AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jensen let me go and laughed, clutching my hands. “It sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought. Why that date?”
I breathed in the warm, salty air. In the fall, it’ll be cooler, the perfect weather.
“Because I want a fall wedding,” I explained. “And it gives me two months which is more than enough time to plan something beautiful.”
Jensen glanced down at our clasped hands. “Thereissomething we have yet to discuss, Everleigh.” His gaze lifted and he turned to focus on my grandmother’s home. “What do you want to do about our living situation?” Before I could answer, he shifted his attention back to me, his lips spreading into a grin. “Because I was thinking,” he said, eyes twinkling, “that if you wanted to live here at Hide Away by the Sea, I would happily sell my place or rent it to Nyla.”
It took all I had not to scream for joy. “You’d do that?” I exclaimed excitedly.
He pulled me into his arms, his expression genuine. “I’d do anything for you, Everleigh. You know that.”
I knew we’d have to decide where we would live at some point, but I didn’t want to suggest he sell his place on the sound. I knew he loved it there.
“What about your house? You love it,” I stated.
Jensen shrugged. “I do, but . . .” He glanced over at my grandmother’s cottage, and it was as if I could see so many memories swirling in his eyes. “I love that place more. There’s only one suggestion I feel I have to make,” he added.
I lifted my brows. “And that would be?”
He pointed toward the house, a wry smile curling at the corner of his lips. “We might have to turn the library back into a bedroom.” Then he winked. “We’ll probably need the space if we plan on having more than one kid.”
The thought of that sent waves of delight rippling through me until I could hardly contain myself; I was way past ready to start trying for a family. Jumping in his arms, I kissed him hard.
“I am so good with that. If you take me inside right now, we can get started.”
Jensen chuckled against my lips before lifting me into the air and twirling me around in his strong arms.
Setting me down gently, he smiled at me mischievously. “And then, after that, we should go to Airlie Gardens and check out those coordinates. I’m curious to see why your grandmother noted them down.”
I was too, and I was also wondering what the other numbers on the paper were. Of course, it could be the combination of a lock somewhere, but there was no safe or anything like that in the house.
However, I did look forward to finding more clues to my grandmother’s hidden secrets, but first . . . I was ready for Jensen and me to start our own new adventure.
* * *
It waslate in the afternoon when we made it to Airlie Gardens, but it was perfect because there weren’t many people there. Out of curiosity, when we paid for our tickets, I asked the event organizer if they had any availability for a wedding in the next two months. It turned out they were booked up for events for almost a year and a half. It didn’t bother me, though. I was perfectly content marrying Jensen by the ocean behind the house we were going to spend the rest of our lives in.
Hand in hand, Jensen and I took our time walking through the gardens. Everywhere we looked there was something spectacular—winding paths lined with azaleas, lush lawns dotted with camellias, and majestic trees offering shade from the heat of the day. The whole place made you feel like you had stepped in another time.
Jensen held up his phone, and I squinted to make out the small map on the screen. A bright blue dot illuminated the exact coordinates we had to get to.
We followed a path with live oaks towering all around us, their branches drooping with lush Spanish moss that draped overhead like an ethereal blanket. My heart raced faster as I watched the dot on the screen getting closer.
Jensen let out a wry laugh when he noticed how energized I was becoming. “Any guesses what we’re going to find?” he asked.
Puzzled, I shrugged my shoulders. “No idea,” I replied, unsure of what to expect in a public area—there weren’t any secret compartments or hidden floorboards here.
When we arrived at our destination, my eyes widened with surprise, and I stopped dead in my tracks. A bench was nestled among vibrant blooming bushes and flowers with Spanish moss hanging from the branches of giant live oaks above. Immediately, something about this place seemed strangely familiar.
Jensen started toward the bench but paused when he realized I wasn’t following him. He glanced back over his shoulder at me and narrowed his eyes with concern.
“You okay?” he called out as I rummaged through my purse.
My heart raced as I unzipped the inside pocket where I knew I’d left the photo my grandmother had stashed in the book at home.
“What do you have there?” Jensen asked.
I pulled out the picture and held it up to see the resemblance. It was uncanny how it all looked the same.
