by Jenna Brandt
She nodded. “My grandfather was the last Angel Island Light Keeper and my father grew up living at the lighthouse until it shut down when he was a teenager. Even after it was officially closed, my dad would still sneak me in with this key,” Nicole pulled a key from around her neck and showed it to Ethan. “I grew up with stories about their lives there, and all the ships they saved until radar was invented. With my family gone, I feel like the lighthouse is the last piece I have of them. I don’t want to let it go.”
“That makes sense,” Ethan confessed. “The ring I gave you was my grandmother’s. I was close to her until she passed away when I was a young man. She was the one who introduced my mother and me to tea time and Monte Cristos.”
“How sweet,” Nicole said, a smile forming on her face. “Family is important. You’re lucky to still have your parents and brother.”
“Thanks. I want you to know, I really am sorry about your parents. I’m glad I’m going to be able to help you keep the lighthouse safe.”
Tears were forming in the corners of Nicole’s eyes. She pushed them away as she said, “Tell you what, you give me a list of what you want from the grocery store and I will pick it up. When I get back, you can prove to me how good you cook.”
Ethan brushed the side of her hair behind her ear, and said, “I like the sound of that.”
Nicole entered the Angel Island Grocery and worked her way through the aisles, gathering up the ingredients that Ethan asked for.
“Hey there, Nicole, you got a minute to talk?”
Nicole turned around to find Cindy standing behind her. Cindy gave her a hug, saying, “It feels like forever since I’ve seen you. Where have you been?”
“I’ve just been busy trying to find a way to get the money to save the lighthouse.”
“Have you gotten anywhere?” Cindy asked with a hopeful tone. “I’ve been so worried how you were going to handle losing the lighthouse when the deadline changed.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m going to have the full amount by the end of the month.”
“How did you manage that? You got some rich, secret admirer I don’t know about?”
Nicole averted her eyes, not liking how close to the truth Cindy was getting.
“I need to go,” Nicole stated, brushing her hair behind her ear before turning around to head to the checkout counter.
“Wait a minute, what’s that?” Cindy asked, grabbing Nicole’s hand and pulling it towards her. “Why are you wearing a massive engagement and wedding ring on your left finger?”
Nicole released a heavy sigh, then glanced around the store to make sure no one was nearby. “Look, you can’t say anything. I’m not allowed to talk about it yet.”
“What do you mean? What aren’t you allowed to talk about?”
“I got married over the weekend,” Nicole confessed.
“To whom? You haven’t been dating anyone that I know of,” Cindy inquired in confusion.
“His name is Ethan Winthrop, and his family has the new estate at the west end of the island.”
“Wait, you’re telling me that not only does the Winthrop family have a place here, but you met and married the youngest son, Ethan?”
“You know who he is?” Nicole inquired with surprise. “Geez, I must be like the only person in the whole world who doesn’t.”
“Probably,” Cindy agreed. “His family has billions, and he has billions of his own, and he uses it to party all over the world. He’s dating that socialite, Tinley Bradford, or at least he was. I guess if you’re married to him, that can’t be the case anymore. You know what’s going on with him, right? He dropped off the face of the earth because he got into a fight over that woman. Pictures surfaced of her covered in bruises. People are accusing him of domestic violence, Nicole. Are you safe with him?”
Nicole felt like an idiot. Why hadn’t she looked into Ethan’s background before she agreed to marry him? She was sure he had done it with her, so why hadn’t she done the bare minimum of an internet search? The lighthouse, that’s why. She was so focused on saving it, she didn’t think about anything else. Now she was tied to a man that might have abused his last girlfriend.
“He hasn’t shown me anything that would make me think that was true,” Nicole said, trying to defend Ethan.
“Not yet, but it sounds like it’s early. You’re still in the honeymoon phase, but what happens when you have a disagreement?”
What would happen? If the accusations had any merit, did she just commit the next six months of her life to a man that was violent? She was living with him now. Did that mean she wasn’t safe?
Nicole pressed her lips together, trying to debate what to say. Figuring she didn’t have a good answer to give her friend, she opted to leave. “I have to go, Cindy. I’ll see you at the next book club meeting.”
“If you make it there. Please tell me you’ll be careful. At the first sign of violence, you’ll leave.”
“You have my word, I will,” Nicole promised, before leaving for the checkout counter.
A few minutes later, Nicole was putting the groceries in the back of her Toyota Corolla. Just as she was placing the last bag inside the trunk, she heard the unwelcome voice of Wayne Brigston behind her.
“Why if it isn’t Nicole Hutton. I thought that was you over here,” the man said, pretending to be friendly, though she knew he didn’t want to be.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Brigston.”
“Why so formal? You can call me, Wayne. Even the mayor calls me Wayne.”
“I think I’ll stick with Mr. Brigston,” she said, shutting the lid of her trunk. “What are you doing in Camden Bay? Don’t you live in New York?”
“I do, but since the lighthouse property is a delicate matter, I decided to stay on Angel Island until I was able to secure it for my resort.”
