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Back The Lighthouse Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. PART ONE
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. PART TWO
  13. 12
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 18
  18. 19
  19. 21
  20. 22
  21. 23
  22. 24
  23. 25
  24. 26
  25. 27
  26. 28
  27. 30
  28. 31
  29. 32
  30. 33
  31. 34
  32. 35
  33. 36
  34. 37
  35. 38
  36. 39
  37. 40
  38. 41
  39. 42
  40. 43
  41. PART THREE
  42. 44
  43. 45
  44. 46
  45. 47
  46. 49
  47. 50
  48. 51
  49. 52
  50. EPILOGUE

“That’s right. I did. But see, I’m here now, I’m here with you.” The woman knelt down, hand outstretched. “Breathe, Amy. Just breathe.” She placed her hand on Amy’s cheek, ran her finger down Amy’s nose. “Feel my touch, see? I promise, it’s me. I’m here.”

Amy stared into the woman’s eyes, her mom’s eyes, while spluttering through tears, which were coming faster than she could sniff them back. “It can’t be you. It’s not possible.”

“It is possible,” she answered, “and in a moment, I’ll tell you how—but right now, I need to hug you, and hold you. Sweetheart, come here.”

“M-M-Mom . . . is it you? Is it really you?”

“It’s me, it’s really me.”

Amy couldn’t endure it any longer. The torment was too much. Her resolve crumbled away, and in a bluster of tears she collapsed into her mother’s arms. The room fell silent as they embraced. Amy was so bewildered and overwhelmed that she couldn’t stop crying.

“Oh, Mom . . . I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much.”

“And I’ve missed you too, my precious girl. More than you can know.”

“This can’t be real. It can’t be happening.” Amy buried her face deeper into her mother’s chest, muffled sobs ringing out around the room.

“It’s real, I promise.”

“But how? How is this possible? How can you be here?”

“Shh, don’t think, don’t talk, don’t worry about any of that just now.” She drew Amy in closer. “Let me just hold you for a moment. Let me hold my baby girl.”29

Since watching Amy’s cab speed off, Ryan hadn’t moved. He was still standing by the gate, oblivious to everything going on around him—to the darkness, the storm, the wind, the rain, even the puddles rising around his feet.

He couldn’t comprehend what had happened. One minute they were locked in each other’s embrace, the next Amy couldn’t get away quickly enough.

And all because of a pendant.

If Ryan had known how that pendant had gotten inside his ­mother’s old box, he would have said so, but the truth was that he didn’t have a clue. He’d never seen it before. And he certainly hadn’t taken it from Amy’s hotel room! Did she honestly believe he was capable of that? He’d poured his heart out to her. He’d told her secrets he’d never uttered to anyone. Heck, they had just kissed! And yet despite all that, Amy had felt her only choice was to get away from him as fast as she possibly could, without hearing him out, without even saying goodbye. Ryan felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. Their perfect day had been destroyed in the blink of an eye, and all he wanted to know was why.