Page 30 of Escape to Lighthouse Cove

In fact, a story hour was about to start, and Grace’s heart felt like it was filled to the brim as her son took his cautious place on the edge of a fuzzy rug where half a dozen children were eagerly gathered to hearThe Stinky Cheese Manread out loud.

“Are you new here?” the woman who was about to read the story asked her, pausing on her way to the rug. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

“Yes, pretty new,” Grace replied. “We live out on Lighthouse Cove Island.”

The woman frowned. “I don’t think I know that one, but there are so many islands in the bay. Welcome.”

Grace leaned against a bookshelf as the woman began the story and the kids listened, rapt, although one girl was rather industriously picking her nose, like she was getting paid by the booger. Grace smiled, amused, only to be surprised to find herself suddenly near tears.

Happy tears, which was new. Tears of gratitude and just…joy. Something she couldn’t remember feeling in basically forever.

And for some reason, that made her think of Noah. How long had he been locked up in Grayhaven, all by himself, stewing in his own memories? When had he last gotten out, connected with someone, felt joy over some small and simple thing?

He’d said he was nothing more than a broken Ken doll, a handful of shattered plastic. At the time, Grace had felt too broken herself to engage with someone who was, by his own admission, that damaged, but now she reconsidered.Everybodywas damaged, in one way or another. Some people might hide or deal with it better, but no one got through this life without a few wounds. A few scars.

And, Grace reflected, surrounding yourself with solitude, barricading yourself both emotionally and physically, probably wasn’t the best way to heal.

Not for her… and not for Noah Lawrence.

Which meant, she realized with a dawning smile, a new anticipation fizzing in her belly at the thought, that she was definitely taking Jacob to his chess lesson tomorrow.

17

“Nice shirt.”

Noah felt a smile tug his mouth as he glanced at what Grace was wearing—a very worn t-shirt with a picture of a lobster shack on it, and the catchy phrase “We’re Claw-some!”

“Do you like it?” she asked, sounding pleased. “I bought it yesterday in Eastport. I think it’s my new favorite piece of clothing.”

“Well, I definitely want to check out Kenny’s, wherever it is.” He stepped aside to let her and Jacob in, unable to keep from noticing how in just forty-eight hours Grace seemed… different. Lighter, maybe, as well as less put together, but in a good way. Her hair was tumbled about her shoulders in waves that seemed looser and less styled than before, and the t-shirt and baggy jeans were a far cry from her usual neutral-palette, pulled-together, high-end ensemble. She looked like she’d gone shopping at Goodwill, but weirdly it suited her. But then again, anything would, because she was a stunningly beautiful woman.

Something Noah felt very conscious of right then, as her hair tickled his nose as she passed and he breathed in the scent of her perfume—something subtle and expensive with notes of amber and rose.

He hadn’t been sure she’d come back with Jacob for another lesson, at least until last night, when Isaiah had come by his study to inform him, unable to hide his smile of satisfaction, that Grace had emailed him, asking him to tell Noah that she was confirming the lesson.

Noah had had a blaze of satisfaction as well as a tiny, silly sting of disappointment—because why hadn’t she stopped by to tell him herself? Then, annoyed with his own self-pitying pettiness, he’d told himself he’d see her tomorrow, and was surprised to realize just how much he was looking forward to it.

It seemed he wasn’t such a hermit, after all.

“I want to check out Kenny’s too,” Grace told him, turning around to face him, her gray eyes seeming to sparkle with golden glints he’d never noticed before. “Too bad I have no idea where it is.”

“Somewhere in Maine, I’m guessing.”

“It’s a pretty big state, though.”

He inclined his head in acknowledgment. “Very true. Did you google it?”

A smile tugged at her lush lips. “I don’t google, remember?”

“Ever?” he challenged, eyebrows raised.

“I try not to,” she amended. “I’m a luddite, I guess. Is that what they call it?”

“Or technophobe. Or maybe just smart.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and the moment spun out, stretched into something else—or was he imagining this twanging tension, thegoodkind, between them? It was like an electrical pulse that matched his heartbeat, and for a few seconds Noah forgot to breathe. He found himself sucking in a breath with something close to a gasp that he hoped wasn’t too noticeable.

Then Grace broke the eye contact, glancing away, her cheeks pinkening in a way that made Noah feel… good. Hopeful, even. He turned to Jacob, who had been standing silently by his mother. “Hey, Jacob, ready to play some chess?”