Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
Dylan.
Dylan Hart.
He doesn’t disappear.
“Dy-Dylan,” I stutter as I stand in place as his footsteps move closer toward me.
“Luce.” His mouth quirks up into that teasing smirk I love so much, and he stops right in front of me. “I was hoping you’d come back here.”
I stand and stare at him, at a complete loss for words. How is he here? I left him. “You pushed me through the door, Dylan. They-they demolished the lighthouse. I saw it. How are you here?”
Before he tells me his side of the story, he first runs his hands up and down the sides of my arms, a contented sigh escaping him as his fingers make contact with me.
I cup his cheek with my palm, startled by how real he feels.
His skin is rough with stubble and chilled from the cool sea breeze blowing off the water.
His green eyes lock on mine before he leans down and kisses me.
This can’t be real.
But it feels so good.
His lips, hungry and parted, connect with mine.
He tastes like salt and coffee, somehow.
We stay pressed together, both of my hands on his face now as he wraps his around my waist, holding me as close as he can.
Our tongues find each other, tasting and teasing.
Tears well in my closed eyes, leaking out of my eyelids and leaving a trail down my cheeks.
He pulls away, grunting as he does, almost as if it pains him to be away from me.
His eyes find mine, and he says, “Luce, I made it. I’m here.
I love you so fucking much.” With that, he pulls me in for another hug, picking me up off the ground, my feet dangling in the air.
I hold him for as long as he needs, in no rush to let go of him.
When he places me back on the ground, I take his hand and ask him once more. “Please, Dyl,” I start as he wipes a stray tear from my cheek. The feel of his skin on mine sends shocks through my body once more. “Tell me how you’re here.”
He motions toward the smooth stone beneath us, and we take a seat, legs crossed, knees touching, facing each other. He runs a hand up my thigh and then rests it there, unable to not touch me, and I’m grateful for that.
He looks to where the lighthouse once was, lost in thought, before he turns back to me and begins.
“The boys came—you saw that, right?” I nod.
“I’m so sorry, Luce. I’m sorry for pushing you through, but I knew I had to go after them, and I knew you would have stayed.
I couldn’t risk you getting left in the past without me. ”
“It’s okay. I know.” I place my hand on his and squeeze it reassuringly.
“The boys fell, and I jumped in after them. I got them back up from the lower side. I pushed them up the cliff and told them to run. To get out of there and go back home. They did as they were told, and as I was making my way back towards the lighthouse to try to get to you, I slipped on wet rock and fell over the edge. The older brother must have heard me because as my hand was hanging on for dear life, rain pelting my face and the wind threatening to blow me into the waves below, he came back and started calling to me. Reaching out, he grabbed my hand, desperately trying to pull me up. He was trying with every ounce of strength he had in his little body to help me, but he was slipping, and my fingers were losing their grip. I was worried we’d both go down, and everything I did to save them would have been for nothing.
I couldn’t risk it. I told him to leave; I told him not to worry.
But he wouldn’t go. So I let my fingers slip when he let go and screamed at him to run back home. ”
His shoulders are hunched as he speaks; I know reliving this memory is hard for him.
“When I let go, I prepared myself for the fall. For the end. And all I thought of was you, Luce. How lucky I was to have met you and have you in my life. Even for a short time. As I slid down the cliff, I reached my hands out, trying to claw at anything I could get a hold of. To keep fighting. I didn’t want to let you down.
I was able to grab hold of a jutting piece of the cliff and hold on.
I don’t know how, but I did. I moved along the rock until I got to a section that wasn’t as steep, and I managed to pull myself back up.
I did it, Luce. When I got up, I was alone.
The boys must have gone back to get help.
I ran into the lighthouse and pushed at the red door. Pushed so hard, but it wouldn’t budge—”
“They had knocked the lighthouse over. The door was covered. I wonder if that’s why.”
“I didn’t stop pushing. I kept going, waiting for that feeling.
That pull. I was desperate for it. You should see my shoulder, Luce.
It’s all black and blue from shoving it against the door.
I didn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop. Then, finally, I felt it.
I didn’t even have to push very hard; it was almost like I was being sucked in and then out.
I leaned on it and fell onto the ground outside.
Only it wasn’t raining. The wind wasn’t blowing.
It was sunny. And bright. I looked around and saw that there was someone in a crane, talking on a phone that looked just like yours.
I jumped down and ran away down the path that leads to Killick Bay, out of sight from the construction crew.
When I turned around, I saw the red door again, right before a wrecking ball came down on it all, breaking the structure into pieces. ”
“I remember seeing the door one last time,” I tell him. “I was in my car, but then I drove away. Dylan, I must have just missed you. I’m so sorry. I thought you were gone.”
“Luce, it’s okay. You have nothing to be sorry about. You had no idea.”
“I tried to tell them you were in there, but they didn’t listen.” I shiver, and he pulls me onto his lap, kissing the side of my head.
“It’s okay. I’m here now.”
“Where did you go last night? Have you been here the whole time?”
“I went into town and slept in an alley,” he laughs. “And then made my way back here today, hoping you’d come and find me. If not, I was going to hitchhike to Pleasant Cove.”
“I got your letter,” I say quietly as I breathe him in. “And your drawings. They’re so beautiful, Dylan.”
“Thanks,” he whispers into my hair.
We stay together, his lips pressed to my head, our bodies glued tight.
A thought dawns on me, and I lift my head up to look at him.
“But nothing changed.” He cocks an eyebrow in response, so I continue.
“The article. It’s all the same. It says you died…
” Suddenly, realization dawns on me. “Wait. You disappeared. The boy saw you fall. And then no one saw you again.” I push away for a moment, grabbing his shoulders.
“What if this was meant to happen? What if this was what happened all along? You disappeared. They just assumed you died. No one found your body.”
“Are you saying that I was always going to end up here?”
I nod quickly. “Maybe. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
You can’t change the past, my dear.
We were never going to change the past because this is what was supposed to happen.
“I guess Iris was right, then,” he says to me before he kisses me again.
“How do you feel about being in 2025?” I ask, hoping there isn’t any regret in his answer.
“I’m not sure about the fashion yet, but there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
And with that, my mystery lighthouse keeper, now from 2025, rises to a stand with me. Hands placed in mine, he leans down and kisses me. “Let’s go home now, Lucy Brooks,” he starts. “And maybe we can stop for a coffee on the way.”
THE END