The waitress put Emma’s glass of water on the table. “Then my work here is done,” she said, taking a long sip.
Emma enjoyed her lunch with Janine, but she had to get back to the lighthouse. The city council really wanted her to work on some flyers that could be handed out at the Spring Festival. Apparently, she would also have a little table with displays about the lighthouse’s history and would be doing a raffle for some free tour tickets.
When she had taken the job, she’d assumed it was nothing more than walking people up and down the stairs, telling them random facts. She hadn’t intended on doing marketing since it wasn’t her forte.
Thankfully, she had been able to talk the city council into buying her a secondhand golf cart so that she didn’t have to walk everywhere since she didn’t have a car. She had turned in her rental car the day after she arrived on the island.
Roger had delivered the golf cart this morning, and that had allowed her to finally get into the city to have some lunch. She didn’t have time to go by the bookstore or the bakery, but it was on her list of things to do very soon.
She hated to admit to herself that she was starting to hit her stride. She felt more at home in Seagrove than she had in a while. Nobody knew her there. Nobody knew her history or what had happened. Nobody knew about her dead mother or her crazy grandmother. Nobody knew about her boyfriend that she left behind or the night that her life changed.
A fresh start was a blessing, and she was starting to enjoy hers more than she thought she would. Instead of holing herself up on the island, she was starting to get out and make friends. She was starting to feel comfortable.
As she rounded the corner down the gravel drive and passed Janine’s cottage, she noticed a car sitting in the parking lot at the lighthouse up ahead. It was weird because it was closed for the rest of the day. She assumed maybe it belonged to the contractor who was working on the light, although she thought he should be long gone by now.
As she pulled into the parking lot, she noticed that it was a rental car. Maybe some tourist had shown up for a lighthouse tour not realizing that they were closed for the rest of the day. Perhaps the note she put on the door next to the ticket counter had blown away in the ocean breeze.
She parked her cart and got out, being careful to remember that she was a woman alone on an island. If she screamed, it wasn’t likely anyone was going to hear her.
Still, her training as a police officer always kept her in good stead. She knew she could take care of herself, and she always kept a concealed weapon on her. Just part of her job training, although touching a gun made her have flashbacks that she’d rather not experience.
She walked up to the car and saw no one inside. There was also no one standing anywhere near the lighthouse. Now she was feeling a little bit uncomfortable. Perhaps the best thing to do was to get inside of her cottage and lock the door until she could figure out who was lurking around her property.
She got back in her cart and pulled closer to the cottage. As she stepped out of the golf cart, she saw someone off in the distance standing on the beach behind her house. When she looked closer, she knew exactly who it was.
“Steve?”
Her boyfriend - ex-boyfriend - turned around and looked at her.
“Emma! Thank God I found you!” he said, running toward her. He closed the gap between them very quickly, pulling her into a tight embrace and pressing his face into the crook of her neck.
“Why are you here? How did you even find me?” She felt more irritated than she probably should have. He seemed overwhelmed with worry, although she had explained to Caroline that she was okay and that she should relay that information to Steve.
He pulled back and looked at her, his hands on her arms. “I’m a detective, Emma. I can find anybody. The better question is why did you run away without a word? You scared all of us to death!”
“I’ve been talking to Caroline. I told her that I’m fine.”
She turned to walk back towards the front of the house, Steve following close behind. “She said you didn’t sound like yourself on the phone. She was worried that you might hurt yourself, so I had to get here as soon as possible.”
“Well, I’m really sorry that you wasted a trip, but I’m fine.”
He reached for her arm and turned her around. His eyes were starting to fill with tears, and his face was red. She knew the red face was from anger, and the tears were from fear. To be a detective, Steve wore his emotions on his sleeve.
“You’re my fiancé. We’re supposed to be getting married and living a life together, Emma. How could you just run away like that?”
“Steve, we’re not getting married. The girl that you were engaged to died that night. I am no longer her, and I can’t marry you.” She put the key into the lock of her cottage and walked inside, Steve following behind her. He pushed it closed behind him and stood there like he didn’t know what to do.
“It wasn’t your fault. Nobody thinks that it was.”
“Well, I do. I just don’t think I’ll ever get over it.”
“Emma, he was a bad guy.”
“So he deserved to die? I could’ve chosen to shoot him in the leg or tackle him. But I didn’t. I killed a person.”
He looked at her for a long moment before speaking. “Every cop dreads the thought of taking a life. You know that. We had training
