Once upon a time, on a rocky island with enchantment under the ocean ... Cadence Bell left the windswept Northern Isles and his parents’ inn for the theaters and royal masques and glitter of Londre, swearing he’d make his fortune as a playwright and poet, trading fish stew and rain for fame and adoration and a place at the Queen’s Court. Now his parents are gone and Cade’s inheritance brings him back home, where he’d never wanted to return. But magic lurks beneath the waves, a stray pearl might be a key to another world, and even the quiet local schoolteacher has secrets of his own. Jeremiah Carver never meant to hide secrets. But he promised to tell no one about the other world he’s seen, and he keeps his word. Even if that means concealing magic from Cadence Bell. Which is difficult, since Cade’s not only a dazzling literary success, but also the person Jeremiah’s loved from afar since their years-ago childhood. And he’s afraid he’s falling for Cade all over again now. When Cadence falls under the siren spell of the ocean’s magic, Jeremiah has to make a choice and return to a world he’s left behind once before to rescue his heart from the sea.

Cadence and the Pearl

That same tiny not-quite-unhappy knot twisted in his chest again, though. Only once in a while. From time to time.


But, again: he was proud of his home. And there’d be no going back, and here was where they’d make the world over; so here it’d be. And Gull Skerrie would rise to the occasion.


They needed to make up some time and some street signs for visitors. Anyone who’d grown up on the island knew where to find The Bell, the schoolhouse, Jer’s taciturn lighthouse-keeper father, the Parrs’ sturdy white landmark with the widow’s walk; consequently nobody’d bothered with naming several of the newer small streets, because everybody knew to turn right here or left there or round the corner at the market and past the stall with the onions and turnips…


Peter found driftwood. Brought it in for painted signs and Cade’s inspection. Got to work neatly scalloping and carving corners into presentable prettiness.


Chapter 39