Waterlillies in July

 

 

Blurb:

Kaylie Wells loves her job as a lighthouse keeper—the job she took after her husband died. As her heart heals, she works on a lily pond, nurturing the plants to bloom once again. The high point of her day is the cheeky fisherman who radios in for weather reports.

Rob Peacock is married to the sea, but dreams of the lady in the lighthouse to whom he speaks daily. When they finally meet, Kaylie is everything Rob longs for in a woman. But with his need to follow the fish, and her need for the solitude of the lighthouse, how will they forge a relationship?

When a massive weather system comes in that threatens to inundate the entire town and possibly wash away the lighthouse, Kaylie tries to warn Rob of the ensuing disaster. Out of radio range and on the leading edge of the weather front, Rob doesn’t acknowledge Kaylie’s call. As the storm sweeps in, bringing with it all the terror of a tsunami, Kaylie recognizes how much she cares for Rob. She refuses to lose another man she loves, so she hangs on at the lighthouse, keeping watch for his boat. Will Rob make it to safety? Or will the raging sea steal Kaylie’s second chance at love?

Extract:

“Wolf Point Lighthouse, this is Seascape. Are you receiving? Over.”
Kaylie responded almost immediately. “Seascape, this is Wolf Point lighthouse. Receiving you loud and clear, over.”
Rob’s face broke into a huge grin, and a surge of joy filled him. “How’s my favorite lighthouse keeper today?”
“Don’t let the others hear you saying that. They might revolt, and I’ll have to man this place on my own.”
“Don’t you mean woman it on your own,” he teased, trying to make her laugh.
She giggled. “Do you practice your bad jokes all by yourself?”
“All the time. Until they sound right, then I practice them on you. Have you got the forecast?”
“Wind west to southwest three or four, increasing to five at times. Sea slight to moderate. Weather is fair with occasional rain and fog later. Visibility is moderate, but occasionally very poor.”
Rob read the same information on the screens in front of him. “Thank you. So, do you ever get time off?”
“Yes, a whole month.”
“Really?” It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her, but that seemed like a really long time.
“Work six weeks, get a month off. There are always three of us here to cover the whole day.”
Rob looked out the window. “That must be hard. Locked in a tower of men for weeks on end.”
Kaylie laughed. “They’re all old men. Well, one’s married, one has this adorable mother who makes us cakes each week, and the other is really, really old.”
“I heard that, lassie.” Another voice came over the radio, and Rob imagined Kaylie blushing.
“Ignore him,” Kaylie said. “He’ll miss me once he retires in a few weeks.”
“What do you do when you’re not being Rapunzel?”
“I have a room in the keeper’s cottage on shore.”
“No family?” There was a long pause, and Rob wondered if the radio had stopped working or if he’d said too much. “Wolf Point, are you receiving, over?”
“Yes, Seascape, I’m still here. No, no family, which is why I have almost the loneliest job in the world. So for the next month it’s just me and no cleaning and a lie in.”
A shaft of disappointment speared him. A whole month without speaking to her stretched into an eternity. “When do you leave?”
“Some point on Saturday morning, just as soon as the launch and my replacement get here. Right now I’m so tired I might not get out of bed for a week.”
He smiled. “I know how that goes. I’d better get on. I have a load of fish to catch, and I don’t want to miss the turning of the tide. Speak tomorrow. Over and out.”
****
“Good to see you, Rob. Are you going out tonight?”
“Nah, just got in. Going back out again Tuesday.”
Kaylie started. She knew that voice. Her heart pounded, her breath caught. It was him. Her fingers tightened on the glass in her hand.
“What can I get you?”
“A pint of bitter and…I think I’ll have the steak with chips, corn on the cob, and peas.”
“Sure. How do you want that?”
“On a plate.” The man laughed. “Seriously, medium rare please.”
Kaylie glanced sideways at him as he spoke. He looked nothing like she’d imagined. He was taller for a start and dark.
In her mind’s eye her fisherman had been short, blond, and blue eyed. But she wasn’t disappointed.
He glanced at her and smiled. And what a smile he had. To say it knocked her for six would be the understatement of the year. It left her breathless and a complete mass of quivering jelly.
“Hi,” he said, his voice even more intoxicating in person than on the radio. “Are you visiting?”
Unable to speak, Kaylie shook her head.
Frank chuckled. “Having your usual effect on the women, I see, Rob. She lives here. Just like you do.”
“Really?” Rob turned in his seat. “Then how come I haven’t seen you around here?”
“I spend a lot of time at work.” Kaylie finally got her voice to work. “The shift pattern is horrendous. I work six weeks on and four weeks off, locked up in a high tower with old men for company and only a radio for communicating with the outside world.”
Rob’s eyes widened. “Kaylie?”
She beamed and held out a hand. “Yep. It’s nice to finally put a face to your voice, Rob.”