When I notice both Stephan and Tawni are done with their food, I lean over and ask, “Hey, do you guys want to dance?” A crowd of people has formed in front of the stage and it’s growing by the minute.

  Tawni immediately pops up. “Of course,” she says.

  I look at Stephan. “What about you?”

  “If you’re going to dance, I’m dancing too,” he says and grabs my hand. We push back our seats and stand.

  As we walk towards the dance floor, he continues to hold my hand. I look over at him and smile. He smiles back and gives me a wink. I do like him, I think. I don’t know if this is just a vacation fling or maybe the start of something real, but whatever it is, it makes me happy.

  We dance for at least an hour. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking about the note and the lighthouse. I know I’m going to go up there; I have to. I need to figure out what this is all about. But I also know that Tawni and Stephan will persuade me not to go if they find out that I’m planning to go up there. They will do everything in their power to keep me from going.

  As I’m dancing with Stephan, I think about my escape. How am I going to get out of here without anybody seeing me or knowing that I’m gone?

  The music slows down and Tawni looks around her for a dance partner. Not finding any potential candidates, she indicates to me that she’s heading to the bar. I nod at her, then look at Stephan. He pulls me closer. I bury my head in his neck, breathing in his scent. I haven’t been this close to someone in a long time, at least not someone who knew the real me. I wrap my arms around him and we dance, our bodies entwined for the rest of the song.

  When it stops, I look up at him. There’s a look in his eyes that I haven’t seen before from him, one of desire. He leans down and kisses me. His lips are soft and gentle. My heart begins to race and I pull away.

  “Is everything okay?” He asks.

  “Yes, it’s wonderful, but that was completely unexpected. I need to go freshen up in the bathroom before we continue,” I say.

  He chuckles. “You do your thing. I’ll be here when you get back.”

  I head to the bathroom, feeling a little guilty, knowing that I won’t be coming back, at least not anytime soon. I hope he can forgive me.

  I walk right past the bathroom and out the backside of the luau area. Glancing at my watch, I realize I don’t have a lot of time before they find out I’m gone. I quickly walk back to our hotel room and grab the fireplace poker. There’s no way I’m going up to the lighthouse empty-handed.

  I walk quickly up the hill towards the bright light. When I get close, I see yellow police tape still covering the door. I wonder why they never took it off. It seems like a constant reminder of the bad things that happened at the lighthouse. I would think whoever owns this place wouldn’t want the guests to wonder what happened. Then again, maybe this tape keeps some people out.

  When I’m a few feet away, I notice that the door is slightly open. I duck under the tape and push it all the way open. “Hello,” I call up the stairs, but there’s no response.

  I slowly begin to climb the stairs, clutching the fireplace poker with a death grip. The stairwell is pitch black; I can’t even see my hand in front of my face. I slowly make my way up, my heart beating in my chest, knowing I’m about to confront the person who has been sending me these gifts.

  I also know that I’m putting myself in danger. The only difference between me and those guys who died is that I know the danger is coming and maybe because I know, I can avoid it somehow.

  I get to the top and the moon streams through the windows, but the room is still very dark. “Hello?” I say hesitantly.

  “I’m glad you came,” a voice says from the shadows.

  52

  MARY (EARLIER)

  We spent all day today repairing the damage caused by the storm. I’m exhausted. Nearly every unit lost power for at least a few minutes. The staff worked tirelessly to make sure the generators were up and running and that the guests were comfortable. It wasn’t until the rain stopped that I even attempted to go to bed. I only got a few hours of sleep. These types of storms happen a couple of times a year and every time, I wonder if this will be the time when the winds blow hard enough to knock down buildings and trees. But every time, there’s only minor damage.

  It’s times like this that I wish I had a family, someone to come home to, to cuddle up in bed with, to talk about my day with. I know now that I’m too old and the dream of having a real family has almost completely slipped through my fingers.

  I almost had a family once. When I was in my twenties, I worked at the resort as a front desk clerk. Back then, I was different, excited about life and happy to meet new people.

  I remember the day Chloe and Richard came to the resort. Chloe looked timid, unsure of herself in such a big place. Richard was kind. He encouraged her without pushing her too hard. I had felt an immediate attraction to him as I watched him talk to Chloe. It felt palpable, like one could mold it with their hands.

  “Welcome to the resort,” I said as he stepped up to the desk to check in.

  “Thank you so much,” he replied. He took a second to look at my name tag and then continued, “Mary.”

  Hearing him say my name sent shivers down my spine. It was at that moment I knew I was in trouble. I worked out the details of his stay, giving him the best room I could and offering to provide him with childcare services if necessary. I wasn’t really supposed to do childcare at the resort. That was Selena’s job, but I didn’t think the boss would mind. Besides, I knew that if he took me up on it, I would have to take some vacation days anyway and what I did on my own time was my business. I found myself wanting to do anything to be in Richard’s presence. He was magnetic.

