Following the conversation with Erin, Jenny was filled with restless energy and decided to go outside to check on her garden while she waited for Alex. It had been great to hear from Erin, as always. The two of them had been close friends since the day Toby first introduced them, and had supported each other through the darkness after they lost him.

While she treasured her friendship with Erin and her close relationship with Toby’s entire family, hearing from Erin was always a reminder of what had been lost. It took her back to that awful day and the frantic calls from his family in Pennsylvania. Having to tell them he’d called, that he was in the building, that he was above where the plane had hit… She’d never forget their anguish or how it had added to hers.

Jenny hated to admit that she’d put a tiny bit of distance between herself and her old friend since she moved to Gansett. In bad need of a fresh start, she’d tried to put the past where it belonged, but doing that meant seeing less of the people she loved.

It was probably time to bridge that gap, and she hoped Erin would take her up on the invitation to come visit.

In the mudroom, she grabbed a metal bucket and headed out to harvest her tomatoes and the bumper crop of cucumbers. As usual on bright summer weekend days, the lighthouse grounds were crawling with tourists checking out the cliffs and the beach down below.

Sometimes she interacted with the visitors, other times she kept to herself. Today, she wasn’t in the mood to answer a million questions about the lighthouse and what it was like to live there, so she went about her work in the garden until someone called out her name.

She turned to find Jared James approaching her. Behind him, she noticed a black Porsche parked in the lot. He wore dark sunglasses along with shorts and a T-shirt. Other than the car, nothing about his appearance indicated his extreme wealth.

“Hi, Jared. Nice to see you.”

“You, too. Great place you’ve got here.”

His teasing grin made her smile. “It’s the best view in the world.” With her bucket full to overflowing with tomatoes and cucumbers, she gestured to the door to the mudroom. “Want a tour?”

“I’d love one.”

She took him inside and up to the first level, where he marveled at how compact and cozy the living space was. Upstairs in the combined bedroom and bathroom, he couldn’t get enough of her view.

“Did you paint this?” he asked of the canvas on an easel.

“I dabble. I haven’t worked on it in weeks. There’s so much other stuff to do here in the summer.”

“What’s it like in the winter?”