He turns and heads toward the stairs, climbing down them as I scramble off the couch and follow behind him. “Dylan, be careful,” I call out.
When we both make it downstairs and into the entry room where the red door stands, he’s already about to open it. I’m right behind him as his hand goes to grab the metal doorknob, when suddenly, he jerks it away.
“What the—” is all he says as he jerks backward, looking at his hand and back to the door.
“What happened?” I ask.
“I-I can’t explain it. Not a shock, but more like this weird pull or something when my hand tried to grab the doorknob. Like a… a magnet. I’ve never felt that before.” He looks at me. “Is that what it feels like for you?”
I shake my head. “Nothing that severe. Only a mild shock.”
“This is insane, Lucy,” he says, staring at the door and his hand in disbelief.
“I know. Do you believe me now?”
“I want to.”
“Here, look at this. Hold on.” I run upstairs and grab my phone out of my purse, and come back down to meet him. “Remember this? My cellphone. It’s called an iPhone.” I show him the black screen of my iPhone and give it to him to hold and look over.
“Okay.”
“This is the 2024 model. I got it last year. It doesn’t work here. It was fully charged when I arrived, and once I came inside the lighthouse, it shut off. It does this every time.” That gives me another idea. “Oh. Watch me leave. Stand back a bit and watch me leave the lighthouse. I’ll wait outside for a few minutes. I want you to go out the back door and see if you can find me. You won’t be able to because I won’t be in your time anymore.”
“Okay.” He hands my phone back and then backs up a few feet. I give him one last small smile and walk out through the red door.
Outside, it’s cool and overcast. There’s a slight chill in the air from the wind. I look at my phone; it’s turned on and displaying a few texts and emails that have come in sinceI’ve been gone. I walk back to the rusted red door and open it. A mild shock courses through my hand and up my arm.
Then I’m back inside.
I don’t see Dylan.
“Dylan,” I call out. Panicking and thinking I’ve done something to mess up the portal, I leave the entry room and enter the main section of the lighthouse. I open the back door and call out for him again once I’m outside.
“Lucy,” he calls back. He runs over to me and grabs my shoulders. “You were gone. I lost you.” I can see the panic in his bright green eyes. “You left, and you were gone. I came out here, and I couldn’t find you.”
“I was here the whole time. Right here.” I lead him to the front where the red door stands. “I stood outside here for a few minutes and then came back inside. Do you believe me now?”
He swallows. “Yeah. I think I do.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief. I had no idea how this conversation was going to go. “Okay, thank you.”
“So why do you think this happened? There’s got to be some greater purpose or mystery to solve, no?”
My mind drifts to the impending storm and what happens, but I lock that away for now. He almost died today, and then I went and dropped a bomb on him. It doesn’t feel right to share this. Not yet.
“No idea,” I laugh hesitantly.
We head inside and back up to the living room. He grabs us both a glass of water before putting another log on the fire.
“So, are you going to keep coming back?” he finally asks after closing the door to the wood stove and locking it shut.
“Do you want me to?” is all I can respond with. I bite the inside of my cheek, honestly unsure of what he’s goingto say after everything we discussed today. I know whatIwant him to say…
“Of course,” he says quickly. He comes over and sits down beside me and reaches for my hand. I take it, and he gives it a squeeze before releasing it. “As friends.”
“Yes, friends,” I agree as my heart cracks from the word. There’s no way we can be anything more, not when we’re from two different times. And when I know what his fate is. Even though I feel that pull, it wouldn’t be right to act on it. No matter how badly I want to.
“Of course,” he says again. His face falls the slightest bit, but he picks it back up and resumes a smile. “Friends is good.”
