Chapter 11 #2
Connor held our place in line while the boys and I assessed our options. “Good afternoon, ma’am,” Teddy said when it was our turn to order. He rose up on his tiptoes in an effort to make eye contact with the bemused cashier. “We are going to take six slices…”
I looked around the shop while he listed our flavors—double chocolate, sea salt caramel, vanilla, rocky road, chocolate peanut butter, and something called penuche—and the gift box display caught my eye.
The biggest one not only had the Murdick’s Fudge whale logo but also had featured an illustration on the lid: a warm red-orange sunset behind a lighthouse.
This rendering’s window placement looked familiar.
“Is this a real lighthouse?” I asked Finn, pointing to the box. “Or inspired by a real lighthouse?”
“Of course it’s real,” he said. “It’s the Edgartown Harbor Light.”
My heartrate skipped. Yes! The lighthouse in Annie’s painting was either the Edgartown Harbor Light or the East Chop Lighthouse. And right now we were in Edgartown, which meant we could probably walk to the Edgartown Harbor Light. Right?
“And we’ll also have a slice of maple walnut,” Teddy concluded, ever the professional. “But in a separate box, please.”
That’s sweet, I thought. He’s looking out for Connor.
His tree nut allergy was only the beginning. “Oh, there’s an entire list,” Connor had told me at lunch. “Tree nuts, cats, ice when it directly touches my skin—”
“No way!” I’d laughed. “Ice? Who’s allergic to ice?”
“Dust mites, soy, and shellfish.”
“Yikes,” I said. “Don’t New England and shellfish go hand in hand?”
“Yes, but I can be around it with zero issues,” he said. “You could be devouring a lobster roll right now and I’d be fine…”
Connor paid for our fudge haul with an American Express card; my guess was it belonged to Teddy and Finn’s parents.
“This is for the entire family,” Connor said firmly, holding up our Murdick’s bag before his expression curled into a mischievous smile. “But where are we sneaking the first few bites?”
“Olivia wants to see the lighthouse,” Finn replied as I felt a swirl of excitement. “It’s right up the street.”
Connor nodded. “Lead the way.”
With Finn on point, we pushed out the door and continued up North Water Street, passing Vineyard Vines, a couple restaurants, and a collection of art galleries before the street shifted from commercial to residential.
It was lined with white picket fences, monstrous blue hydrangea bushes, and cedar-shingled and white clapboard homes.
I blinked a couple times; it really felt like I had been transported to a Hollywood soundstage, one outfitted for “quintessential coastal New England town.”
Annie must’ve loved it here, I thought with a pang. Edgartown looked like all her guilty pleasure Hallmark Channel holiday movies. Only instead of Christmas lights and a dusting of snow, the homes were decorated with American flags and buntings for the Fourth of July.
“What’s that?” I asked when we passed a lane entirely backed up with cars.
“The Chappy Ferry,” Teddy told me.
“It’s a two-car ferry that goes to and from Chappy,” Connor explained. “Chappaquiddick is a small island about five hundred feet across the harbor. The only way to access it is by ferry, boat, or kayak.”
“Claire told me her dad once swam over,” Finn added as I thought of my list. Dike Bridge was somewhere on that little island.
“How do you know all of this?” I asked. Forget about a few weeks; Connor spoke like he’d spent years here.
“I’ve been exploring while these two esteemed gentlemen sail.” He gestured at the boys. “They send me to all the hot spots.”
“Very cool.” I nodded, realizing that if I asked Connor to follow Annie’s trail with me, he would. The idea might’ve even stirred some excitement in my stomach, as long as I could keep whatever he thought was between us at bay.
“There it is!” Teddy shouted when we reached the top of the street.
He ran ahead and pointed to the right, but the massive Victorian hotel on the left caught my eye first. THE HARBOR VIEW, its sign read, but before I could marvel at the hotel’s beautiful wraparound porch, I felt hands lightly land on my shoulders.
“Don’t fight me when I try to spin you around,” Connor said, the warmth of his skin soaking through my coverup’s thin fabric. “Okay?”
“Okay.” I closed my eyes, and one, two, three hard heartbeats later, he guided me 180 degrees. “What do you think?” Finn called, which was my cue to blink. “Does it live up to the hype?”
Yes, I thought. Yes, it does.
This was it. This was Annie’s lighthouse.
It was stunning and stood steadfast on the coastline, white with a dark wrought-iron railing that circled around the glass lantern room. I suspected the lighthouse had been restored over the years, but Annie’s half-finished watercolor had still captured its essence.
“Do you want to see it up close?” Connor asked, nodding his chin at the wooden causeway.
It led to a grassy slice of land with a network of sandy trails running across it.
Beyond the lighthouse was the beach, dotted with families and colorful beach towels.
“Or maybe even go inside? We can triumph over our acrophobia again.”
“Okay,” I said, my voice breathy. “Sure.”
“To the lighthouse!” he shouted to Teddy and Finn, and as we crossed the causeway together, I watched him subtly snap some photos of them.
“For their parents?” I guessed.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Their family uses a Vineyard shot for their holiday card every year, and since Ashley isn’t here…”
A beat passed.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, trying not to pry. “Did something happen?”
“Everything’s fine.” Connor stayed tight-lipped. “There’s just some stuff going on with her husband’s side of the family. They’re helping with that.”
“Got it.” I looked toward the horizon. The lighthouse shone in the sun, and I suddenly felt determined to see its view. Annie had been here; I wanted to see everything she’d seen.
“You seem especially fired up about this,” Connor noted once we’d paid our five-dollar entrance fee and were spinning up the spiral staircase. “Any particular reason why?”
“My grandmother came here,” I said with sweat trailing down my spine, the humidity almost fooling me that I was out of shape. “I don’t know exactly when or why, but she visited the island.”
“You haven’t asked her?” Connor responded at the same time Teddy loudly sighed and said, “Do you think the fudge has melted?”
“It’ll be fine, Ted,” Connor said. “We’re almost at the top.”
The top.
My knees weakened, but I pushed onward and upward, and when we stepped out onto the balcony and I saw Edgartown’s idyllic harbor and the Cape Cod coast in the distance, I was too awestruck to worry about how high off the ground I was. This was even more breathtaking than the bridge.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Connor snapping a picture.
Stay cool, I told myself, and for the next couple minutes, all was lovely and quiet.
“Fudge?” Teddy eventually suggested.
“Fudge,” Finn concurred.
Connor dutifully broke out the provided plastic knife. “So,” he ventured upon slicing me a piece of double chocolate fudge. “Did your grandmother go anywhere else?”
“Yes,” I told him, breaking into a smile. I couldn’t help it, not when it came to Annie. “Would you like to see?”