Epilogue
THANKSGIVING, THE FOLLOWING YEAR
After a boisterous but cheerful Thanksgiving dinner, Caitlin and her sister-in-law washed and dried the dishes and put away the leftovers while the men went outside to hang lights on the windmill and cottage, and the children played in the yard.
“That’s the last one,” Caitlin announced, placing a large, clean pot on the bottom shelf.
“Good. I hope the guys are almost done, too, so we can all go for a walk on the beach before the sun sets. The children need to burn off some energy, and I’d like to burn off a few calories before I have dessert,” said Suzanne. “I’ve never tasted cranberry cheesecake. I can’t wait to try it.”
“I hope you like it. I got the recipe from a cookbook I bought at my friend Lily’s cranberry farm,” Caitlin said.
“Unfortunately, when I made it last month to bring to a dinner party for volunteers at the Center, it sank in the middle. But this time I didn’t beat the ingredients as long, so I think it turned out better. ”
Suzanne gave her a once-over and broke into a smile. “You seem to be fitting right in here and you’re positively glowing. Island life really agrees with you.”
“ Married life agrees with me, too,” said Caitlin. “And so does my new job.”
The previous January, the estate attorney had informed Lydia’s nephews that her medical records, as well as her handwritten letters to Caitlin, would prove that Lydia had been mentally capable of drawing up a Trust and designating beneficiaries.
He’d also warned them that Caitlin was prepared to tenaciously defend her right to the cottage.
The two men quickly recognized it would have been futile to engage in a prolonged, expensive legal battle they had little chance of winning, and they’d decided not to contest Lydia’s Trust after all.
So, after celebrating Christmas with her brother’s family in New Mexico, Caitlin had moved into the cottage for good.
It had taken her until June to land the role of Director of Development at Hope Haven’s Marine Life Center.
While it was nerve-racking to be unemployed for so many months, Caitlin believed it was worth it— she was worth it—to wait until she found a professional position that was both challenging and meaningful to her.
Besides, Shane had proposed in April, so she’d used her time off work to plan their July wedding, which was held on a lake near the New Hampshire-Maine border, halfway between where they’d both grown up and where many of their extended family members still lived.
Reflecting on how much had changed during the past year, Caitlin gave a contented sigh.
“The only downside to living in Lucy’s Ham is that I’m so far away from you and Charlie and the children,” she said as she and Suzanne put on their coats and hats.
“I miss you all a lot. That’s why I’m so glad you came out here for a visit. ”
“Are you kidding me? We couldn’t wait. I just hope you and Shane don’t feel too cramped sharing your space with us.”
“No way. The cottage feels cozy, not crowded,” said Caitlin. Just like Aunt Lydia hoped it would.
The women exited through the kitchen door and came around to the front of the house to see Shane retracting the ladder from the roof. Charlie helped him lay it on the ground and then they strode over to the women.
“Perfect timing,” Charlie said. “We just finished.”
“What do you think, do we have enough lights?” Caitlin fretted. “Because there’s still plenty of time to buy more before the Shine-Your-Light contest starts.”
“Not too competitive, are you?” Charlie teased his sister.
“I don’t care about winning,” she protested. “I’m just excited about participating and I want to give our visitors a spectacular experience—which means we need tons of lights.”
Shane wrapped his arm around Caitlin’s waist. “Sweetheart, if I add even one more bulb, the entire windmill’s going to tip over,” he teased. “Trust me, our visitors will be thrilled—especially when they taste your windmill cookies.”
Before she could reply, the children came tearing across the lawn toward the adults. “Can you plug the lights in, Uncle Shane?” asked Logan.
“Not yet,” his mother interjected. “It’s not dark enough.
Besides, we need to be polite and wait until Mrs. Graham and her family drop by for dessert, so they can see the lights when we turn them on, too.
Her grandchildren were the ones who gave Auntie Caitlin the idea of entering the contest in the first place. ”
“Couldn’t we have a little peek?” Archie pleaded. “Just for a minute?”
“Sorry, but your mom’s right—we need to wait,” said Caitlin. “I tell you what though, once we plug them in, we can leave the lights on all night. So we’ll be able to see them on the windmill’s arms right outside our window.”
“Does this mean you’re sleeping in the loft with the kids again?” Shane quietly groaned into his wife’s ear. “I miss you downstairs in our bed.”
“I miss you, too,” Caitlin whispered longingly, even though they’d only been apart for a couple nights.
Suzanne abruptly motioned to her husband and children. “C’mon, you guys, let’s go for a walk.”
“I’ll race you,” Logan challenged his siblings. “First one to the staircase wins.”
The boys took off toward the woods, but Maya announced, “I don’t want to race. I’m going to walk with Auntie Caitlin and Uncle Shane.”
“The newlyweds might want to walk by themselves, honey,” her mother hinted.
“That’s okay. She’s welcome to stay with us,” Caitlin insisted.
So the little girl took her aunt’s and uncle’s hands and skipped between them, chatting nonstop as they made their way to the beach.
By the time they reached the bottom step of the staircase, Charlie, Suzanne, and the boys had already wandered onto the damp tidal flats and were heading toward the southwest horizon.
But Maya wanted to stay on the soft, dry sand, so instead of following the others, the trio skirted the dunes, their heads ducked against the brisk, onshore breeze.
When they neared the “end” of the beach, Maya exclaimed, “Look, a bench! We can sit there to watch the sunset.”
“Don’t you want to watch it with everyone else, out near the water?” her aunt suggested.
