The Legend of the Light Keeper (The Light Keeper Series Book 1) (7 page)

“You have a great attitude about it,” he said, walking to the door. “By the way, I’m glad you’re here, too.”

THE NEXT
WEEK STARTED OFF WITH A BANG
. Granny caught a glimpse of Mr. Hill sneaking around their house early one morning. He didn’t take the bait, though, since she scared him away before he’d gotten the chance, but she was convinced he’d be back later.

Hunter had rigged the shovel so that if Mr. Hill grabbed it he would get a shock and be startled by an alarm. I wasn’t sure it was such a great idea. The man was liable to drop dead of a heart attack when all that happened, and I still wasn’t sure what these three neighbors of mine were planning to do once they caught him. Tie him up and call the cops?

The guys decided to start clearing around the old shack. They spent every minute of each day, Monday through Thursday, cutting down vines and weeds. A few small trees were also sacrificed as well as two deadly snakes. A third one got away. Hunter said it looked like a copperhead, and that they’re really poisonous. This is when Talon reminded me why I couldn’t help.

“It’s too dangerous, Lily. You could get hurt out here, and Cate wouldn’t be too happy about it.”

“I can use a machete just as good as you.” I curled my lip and threw a piece of broken twig at him.

Hunter chimed in. “I’m not sure I trust you with a machete. Besides, I wouldn’t feel comfortable picking on you if you were armed.”

“Just sit back and look pretty.” Owen smiled. “That’s easy enough for you.” I was sure he was trying to be charming, but I wasn’t in the mood. I threw him a glare and leaned forward on his four-wheeler, resting my chin in my hand.

“I cleaned up worse than this after the storm,” I argued. And it was true. Boards, wires, nails, and trash were all that was left of the wave-crushed houses; so much worse than a few tall weeds and the occasional snake. I was a hard worker and never minded getting dirty. Mom and I had always made it on our own. It wasn’t like there was a man around to take out the trash or fix things when they broke. That had been left to us. “I just want to help.”

“You
have
helped,” Owen said, wiping his sweat. “You’ve made us lunch every day, and blessed us with your presence.” I narrowed my eyes and leaned back on my elbows. My butt was sore from sitting so long, even on Owen’s padded seat.

“But—” I started to argue but Talon interrupted with a loud sigh.

“Oh. Here, hold this,” he said, handing me his water bottle and sweaty towel. “There, are you happy?”

“Great, I’m the water boy,” I mumbled.

“We’re almost done,” said Owen, swinging his machete a little harder. I could tell that they were getting annoyed, especially after a few silent seconds when Hunter mumbled, “Girls,” and shook his head.

“You’re all being sexist.” I jumped off the four-wheeler and started gathering the trimmings and piling them on the burn pile. Talon shook his head and continued working. Nothing else was said on the matter.

After a couple of hours, Owen, who had been clearing around the front of the shack, had finally made enough progress to get inside. “Come see this,” he called.

I wiped my dirty hands on my jeans and followed Talon to the rickety steps. Hunter was ahead of us, already standing on the porch. “Careful,” he said. “This floor could be rotten.” He stomped on the old planks to test them.

When Hunter didn’t fall through, we crowded on the little porch and waited for Owen, who had been brushing away cobwebs, to open the door. “Ugh! Remind me to bring out some bug bombs,” he said, flinching away from a falling spider.

The door opened with a creak and then hesitated against something that was blocking the way. It was a broken shelf. Owen pushed the door till it scooted out of the way. He took his rake and cleared away cobwebs so we could go inside.

The one room shack was small and dusty and weeds grew up from the floor in places. There was a counter with shelves and behind that, tiny wooden cubbies all in a row. They reminded me of mail slots.

Talon found a few yellowed papers on the counter, but when he went to pick them up, they crumbled in his fingertips, turning into a pile of crisp confetti.

“This was an old post office,” Hunter said. He peeked into the cubbies that served as private rooms for the multitude of spiders and other creepy bugs that moved on the walls.

It was really amazing how good of shape the shack was in, considering the dust and bugs. There was only one noticeable problem, and that was the green mold growing on the floor and walls of one leaky corner. The old tin roof was rusted above us, and would need a few patches. There were no remaining signs of electricity, if the shack had ever had it.

