The Spyglass Portal: A Lighthouse Novel (27 page)

She shook her head. “No, the first time we made love was two nights ago. You don’t remember, but there was a very significant change in your life the next day.”

“What was the change?” He rested his hands on his knees and leaned forward in anticipation.

Her mouth felt like chalk, and her voice came out very small when she finally gathered the courage to say it out loud. “I went to your house and I discovered…”

“What?” he prodded.

“I discovered you were married to Remy and the two of you had a son.” Her chest rose and fell in a staccato rhythm as she waited for him to say something. “I saw your boy outside with you. I didn’t see Remy, but she was inside the cottage. I saw her shadow pass by the window and I heard her call your name.”

The skin around his eyes crinkled. “I don’t get it. If I was married to her, why don’t I remember? You’ve recalled every detail each time you experienced a different reality.”

“I don’t know why it wasn’t the same for you, but I felt I should tell you. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”

“I was a father. I had a son.” He stared past her, blankly, as if he were caught in a dream. Then he bowed his head in thought. After a few moments, his neck snapped up. “What was my son’s name?”

“Dylan.”

“Where are Dylan and Remy now?”

This was the hardest thing, for her to confess that she’d peered through the spyglass again, hoping they’d vanish, which is exactly what had occurred. When she was finished explaining to Aidan, his eyes flashed with fury and he bolted up from the chair.

“How could you do that, Sam? How could you be so selfish? You knew I’ve been looking for Remy my entire life. I’ve missed her and longed after her. And come to find out, I was actually
married
to her! But
you
chose your happiness over mine. You took away all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Wait, Aidan.” She grabbed his arm. “You don’t completely understand. I’m…”

Jerking out of her hold, he didn’t allow her finish. “I’m sorry I trusted you. What kind of woman would do that?”

Her jaw dropped. “The woman who loves you. Please hear me out. It’s not as it seems. Let me explain.”

Throwing his hands into the air, Aidan stormed toward the door. “I can’t stay here right now. I have to go.”

“Aidan, please wait!” She trailed him out of the storage room and through the store and caught the front door before it banged into the wall. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as Claire, Jason, and a customer stared at her. Aidan strode out of the market without a backwards glance.

With as much dignity as she could muster, she fled to the storeroom, collapsed onto the chair, and held her face in her hands. When Claire returned to her several minutes later, she hugged her. “Why did he stomp out of here like a constipated gorilla?”

Sam shook her head. “I thought I was doing the right thing. But I messed things up even more. I tried to tell him the truth, but he wouldn’t listen. He’ll never trust me now. And he may never speak to me again.”

“You have to give the man more credit than that.” Claire flashed her an encouraging smile.

“I was married to my soul mate in a parallel universe and I ruined it by looking through the spyglass. I doubt I’ll ever get that chance with him again. I may as well pack my bags tonight and go back to Portland. At least I know what to expect there when I wake up every day.”

Claire tossed an arm around her shoulder. “You might want to hear the rest of my story before you go.”

 “Don’t do this to me, Claire.” Samantha slumped further down the chair. “I’m not sure I can take anymore.”

“Wouldn’t you like to hear what I have to say about Aidan? There’s more.”

“What about him? What you are talking about?”

“I’m talking about the accident that happened in Portland. The lightning strike that left him in a coma.”

That grabbed Sam’s attention. Her back straightened and her lip caught between her teeth. “How do you know about that? And why did you say Aidan? A man named Chad was struck by lightning.”

Claire’s hand was warm and comforting when it lit on hers. “When Mary Gallagher left Pavee Cove, she and her son traipsed all over the state before ending up in Portland, where they finally settled into a normal life. In the spirit of truly starting over, Mary changed their names. She became Sandra and Aidan became Chad—two good American names. She raised her boy to be a loving, caring man who earned a living the honest way, by working hard. He used his hands, both in work and for pleasure. His occupation was construction, but the thing that inspired him most was painting. I bet you never knew that about him.”

A hand flew to Sam’s mouth when the realization of Claire’s words sank in. She felt lightheaded. “Chad was…is…”

“Yes, dear. Chad and Aidan are one in the same.” She grinned. “Let me explain before you pass out.”

