"Yes.” Holt nodded in confirmation. It was a wake-up call for both of us. Rad nearly quit law enforcement entirely after his partner was killed and he nearly came close to death himself.”
“I can understand that,” June said. She’d lived that experience with her mother when she was barely a teenager. She had also been a firefighter and had died in a fire. Even though Carmen was an EMT, she’d fretted each day when her sister went to work. Then Willa had followed in June’s mother’s footsteps, and every single day since Willa joined the fire department, June lived with that fear.
“My uncle.” Holt paused as they turned onto the road leading toward the lighthouse. "You remember Uncle Abe Sands?” He looked at June, who nodded. “He left the lighthouse and the sporting goods store to Rad in his will.”
"That was generous of Abe," June said, then added carefully, "I thought he was going to leave it all to you."
"I didn't want it," Holt said, and she heard the catch in his voice.
In fact, June heard all the things he didn't say in those four words. Neither of them had wanted to return to Sandpiper Shores because of their shared history here. The lighthouse would have been a constant reminder of everything they'd lost. This is where Holt and June had met and first fallen in love. It was once their special place and was going to be their summer holiday retreat with their kids and a place they would finally retire to. But that was just a dream in the past that went up in smoke the moment Holt had walked away from their marriage,right into the arms of another woman. Unexpected pain ripped through her heart, but June breathed through it and refused to acknowledge it. It had been a long time since. Time had moved on, and so had she.
"Mina helped Rad secure the detective position here," Holt continued.
"That was nice of her," June said. “At least he gets to continue working, but he and his son are safer. Or at least it’s usually safer here.” She shook her head and blew out a breath.
“It will be again,” Holt said with resolve. “We will figure this out and bring peace back to this beautiful town.”
As they pulled into the lighthouse driveway, they hadn’t spoken for a few moments, and wanting to lower the temperature a bit, June asked, "What about the sporting goods store? Who is running that now?"
"My mother hired a manager to run it when Uncle Abe got sick," Holt replied. "She watches the books like a hawk, but the day-to-day operations are handled by someone else."
As they climbed out of the car, June took in the structure in front of her. The lighthouse looked exactly as June remembered it, though the white paint was fresher and the gardens around the base were more carefully maintained. When they walked toward the cottage beside it, Holt tried the door, and it was locked.
“My mother and Tyler are probably still in town,” Holt said, pulling out his keys and unlocking the door.
He let them into the house, and June followed him inside. The moment she stepped across the threshold, memories hit her with unexpected force. This was where she and Holt had spentcountless evenings during the summers when they were young. It was here that they'd dreamed about their future together and had get-togethers with his sister and friends from the town. There had been so much laughter and hope inside all of them back then, with their bright futures ahead of them. They had seemed invincible.
June had to steady herself against the doorframe as the past swept over her.
"Are you all right?" Holt asked, pausing in his search for the cameras.
"Fine," June nodded with a tight smile. “Just a slight giddy spell,” she lied.
“Please, sit,” Holt said, indicating toward a chair in the living room, his expression darkened with concern.
“Thanks.” June moved toward a chair and sat down, glad to take her weight off her wobbly legs.
"I won’t be long," Holt said. “The cameras are in my room.” He disappeared down the hallway.
June remained in the living room, trying to reconcile the familiar space with the changes time had brought. The furniture was different, and family photos of Rad and Tyler occupied the mantelpiece where Abe's maritime collections had once sat.
A soft clicking of toenails on hardwood announced the arrival of a visitor. A basset hound with droopy ears and soulful brown eyes trotted into the room, tail wagging tentatively. June smiled, recognizing Tyler’s dog.
"Hello there, Duchess," June called to the happy animal.
Duchess approached with a friendly swagger to plant herself in front of June, lifting her head for pats and attention. June laughed and obliged the adorable dog.
"You’ve made a friend for life," Holt's voice came from behind her as he returned with a small box of security cameras. "Duchess loves anyone who will dote on her."
"She's sweet," June agreed, stroking Duchess's silky ears. "It's nice that Tyler has her for company."
"Bassets have an incredible sense of smell," Holt explained. “They are also excellent security alarms because they’ve probably smelled someone coming before you’ve even heard them.”
The sound of a car in the driveway interrupted their conversation. Through the window, June could see Mina's sedan pulling up beside Carmen's car.
June felt her shoulders tense automatically. Not from a dislike of Mina, but from the complex mixture of history and guilt that always accompanied her interactions with Holt's mother. Mina had been nothing but kind to her over the years, even after the divorce from Holt, but June couldn't shake the feeling that Mina knew more than she ever let on.
"Hey, grandpa!" Tyler greeted Holt as he stepped into the living room and then turned to smile at June. He looked so much like a much younger version of Holt. “Hi, Mrs. Carter.”
