“How is he?” Erin asked.

“We’ve only heard that the surgery is going well, but that was more than an hour ago. What’re you doing here? I didn’t think you could get off the island.”

Erin glanced at Slim. “I have this friend who’s a pilot, you see.”

“Oh, Erin. Oh God, you got on an airplane?”

“I did.”

“And she did great,” Slim added.

“Thanks to the best pilot ever and medicinal intervention,” Erin said, offering him a small smile. She hugged her aunt and introduced her to Slim.

“Wait until Daddy hears you got on a plane,” Mary Beth said. “He won’t believe it.”

Her mother’s certainty that her dad would recover helped to reassure Erin. If her mom believed it, surely it must be true, right?

Chapter 19

They waited for hours. Slim went to get coffee for all of them, and the jolt of caffeine helped to offset the lingering effects of the Xanax, although the medication was probably the only thing keeping her from climbing the walls.

She took advantage of the opportunity to call Big Mac McCarthy, her contact with the town of Gansett, to let him know the lighthouse would be unattended for the time being—and why.

“I’m so sorry to hear about your dad, honey,” he said. “Don’t worry about a thing here. I can take care of filing the daily report with the Coast Guard while you’re gone.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind at all. I’ll take a run out there every couple of days to check on things. It’ll get me out of the house and out of my wife’s hair for half an hour. She’ll appreciate that.”

Erin wouldn’t have thought it possible to laugh, but Mr. McCarthy always managed to charm her. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem. You give your folks our best and tell your dad to make a speedy recovery.”

“I will, and I’ll let you know when I’ll be back.”

“We’ll look forward to seeing you.”

With that taken care of, she had one less thing to worry about.

Finally, the surgeon came into the room, still wearing operating room scrubs. A strand of her red hair had escaped from her surgical cap, and a mask hung around her neck. The color of her hair reminded Erin of Sydney.

“Mrs. Barton?”

“Yes, I’m Mrs. Barton, and this is my daughter, Erin. How is he?”

“He came through the surgery very well. We were able to clip the bleed and repair the vessel.”

“So he’s going to be all right?” Mary Beth asked.

“We’ll know more when he wakes up, but I’m cautiously optimistic.”

Erin and her mother both broke down with relief at the good news. While Sue hugged Mary Beth, Slim took care of Erin.