Read Online The Gilded Curse: Will the young heiress be the next victim of her family's curse? by Marilyn Turk - Free Book Online Page B

way.
    “Good thing I wore pants, isn’t it?” She spoke over her shoulder.
    “Ha!” Russell laughed. “You didn’t plan this, did you?”
    “Of course I did. I planned to fall off the bike.”
    Russell might find the situation funny, but she didn’t. What if someone did plan for her to fall? Maybe the tree was supposed to fall on her instead of just trip her.
Stop it!
She had to quit letting her imagination run wild. Accidents did happen, and she had no reason to believe someone was trying to hurt her. She gazed out at the ocean to their right. On the other side of this ocean, a war was being fought. There were more important things than falling off a bike. She noticed Russell hadn’t turned off the hard-packed sandy beach yet.
    “Russell, where is the other path?”
    “Thought we’d go down to Driftwood Point then take the beach road back.”
    She started to protest but realized she had no place else to go, and no hurry to get there. They rode past part of the golf course that ran near the beach, but she didn’t see any golfers out. She and Russell headed north for a while until the shore of Saint Simons Island came into view.
    “Let’s take a little break, stretch our legs.” Russell stopped the bikeand steadied it so she could climb down. “There’s the lighthouse.” He pointed across the water to the tall structure.
    “Saint Simons. We used to go over there in the Vanderbilt yacht. Does a lighthouse keeper still live there? I heard some of the lighthouses are automatic now.”
    “Far as I know, there’s still a keeper, but he’s part of the Coast Guard. And it’s electric. The keeper doesn’t have to use kerosene to light it anymore. Just flip a switch.” Russell mimicked the process with his finger.
    “That must make his job easier. I always thought it would be such a lonely job.”
    “Could be, but he has the ghosts to keep him company.”
    Lexie shoved him. “Stop it. You don’t believe that nonsense, do you?”
    “Hey! You hurt me.” He acted wounded. “I didn’t make up those stories. There’s supposed to be the ghost of the light keeper who got killed in a duel.”
    Lexie crossed her arms, staring at the tower across the water. “I remember that story. I might have even believed it when I was a child. But I don’t believe those things anymore. Everything has an explanation.” Just like the so-called ghosts at Destiny.
    “Yeah, yeah. I don’t believe in that stuff either.”
    “So I wonder if the light keeper gets bored if he doesn’t have as much work to do now.”
    “Don’t bet on it. He’s part of the military now, so he has to protect our country from the enemy.”
    Lexie raised her eyebrows and looked up at him. “Enemy? Here?”
    “Rumor has it the Germans have submarines off our coast. Those guys up there in the lighthouses are looking out for them.”
    “Surely the Germans wouldn’t come this close to our shore!”
    “I hope not, but I hear they’ve been spotted up north not far out.”
    “North? How far north?” Lexie pointed in that direction.
    “From Cape Hatteras, North Carolina up to New York.”
    Lexie’s heart trembled. Even though North Carolina was several hundred miles north, it was too close if German submarines had been seen there. She tossed her head. “Well, I just don’t believe in rumors. And I don’t believe they’d get that close to us here.”
    “Never can be too sure about those Nazis. Ghosts may not be real, but Nazis are.”
    Lexie was no longer comfortable standing on the beach. She shiveredfrom the cold. Or was it from the threat of Nazis nearby?
    “Can we go now? I’ve had enough of the beach today.”
    Russell chuckled, then arched an eyebrow. “Afraid the Germans will see you here on the beach?” His gaze scanned the ocean. “I don’t see any out there. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” he said with a wink.
    “Honestly, Russell. I don’t know when to believe you. I can’t tell when you’re joking and when