“Look, I’m not sure why you’re talking to me about this. You know from the last town council meeting that we’re on opposite sides of this matter.”
“I do, Nicole, but there’s no reason for you to be all bent out of shape about this. I heard about your family history at the lighthouse. I understand it might be hard for you to let go of it, but you can’t stand in the way of inevitable progress. The island needs my resort. It will help everyone around here, and you shouldn’t be the one to keep that from happening.”
“Why are you afraid of me, Mr. Brigston? There’s only a couple of weeks left before you get your way. Why would you think someone with my limited resources could get in your way?”
“Well, a little birdie told me that you might have come into some money recently, and I just want to make sure if that’s the case, you don’t plan to disrupt my plans,” he said, leaning towards her with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile but more of a glare.
“I’m not sure where you’ve gotten your information, but my life is my business, Mr. Brigston. I need to be going,” she said, moving around her car to climb into the driver’s seat.
As she left the parking lot, she could see Mr. Brigston in her rearview mirror. Nicole wondered if he knew about her wedding to Ethan. If he did, was that why he was worried? People were beginning to find out about her marriage, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Once everyone knew, what was going to happen? Nicole had a bad feeling about it, but it was too late to change her decision. She was going to have to live with the ramifications of it, even if she didn’t like what they could be.
Chapter 6
Complete chaos woke Ethan in the early morning, along with Nicole shaking his shoulder. “Get up, we’ve got big problems,” Nicole stated with apprehension in her voice.
Ethan rolled over and peered at Nicole through fuzzy eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m worried they are going to tear down the gate, or climb the walls if we don’t do something.”
This time, the fear in her voice was clear, and it was only confirmed by the matching look in her eyes.
“I still don’t understand
what you’re talking about,” Ethan said, sitting up and pulling on his t-shirt over his boxers.
“Everyone knows,” Nicole declared, punching a couple of buttons on her phone and then holding it out to Ethan. “Look!”
Ethan took the device from his wife’s hand and stared at the screen. On the front homepage of a gossip website, a headline read, Playboy Billionaire takes Florida Keys Islander as his Bride. The article cited anonymous sources at the Boston airport, who saw Nicole and Ethan traveling together. It included pictures of them as well as one of their wedding rings. The article went on to ponder what was to become of Tinley now that Ethan had jilted her after abusing her.
He clicked a couple of more sites, and sure enough, it was everywhere. Their pictures and rumors about their wedding were displayed all over the internet.
“What are we going to do?” Nicole asked with dismay.
“I don’t know. I need to call my dad,” Ethan replied, handing Nicole’s phone over and reaching for his own.
“We don’t have time for that right now. Like I said, there’s a ton of reporters outside along with some local islanders. They’re screaming over the gate and pounding on it.”
“It’s really strong. They’re not going to be able to break it down.”
“Maybe not the reporters, but clearly, you haven’t seen islanders when they get mad. They're fiercely protective of their own. If they think there’s any truth to what you did to Tinley, they’re going to want you as far away from me as possible. They’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.”
“I think you’re exaggerating,” Ethan stated with doubt.
Suddenly, a loud crashing sound caused both of them to rush into the living room. One of the tall floor-to-ceiling windows was shattered and a large rock was laying in the middle of the living room.
“Now do you think I’m exaggerating?” Nicole reproved, folding her arms across her chest as she shook her head. “They’re going to tear you apart before the sheriff has a chance to get here.”
“Not if they can’t get to us,” Ethan declared. “I can call and have the jet ready for our departure within the hour. Pack a bag, we’re getting out of here.”
Ethan rushed back to his room, threw a few items in a small overnight bag, and went down the hall to Nicole’s bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, not moving. Tears were slipping down her cheeks as she stared at her phone.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan inquired with concern, coming to kneel down beside her.
“I just got the meanest text from my friend, Lucile. I can’t believe what she wrote.”
Ethan took the phone from his wife and looked at the text message.
I never thought you could sink this low.
It was bad enough when you quit coming to church.
Now you go and marry a complete stranger for money.
Only a tramp would do something like that,
especially when you know he beats the women in his life.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
Consider yourself banned from the book club
and my life.
“That’s awful,” Ethan stated with anger bubbling up inside him. “What type of person would send that to their friend?”
“I don’t know. We grew up together. I never would have thought she would say those things about me. And you, she doesn’t even know you.”
“I’ve been dealing with people like this all my life. Sometimes, you think you know someone and it turns out they’re not a good person at all. This reflects on her, not you.” Ethan pulled Nicole into his arms. “I’m going to keep you safe, Nicole. I’m not going to let anything else happen to you because of me.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Nicole said, looking up into his eyes. “I’ve been avoiding calls and messages all day. I just want to turn my phone off and forget about all of this.”
“Me too,” he whispered. He almost wanted to lean down and kiss Nicole, but he knew it wasn’t the right time or place.
