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She wouldn’t meet my gaze as she stared out at the sea. “I read your grandmother’s will. In fact, I’ve known what was in it for many years.”
“O-kay,” I replied unsurely. “I’m pretty sure she left everything to you, right? Or at least that’s what I’m hoping.” She shook her head slowly, and my heart sank into my stomach.
“Not me . . .” she answered.
My mouth dropped open. “So, help me God, please tell me not Sandy, Mom.”
Smiling sadly, she turned back to me and cupped my cheek. “Not Sandy, sweetheart.You.Your grandmother left the house, her belongings, and everything to you.”
Eyes wide, I stared at her in complete and utter shock. Grammy never gave me any indication that she was leaving everything to me. I didn’t know what to think. “Why wouldn’t she leave it all to you?” I cried.
A tear fell down her cheek. “She loved you so much. And she knew this house meant a lot to you.”
And it did.
My whole life was spent here. While my parents worked, I stayed with my grandmother, and it had been that way since I was a baby. The same went for Jensen. With Jensen and his family living right beside my grandmother, it was how we became such good friends. We were together almost every day of our lives. After school, there would always be some kind of treat waiting for us, whether it be my grandmother’s famous ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies, which were my favorite, or her milk and dark chocolate brownies with extra chocolate chips that were Jensen’s.
The Hide Away by the Sea house was full of bittersweet memories. It was not only my second home with a woman who was basically a second mother to me, but it was also where mine and Jensen’s relationship grew. He was always helping my grandmother fix things around the house, whether painting the siding, changing light bulbs, or fixing the kitchen sink that constantly got clogged up. Thinking about it now, those memories were so long ago that none of it seemed real. Those days were long gone.
My gaze was fixed on the horizon, my chest tightening with confusion and despair. A part of me wanted to leave my life in Boston and flee to the sea, but I knew I couldn’t. My career demanded too much of me, and years of hard work hung in the balance.
Tears stung at the corner of my eyes. “What am I going to do?”
My mother’s warm fingers gently moved up and down my back in a soothing rhythm. “Only you can answer that, Everleigh. You’ll make the right decision, I’m sure of it.”
But how could I decide when all I felt was a vast emptiness that seemed to consume me completely? If this were eleven years ago, I would’ve had Jensen by my side. He always knew what to say to make me feel better. Leaving him had created an irreparable void inside me, but now instead of one gaping hole, there were two, with no hope of them ever being filled.
4
EVERLEIGH
The past two days went by in a blur. People came in and out of my parents’ house to offer condolences and leave baked goods for the family. It was now time for the funeral, and I was nowhere near ready.
I chose a simple black dress and curled my hair because my grandmother liked it that way.As I looked around the congregation, I recognized every single face. However, there was one person I dreaded seeing, but luckily, he wasn’t here yet.Jensen would never miss my grandmother’s funeral. She loved him as if he was her own grandson. She spent just as much time with him as she did me.
A long time ago, I loved him, too; a part of me still did. It took me finding out about his engagement to realize how stupid I was for letting him go. I had missed my chance at true happiness. My grandmother made it a point to remind me of that every time I saw her. I kept hoping that maybe Jensen had changed over the years, that I made the right choice in leaving and never looking back. He could easily have become an arrogant ass I wouldn’t get along with now. It was those thoughts I tried focusing on to make me feel better about my stupidity. Then again, I couldn’t imagine that being the case with Jensen. He always had a big heart, was loyal to his friends and family, and sure knew how to have fun. What I loved about him was that he had a way of making things interesting. We once got in trouble with the law when we vandalized the main road by painting a picture of our school’s mascot on it during graduation week. We got caught after the police found traces of the exact red paint on our hands. They told us the infraction wouldn’t go on our permanent record if we cleaned up the mess. It took two weeks to get the paint cleaned up. It was an experience I was never going to forget.It was also something the community made sure not to forget either. Everybody knew everyone. We were just like what you see in those small-town romance movies.
It wasn’t like that in Boston. The hustle and bustle of the city life was exciting, but there was something about the slow pace of my seashore town that I missed. Mostly, it was the people and the way of life; it was wholesome, pure, and safe. Nothing bad ever happened here.
As I sat on the front pew with my mother, father, and aunt Sandy, we listened to the preacher, James Tomlinson, honor my grandmother with stories of her life and accomplishments. But honestly, it would take countless hours to mention everything the infamous Rachel Holt was known for. She was an Oak Island legend, a woman of many talents.
“Rachel Ellen Holt was an amazing mother,” James began. “She was a caring grandmother and a loyal friend. Many would say she was gifted beyond belief. She was an artist, an inventor, and she even had a knack for plants. She’d been approached numerous times by companies wanting to get her perfume recipes, but Rachel wouldn’t have any of it. Those were her secrets. The people of this town knew how special Rachel was.”
Murmurs of agreement echoed throughout the church. Even James had his own stories to tell. My grandmother had babysat him when he was a little boy. Now he was sixty-two years old with a head full of white hair. It was amazing how many lives my grandmother had touched.Hearing all the stories was just what I needed. There wasn’t a single dry eye in the crowd.
I held my mother’s hand, and we laughed and cried as others went up to the podium to regale everyone with their tales of the famous Rachel Ellen Holt. Instead of a burial, my grandmother wanted to be cremated. Her picture sat on display beside the urn my mother had picked out to hold the ashes. It was made of pewter and had butterflies engraved all around it. My mother planned to keep the urn on her fireplace mantle. If my grandmother were around to see that, she’d roll her eyes and tell my mom to stop being ridiculous and just toss her ashes into the sea. The ocean had always been the love of her life besides my grandfather. Now they were together again. That thought brought me comfort.
Once the choir finished singing“Amazing Grace,” Preacher Tomlinson returned to the podium.
“Thank you, everyone, for joining us today in celebrating the life of Rachel Ellen Holt. She played a huge role in our community, and I know she’ll forever be missed. We all loved her.” His attention then turned to me and my family. “If you’d like to come up, I know there are many people who’d like to offer their condolences.”
My mother stood first and took my hand in hers, the warmth of her skin calming my racing heart as she led me up to the front. My father stepped beside us, his suit jacket stretched at the shoulders as he placed a gentle hand on my mother’s shoulder.
Standing next to me was Sandy, dressed in a stylish black pantsuit with an exaggerated bow tied around her neck, her heels added a few extra inches to her already tall frame. I watched her closely for any sign of emotion, yet not even a single tear emerged from beneath her dark eyelashes. I had known my aunt all my life, but the only thing that mattered to her was money. After she heard she only inherited a small sum of my grandmother’s fortune, she didn’t attempt to hide her true feelings. Instead, she became even more rude and selfish to my mother and me. I was way past ready for her to leave town. The longer she stayed, the harder it was for me to bite my tongue.
I glanced over at Sandy and grumbled under my breath. “I see your family couldn’t be bothered to show up today.”
She huffed in irritation and answered with a forced calmness, “Bradley and Hannah are still away at college, and my husband is in Washington DC.”
