Box Set: The ArringtonTrilogy (101 page)

The older gentleman gave warm thanks and
accepted the blankets I’d retrieved. When I handed one to Heath, I
didn’t make eye contact with him. Instead, I kept my gaze down, and
that’s when I noticed his hand. It was covered in a hideous scar.
His hand had obviously been badly burned not too long ago. I looked
at him - in shock and sheer dismay. When he noticed my stare, he
pulled the hand up inside the sleeve and discretely pleaded with
his weary blue eyes for me not to reveal his grotesque injury.

I wanted to yell at him, tell him to go away,
that he wasn’t wanted or needed by anyone here, especially me. Even
Opal seemed distant with her son, though she acknowledged his
arrival with an awkward hug, then suggested we dry off and all sit
down to eat.

Heath excused himself and hurried upstairs,
knowing the house well. He returned in a pair of Ayden’s borrowed
trousers and a shirt, and had found the bandage wrap kept for
emergencies and had covered up his wound. I assumed his hand must
have un-bandaged from all the water the boat took on.

At the table, Heath kept his hand hidden, and
Opal didn’t notice. She was too busy with the inquisition that
Edward normally would have given, if he wasn’t obliged to help
Ayden mind the light all the stormy night. “Why didn’t you send a
telegram, at the very least? And the storm . . . to set out in such
bad weather! What were you thinking?” she cried and shot both Heath
and Hank a condemning look. Hank was a local fisherman who had
offered Heath a ride out to our island from the harbor.

“It was an unexpected arrival, Mother. I
wasn’t sure I could get away from Boston. At the last minute I had
an opportunity to come to the magnificent celebration,” he said in
a mocking tone.

Opal sat down and took a long needed breath,
then asked, “Where is Sarah? Why didn’t she travel with you?”

Elizabeth’s eyes scanned everyone’s lips,
trying desperately to decipher what was going on. I could hear
everything very clearly with ears that worked perfectly, and yet, I
couldn’t understand any of it either.

“She wasn’t available to travel,” he replied
coolly, then began to eat. Hank had already devoured a plate full
of food and politely asked for seconds. He ate even faster than
Ayden.

“Is it that she is better than us?” Opal
fired.

“Mother, that is not it,” Heath snapped.
“Can’t we discuss this later?” Heath gave her a look indicating he
wanted to speak with her alone after supper . . . that his business
wasn’t meant for me to hear.

My anger and resentment toward Heath brewed.
I tried desperately not to lose my temper. Just the sight of him
made me ill, and I didn’t take more than a bite of my meal. And as
he sat there quietly enjoying the meal I had worked so hard on
while he purposely ignored me, I all but lost control and lashed
out at him. “You know, I do think Sarah Van Dorn has shunned us . .
. the Daltons. She is most definitely too high and mighty to adorn
us with her presence. After all, she is wealthy and beautiful,
educated and well bred. None of which are we. And . . .”

“That’s enough, Lillian,” Heath snapped.

“Isn’t it all true, Heath?” I shouted.

“Please, the two of you,” Opal pleaded.

“Heath thinks he can waltz in here
unannounced and unexpected, take over, and go through Ayden’s
belongings without permission!”

“I kindly asked my brother permission before
I put on his clothes,” Heath made sure to let me know.

I stood and slowly backed away from the
table. Heath was furious, his eyes blazed with anger and
resentment, and there was a hint of warning
- if I dared expose
his injury, he would make me regret it
. He made me perfectly
aware that I was the one who truly didn‘t belong. Heath was cold,
heartless, and it was obvious the only reason he returned to Jasper
Island was to torment me. There was no doubt about it.

I didn’t look back when I left the table, and
went straight to Ayden. I was going to demand he have Heath leave
as soon as the storm passed. I was certain Ayden would agree, but
to my astonishment, he refused my plea.

Edward politely stepped out to go see Heath
for a short while, and Ayden stayed with the light. The storm had
eased up some, enough for Ayden to give me his undivided
attention.

“Don’t you see why he is here? All he wants
to do is ruin our celebration. You know what he thinks of me. He is
not here to give us his blessing on our marriage. Heath is here to
remind you of what he thinks I am!” I cried.