Sam slapped a hand to her forehead. “Please do.”

“Your mother also ended up in Portland,” she said softly. “We’ve been in touch all these years.” She molded Sam’s hand to hers. “She
did
change her life after she left Pavee Cove. She went to school and got herself a good job. By complete coincidence, she and Mary Gallagher, who then went by the name of Sandra Payton, ran into each other one day several years before Mary passed away. When Chad was struck by lightning, my sister read about it in the newspaper. But she also heard it from…from…”

“From who?” Sam felt like a piece of glass about to shatter.

“I’m not the one to be telling you,” Claire said. “Your mother should tell you herself.”

“Tell me what?” Sam shouted. “Who is my mother? Is she still alive?”

A hand flew to Claire’s chest and covered her heart. “Yes, sweetheart. She’s alive, and she
is
here in Pavee Cove. In fact, she’s waiting for you at the lighthouse. Go to her! She’ll explain everything else.”

Reeling with an endless array of emotions, Samantha jumped up from the chair, flung open the storage room door, and streaked out of the market. Since Aidan had given her a lift in his truck and left without her, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her until she was exhausted and had to stop to gulp in oxygen. Breathing heavily and walking the rest of the way was torturous. Knowing her mother waited for her was about to cause her brain to short circuit.

Upon feeling a few drops of rain on her skin, she looked up and saw a dark cloud overhead. It was about to start raining, but the lighthouse was just ahead.

A distant crack of thunder jump-started her into jogging the rest of the way.

Expecting to see a woman on her stoop when she arrived, her heart sank with disappointment. When her key entered the lock, she realized the door was already ajar. Her entire body began to tremble when she shoved it all the way open and entered. A woman stood in the living room with her back to her.

“Hello.”

The woman turned. In her hand was the spyglass.

Samantha sucked in air to keep from hyperventilating. Her tense body suddenly became a shivering mass of gelatin. “Dr. Teagan! What are you doing here?”

The petite psychiatrist with the light brown hair smiled. She looked very different, relaxed and at ease in jeans and a sleeveless blouse and sandals. “I came to see you. It’s been a very long time since I was in this lighthouse. It’s changed so much.” Her gaze locked on Sam’s face. She took several steps toward her.

Goose pimples raced up and down Sam’s arms. Without warning, her legs buckled and the doctor rushed forward to catch her before she fell. Their gazes fused as she eased Samantha onto the sofa.

“Are you…?”

“Yes, darling. I’m your mama. We’re finally together again.”

 Sam stared for what seemed an eternity before she was able to string coherent words together. “I don’t understand how this can be.”

“Let me start at the beginning. My name is Teagan O’Neill, but for the past fifteen years, I’ve used Teagan as my professional name. As your Aunt Claire told you, I left Pavee Cove to avoid going to jail. It was the worst mistake of my life, because it also meant leaving you behind. I should have stayed and fought to keep you, but I was young, headstrong, unmarried, and didn’t know what to do except to run and keep running. When that social worker told me you were better off without me, there was a little part of me that believed her. After all, what kind of a mother teaches her child to steal?” She shook her head. “You would have ended up in jail eventually, too, if you’d stayed with me. In that split second when I had to make a decision, I thought handing you over to the social worker would be the best thing for you.”

She stopped and gazed at the floor above them. “As long as I live, I’ll never forget that day in the light tower. But I wasn’t courageous enough to take responsibility for my actions and accept punishment. Instead, I fled Pavee Cove, never to return, until today.”

Sam struggled to keep her emotions in check. “Why did you come back now?”

She smiled. “To set you free. And to make sure you don’t lose Aidan like I lost Morgan.”

Samantha’s eyes widened with disbelief.

“Aidan is your one true love, as Morgan was mine. It’s too late for me, but your life with Aidan has just begun. You couldn’t quite get your act together in Portland, but the two of you were destined to be together. I realized that from the first day you came to my office for help and told me your problem.”

Sam was stunned. “Did you know who I was?”