  As I handed him back his card and the keys to his room, I made an impulse decision to write my number on a piece of paper and handed it to him at the same time.

  “I hope you enjoy your stay with us, Richard,” I said, giving him the best smile I could muster.

  As he grabbed the keys, his hand grazed my fingers and it was at that moment I knew the attraction was mutual.

  “I’m sure I will,” he said. “Come on, Chloe,” he called, as he walked away from the desk. Chloe dutifully followed in his footsteps. Before he reached the door, he looked back at me and gave me a wink.

  I wish I had known then what I know now. People come on vacation to escape their lives, not to fall in love. Vacation romances aren’t real. I have witnessed hundreds of them over the years and nearly every time, as soon as the vacation is over, the romance ends. They are an escape for people from the real-life stresses they left behind, not a long-term solution to these problems.

  But back then, I was hopeful. I had big dreams, and I believed that they would really come true. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Richard and with Chloe as well.

  I remember the first day he took me out. Chloe and two little boys that were at the resort at the same time, Jake and Tom, hung out with a resort nanny while Richard and I took a romantic picnic on the beach. The sunset was even more beautiful than it normally was, or maybe I was in such a love-struck haze that I don’t remember it accurately. But either way, I remember it felt magical.

  Richard fed me strawberries and grapes and whatever else he had brought in his basket. I ate them, but only because he made me. I only really wanted to look at him and talk to him that night. Food was the last thing on my mind.

  Later that night, we had our first kiss under the moonlight. It was like the kisses you see in the movies. His soft lips on mine felt like a caress. I never wanted it to end.

  Over the next several days, I watched Chloe and the two little boys during the day so their parents could attend to business on the island. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but I fell in love with all three kids too. I often found myself dreaming about the five of us being a family. Me and Richard and our three kids. It was easy for me to pretend that I was staying home with the children while my husband was working. A real family.

  Ever since my parents died when I was a teenager, I’ve wanted nothing more than to have a family of my own. I genuinely believed that me, Richard and Chloe could build that family I had always dreamed of together. I quickly and deeply fell in love with both of them and even though I knew the two little boys wouldn’t be a part of our family in the end, I found myself falling in love with them, too. Those few weeks were the happiest days of my life.

  At night, Richard and I would go to clubs and dance. We also frequented fine-dining restaurants and shared many intimate moments in the hotel room. It was magical. Richard gave me every indication that he was in love with me, until the night before he and Chloe were scheduled to go back.

  “So when am I going to see you?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?” He asked, confused.

  “You know, when are you coming back to see me again?”

  He backed away from me and shook his head. “I thought you understood.”

  “Understood what?” I said nervously.

  “Mary, this was just fun. I have enjoyed every minute with you, but it wasn’t permanent. This was just a vacation romance. You understand that, right?”

  Tears pricked my eyes as I struggled to hold them back. But I nodded my head, not wanting to look stupid.

  “Of course. I just thought maybe you would want to come back and have a little more romance,” I said half-jokingly.

  “Maybe someday, Mary. This has been a wonderful few weeks. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. For us, really.”

  I thought about all the time I took off work for this man, this family that I had dreamed about. It made me sick to my stomach. How could I have been so foolish?

  The next day, Chloe and her dad left without even saying goodbye. I watched them from a nearby bench as they walked up the gangplank on the ship and sailed away from the Island. I found out later that afternoon that Jake and Tom had also left with their families.

  I was broken. I cried in my room for two straight days. When the tears dried up, I never cried for Richard again. To be honest, I haven’t cried for any man again since that day. I never once allowed a guy to get close enough to me again to allow that kind of attachment. It wasn’t worth the pain.

  There was a local guy, who wanted to date me. He was quite persistent, but I couldn’t let him in. He eventually left too. He went to the mainland to find his fortune and I never heard from him again.

  Occasionally, I think about Chloe, Jake, Tom and Richard and about the family I dreamt we could be. I miss the children as a mother would miss her own kids. I know it’s not logical, but I can’t help the way I feel. In those few short weeks, they became a part of me that has never been erased.

  53

  CHLOE

  I try to make out the figure in the shadows.

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” she continues. “But I wasn’t sure you were going to show up.”

  “Who are you?” I ask. “Why have you been sending me gifts?”

  “I have known you since you were a child. You and your dad came here to the resort when you were a little girl and ever since that time, you’ve always meant a lot to me. I’ve followed you throughout the years. I watched your career as an artist, your relationships, pretty much everything I could get my hands on. I wanted to know.”

  “How did you know that I was Junipera?” I ask.

  “It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. You had a knack for singing even when you were a little girl. I remember you would sing almost everywhere you went. Your dad and I kept in contact for several years after you guys left. I believed we were soulmates, separated by an impossible distance. I’m not sure he felt the same, but that’s another story.”