“That’s not the case,” Ayden reassured me,
but I didn’t believe him. I defiantly folded my arms over my chest
and stood in disbelief that he would be so easily convinced Heath’s
visit was made of pure, honest, brotherly intentions. “It’s nothing
what you think.”

“It is Ayden! Please make him leave,” I
implored.

“He has nowhere to go. He asked to stay here,
with us on Jasper Island.”

“What!”

“Heath had a terrible accident. He ran into a
burning building to save a child. His hand was mangled and burned
severely from a burning timber that fell as the building collapsed.
He saved the boy, but sacrificed his career and his personal life
as well. While he was in the hospital recovering, Sarah called off
the engagement and left him. She wanted nothing to do with him
after learning his hand was paralyzed and he could no longer be a
doctor. Can you believe how shallow a person can be?” Ayden
cried.

“Why did he come here of all places then?
This is the place he wanted to run from most. Why the
lighthouse?”

Ayden sighed, tired from the grueling night,
exhausted from the emotional upheaval Heath brought with his
return.

“He has nowhere else to go. He asked if he
could live here, on Jasper Island with us, and I said yes.”

“No, Ayden. No!”

“You expect me to turn him away after what I
just told you? He is family, he needs our help.”

I fought back my tears as I went to him and
smothered his neck with kisses while I implored him to rethink his
decision. “I love you. Please understand, please respect my
wishes.”

Ayden resisted my affection knowing I was
only giving in to receive something in return.

“Heath will stay. It will be fine, I promise.
I won’t ever let him say or do anything to upset you.” And with
that, Ayden went back to staring out into the dark sea, looking for
ships in peril, avoiding his wife’s distress signals.

* * *

We learned what happened to Heath during the
celebration early the following morning. To my dismay, it turned
from the celebration of our new marriage to Heath’s heroic
endeavor. Heath didn’t want Ayden to reveal what had happened, but
Ayden felt his story should be told. Ayden was proud of his brother
and displeased at my lack of support. “The least you could have
done is come out and say goodbye to my parents!”

“I’m sorry. I explained that I wasn’t feeling
well and needed to rest. They understood. Why can’t you?” I
moaned.

“That’s not why. Be honest. You are acting
like a little girl . . . a spoiled little girl,” Ayden snapped.

“Don’t you say that to me! How can you take
his side?”

“That was in the past. Both you and Heath are
here to make a fresh start, to put the past behind you. You came to
the lighthouse because in your heart you know you’re safe here. You
and Heath have more in common than you realize. Now I expect you to
get yourself out of bed and put a smile on your beautiful
face.”

I pulled the covers up so only my eyes were
exposed and insisted I would not.

“Lillian, really! Don’t make me pull you out
of bed,” he said, his face flushed. I didn’t know if it was from
frustration or the thought of pulling the covers off and revealing
my nightgown to him.

I turned over, which caused Ayden to lose his
patience. “If you are going to act like a little girl, then I will
have to treat you like one,” he said hastily, and threw off the
covers.

“Leave me be, Ayden Dalton!”

He reached over, pulled me up, and made me
stand. He reminded me of Daddy when I was disobeying him.

“Now get dressed and cook up some breakfast.
I don’t stay up all night to have to tend to such nonsense from my
wife, of all people.”

Ayden was serious and appeared very
displeased with me. “There are some things I am willing to be
patient with. You have wifely obligations and I expect you to
fulfill your duties . . . well most of them,” he said more softly.
I knew what he was implying and it hurt to know Ayden was unhappy
with me, in many ways. It wasn’t my intention not to be a perfect
wife, the kind of woman who pleased her man in every way. I
struggled with the obligation of an intimate union with my husband
and my need to stay far away from all the humiliation of those
vulgar deeds.

