A sudden gust of wind blew grains of sand across Joanna’s back, and the house creaked and groaned like an old ship. She quickly drew out of the window and sat back on her heels. Her heart pounded like a bass drum in her chest as she imagined the walls caving in under the weight of all that sand and burying her grandfather and Garrett alive.
“Please hurry up!” she shouted, then waited and listened.
At long last, footsteps tapped up the stairs and her grandfather reentered the bedroom, where the daylight reached him.
“Thank God,” she said. “Please come out of there, you numpty!”
She assisted him as he climbed out.
“I’m fine,” he grumbled.
“No, you’re not. Are you daft? You both could have died!”
Garrett climbed out behind him and flicked sand off his trousers.
“What the devil were you looking for?” Joanna demanded to know.
Oliver held up a small cardboard box. She took it from him, opened it, and found a second, blue velvet box inside. When she opened that one, she nearly fell over onto her backside.
“Sweet Mary, Mother of God.” Dazzled by a diamond ring that held more sparkle than the universe, Joanna blinked a few times. Her eyes lifted. “You left this here? What were you thinking?”
“I came here to propose, but when I found out she went back to her husband, I didn’t want to bring this home with me. I just wanted to forget about everything. Bury it once and for all. So I put it in a cupboard, thinking this was where it belonged.” He waved an arm toward the West Spit. “Just like my ship out there, buried somewhere in the deep.”
“They do call this the Graveyard of the Atlantic,” Garrett mentioned.
Joanna touched her grandfather’s shoulder. “Oh, Grandad. You were grief stricken.”
They all stood for a moment in silence, staring down at their feet. Then Oliver asked for the ring back. Joanna gave it to him, and he started skidding down the side of the dune, toward the beach.
“Come on, you lot!” he shouted over his shoulder. “Let’s go. We don’t want to get stuck here another night!”
Garrett raked his fingers through his hair. “I have no idea what just happened, but he’s right. We should get back before the others start cursing us.”
He and Joanna jogged to reach a wide sandy path across the heath.
“He was very much in love with Emma Clarkson,” she explained to him, “who was separated from her husband at the time. He came back here to propose in ’55 but found out that she went back to her husband, so he left. I don’t think he ever truly got over her, which is why we’re here. He recently became widowed and ...” She stopped.
“You thought you might be able to find her?”
“Yes, but maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic.”
“There are worse things you can be,” he replied, and they walked in silence for a while.
“Do you ever go to the mainland?” Joanna asked, not looking forward to saying goodbye to him when they’d only just begun to get to know each other. It wasn’t likely she’d ever return to Sable Island. “You must get some vacation time?”
“I do,” he replied, “but my Sable Island contract ends next month. Then I’ll go back to my old job.”
“And what was that?”
“I was a weatherman for a local news station.”
Joanna laughed. “Are you having me on? A proper celebrity you must’ve been. What made you decide to leave all that behind and come here?”
Garrett slid his hands into his pockets. “I’d like to say it was a thirst for adventure, but the truth is my girlfriend dumped me and I was feeling sorry for myself—sitting around doing not much of anything. Then I stumbled across this job posting, which seemed like a good way to avoid bumping into her with her new boyfriend, who just happened to be my boss.”
“Oh, blimey . . .”
“Exactly,” Garrett replied.