  As I’m listening to these words coming from the shadows, it almost seems surreal. Whoever this person is clearly knows everything about me, but I know nothing about them. I’ve had this experience many times with fans, but the information they have access to is curated by me. They don’t know anything unless I’ve chosen to reveal it. But this person knows things I haven’t even shared with Tawni.

  The voice continues. “Your dad would tell me all about you, how you were such a good student and how you loved to sing in school plays. He even told me about your record deal when you were young and how they asked you to wear a mask. It wasn’t hard to make the connection after that,” they say.

  “Well, I don’t remember you at all,” I say. “My only memories of that trip are my dad working a lot and me having to be watched by a nanny. That’s it. I’m assuming now that you were that nanny?” I ask.

  “Yes,” she says. “I watched you and two other little boys the whole time you were here. I’ve always considered the three of you like my own children. For the last several years, I’ve dreamed about a day when we could all just be together like a happy family. It’s really all I’ve ever wanted.”

  “You know how weird that sounds, right? You only know me from a distance. We’re not really family.”

  “I know,” the voice says quietly.

  “Why have you been sending me gifts?” I ask her.

  The voice emerges from the shadows and I gasp. “Mary? You’re the one who’s been doing this?”

  She nods.

  “Those gifts have been an invasion of my privacy and you knew that. You knew it was stressing me out.”

  “I’m sorry, Chloe. I just... I wanted to remind you of your past here. I was hoping you would remember me and that we could connect and at least be friends and maybe even eventually that you could become like a daughter to me, which is what I’ve always wanted.”

  “I was a little girl. I barely remember anything about that trip. I was never going to remember.”

  “That time in my life was the happiest I’ve ever been. I know it’s not rational, but I really thought we could eventually be a family. I loved your dad,” she says.

  I stare at her, shocked.

  “It wasn’t just about you kids. The moment your dad arrived on the island, I fell in love with him and he with me, or so I thought. Every day, he would have meetings with his business partners and I would watch the three of you. But every night, after you went to bed, we would stay up late, talking and making love. I thought that he would propose to me before he left and we would all be a family one day. I would have left the island without any hesitation if he had asked. But that never happened. Your vacation ended and your dad just left, without even a goodbye. We wrote to each other several times over the years, but I never saw him again.”

  “Don’t you think that maybe that was a clue?” I say quietly.

  “Maybe, but I was blinded by hope. When I saw that you were on the guest list and coming back to the island, I thought maybe this was my chance to have a family, that maybe you would accept me and let me be like the mother you never really had.”

  “You know this is insane,” I tell her. “I don’t even remember these two boys you talk about. None of us are family. My dad and I didn’t even have a close relationship growing up. He was always so busy with work and other women. I was always third or fourth in line for his attention. We were never going to be a family, Mary. How do you not get that?”

  I see the anger brewing in her face. “Do you think you’re better than me? Because you’re some big pop star?”

  “What? No, Of course I’m not better than you, but I don’t know you. I’m not just going to let you into my life like that.”

  “I see,” she says her voice raising. “You’re going to be just like everybody else, stomping on my feelings, as if they’re not worth anything,” she steps back towards the open door.

  I follow her, my mind whirling with the insanity of this entire night.

  Mary continues. “You’re just like the rest of them. They all just use me like I’m a tool and not a human being, like my whole existence is just to get them things and serve them. But I deserve love too. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. That’s why I gave you those gifts, Chloe, to show you that I care about you.”

  “All it did was make me want to leave this island. It was too much. This is not how you make somebody love you.”

  “Why can’t you just see that I want nothing more than to be close to you?” She says, her anger rising. She continues to back up until she’s on the ledge outside the small room at the top of the lighthouse.

  I follow her once again until I’m also outside on the ledge staring directly at her.

  The wind whips Mary’s long hair and there’s a fire burning in her eyes.

  54

  JERRY

  I must find Chloe and warn her before it’s too late. Something in my gut tells me I don’t have much time. I head swiftly to her suite and knock on the door. Silence. I knock again, but still, no response.

  Anxious, I run my fingers through my hair, forcing myself to calm down and think. Where could she be? The sound of music from the luau wafts through the resort, catching my attention. Maybe there at the luau. I head in that direction, hoping I’m right.

  When I arrive, I see the luau is more packed than usual. All the tables and chairs are filled, people are crowding the dance floor and the bar is bustling with guests getting drinks. I push my way through the crowd of sweaty bodies, wondering how I’ll ever find her in this chaos. I won’t be able to yell for her in all this noise.

  I spot her roommate walking out of the bathroom. I raise my hands to get her attention and fight my way through the crowd. The second she notices me, her eyes widen. She looks around, searching for an escape, but people block every exit. Cornered, she backs up against the wall, looking terrified.