I did as Ayden said without giving him any
more resistance. He waited, along with Heath, for breakfast. I made
eggs and sausage for them and ate only after they were finished. It
was odd, just the three of us on the island. I didn’t feel like the
woman of the house. Instead, I felt like a thirteen-year-old
out-of-place girl around two grown men. It was strange to think
that back only a few years ago we were all friends, playing silly
games, going to school, and carrying on as if we were brothers and
sister. Now here I was, Ayden’s wife, Heath’s sister-in-law, and
nothing could have seemed more peculiar to me. And if Heath and
Ayden felt the same way, it wasn’t obvious to me. How quickly their
brotherly bond was rekindled. The animosity between them was gone.
Ayden instantly forgave Heath the minute he learned Heath was the
most honorable man who ever walked the earth. The jealousy Ayden
possessed for Heath was gone, vanished like a quick, powerful
summer storm.

As soon as their plates were empty, Ayden
sauntered off to bed for a few hours while Heath made himself
scarce, doing whatever he needed to do to stay far from me. Ayden
told him to make himself at home in the third keeper’s dwelling for
now, and when the keeper arrived sometime later in the year, Heath
would have to move in with us. When he said this to Heath, I
noticed him waiting to catch my expression. I knew what he was
thinking: when Heath moved in with us, I would have to move into
Ayden’s room.

I didn’t flinch, only continued to clear the
plates, grateful when they were both gone, so I could catch my
breath.

Housework and chores around the island never
became mundane for me. I enjoyed working at my own pace, free to
make decisions about what to do first or last. I made my own
schedule as to what day the washing needed to be done, always
followed by ironing the next day. Those chores were long and drawn
out, the washboard caused my once silky, soft hands to become dry
and cracked. My back ached from bending over the tin tub and
stretching to hang the heavy clothes on the high line that Daddy
hung long ago between the two keeper houses.

It was easy to keep up inside the house. I
swept twice a day, for the sand always had a way of coming straight
back in, from the persistent island breeze. I enjoyed preparing and
cooking our meals. Even with Heath’s arrival, the dishes were an
easy clean and put-away in the cupboard after every meal.

For the next few days, Heath came only to eat
three meals a day, and when he was finished, he took on some simple
chores to help Ayden. I watched from inside the kitchen window as
Heath would take a tin cup and scoop out the chicken feed with his
good hand, then sprinkle it on the ground of the coop for the
chickens. His bandaged, paralyzed hand would stay near to his side,
and he appeared to have overcome the awkwardness it caused not to
be able to use it at all. Heath mastered his handicap by creating
ways around things normally one would need two good hands for.
Sometimes it took twice the amount of time - like washing and
hanging his own clothes, which at times, out of empathy, I
considered helping him with. It was difficult to watch him
struggle, but I continued to keep my distance and stay out of his
affairs. Heath and I took great pains to avoid one another while we
puttered around. I made sure I did the wash on days he didn’t.

Ayden usually slept four hours after
breakfast and woke for lunch. Afterwards, he tended to the
different buildings, repairing whatever was on the never-ending
list. The brutal winters wreaked havoc on our dwellings. Clapboards
constantly needed repainting, and shutters were often torn off as
the result of fierce seasonal storms.

On occasion Heath assisted Ayden, and when he
did, they got along famously. When the weather was inclement, Heath
bunkered down in the small keeper’s house. It was a one-room
cottage, the smallest of the homes on the island. It had one door
and a window that faced to the north.

During our meals, Ayden and I sat at the head
of the table, while Heath sat to Ayden’s right. The conversations
were always light-hearted - the weather, accomplished tasks, and
such. No one brought up anything about life when we were children
and the fun we had. Ayden’s mind was always on the here and now; he
prioritized his thoughts on which way the wind was blowing, how
rough the seas were, and when the next storm would have him up all
night waiting, watching and wondering if a dangerous rescue would
be required. He lived and breathed for the prospect.

Daddy was never as consumed with the
lighthouse as Ayden. Daddy lived and breathed for Momma first.
Ayden’s first love would always be the lighthouse, I told myself.
It was easy to recognize, for even as a young boy, that’s all he
wanted. Ayden was living his dream, while Heath and I had sadly
lost a part of ours. Heath was no longer a doctor, something he was
born to do. From his weary appearance I perceived there was a deep
emptiness in him. However, I was never going to feel sorry for
Heath. After all, he had no compassion for me, didn’t have any
empathy for the unfortunate events in my life that had taken away
my happiness.