Read Online All In by Marta Brown - Free Book Online Page A

day of stubble and his suntanned skin
looks soft to the touch.
    A trickle of cold water runs down my
arm from the melting ice and causes me to pull the icepack away
from his face all of a sudden. His eyes fly open at my unexpected
movement, and it’s then that I realize how close we’re standing to
one another. I take a step backwards, to the step below, and hand
him the icepack. “Be careful it’s dripping,” I say lamely. “So… you
work here?”
    He looks around at our surroundings
then runs his hand through his already messy hair.
    “Uh, yeah… I actually took over for my
grandpa a few months ago.” He glances up the stairs and then back
down to me. “You wanna see the top?”
    I nod and follow behind him as we
climb the rest of the way up. I glimpse off the side of the railing
and down the middle of the spiraling staircase when we reach the
top and regret it immediately.
    “Whoa there,” Lane says as he reaches
out and grips my waist when I sway slightly. His hands graze the
small sliver of exposed skin between my jean shorts and tank top
and it’s making me even more lightheaded than the
height.
    “I uh… didn’t realize how high up we
are.”
    “It took a little getting used to for
me too. Just give yourself a few minutes, and try not to look
down.” Lane smiles but keeps his hands wrapped around my
hips.
    “I think I’m good,” I say after a
minute, then chastise myself because he lets go of me.
    I continue to hold the railing tight
as we take the final few steps to the top of the lighthouse. “What
do you mean you took over for your grandpa?” I ask, trying to busy
my mind, so I don’t focus on the height, or the way his hands felt
on my skin.
    “Oh yeah,” he says like he’s
completely forgotten what we were talking about before my dizzy
spell. “I took over for him when his health started to go a few
months back. He used to work here a few nights a week, actually
asked my grandma to marry him here. I think working here made him
feel close to her after she passed, ya know?” I can hear the
sadness in his voice, and I understand how he feels considering
this is my first summer on the island without my
grandfather.
    “Oh. I’m so sorry. Is he…” I let my
question fade off not knowing how to finish.
    “No. No… he’s okay,” Lane assures me,
and I’m relieved. “Just couldn’t do the job anymore, so I took over
his shifts. It’s just a few nights a week, and it gave me plenty of
study time during the school year. And I don’t know, it’s kinda
nice up here. Peaceful.”
    “That’s right, Andrew said you grew up
here,” I say as a bright light passes over my face making me
temporarily blind. When I open my eyes again, I quickly turn my
back away from the rotating light and face out the window, the
height forgotten.
    “Wow,” I say breathlessly. “It’s so
beautiful.”
    I turn slowly to follow the revolving
light as it illuminates everything it touches. The reflected flame
casts a wide sparkling beam of light over the ocean’s surface, not
just protecting ships in the night, but making the menacing black
water look magical instead.
    “Yeah, it is,” Lane says
quietly.
    I continue to follow the light as it
shines on the tiny town I’ve called home every summer for as long
as I can remember. It’s the first time I see the lighthouse for
what it truly is; a beacon calling people home, and that’s how I
feel right now, even standing next to someone who I hardly know. I
feel like I’m home, maybe for the first time ever, and it’s a weird
and wonderful feeling.
    “I wanted to say thank you again,” I
whisper, turning back to face Lane. It seems wrong to talk in my
full voice, afraid it will somehow disrupt the beauty. Lane turns,
and I’m taken aback at how handsome he is even with the cuts and
bruises peppering his face.
    “You’re welcome,” he says, rubbing the
back of his neck, his voice low.
    “I really don’t know what has gotten
into Gregory lately.