“Cassidy.”His voice was soft.“I’m glad you’re here.In Starlight Shores.Even if it’s temporary.”
Her heart did a little somersault.“Me too.”
He smiled then, that warm, genuine smile that made his whole face change.
“Goodnight, Cassidy.”
“Goodnight.”
She watched him walk back across the beach toward town.His figure grew smaller against the last light until he disappeared around the bend.
Cassidy stood there alone with the waves and the cooling sand beneath her feet.
Six weeks until her sabbatical ended.
Six weeks that suddenly felt both infinite and desperately short.
She turned back toward Heron Cottage.Her laptop waited inside with its forty-three unread emails.Her old life calling her back.
But for tonight, she was here.With people who’d become friends.With a man whose smile made her forget about career trajectories and five-year plans.
She climbed the steps to her porch and paused with her hand on the door.She could see the lighthouse beam beginning its slow rotation, constant and steady.
