Hearts of Avon Read online

of not being able to help Caroline and of losing her friendship and affection turned to something new. Will I even hear from her again? Will she be gone from my life forever, after all we have experienced?

  That night, as he sat on his deck with a strong wind curling around him, his cell phone rang. He saw it was Caroline and punched it on. “Hello?”

  “Ben, I’m not going to talk for long tonight. I just wanted to keep my promise and call. Did you hear about the hurricane?”

  “Yes, I heard about it on the radio on the way home.” He stood, walking to the deck’s railing.

  “We’re helping Suzie board up her house and then we are all leaving early Friday morning.” She sounded sad.

  An idea came to him. “Would I be able to take you out, late tomorrow night, after we’re both through working on the houses?”

  “I…”

  “It may be our last night together here.”

  “Yes.”

  He could hear a smile in her voice. It warmed him. “I know you need to go. I’ll call you tomorrow before I come. It will probably be around 8:00.”

  “I’ll look forward to it. Have a good night.”

  “Have a good night, and call me if you need me.” After hanging up the phone, Ben took a moment to enjoy the moonlight reflecting off the ocean on the horizon. Whatever this storm would bring, he would at least have another night with her.

  He took out his phone and punched it back on, waiting for the voice on the other end.

  “Hi, Ben, what’s up?”

  “Hi, Joe. I need to ask a huge favor.”

  12

  Ben drove down the road in darkness with Caroline by his side. His hands were sore from boarding up The Seaman’s Watch with Mason, and tomorrow there would still be a lot more work to do.

  Caroline’s hand came to his. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry if I was cold yesterday.”

  He loved her touch. “So much has happened… I’m just glad to have you by my side.” He was driving down the long stretch of road connecting the islands of the Outer Banks, this time headed away from the mainland, toward Cape Hatteras.

  “So where are we going?”

  Her perfume wafted over him, giving him a shiver. “It’s a secret.”

  “I’ll say. You’re driving me away from civilization. I know everything’s closed out here. Are you taking me to a beach party?”

  “Nope, you’ll just have to wait and see.” Beach houses and street lights whizzed by. Ben’s heart was racing. He hoped she would enjoy what he had planned. “Do you know what I love most about living here?” he asked.

  “I love lying out and listening to the waves.” She moved close to him, holding his hand on his lap.

  “The ocean is amazing, but the thing I enjoy the most is the stars. They are so crisp in the sky, away from city lights that would block them.”

  “You always say things that make me smile.” Caroline leaned over to the Jeep’s window and looked up. “They really are beautiful.”

  They drove a while further before Ben saw what he was looking for, veering down a dark street, toward a house with its deck-light illuminating sand and patches of grass beyond.

  Caroline let go of his hand. “Ok, now you’ve got me a little worried,” she said with joking hesitation in her voice.

  “Trust me,” he assured her before parking and shutting off the engine.

  His friend Joe came out the house’s door and hurried down the steps toward them. “Ben, Sorry I wasn’t down here already. Get in the car and I’ll take you.”

  “We can’t take your Jeep?” she asked him.

  Ben walked around the vehicle and opened the door for her. “Trust me. Joe needs to drive, but you’re going to like this.”

  Caroline took out her cell phone and looked at it. “What time are we heading back? I can’t be too late. My mom and Suzie need my help prepping the house and packing up tomorrow.”

  Ben reached a hand to hers. “We can go back whenever you want.”

  She looked off into the darkness. “What are we doing? It’s time to tell me. I need to know.”

  “Just tell her,” Joe said and got in his truck. “She’s gonna know soon enough, anyway.”

  “Alright,” Ben gave in.

  She looked at him with a smile.

  Ben pointed out past the main road, through the darkness. “Do you see that light?” he asked. The Hatteras Lighthouse’s light beamed through the darkness a ways off. It shined like a titan over the darkened world. “I’m not sharing more yet, but we’re going there.” He could see Caroline relax some now that she knew part of what was going on. “Come with me. You’re going to enjoy this. It’s my gift to you, to remember after you leave.”

  Caroline climbed in to Joe’s truck behind him. “I’m not going to forget you, Ben. You know that, don’t you? We have something special. I’ll come back to visit my aunt and see you.”