“This place has been empty a long time,” Owen said.

“Since 1914,” I replied, remembering the search results that Talon had found. He nodded, remembering too.

“Well, Lily. You got your work cut out for you now,” Hunter teased. “You can start by killing all these spiders.” He laughed, smashing something under his foot. “Then you can sweep this floor. That’s women’s work.” He was trying to get a rise from me since I’d called him sexist, and really pressing his luck. “I’ll even buy you a broom for your birthday.” He nudged me, and the others laughed with him.

“Ha-ha!” I said, as we went back outside.

Talon mounted his bike. “Hey, Tomorrow
is
your birthday.”

“Sweet sixteen.” Owen winked.

I had been so busy with all the excitement over the shack that I hadn’t given it much thought. And then, before I could even remark about it, I remembered that Talon would be leaving Sunday. My heart sank as thunder rolled in the distance.

“We better get home. Get on, Lily.” Talon started up the bike as I climbed on, and we sped toward home, going faster than we’d ever gone before. I kept my face pressed tight to his back.

We made it home just after the rain started. We didn’t get soaked, but wet enough that the air conditioned house gave us chills. The brothers had gone to their house, so now it was just the two of us.

Mom called and asked if I would set some steaks out for dinner since she was running late due to the weather. As I set the steaks on the counter, Talon came to sit at the table and watch me.

“You really did a good job out there today. Guess I underestimated you.” He smiled as I ran my hands under the faucet, trying to clean under each of my nails. “You just don’t seem like the kind of girl who can handle manual labor.”

“I’m not a princess.” I frowned.

“Well, I guess the long nails and perfect manicure fooled me. Sorry. It’s just most of the beautiful girls I know don’t do yard work. Guess you‘re tougher than I thought.” He got up and headed for his room.
He thinks
I’m beautiful and tough.
The thought left me with a smile on my face.

* * *

The rain got heavier after dinner and the thunder was so loud at times I nearly jumped out of my skin. I hated the bad weather, even more since the hurricane.

I spent most of the evening in my room, sifting through my small wardrobe, making a wish list of what I wanted to buy with my birthday money.

Mom was taking me on a “girl’s night out” shopping trip at the mall to celebrate. I was hoping to get a whole new outfit, but at this point, I would take whatever I could get. I remembered the days when a trip to the mall came every few days, and a new outfit, every weekend. Of course now I rarely had a reason to dress up. I was more appropriately dressed in faded jeans and tank tops than anything else. Sure, it was what I used to wear lounging around the beach, but I was anxious to have somewhere to go and a reason to fix my hair.

I could hear the shower on the other side of the wall and after about ten minutes it went silent. Talon was done. A few minutes later he knocked on the adjoining door and announced. “It’s all yours.” I grabbed my night clothes and headed for the shower.

The water was still a little stinky, but the lines were getting clearer. Tom said this was normal and it was only a matter of time before it was crystal clear, but I wondered if that was possible. Luckily the stench wasn’t so strong that my shampoo and soap couldn’t mask it.

I was still a little uneasy in this room since the last incident, but it wasn’t like I could avoid it. I felt a little more at ease hearing the muffled sounds of Talon’s stereo on the other side of the wall. Once I rinsed my hair and cut off the water, I discovered it wasn’t his stereo, but him playing guitar.

I almost tripped getting out of the shower. I wanted to hurry and go watch him play and hoped he wouldn’t stop before I could get there. I wrapped my hair up in a towel, slipped on my clothes, grabbed my striped knee socks and darted to his door.

He couldn’t hear me knock over his playing, so I opened the door just a crack and peeked inside. He smiled when he saw me and motioned me in, his hands never leaving the guitar.

I sat on the floor to put on my socks as he switched songs. This one was a steelier tune. It sounded like I’d heard it before, but I couldn’t quite place it. As I leaned forward to reach my feet, my towel slipped off my head, spilling my pile of wet locks onto my shoulders. As I slipped the socks up over my knees, the music stopped. I looked up to see him staring at me, and when he saw me notice, his hands found the tune once more as the smile spread to the corners of his lips.

I wrapped my hair back up and listened as he changed songs again. This one was very familiar. As he picked out the birthday song, he nodded to the alarm clock on his bedside table. It read 12:03. I was sixteen.

