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Sarah laughed at the persistence as she stepped out onto the deck and wrapped her cardigan around herself while the ocean breeze blew the flaps open. “Yeah. I should probably start pulling my weight around here.”
And stop giving in to any ridiculous notions that things could be more than what they were with Wes. Once the renovations were done, she’d be putting the B&B on the market and she’d be leaving. Their relationship would go back to consisting of her stalking his rare Facebook posts.
That was good. Out of sight, out of mind.
Though that hadn’t been the case before.
“Okay. Well, if you change your mind, you’re welcome to join us,” he said, opening the back door of his truck for Marissa. He climbed into the driver seat, and his gaze met hers through the windshield, but she couldn’t read the expression behind those ocean-blue eyes, so she waved as they drove off, knowing she wouldn’t be going out that night.
If Marissa’s gentle coaxing that the two of them spend time together wasn’t enough of a red flag, her own desire to take him up on the invite certainly was. She couldn’t start a relationship with him when she wasn’t planning on staying. It wouldn’t be fair to any of them.
And when had Wes Sharrun ever given her a second look? Obviously any affection he felt for her was wrapped up in her giving Marissa an alternative to camp.
She headed back inside and into the den for her laptop. Noticing her grandmother’s journal still in the open desk drawer, she picked it up and carried it to her room. She’d forgotten all about it. But now, as she changed into painting clothes, her gaze continued to wander to it.
So odd that the journal had been sitting on the bookshelf. Wasn’t her grandmother worried that a guest might find it and read it? Or had she left it there precisely for that reason?
Sarah went to her dresser and, taking a bobby pin, she picked up the journal and wiggled the pin into the lock hole, moving it around until she heard aclick.
That was easy.
Opening the cover, Sarah removed several old and yellowed newspaper clippings, then carefully scanned the headlines.
U.S.A officially enters the Second World War after attack on Pearl Harbor.
Under the articles were two pictures. The first she recognized as her grandfather; the other was a man she didn’t know. Both men were dressed in Air Force uniforms. Her grandfather had served in the Second World War for three years before returning home to marry her grandmother within six months, and Sarah’s uncle was born months later. Her grandmother had always talked about Martin Lewis’s bravery and how he’d won medals for his courage, but Sarah had never met her grandfather, as he’d died two years before she was born. Dove had never remarried, and as far as Sarah knew, she hadn’t even dated after that. She always thought it was sad that her grandma had spent the rest of her life alone, but the older woman had always insisted that you only find true love once.
She laid the photos aside and squinted to read the first entry in the journal.
Dec 5, 1941
Dear Jack,
Jack? The other man in the photos?
We said our goodbyes last night, and I’ve yet found a reason to smile. The United States joining this war has already caused my heart to break. I admire your courage and strength, my dear Jack, but I am angry and scared. Angry that you have left and scared that you won’t return. I have no way to contact you. I have no idea where in this world you are, so I will write to you in this journal, until someday I can give it to you.
This violence overtaking the world is cruel and senseless and I wish no part in it. But I have no choice—the biggest part of me, my heart, is with you. Fly safe, my love. Be safe. And come home to me.
Dove
Sarah sat blinking, staring at her grandmother’s script handwriting on the yellowed page. Then her gaze moved to the picture of the unknown man.
Jack? Her grandmother had called himmy love.
Holy shit.
She picked up the pictures, along with the news clippings, and closed the book quickly, a shiver dancing down her spine. Dove had never mentioned a Jack. Ever. She’d been right about her grandmother having secrets, and this journal obviously held her grandmother’s confessions.
Sarah opened the bedside drawer and put the journal inside, unsure if she’d read anymore. What she already had had shaken her.
You only find true love once.
Sarah had always assumed her grandma had been talking about her grandfather.
Chapter Nine
His in-laws’ house was like taking a step back in time. And not entirely in a good way. Their older bungalow near the highway stretching along the coast was a museum of the past. His past. And Kelly’s.
