“Have you thought any more about the wedding invitations?” Julie asked.

Meg stopped in her tracks and looked at her mother. “Mom, I thought we agreed that we’re not going to talk about the wedding today. We’re just taking a nice, peaceful tour of the lighthouse and then getting lunch. You promised.”

“Sorry. It’s just that it’s your wedding, and it’s coming up quickly. There’s so many decisions you still haven’t made, honey.”

“We will get it done. Keep your promise,” she said before she started walking again.

Even though she was the smaller in stature of her two daughters, Meg had the stronger personality. She was also way more stubborn than Colleen had ever been.

“Okay. But I can’t promise I won’t talk about it at lunch.”

Meg rolled her eyes. “Oh, Mom…”

“Let’s change the subject,” Colleen said. “So, Tucker is busy working on Christmas toy ideas. This is going to be an amazing fourth quarter.”

“But it’s only spring time,” Meg said.

“You would be surprised at how far in advance toy companies have to plan for a Christmas selling season.”

They finally arrived at the parking lot. Julie looked up at the beautiful blue sky. The black and white striped lighthouse set against it perfectly and looked like a postcard.

“Have you met Emma yet?” Julie asked.

“No. I haven’t had a chance because of working so much. But Aunt Janine said that she’s really sweet,” Colleen said.

“Yeah, she seems to be really nice. Of course, your grandmother wants to know her entire life history. She’s convinced that she’s harboring some deep, dark secret,” Julie said, laughing.

“Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less of Grandma, She should’ve been a private investigator,” Meg said.

They stood in line to get their tickets and then finally arrived at the door to the lighthouse. At first, Julie didn’t see Emma anywhere. She assumed that she was finishing up with a group before them and would be down shortly. Sure enough, several people exited the building and then Emma was standing at her podium.

“Oh, hey, Julie! I’m so glad you got to come today,” Emma said, smiling.

“We planned to come this morning but we just couldn’t make it work. These are my daughters, Colleen and Meg,” Julie said, pointing at each of them.

“So nice to meet you both.”

“I know we haven’t met, but you look so familiar to me,” Colleen said. She squinted her eyes and tilted her head like she was really trying to figure it out. Emma looked slightly uncomfortable.

“I’m not sure why that would be. I’m new around here, and I haven’t even had a chance to go into town yet.”

“I guess some people just look familiar.”

“Let me take your tickets, and we will get started,” Emma said, barely making eye contact. Julie chalked it up to just being nervous with the line of people behind them.

The next twenty minutes consisted of walking up the spiral staircase and feeling her legs burn more than they ever had in her life. As she listened to Emma recite all the facts about the area and the lighthouse restoration, Julie found herself worrying that she needed to get more physical exercise. Her legs felt like they were literally going to burn right off her body. Lots of squats were in her future.