The group dispersed. Laurel had promised to meet her family at the waterfront and Rawlings needed to swing by the station in order to ascertain whether the officers scheduled to assist the fire department with the fireworks display were prepared to carry out their duty.
Leaving Haviland inside to clean up a dropped hunk of cheese, Olivia walked the writers to their cars. She waved good-bye as they drove off into the lavender twilight.
After tidying up the cottage, she and Haviland took a leisurely stroll along the empty beach, a large, luminescent moon hovering over Olivia’s right shoulder. They walked aimlessly for a mile and then turned around as the indigo sky reluctantly deepened into black. Suddenly, a deafening boom echoed across the water, followed by a burst of lights over the horizon, heralding the commencement of the fireworks display.
Kicking off her shoes, Olivia sat down on a soft dune in front of the lighthouse keeper’s cottage and craned her neck upward. Many years ago, she had been in nearly the same position, but back then she had been flanked by the warm bodies of her mother and father. She remembered feeling so safe, as though every firework unfolding in the dark sky like a rare, night-blooming flower was a gift to her. She recalled her mother’s excited laughter and how her father pointed at every fresh explosion, not wanting his only child to miss a single moment of beauty.
Olivia thought about Kamila and the group’s critique. She knew that she could not expose the truth of a fictional woman’s feelings until she was willing to bare more of her own. It wasn’t necessary to reveal every secret or every memory to the world, but if she could share a little more of herself to a select group of people, that would be a start.
The cracks and reports increased in tempo as the fireworks finale began. Haviland barked in response, his eyes shining and his mouth curving into a toothy smile.
A rainbow of flickering lights dazzled the ocean, illuminated the shore, and bathed Olivia’s uplifted face. Wave after whispering wave carried the starry reflections as close to the woman as they could, receding only after leaving her with an offering, a promise of things to come, bright and brilliant as the radiant sky.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ellery Adams grew up on a beach near the Long Island Sound. Having spent her adult life in a series of landlocked towns, she cherishes her memories of open water, violent storms, and the smell of the sea. Ms. Adams has held many jobs, including caterer, retail clerk, car salesperson, teacher, tutor, and tech writer, all the while penning poems, children’s books, and novels. She now writes full time from her home in Virginia. Please visit her at www.elleryadamsmysteries.com.