Chapter 5
Chapter Five
The next day, after Ruby had confirmed that Carrie did have a plane ticket home, it just wasn’t booked until the end of the week, she gave Carrie and Milo her blessing to spend the rest of that time together doing whatever they wanted, within reason.
She still didn’t want them sleeping together in the same bed or spending too much time behind closed doors.
Other than that, however, she didn’t put either of them to work.
If Carrie was on a mission to try to convince Milo to go back to school, Ruby didn’t want to get in her way.
It was far more important to her that her son return to his studies than that she complete the renovations on a faster timeline.
At this rate, the renovations might never get done, regardless of who was lending a hand and who wasn’t. She was going to have to accept that this could be a lost cause.
But not yet.
Without Milo’s help, however, that meant she was having to rely on Dominic and Lonnie even more than she already was.
Lonnie had come around in the morning, apologizing for his previous absence but not giving an explanation for where he’d been.
She didn’t pry, but Dominic did. He couldn’t seem to help himself.
“Hey, Lonnie,” he said, donning a casual tone of voice even though Ruby was pretty sure it was faked. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, where do you live? Are you somewhere on the island or are you a commuter like me?”
Lonnie’s eyes flashed with fear. “Oh—um. I’m a local. I live on the island.”
“Yeah? You got a house around here?”
“Mhm.” The man then shot Ruby a worried look, silently begging her to save him, so she did. She might not know exactly why Lonnie was being cagey, but he had done a lot to help her for nothing in exchange, so she was going to return the favor whenever she could.
“I’ve been to his house once,” she said without thinking about it. “It’s cute.”
This seemed to surprise both men, but Lonnie cleared his throat quickly and kept the ruse going. “Oh yeah. I forgot I had you over last week.” He put his hands in his pockets and smiled at Dominic. “She needed to borrow a few candles and more flashlights.”
“Ah. I see.” Dominic’s brow furrowed. “Well, I’d love to also see your house at some point as well.”
“Sure, yeah. Whenever,” Lonnie said noncommittally. “Just not today. It’s a mess, and we’ve got too much work to do.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “We’re tackling the greenhouse, right? Cleaning it out?”
“Yup,” Ruby said. “If possible, we’re going to try to make those windows actually clear again. After that, we just have to decide what we’re doing with the old shed, and most importantly, we’re going to finally try to get into the lighthouse.”
Lonnie’s eyes widened. “You are?”
“We are,” she corrected him. “If you’re game.”
“Of course,” Lonnie said. “As long as we’re careful. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“Me neither.”
“Good. Then everyone’s on the same page.” Dominic motioned with his head to the gravel lot behind them. “I’m going to go grab the cleaning supplies that I brought, and let’s get started.”
“I have some cleaning supplies,” Ruby noted. “Some rags and glass cleaner.”
“I don’t think that’s going to do the trick—which is why I brought some of the good stuff from the hospital. If these chemicals can’t clean the greenhouse, nothing will.”
* * *
Cleaning the greenhouse was possible, but also time-consuming.
It took the three of them nearly the entire day to just make a dent in the task, and their feet and backs were killing them by late afternoon.
Ruby called it a little before dinner time, telling both men that she couldn’t inhale any more harsh cleaning chemicals without risking passing out.
“This is as clean as we are going to get it for now,” Ruby said. “I don’t want to do anything else until we hear back from your friend, Dominic.”
They’d worked through lunch, meaning Ruby and Dominic didn’t get to have their cafe date that day either.
Dominic did, however, walk back to the gravel lot to call the guy, who said he would love to drop by sometime in the next few days to see the damage for himself.
He wasn’t comfortable giving any numbers over the phone when it came to financing the repairs, so Ruby still felt just as confused as ever.
“Works for me.” Lonnie stretched his arms high above his head and sighed as a few joints in his back popped. “I was about to say I couldn’t work for much longer anyway.”
“I take it that means we’re not going to try to get inside the lighthouse tonight?” Lonnie asked.
“No. Not tonight. I haven’t found the key yet, and I don’t have the energy to break down a door,” she said. “Not to mention, climb a bunch of rickety stairs. That’ll have to wait.”
“Music to my ears.” Lonnie threw the rag he had been using to clean the floor tiles and tossed it over his shoulder. “I brought some beers. I’ll go grab them and meet you guys back at the main house.”
