Season for Love Read Free

going to marry my son?”
    “Don’t make eye contact,” Stephanie advised Grace.
    “You hush,” Linda said to Stephanie, who she often said she would’ve handpicked for Grant. “I could ask you the same thing.”
    “You’re not the one who has to do the asking,” Stephanie said, arching a brow meaningfully at her boyfriend’s mother.
    “Touché,” Maddie said, laughing at her mother-in-law’s shameless quest for information about her unmarried sons and their love lives.
    Sydney Donovan came rushing through the door and made a beeline for their table. “So sorry I’m late,” she said, also seeming surprised to see the others.
    They scooted chairs around to make room for the newcomer, who was Maddie’s close friend from childhood.  
    “Luke dropped me off on his way to see Dr. David,” Sydney said. “Fingers crossed this is his last appointment for the ankle injury from hell.”
    “Oh, let’s hope so,” Maddie said. “At least he’s finally off the crutches.”
    “And he’s walking much better since the surgery,” Sydney said as she accepted a cup of coffee from the waitress.  
    Laura shook her head when offered coffee. “Could I have decaf tea, please?” Oh how she missed coffee!  
    “And when are you two tying the knot?” Linda asked Sydney.
    Sydney’s cheeks flushed with color to match her strawberry-blonde hair. “Maybe soon.”
    “ Oh my God! ” Maddie said. “Have you been holding out on me?”
    “Luke asked me a while ago, but I wasn’t ready yet. I think I might be now.”
    “Oh, Syd,” Maddie said, hugging her friend. “I’m so happy for you!”
    After losing her husband and children in a drunk-driving accident more than a year and a half ago, Sydney had returned to Gansett Island earlier in the summer and reconnected with Luke, her first love, a part owner of McCarthy’s Gansett Island Marina.  
    “I haven’t told him yet,” Sydney said, “so keep a lid on it for a few days.”
    “Our lips are sealed,” Maddie said, and the others nodded in agreement.
    “I’m thrilled for you both,” Linda said, reaching out to pat Syd’s hand.  
    “Thank you,” Sydney said. “I’m rather thrilled myself.”
    “No one deserves it more,” Laura said.
    They talked wedding plans and hotel renovations and kids for a while before Linda tapped her spoon on her coffee cup to get their attention.
    “The reason I invited you all to come today,” Linda said, “is I have a project I need your help with.”
    “Sure,” Grace said. “What can we do?”
    “You’ve all heard about the new lighthouse keeper—Jenny Wilks?”
    “I’ve heard she’s living out there,” Stephanie said, “but I’ve never seen her.”
    “Neither have I,” Laura said.
    “Mac told me she has her groceries delivered so she doesn’t have to leave the lighthouse,” Maddie said.
    “That’s what I’ve heard, too,” Linda said. “Big Mac was on the search committee, and when she sealed herself off out there, he said we should do something. And that’s where you all come in.” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “Part of the application process was an essay about an event in their lives that made them who they are today. Hers is so heartbreaking. Listen to this…”

Chapter 2
    “My name is Jenny Wilks, and I’m applying for the lighthouse keeper’s position on Gansett Island,” Linda read from a paper she pulled from her purse. “I currently reside in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the reason for my interest in the position dates back almost eleven years.
    “The morning of September 11, 2001 began like any other Tuesday for my fiancé, Toby, and me.”
    “Oh God,” Maddie whispered.  
    Sydney reached for Maddie’s hand and held on tight.  
    Linda had agonized over whether to include Sydney when she called the women together. In the end, she hadn’t the heart to leave her out. Now Linda hoped she’d done the right thing by asking Syd to come.
    Linda cleared the emotion from