Her mother nodded and smiled. “Yes. You were wearing my cross necklace; the same one you’re wearing now.”

Samantha touched the smooth gold cross.

“I almost fainted when I did realize it was you,” Teagan chuckled. “I couldn’t believe I was getting a second chance with my daughter! One look into your beautiful blue eyes and I knew you were my child. I believed God was giving us both another chance.”

Feeling a rush of tears about to fall, Sam said, “Didn’t you ever look for me after you left Pavee Cove?”

She nodded. “I searched for you for years. Claire and I stayed in touch, and neither of us knew how to find you. We suspected the social worker had put you in foster care. Claire never received any documents addressed to me about giving up my rights to you, so there was no way to trace you. It was as if you’d dropped off the face of the earth.”

Sam hiccupped. “Bev Landers was the name of the social worker who took me away from you that day. She didn’t put me in foster care. She kept me, changed my name to Samantha, and raised me as her own.”

Teagan nodded again. “Samantha is a pretty name, but so is Remy.”

Sam’s heart twisted, and her bones ached from the loss of time and maternal love. “I’m confused about Chad and Aidan.”

“They both exist, but in parallel universes. Chad existed in the only reality you’ve known before coming to Pavee Cove. Aidan is the same man, except that he lives in an alternate world, a world that you discovered by peering into the captain’s spyglass.”

They both gazed at the sleek instrument, which lay on the sofa next to Teagan. “It wasn’t a coincidence that the two of you met each other in Portland,” she continued. “But the accident took away your chance for love with your soul mate. I couldn’t let that happen. I knew of the one way in which Chad could come back to you, whole and healthy and ready for love.”

“The spyglass.”

“Yes. That’s why I didn’t tell you who I was when you started seeing me. If I’d told you I was your mama, you would have wanted to stay with me.”

“Of course I would have, Mama. I’ve missed you so!” She grabbed Teagan’s hand and placed it against her own cheek.

“I’ve missed you, too, sweetheart. More than you’ll ever know. But it’s a mother’s job to sacrifice her own happiness for the happiness of her child. I thought I was doing that when I handed you over to Bev Landers. But that was a mistake. Luckily, I was given the chance to help your dreams finally come true. If I’d told you who I was after Chad’s accident, you wouldn’t have come to Pavee Cove. If I hadn’t gotten you to this lighthouse, you wouldn’t have found the spyglass, which means you wouldn’t have met Aidan. Do you understand?”

Sam did understand. Finally. She flung herself into her mother’s arms. Tears flowed from both their eyes. “Oh, Mama. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Remy.”

The boom of thunder stirred them apart. But it was the crack of a whip across the sky and white daggers lighting up the little windows that fully captured their attention. It wasn’t long before rain pounded the outside of the structure.

“Quite a storm is kicking up,” Teagan said.

The memory of the storm in Portland flashed through Sam’s mind. What a relief it was to know that even though she’d made peace with her role in the accident, she no longer had to worry about Chad. It seemed incredible to think he wasn’t lying in a hospital bed in a coma anymore. He was a mile down the beach! The trouble was he was probably still angry, or at least confused. Little did he know that his lifelong dream of finding Remy
had
become reality.

She jumped up from the sofa. “I have to go to Aidan. Please stay here and make yourself comfortable. I won’t be long.”

“You can’t go out in this kind of weather,” Teagan complained light-heartedly.

Samantha planted her fists on her hips. “You just came back into my life and you’re already giving me advice?” she joked.

“What’s a mother for?”

Sam kissed her on the cheek and breathed in her fresh scent. “Are you staying in Pavee Cove or going back to Portland?”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to stay.”

Teagan smiled. “Then this is where I’ll stay. After all, it’s my true home.”

Samantha’s smile grew so broad it almost flew off her face. “I’m going to love getting advice from you. We have a lot of catching up to do. But right now, I have to see Aidan. He deserves the truth as much as I did.” She ran up the stairs and flew back down wearing a slicker. Before striding toward the door, she grabbed the spyglass off the sofa. “This was built as an instrument to use at sea, but somehow it became something else altogether. Do you want to look into it one more time and try to find Morgan?”