she’d brought back from the nature reserve office, and then making dinner and messaging her mom, who was worried about her even if she used every opportunity to tell Grace why leaving Brad had been such a big mistake. Grace had yet to enlighten her why it hadn’t been, in part because she was ashamed even though she knew, intellectually at least, that she shouldn’t be, and also in part because even then she feared her mother wouldn’t understand.

Her mother was briskly—verybriskly—pragmatic about most things, with an old-fashioned view of a woman’s lot in life.Life is full of hard knocks, Grace. You just need to make the best of it.Grace could practically hear her say the words, no matter what the situation.

Her dad had been different, genial and jokey and laidback about everything. He’d died a month before Brad had proposed; the two were, in a weird way, related. If her dad hadn’t died so suddenly, Grace wasn’t sure she would have ever married Brad. It was a sobering thought.

In any case, her mom loved her in her own way, and right now Grace felt like she had precious few people who fell into that category. Twelve years of systematic isolation could do that to a person, she’d finally learned, and hopefully it wasn’t too late to change the situation.

So her mom got a message, and then Jacob had a bath and four stories before bed—the number was creeping up—and by the time Grace was getting ready for bed herself, she’d realized, somewhat to her relief, she hadn’t thought about Noah Lawrence much at all.

Still, the nerves came back the next afternoon as, hand in hand with Jacob, she walked up the lane toward Grayhaven’s gates. Jacob was practically skipping in his excitement, which made it all worth it, whateverit allwas. She probably wouldn’t even talk to Noah. And if she did, it would be no more than pleasantries. She was building this whole thing up in her mind way, way too much, and she didn’t even know why.

Why not just enjoy the spring day—the breeze ruffling the ocean into pretty white frills, seagulls circling above, the dark wings of a great cormorant silhouetted against the bright blue sky as it gracefully dove toward the water.

Becca’s trawler was already out to sea, Grace saw, a pretty red boat with a navy-blue cabin. Bab waved to her from the kitchen window as they walked past, and Grace’s heart lifted. It was the little things, she reflected, that made you feel more settled.

That morning she’d refilled a few feeding boxes with Jacob and identified some of the plants growing in the woods in the middle of the island. Grace had taken a few specimens for Jacob’s log as well as her own education. The more she knew about the wildlife of the island, the better she could take care of it.

As they reached Grayhaven, Isaiah met her at the house’s imposing set of front doors, smiling genially at them both.

“Well, hello! How nice to see you, Ms. Wyatt, Master Jacob.” Still smiling, he ushered them into Grayhaven’s soaring foyer, its ceiling lost at least a floor above in gloom. “Come right this way.”