She was upset, and he didn’t want to take advantage of that. If he kissed her—correction, when he kissed her—he wanted it to be when they were both clear-headed. Ethan wanted to know she wanted him to kiss her when it happened.
Nicole finished packing her duffle bag, and they headed into the garage. They threw their bags into the trunk of his Ferrari before climbing inside the red sports car. Ethan hit the button that opened the garage. He pulled out, and then hit the button for the gate.
As soon as it was the tiniest bit open, people were squeezing through and rushing towards them. They surrounded the car, pounding on it, as Ethan continued to slowly back out of the compound.
Some women were yelling for Ethan to divorce Nicole and marry them. Others were yelling that he needed to go to jail. The paparazzi were hurling questions at both of them, so many Ethan couldn’t make sense of any of them. The mob looked frenzied, as if they would stone the couple if they could get their hands on them.
Finally, Ethan reached the street and was able to take off, but even as he sped through the streets, several of the paparazzi had stayed in their cars and were chasing them.
“We’re not going to be able to get into the airport or do it safely,” Ethan determined. “They’re going to cut us off if we try to go there. Besides, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have other reporters stationed there in case we tried to get away, so even if we manage to get rid of our tail, we won’t be able to get off this island.”
“What should we do?” Nicole asked, glancing behind her at the cars still following them.
“Is there any place you think we can lay low? Somewhere they wouldn’t think to look, or someplace they couldn’t get to?”
“There is one place. I think we could hide out at the lighthouse,” Nicole revealed. “It’s abandoned, with a big chain-link fence around it, and I have the only known key to the place. The problem is, how are we going to ditch them?”
“Leave that to me,” Ethan said, flooring the Ferrari that took off like a speeding train.
Just as promised, a half hour later, they arrived at the gate just outside the lighthouse. He parked his car behind some overgrown bushes, hoping no one would see it. Nicole assured him, no one really came to this part of the island.
They found a part of the fence that was unattached to a pole and slid through the opening. There was a short walk to the base of the lighthouse.
“This place isn’t haunted, is it?” Ethan asked with a weary voice.
“Seriously? Do you believe in ghosts?” Nicole asked with disbelief. “I didn’t peg you for a guy who would.”
“Not in theory, but when you bring me to an old abandoned lighthouse without a soul around for ten miles, I start to regress to my time as a little boy who was afraid of the closet monster.”
“Believe me, there’s no ghosts—or closet monsters for that matter—in this place. As far back as I can remember, it was filled with love.”
They climbed the steps that lead to the small door of the lighthouse. Nicole pulled the key from her neck and placed it in the lock, which released with a small turn. The door creaked open, revealing a small circular staircase. They climbed the stairs, which thankfully were still sturdy despite all the years of neglect. At the very top, Ethan let out a small gasp as he put his hand on the glass and rubbed the dirt away.
As far as his eyes could see, there was endless blue ocean. The water was slightly choppy from the wind, and the white caps stood out against the darker color below.
“This is breathtaking,” Ethan stated with awe. “I had no idea this is what it was like inside a lighthouse.”
“There’s different types,” Nicole explained. “This is a singular tower structure with other living quarters surrounding it. Some have the light tower built directly into the top of the house itself. It just depends on how the architect designed it.”
“Have you ever seen it with the light on?”
Nicole shook her head. “It was decommiss
ioned before I was alive. It’s why I hope to get it restored and put it back into function. Ships don’t need it for guidance anymore, but can you image the amazing glow it would provide? I think people would pay a lot of money to get married next to it with the light going.”
“I think you’re right. I get why you wanted to be married here now.”
“We’re going to be here awhile. We might as well make ourselves comfortable. Well, as comfortable as we can be,” Nicole corrected, brushing the dirt from her jeans.
They both sat down and leaned against the wall just below the windows.
“I can’t believe what’s happening,” Nicole stated. “I recognized several people in that crowd that surrounded your car. I grew up around them, went to church with them. I can’t believe they’re behaving this way.”
“Maybe they're trying to protect you,” Ethan offered as an explanation.
“Or maybe they think I’m a heathen like Lucile does. I guess it’s what I get for walking away from my faith.”
“Why did you?” Ethan probed. “From what I’ve seen of you, when you’ve made up your mind about something, you don’t give up on it.”
“That’s true, usually, but when my parents died, I was so angry. I didn’t understand why God would let that happen to me. My parents served God all their lives. What did they get for it? Their lives cut short by nearly half the average life expectancy. They never got to see me get married or meet any future grandchildren. Nothing. All gone, because God didn’t care enough to keep them safe.”
“I’m not religious. I wasn’t raised that way. It wasn’t a priority for the tutor my parents hired when I was young, or the boarding school teachers they sent me to when I was a teenager. From what I can tell, that’s not how it works. God doesn’t pick and choose for us, bad things just happen. I guess what matters is how your faith made you feel. Do you feel better without it in your life, or do you miss it?”
Nicole bit her lip as she sat in silence for several moments. Quietly, she whispered, “I feel like I have a hole where it used to be.”