Chapter 11 #2
Becca nodded. “The kids were cute, but Marie—the wife—couldn’t hack it.
She was used to grocery stores, shopping malls, neighbors…
” She let out a rueful laugh. “I can’t blame her, honestly.
This life isn’t for everybody. I only stay because I grew up here, and I don’t know anything else.
” She spoke matter-of-factly, even lightly, yet Grace thought she saw a stubborn set to Becca’s jaw.
Maybe there was more to the story than that one simple statement.
“Have you ever wanted to go somewhere else?” she asked. The kettle clicked off and she nodded toward it. “Tea? Or coffee?”
“Coffee would be great.” Becca grinned. “My mom’s instant slop isn’t something I can get behind.”
Grace laughed and set about making coffee. Isaiah had spared no expense with the groceries, she reflected as she ground fresh beans, their pleasant aroma soon scenting the air.
“I never really thought about moving somewhere else,” Becca confided as she took a seat at the table and Grace got out mugs.
“I suppose I could have—I have two older brothers, and they left it all behind. One’s a plumber in Portland, and the other moved all the way to Chicago to work as an accountant.
I’m the only one who stayed behind.” For a second, her friendly expression dropped, revealing a sadness underneath that tugged at Grace.
She wondered how much of Becca’s good humor was a way to combat the loneliness she had to feel living in a place like this at her age, although to be fair, wasn’t Grace choosing the same thing? Maybe Becca preferred it, too.
Grace poured the coffee and handed a mug to Becca before getting out milk and sugar. “Why did you stay?” she asked. “If you don’t mind me being nosy?”
“Only if I can be nosy back,” Becca quipped, although Grace was pretty sure she was serious. She supposed she’d have to answer some honest questions if she wanted some honest answers, a thought that would have alarmed her if Becca hadn’t seemed so nice.
“My dad died when I was sixteen,” Becca explained as she splashed milk into her coffee. “He was out in the boat and a squall came up, super-fast. He didn’t have a chance. It happens sometimes… everybody up here knows what the ocean can be like. It’s your master, whether you like it or not.”
Grace thought about the tide surging over the sand yesterday and nodded her understanding. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured.
“By that point,” Becca continued, “my brothers had already left, and my mom was never going to leave this island. Her family has been fishing here for two hundred years.” She gave a small, sad smile.
“And I was the only one to carry it on as well as support her. And it was what I wanted,” she said quickly. “It’s always been what I’ve wanted.”
Something about how quickly Becca said that made Grace wonder. “Were there more people here back then?” she asked. “When you were growing up?”
“A few families,” Becca acknowledged after a brief, taut pause.
“But eventually they all up and left. Some before others.” She paused, as if she was going to say something more, and then changed her mind.
“It’s not an easy place to make a living,” she told Grace, “or to grow up—school on the mainland, no activities or support nearby.” She shrugged philosophically.
“But there was something special about it, too, and freeing, as well as safe—if you keep an eye on the tides, that is!” She gave Grace a knowing look and she hung her head.
“Noted. Trust me, I will not make that same mistake again.”
“I’m sure you won’t. But at least it meant you got rescued by Noah Lawrence!” Her green eyes danced above the rim of her mug. “That must have been an adventure.”
“Well…” To her annoyance, Grace found herself blushing. “He was very kind.”
“Do you know he’s been on this island for over a year, and I haven’t seen him even once?
And there you go, meeting him on what, your third day?
Not that I’m jealous.” She laughed. “I heard he was pretty obnoxious, back in New York. Stuck up and full of himself, but that doesn’t surprise me.
He was like that when we were kids, him and his brother never saying boo to the island kids.
Although to be fair, we were pretty much the same to the Lawrences and their snooty friends. ”
“Noah lived in New York?” Grace’s voice sharpened with both interest and alarm. “Is that where the family is from?” If so, they could have potentially run into each other. New York was a huge city, but in some ways it felt like a small town… especially among certain social circles.
“The family isn’t from there, the Lawrences are an old Bostonian family, but Noah and his brother moved to New York maybe ten years ago?
” Becca wrinkled her nose. “I never kept tabs on them. I hadn’t seen Noah since I was a kid, and like I said, back then the Lawrences didn’t really socialize with us islanders.
They had their vacation visitors, after all. ”
Grace frowned. “Vacation visitors?”
“Have you seen the cottages up on the bluff?” Becca raised her eyebrows expectantly, and Grace shook her head.
“I think maybe I saw their roofs when Jacob and I were walking yesterday,” she said.
Becca nodded. “They’re right in the middle of the island, below Grayhaven.
They’re falling down now, and they’re not really cottages, even though everyone calls them that.
Not quite mansions, but certainly bigger than our poky little house.
” She glanced around the kitchen of the lodge in approving admiration.
“This place is really nice, though. I knew Isaiah had had it renovated last year, hoping that it might make someone stay longer. I haven’t been inside in ages, though.
I think the last warden who had people over was a couple of years ago. ”
“Really? I would have thought the wardens would be a little friendlier,” Grace remarked. “I mean, considering there are so few of you.”
Becca shrugged. “Like I said, the wardens have been grumpy old salts or moody philosophers. And either way they never stay long. Besides, I don’t think anyone comes to Lighthouse Cove Island for the company.”
Not even Noah Lawrence. He certainly seemed like someone who wanted to be on his own.
Grace joined her at the table, cradling her mug in her hands.
“So who were these vacation visitors?” she asked.
She had a feeling Becca might be a little more forthcoming with information than her mother was, but at the same time she didn’t want to gossip, and especially about Noah or his family, even if a little more intel would be nice.
Right now, she felt as if she were stumbling in the dark when it came to this island, this family.
Why was Noah Lawrence shutting himself up in Grayhaven?
Was it to do with his brother’s death? But then what about what had happened so long ago, that had made his family refuse to come here for twenty years?
Bab had mentioned a tragedy, a girl dying, but Grace knew no more than that.
And while she knew she didn’t need to know, she was honest enough to admit she wanted to.