“Happy Birthday,” he said, letting his fingers rest. He put the guitar on its stand and reached under his bed, pulling out the yellow bag he’d gotten at the pharmacy. “I got you something. Sorry it’s not wrapped.” He placed it in my hands.

I was dumbstruck. I’d wondered what was in the bag but never would have guessed it was for me. “Thank you so much!” I fumbled with the knot he’d tied. Talon finally took the bag in his fingers, loosened the knot, and then he allowed me to finish.

Inside I found a plain silver picture frame and a stained glass nightlight in the shape of a hummingbird. “The frame’s not the prettiest,” he explained. “But the glass should fit in your frame for your dad’s picture, and they only had bird nightlights.” I held the little bird in my hand. It was very dainty and pretty. “I chose the hummingbird because he’s green, like your eyes.” His face turned a little pink, and he tucked his bottom lip.

“I love them!” My heart was on fire. It was the sweetest gift anyone had ever given me. By the tags he’d left on them he’d only spent four dollars, but the thought behind it was priceless.

I leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek and as I pulled away, he held me there, his hand resting behind my head and his thumb caressing my cheek. Before I could get too fluttery inside, he dropped his hand and put the gifts back in the bag for me.

The thunder had slacked off a little and the rain was a steady hum on the roof. I loved my gifts, but I really didn’t want to use my nightlight just yet. I wanted to spend as much time with Talon as I could, so I had an idea. “Hey, let’s go watch a movie.”

“Like what?”

“Anything you want.” I didn’t care if we watched an autopsy as long as we were together.

“You choose. It’s your birthday. I’ll even watch a chick flick if you want.” He grabbed his pillow off his bed and followed me to the door.

“I don’t watch chick flicks.” I punched playfully at his arm. I grabbed my comforter and pillow on the way and left my new gifts on my bed.

Mom and Tom had retired to their room hours before with a stack of bridal magazines.
Surely they’re asleep by now
, I thought. We had better keep the noise down.

Tom and Talon had brought a huge gray sectional sofa that curved into an “L” with a built-in recliner on the long end. Talon took that end and left me with the other. I kept my feet curled close to me and wrapped up in my covers. Talon sprawled out on his stomach enjoying the fan that whirled above us.

I was glad Tom was a big movie collector. The movies Mom and I had replaced were just about worn out from our boring stay in the hotel. I chose the most action-packed one I could find. It really wasn’t my type of movie, but I mainly chose it to prove that I wasn’t the chick flick kind of girl he thought I was. It didn’t matter. I spent more time watching Talon than the movie. The TV cast strange shadows that flickered off his bare back, enhancing his muscle tone.

About halfway through the movie, and just as Talon had turned to reveal his tight chest, lightning started to crackle outside. I was about to suggest that we turn off the TV when the lights went out. It was so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I gasped. “Talon?” I could hear him moving but couldn’t see him.

“I’m right here.” He grabbed my foot, and I sensed that he was now facing my direction. “Come here.”

I put my pillow at my feet and turned around, putting us head to head, face to face in the dark with our pillows touching. Talon held my face in his hands and then captured a strand of my hair in his fingertips. “I’m right here, lie down, close your eyes and don’t look, Lily. If you don’t look, you won’t see them. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

We lay there quiet, listening to the storm grow fiercer. The wind whipped the rain against the side of the house, and it sounded as if someone was squirting it with a water hose. The feel of his fingers in my hair was so relaxing. I was sure if it got too quiet, I’d fall asleep, and I didn’t want to miss one moment with him.

“You know. We’ll never
really
be brother and sister.” I yawned.

“That’s true. Of course, Dad and Cate will expect us to act like it, so will everyone else.”

He seemed to like me too, but he also seemed to care more about what people thought than I did. It wasn’t like we’d known each other our whole lives or grown up together or anything. We’d just met. No one at school would ever know the difference. Not if we were together from the start. We wouldn’t even have the same last name after the wedding. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me.

I guess I’d been wrong. I must have misread the signals, and I felt stupid that I’d said anything at all. To make things worse, he removed his hand from my hair, and then he lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. The storm was weakening; by morning it would be gone.