Gooseberry Island Read Online Free Page A

the past four weeks.”
    “Wow,” she said, taken aback. “You’ll be away for twelve months?”
    “Yup,” he said, looking into her eyes. “I’ve been told by a few of the guys who’ve already been over there that it can go by quick.”
    “Wow,” she said again—at a loss for any other words.
    He picked up on it. “You don’t like the military…” he started to ask.
    “Just the opposite,” she said. “I have nothing but the greatest respect and appreciation for our men and women in uniform.”
    “Really?” he asked. “You’d never know it by your face.”
    “It’s just that…well…I also understand that freedom comes with a heavy price.” She shook her head. “And sometimes that price can be severe.”
    David studied her. “Your dad?”
    She nodded. “He was an infantryman in the first Gulf War,” she said solemnly.
    “Wow,” David said, using her favorite word and not picking up on the melancholy. “Good for him.”
    “Yeah, good for him,” she mumbled, just as they reached the beach.
    As though it had been awaiting their arrival, they found a deserted park bench. Cemented into the cobblestone pathway, the bench’s brown slats had been beaten relentlessly by a decade of harsh coastal storms and were now faded and smooth.
    David gestured for Lindsey to take a seat. As she did, he took his place beside her. For a long while, they sat in silence, quietly paying their respects to the miraculous surroundings.
    Together, they watched the sun set. Just as the final sliver went down for the night, David looked at her. “Good show, huh?”
    “I can’t imagine a better one,” she replied.
    He smiled. “Me either.” Suddenly, the beach was theirs alone.
    As the moon took its rightful place in the darkened sky, the tide ran for the shore where it hissed upon landing. Seconds later, it sprinted back into the ocean, rearranging the cinnamon-sugar landscape and creating a beautiful rhythm as it ran its laps. The sea winds picked up, causing patches of elephant grass to bow to Mother Nature and her violent mood swings. The heavily salted air was crisp, heightening the senses. It was as if someone had pulled away an invisible veil, leaving behind the clarity of a blind man gaining his sight for the first time.
    “It’s really beautiful here,” Lindsey whispered.
    “I know,” David agreed. “It’s my favorite place in the whole world.”
    She looked at him for a long moment. “Mine too,” she admitted.
    In the distance, that same soothing tide yanked wave after wave into a headlock, throwing each one into the lighthouse that stood guard over the harbor; walls of freezing seawater were being tossed two stories high into the tall, sleek structure. Lindsey pointed toward the stone lighthouse. “Look at that,” she said.
    Waves charged the gray tower, which appeared to have grown out of a pile of jagged rocks, pounding hard to overtake the medieval-looking fortress. It was like watching an unwanted guest: a missionary peddling religion from door-to-door, refusing to surrender. Above it all, the light—ten thousand candles strong—which had spent a century guiding the way for those who had become disoriented or lost on their journey, illuminated the entire show. As dependable as a loyal friend, that light stayed on in the face of even the foulest weather.
    Lindsey tried to imagine what that strong lighthouse had witnessed in its time.
A silent observer to horrible maritime tragedies; migrating souls trying to find their place in the world; a witness to whalers, men of war and countless fishermen, casting their nets in order to keep their children fed
.
    “That old lady, Ruth, has manned that lighthouse since I can remember,” David said, breaking Lindsey out of her trance. “They say she’s saved quite a few souls in that rescue skiff of hers.”
    “She must be a hearty soul to live such a solitary life,” Lindsey said.
    “I guess.” He thought about it. “I wouldn’t mind living