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requested.
    Irma surveyed the table. “What, no wine? You
can’t eat my food without a touch of the grape. I won’t allow it.”
She called over her shoulder to their waiter, “Marty, bring a nice
bottle of Chianti, on the house.”
    Elise took her plate from Irma. “So what do
you think of my recipe?”
    Irma gave out a hearty laugh. “It was
delicious. I ate my own in the kitchen, and then helped myself to
half
    of Alex’s. You can come back anytime, Elise,
with or without this fellow here.”
    Elise offered her thanks as Irma moved to
another table across the room. Alex hadn’t realized how hungry the
day’s activities had made him. He ate with hearty gusto and was
surprised to look up from his empty plate to see Elise smiling at
him.
    She grinned and said, “So, how did you like
the picata, or did you have a chance to taste it?”
    “I missed lunch, and everything was so good.”
He kissed his fingertips in the air. “The picata was
excellent.”
    Elise’s dimples appeared. “It’s nice to see
someone enjoy a meal so much. The Dantons were much more critical
eaters, even though they always managed to clean their plates.”
    Elise abruptly changed the subject. “I’ve
been dying to ask you about this, but I really don’t know how to go
about it.”
    “Tonight, all answers are half-price, and the
first one’s free. Ask away.”
    “How on earth did your lighthouse get to be
built in the mountains? And how did you end up owning it?”
    “That’s two questions, but I can satisfy your
curiosity with one long, drawn-out story that will probably bore
you to tears. It’s all ancient family history.”
    Elise shifted her chair a little closer to
Alex as she took another sip of wine. “I’d really love to hear
about it.”
    Alex said, “It all started back in 1883. My
great-grandfather Adlai Winston had a farm about forty miles from
here in Alexander County. A fellow named J. O. Lackey found a vein
of mica on the property next to Adlai’s. Lackey knew about precious
stones and such, so he was bright enough to keep looking, since
mica’s one of the indicators that there’s a chance of gemstones
nearby. Turns out he found thirty-six small emeralds. Well, that
got Adlai awfully curious, so he started scouting around on his own
property. It soon became apparent he was sitting on a war chest
full of emeralds and other precious stones. The biggest one he
pulled out weighed in at just under thirteen carats.”
    Elisa interrupted. “Mercy. That must have
been worth a fortune.”
    Alex smiled softly. “Yes, and that’s what
Adlai got for the stone. This was all before the federal income
tax, too, so the money was all his to keep. After a while, the
stones became more and more scarce. Adlai found a mining company
headquartered out West interested in his property, so he sold out.
It made him a wealthy man.
    “Three months later, the mining company found
the Panther Star.”
    Elise sat up in her chair. “That was found
around here?”
    Alex shook his head sadly. “On my family’s
land, only it didn’t belong to them anymore. One thousand one
hundred seventeen carats. It broke Adlai’s heart when they found
that stone. He couldn’t bear to hear the jibes of his old neighbors
and friends anymore, always laughing at him behind his back,
calling him an old fool for selling out. So Adlai started looking
for a change of scenery. Travel was difficult back then, but
somehow he managed to end up at the Outer Banks on the North
Carolina coast. That’s when he fell in love with the lighthouse at
Cape Hatteras.”
    Alex glanced at his watch and said, “We could
continue this another time. It’s getting late, and tomorrow is
going to come awfully early.”
    Elise pleaded heartily. “You can’t leave me
hanging without the full story. I still don’t know why the
lighthouse was built here.”
    “Okay, you win.” Alex asked, “Now where was
I?”
    Elise eagerly supplied the start-up point.
“Adlai had just made