The Lightkeeper's Daughter

256 Pages·2010·1.16 MB·English

by  Colleen Coble

A DVANCE P RAISE FOR
T HE L IGHTKEEPER’S D AUGHTER
"Colleen Coble has long been a favorite storyteller of mine. I love the way she
weaves intrigue and God’s love in to a story chock-full of carefully crafted
characters. If you’re looking for an awesome writer—I highly recommend her!”
—Tracie Peterson, best-selling author of
Dawn’s Prelude, Song of Alaska series
"Colleen delivers a heart-warming romance—and plot twists that will keep you
guessing until the final page! Perhaps best of all, her novels call us to a deeper,
richer faith.”
—Tamera Alexander, best-selling author of
The Inheritance and Beyond this Moment
"The Lightkeeper’s Daughter is a maze of twists and turns with an opening that
grabs the reader instantly. With so many red herrings, the villain caught me by
surprise.”
—Lauraine Snelling, best-selling
author of A Measure of Mercy
OTHER NOVELS BY
COLLEEN COBLE INCLUDE
The Rock Harbor series
Without a Trace
Beyond a Doubt
Into the Deep
Cry in the Night
The Aloha Reef series
Distant Echoes
Black Sands
Dangerous Depths
Alaska Twilight
Fire Dancer
Midnight Sea
Abomination
Anathema
Lonestar Sanctuary
Lonestar Secrets
THE
LIGHTKEEPER’S
DAUGHTER
A Mercy Falls Novel
Colleen Coble
© 2009 by Colleen Coble All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy,
recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of
Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales
promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
Publisher’s note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either
products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to
people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
KING JAMES VERSION is in the public domain and does not require permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Coble, Colleen.
The lightkeeper’s daughter : a Mercy Falls novel / Colleen Coble.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-59554-267-0 (softcover : alk. paper)
1. Nannies—Fiction. 2. California—History—1850—1950—Fiction. 3. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PS3553.O2285L54 2010
813'.54—dc22
2009045066
Printed in the United States of America
09 10 11 12 13 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Ami,
I’m so glad you encouraged me to write this book!
Thanks for always being my champion.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
EPILOGUE
DEAR READER
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
READING GROUP GUIDE
PROLOGUE
1884
THE SHIP’S DECK rolled under his feet, and he widened his stance to protect his
balance and the toddler in his arms. Where was she? He’d been from one end of
the steamer to the other. Laura was nowhere to be found. He shifted the sleeping
child and eyed the black clouds hovering low on the horizon. A lighthouse
winked in the darkening seascape. The wind whipped the waves into a frenzy
and tore at the masts. The boat fell into a trough, and the stern rose as the bow
tipped. He grabbed at the railing for support. A rumble came to his ears.
Thunder? Deckhands rushed by him, and he caught the faint stench of smoke.
“Fire!” a man shouted. “There’s been an explosion!”
He turned to see smoke pouring from the hold. People milled on the deck, and
crewmen rushed to lower the lifeboat. He grabbed the arm of a passing crewman
and shouted over the howling wind. “The pretty woman with the red hair in a
pompadour. Have you seen her?”
“She’s gone. Left first thing this morning before we left the dock. This ship is
going down, mate. Get on the lifeboat now!” The man jerked his arm away.
He watched the crewman rush to help panicking passengers into the lifeboat.
Gone. How could she leave without a word? Laura would never leave her child.
Other people streamed by him on their way to safety, but he stood rooted to the
deck until the little girl in his arms whimpered.
“Mama,” she said. “Papa.”
He studied her eyes, so like her mother’s. “We must get you to shore,” he said.
His purpose found, he strode to the lifeboat. Wide-eyed passengers crammed
every seat. Some had other people on their laps. There was no room. Not for
him.
He held up the little girl. “Please, someone save her!”
“Hurry, mister!” a crewman yelled. “Throw her into the boat.”
A woman held out her arms. “I’ll take her.”
Julia clutched him and wailed. “It’s okay, darling,” he soothed. He kissed her
smooth cheek, then lowered her into the woman’s arms. The woman had barely
settled the child when the steamer lurched and shuddered. It began to break apart
as the lifeboat hit the roiling waves. He watched the men in the boat strain at the
oars, but the waves swamped it, and it was making little headway.