Once alone, Ruby and Dominic tidied up the cleaning supplies and tucked them away in a corner where they wouldn’t get wet if it rained that night.
She took a moment to appreciate all the work they’d managed to get done, smiling up at the cleaned windows and thinking about how beautiful it was going to be with the morning sun shining through.
“Did I thank you for all your help?” she said to Dominic on their way out of the structure. “Because if not, I want you to know that I am so, so grateful.”
“No need to thank me. I’m having fun.”
“Ha! Really?”
“Yeah, aren’t you?”
“I am,” she said. “Of course I am. But I don’t have anything better to do with my time, and it makes sense that I would be excited to renovate my great-grandmother’s land.
I wasn’t sure exactly what you were getting out of this.
Unless you are playing the long game, just trying to get in my good graces so that I donate the land to the historical society. ”
“Nah, I’m not that conniving,” he said. “I’ve just always liked working with my hands… I also can’t pretend like I don’t enjoy the company.”
She blushed, and they walked in silence for a bit. “I do wish you would let up on Lonnie a bit,” she said after a while. “He’s been helping out just as much as you have, and I get the sense that he doesn’t have as much… shall we say… disposable time as you do?”
“What does that mean?”
“Or—” She stopped herself and frowned. “I don’t want to sound crass, but you obviously make good money as a doctor in this part of the country. For you, taking time off work doesn’t necessarily make or break you financially… Right?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Lonnie clearly doesn’t have a lot of money, and yet he shows up and does all this work for free. He even buys us beer sometimes! I just want to make sure he feels welcome.”
Dominic drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I hear what you’re saying. I really do. I guess I just still don’t understand what that man’s deal is. Does he even have a job? You said you’d been to his house, but up until today, I was under the impression he didn’t have a residence on the island.”
“What made you think that?”
He quickly looked away from her.
“Dominic.”
“I might’ve looked his name up in the town hall records,” he said. “There was no property listed under his name.”
“So he rents. That’s not a crime.”
Truthfully, Ruby didn’t know anything about Lonnie’s living situation, but she had already started to weave this web of lies, and for Lonnie’s sake, she wasn’t going to unravel it all right then.
“But from whom?” Dominic wanted to know. “There aren’t long-term rental properties on Sanibel. They are all either vacation rentals or timeshares!”
“I don’t know what to tell you. Lonnie has a house; he probably rents it, that’s the whole story.”
“Yeah, maybe… But where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire.”
She shook her head. “Usually, but not always. Sometimes, smoke is just from a cigarette. Or a car backing up. Or… or I don’t know. I can’t think of a third example, and I’m losing my grip on the metaphor, but you know what I’m saying.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I do. You’re telling me to be nicer to Lonnie.”
“I’m asking you to be nicer to Lonnie,” she corrected him. “Please. For me? I mean, you yourself said the Will is legit. He wasn’t lying about it.”
Dominic smiled at her for a few seconds, then nodded. “Yes, you got me there. Yeah, okay. For you, I’ll be nicer.” They continued walking.
When they neared the lighthouse, he stopped and looked up.
“Do you know the story behind the lighthouse? Why is it called the ‘Lovers’ Lighthouse?”
Ruby frowned. “I remember Edith saying something about the story, but I definitely don’t remember any of the details.” She smiled at him. “Do you know it?”
He nodded. “Oh yeah. It’s one of my favorite Sanibel stories. Not many people know it, though, since there’s a far more famous lighthouse on the island that gets a lot more attention.”
“Right. I knew that. I was in town the other day, and I told someone I lived at the lighthouse property, and they were totally confused. They thought I meant the official Sanibel Lighthouse, and I think that connection made them assume I was very wealthy. They seemed disappointed when I told them it was the other lighthouse.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “But I think they are wrong to be disappointed. This lighthouse has a better background story.” He walked a little closer to the lighthouse and placed a hand on the smooth, curved surface.
“It’s been decommissioned for a long time.
I don’t even think it would’ve still been in use when Edith’s father first bought the land, but I’d have to double-check my dates on that one. ”
“Is that because the other lighthouse is better?”
“Better? No. Bigger, yes. I suppose when it comes to lighthouses, the height does matter, so maybe it’s better in that sense.” He shrugged and turned back to her. “This one is prettier though, if you ask me.”
She smirked. “I know I’m biased, but I agree with you.”