  “I know.” Ben held her hand as the truck pulled off the sand road and out on cement, heading toward the lighthouse.

  Caroline rested her head on his shoulder. “I think I need time to collect myself and just be me before we could start any real relationship. I need a break from being someone’s ‘girl’ so that I can experience being me.”

  “Will you consider me after that?” he asked playfully.

  “Pushy, pushy,” she joked. “Right now, you’re the only one on my mind.”

  “Alright, love birds,” Joe spoke up from the driver’s seat. “Save the mushiness for when I’m not around.”

  It was pitch black as they pulled into a large parking lot near the lighthouse. The truck lights illuminated a deck and gift shop as Joe parked. He handed them each a flashlight before shutting off the vehicle. “Point the lights to the ground as you walk,” he instructed them.

  “You’re lucky I trust you, Ben. This is a little strange,” Caroline said as she followed him out of the truck.

  A warm wind blew against him from the coast as he took Caroline’s hand. They followed Joe on a gravel path toward the black and white striped lighthouse. Its brilliant eye illuminated the sky as it turned around the goliath’s top. The body of the massive pillar lit eerily in the moonlight.

  “This is as far as I go,” Joe told them as they reached the base of the lighthouse. He shone his flashlight against the worn wooden door’s knob, put a key in the keyhole and turned. “We’re even now.” He looked to Ben. “One favor for another. Call my cell when you’re coming out and I’ll meet you. I’ll watch for anyone else in the parking lot and call if I see trouble.”

  “Thanks.” Ben grinned. He pulled the heavy door open and took Caroline’s hand. “Follow me, milady?”

  “You are full of surprises.” She smiled back at him and followed inside.

  As the lighthouse’s heavy door echoed shut behind them, Ben took a second to look around. Their flashlights illuminated a red steel stairwell and the beautiful, old brickwork of the walls. The bricks were different colors in places and had clearly been there for a long time.

  “Want to see the top?” Ben asked.

  Caroline started to walk beside him up the spiral stairwell. “It wouldn’t be very fun if we came all this way and snuck in and didn’t go up.” She gripped his hand affectionately. “So how was Joe able to get us in here?”

  “He works for the National Parks Service and they take turns manning it during the day.”

  She gave him a smirk. “Ok, so I have a better question. Why did he agree to risk being caught so that you could sneak me up here?”

  “Well, it could have something to do with me covering for him when he decided it was a wise idea to ‘borrow’ a motorboat for a joyride when we were in high school. I took the fall when we were busted and he hid in the cabin until dark. As he said, he owed me one.”

  “And now you’ve left your lawbreaking days behind you,” she laughed.

  “Hey, I had permission to come in here, given to me by the National Parks Service.” He pointed his flashlight d
own as they approached a barred window in the side of the brick wall.

  “You can tell yourself that, Romeo, but I know better.”

  “I’m innocent.” He shrugged.

  There was a chill in the air as they climbed. Ben’s heart beat heavily in his chest, from both the fear of getting caught and the excitement of being here at night with Caroline. This was the type of experience that very few people could ever say they had. Somehow the air felt warm around him as well, even if it was only from the excitement of being with her.

  As they neared the top of the lighthouse they came to another door. There was no lock. It was made of black steel. “Do we dare to go out?” He smiled to her.

  She came and held his hand. The sound of wind curled though the structure. She pulled close to him and he could feel her warmth. “I don’t need to go out there to see the beauty of the ocean. I can feel it in you. I can feel the strength of its waves and the wind, in your heart.”

  Did she know what she did to him, the warmth she filled him with, with her words? He barely felt her lips as they came to his. He set his flashlight in a ledge of the wall. Her lips were warm and he loved the feeling of her hand as it came to his face. He moved his own hands to her back and held her close.

  Moments passed.

  Time seemed to stop as they shared their passionate embrace. He was lost in her warmth. When Caroline took her last kiss from him, she held her hand to his chest and walked back. “I get so carried away with you, Ben. I love your kisses.”

  “I love yours, too.” He smiled, not sure what to do. “I’ll wait for you after you leave, until you’re ready.”

  “Thank you for