Chapter 15 - THE UNBROKEN LIGHT
The final light of late afternoon cast a long, golden trail across the quiet waters of Montauk.
After dinner, Eleanor walked out onto the wooden deck overlooking the ocean cliff. The sea breeze whipped her hair gently as she watched the distant lighthouse blink its rhythmic white beacon against the darkening indigo sky.
Leo ran out onto the deck, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, leaning his head against her side.
"What are you looking at, Mummy?" he asked quietly.
Eleanor reached down, covering his small hands with her own, feeling the warm, steady pulse of his heart against her palm.
"I’m looking at the water, baby," Eleanor whispered, her voice filled with a deep, infinite peace. "It’s so big. And so clean."
"Were you ever lost out there?" Leo asked softly, looking up at the stars beginning to flicker in the sky above.
Eleanor looked down into his clear blue eyes—the mirror of her soul, the child stolen by greed, reclaimed by an unbreakable maternal love, and protected by the fire of truth.
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"I was lost for a little while, Leo," Eleanor smiled gently, pulling him close against her heart as the warm wind blew over the cliff. "But I followed the light home."
And together, mother and son stood at the edge of the sea, watching the darkness yield completely to the golden, eternal dawn.
