“I understand how that is. My last boyfriend was a wonderful man, but there was just too much water under the bridge. A lot of memories that I would rather forget, if you know what I mean.”
Why was she opening up? Why was she starting to say things that were only going to lead people to ask more questions about her past?
“Well, enough talk about that sort of thing,” Janine said, smiling. “Do you have any family that will be coming to see the lighthouse?”
“No, not really. The only family I ever really had was my grandmother and my mother, and they’ve both passed away. So, it’s just me.”
Janine looked at her, a compassionate expression on her face. “Well, what you’ll learn about Seagrove is that we all become family. No matter what your background, you are going to be enveloped by the wonderful people of this area.”
Emma smiled. “I hope so. This is the first time I’ve ever just moved away to someplace where I don’t know anyone. But eventually I think I’d really like that sense of community.”
Janine reached across the counter and patted her on the hand. “I know it’s hard to start over somewhere new. I felt that way even though I had family here when I arrived. We were all pretty estranged at that point. But you’re going to do great here.”
“It’s hard to imagine that you had any kind of fracture in your relationship with your sister.”
Janine chuckled under her breath. “Oh, that was a work in progress for a very long time. But now we’re good. She’s my best friend.”
“I have a best friend back home. Her name is Caroline. She keeps begging me to come back.”
“Do you regret moving here?”
“No. I feel peaceful here for the first time in a long time. I mean I still have my moments…” She had almost said too much. What was she thinking? If she started mentioning nightmares, Janine was surely going to ask more questions.
“Look, I understand when we have things in our past that are dark and upsetting, it’s really hard to start a new life. I was attacked a few years ago when I was teaching yoga on an island. I didn’t tell anyone what happened, and I tried to keep it hidden. But, over time, all it did was separate me further and further from my loved ones. And they thought I was doing things for one reason when it was really because I had this severe trauma I was keeping a secret.”
Emma swallowed hard, doing everything within her power not to well up with tears. It was the first time anyone really gave words to her thoughts.”I’m so sorry that happened to you,” was all that she could choke out. Janine met her eyes for a long moment, and it was obvious that she was already aware of the fact that Emma was hiding her own trauma.
“Thank you. I went through a lot of therapy, and I still have to go at times, but I’m a lot better now. I found that pushing it down all of those years just made me miserable. Sometimes, those things that we try to keep in the dark start to eat away at our souls. As soon as we bring them out into the light, they dissipate. They lose their power. And that allowed me to get my power back.”
Emma smiled. “I’m happy for you. Now, why don’t we have that cup of coffee? I thought this machine would never finish brewing!”
As she hurried to pour the cups of coffee and stop the conversation, Emma couldn’t help but feel great relief that she had met Janine. Even though she never planned to tell her what was causing her so much pain, it was nice to know that she had someone who truly understood what she was going through.
Julie, Meg and Colleen walked up the pathway toward the lighthouse. They could’ve driven Julie’s car, but today there were already so many cars on the island going to the lighthouse opening. In fact, Julie couldn’t believe how many vehicles were passing them on the gravel road. Normally, it was very rare to see another car moving on this road, but she realized she’d better get used to some level of traffic now that the lighthouse was open.
They had intended to go on the first tour of the day, but Julie was so exhausted between work and wedding planning for Meg that she just didn’t have it in her. Plus, Vivi had spent the night with her and had kept the whole household up. Apparently Dawson had slipped her way too much sugar after dinner time.
“I can’t believe how many people are here!” Colleen said, looking ahead of them at the parking lot adjoining the lighthouse property.
“It’s kind of sad. I don’t really want this many people on the island all the time,” Julie said.
“Maybe it will be good business for the inn,” Meg said, always choosing to look at the bright side.
“So Christian is taking Vivi on a little daddy daughter date?” Julie asked.
“Yes. I think they are going to the park and then to get ice cream. And I have to admit that I’m glad to get a little time off today.”
“How’s work going?” Colleen asked.
“It’s fine. I enjoy working at the college, but I’m not sure it’s where I want to be long-term. We’ll see.”
“Have you thought any more about the wedding invitations?” Julie asked.
Meg stopped in her tracks and looked at her mother. “Mom, I thought we agreed that we’re not going to talk about the wedding today. We’re just taking a nice, peaceful tour of the lighthouse and then getting lunch. You promised.”
“Sorry. It’s just that it’s your wedding, and it’s coming up quickly. There’s so many decisions you still haven’t made, honey.”
“We will get it done. Keep your promise,”