“Nah, it’s too cold.” She dropped their hands and scampered across the sand.
Even though Caitlin wasn’t concerned that she herself would become emotional about seeing the plaque, she was worried that her inquisitive niece might ask questions about Nicole’s photo.
Last spring, Caitlin had confided in her brother and sister-in-law about the accident, and how deeply it had affected her, but she hardly thought it was an appropriate subject to discuss with a child Maya’s age.
Caitlin pivoted toward the flats, hoping to signal Charlie or Suzanne to come and facilitate the discussion if necessary, but their backs were turned as they crouched near the sand, examining something. So she glanced at Shane and shrugged, and they trudged up the slight incline to the bench.
Sure enough, the child, who could barely read, was studying the photo when Caitlin and Shane reached her. “Who’s this?” Maya asked, patting the image with her mittened hand.
“Her name is Nicole.”
“Is she a princess?”
“She looks like one in that costume, doesn’t she?
” Caitlin replied, stalling a little as she tried to come up with a lighthearted, yet honest answer that would satisfy Maya’s curiosity.
“But no, she’s not a princess. She was wearing that pretty white dress because when she was young, she was a ballerina.
She liked to dance, but she loved to act in plays. ”
“And now she’s famous?”
“Noo… not exactly.” Caitlin felt Shane place his hand on her back, a gesture of support, although he remained silent.
“Then how come her picture is on the beach?”
Caitlin hesitated before settling on an uplifting version of the truth. “So people will remember her.”
“Because she died?”
She was startled by her niece’s perceptiveness. Or had the child been able to read some of the words on the plaque after all? Instead of answering, Caitlin asked, “What makes you think she died?”
“Because there’s a picture like this near the park at home, too, ’cept it’s a boy, not a girl.
He got hit by a car and he died and Mommy says his picture is supposed to remind grown-ups not to drive fast and little kids not to go near the street,” she explained in a longwinded sentence.
Then she took a breath and asked, “So did this girl die, too?”
Figuring that since Suzanne had already spoken to her about a similar situation, she should answer truthfully, Caitlin admitted, “Yes, she died.”
Maya tipped her head and squinted up at her aunt. “Did she get hit by a car? Or a boat?”
“No. Cars aren’t allowed on this beach, and this water is too shallow for speed boats, so we don’t have to worry about them here,” Caitlin reassured her, thinking of what to say next.
She didn’t want to scare the child, who was just learning how to swim, but she also didn’t want to dodge the truth.
So she matter-of-factly stated, “She was walking alone at night and she fell into the water.”
“Oh. That’s sad.”
“Yes, it is,” agreed Caitlin. “It’s very, very sad.”
Maya was silent a moment and as she traced her hand over Nicole’s gracefully extended arm to her fingertips, Caitlin worried she’d said too much.
Or maybe she’d said too little? She’d thought it was best to keep her answers short and simple.
But maybe she should’ve elaborated or been more comforting?
Suddenly, Maya jerked her head up. “Hey, they found something—maybe it’s a buried treasure!” She pointed across the flats, where her brothers and dad were on their hands and knees in a semi-circle, frantically digging. “You guys wait for me! I want to see it, too!”
Suzanne turned and waved Maya toward them. Caitlin and Shane watched the little girl circumventing the tidal pools on her way to join her family. When she safely reached them, they simultaneously sat down on the bench, their thighs and hips touching as Shane wrapped his arm around Caitlin.
For a moment, they were silent as they watched the sun reemerge below a low, purple band of clouds, spraying golden light across the water and illuminating their faces. Then Shane remarked, “You handled your niece’s questions really well.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how much to say. I’ll tell Suzanne and Charlie about our conversation later, so they can follow up with Maya if they need to. But it doesn’t seem like she was too upset by what we discussed, did it?”
“No.” He stroked a lock of hair off her cheek. “Was it upsetting for you ?”
“Not in the same way it used to be. Counseling has helped a lot with that.” She turned to him and met his eyes.
“Now whenever I remember Nicole or come down here and see her photo, instead of focusing on how tragic her death was, I try to focus on how inspiring her life was, or I think about the helpful things she said to me.”
“Like what?” he softly questioned.
“Well, once she told me that if I was really passionate about doing something, I shouldn’t let anything or anyone stop me from going for it,” explained Caitlin.
“I mean, obviously she was too young or immature to recognize that some risks aren’t worth taking.
But I admire it that she was pursuing her dream to do what she loved and study acting, even though it wasn’t what her mother wanted her to do.
It’s funny, because when I was a teenager, I didn’t realize how much courage she had.
But last year, when I thought back on it, her example was one of the things that helped me decide to fight to keep the cottage, and to move to Dune Island. ”
Shane nodded thoughtfully, and his gaze briefly shifted toward the plaque. “In that case, I’m very grateful to Nicole.”
“You should be,” Caitlin teased, lightening the mood. “Because her advice to go for it also inspired me to say yes when you proposed even though we’d only known each other for six months.”
“ Only six months?” Shane sounded indignant. “I thought I was showing a lot of patience and restraint waiting for half a year. I wanted to propose in January, after I’d known you for three months.”
Caitlin threw back her head and laughed at her handsome husband. “It’s too bad you didn’t, because I would’ve said yes then, too.”
“Because you realized marrying me was a risk worth taking?” Shane hinted, fishing for a compliment.
“Yes.” Caitlin wriggled even closer and warmed his ear with a kiss. “And because I realized I deserve to be this happy.”
***
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