BooksBarbecue
Back The Lighthouse
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

For Ryan, saying goodbye to Amy was already feeling bittersweet. They had parted ways with a promise they might see each other again, and while the prospect of a future meeting had momentarily catapulted him into a stratosphere of joy, reality was quickly bringing him back down to earth. He wasn’t a fool. He knew it would be a long time before Amy found herself back in Seabrook again, if she ever did. And as for him visiting Portland? Not likely. With everything going on at home, the city might as well be on another continent. Besides, he could count on one hand the number of times he’d been there. Two trips were related to his father—one to purchase some second-hand therapy equipment, the other a visit with a stroke ­specialist—and the third was even longer ago, when he was eight and his mother had taken him to visit the planetarium after a book given as a birthday present had sparked a childhood obsession with the stars. Although that memory was one of the strongest he had of his mother, what Ryan remembered most from that trip was how much he had wanted to come home. The city was too intimidating—­the rows upon rows of imposing buildings, the people, the clogged freeways, the incessant noise. Even now, he could remember how much he had looked forward to getting back to Seabrook, back to the sanctity of the ranch.

The ranch.

Ryan’s heart sank when he thought of home. What was he doing? Had he lost all common sense? Here he was, thinking about a girl he’d only just met when a far greater problem was looming: imminent foreclosure. A feeling of dread churned inside his chest, the same as when Tom Tippenworth had first delivered the news. How much longer was he going to pretend this wasn’t happening? No one was going to wave a magic wand and make his problems go away. There were only two days left. The clock was ticking. He had gone past the point of no return, and if he didn’t do what had to be done, if he didn’t confess the truth to his father once and for all, then he risked him finding out from someone else, and that was a thought far too horrifying to contemplate.

Ryan shoved his key into the ignition, willing himself to switch on the engine. Deep down he knew what he needed to do—he needed to forget about Amy and head home.

Except he couldn’t.

It was as if he’d been put under a spell. Not even the prospect of losing the ranch could make him stop thinking about her.