AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With him still out of work for a few more weeks, he’d picked up surfing and I watched him practice every day. It was October, but we still had some hot summer temperatures. Soon, Jensen would have to return to work and the wintertime would be coming. I was glad we had this time together.
Jensen sipped his coffee and ate one of the fresh blueberry muffins I made this morning. He nodded over at the dresser that stood out of place in the corner of our living room. It was a piece of furniture from my apartment in Boston and as our bedroom had plenty of space, we wanted to move it in there as we needed the extra storage. The rest of my things were in storage until I could find people who wanted them.
“Did you decide where you want that in our room?”
I walked over and set my empty cup on the counter. “Yep. We just need to move the bed to the opposite wall between the windows, and that’ll give us more room to put the dresser on the other.”
Jensen chuckled and ate another bite of his muffin. “Sounds good to me.” His grin widened. “Think you might want to try getting on the board today?”
He tried to pull me into his arms, but I playfully pushed him away. “Definitely not. I looked like an idiot the last time I tried. I’m pretty sure someone took a video and it’s probably all over the internet.”
Jensen laughed. “Maybe you’ll go viral.”
He reached for me again and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m perfectly content watching you do your thing,” I said.
Smirking, he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. “Come on. Let’s get this done so we can head out.”
He let me go and I followed him down the hall and into our bedroom. My bed was a sturdy, mahogany frame with special pads on its legs to make it easier to slide across the floor.
Jensen went to the opposite side and tilted his head. “You ready?”
Nodding, I gripped onto the bed. “Yep. You pull, I push.”
We started moving it across the room when I suddenly stepped on something and my foot slipped. Luckily, I caught myself before stumbling down to the floor. When I looked at what I had stepped on, my eyes widened when I noticed my grandmother’s handwriting on a small light blue envelope.
My heart stopped as I stared at it.
“What the . . .?” I whispered, reading the instructions my grandmother had written under my name:only open if I am no longer here.
Jensen picked it up, his brows furrowed curiously. “This is interesting. She must have hidden it under the bed somewhere.”
He held it out to me, and now my heart started to race. The house had been searched from top to bottom to see if I could find more hidden things from my grandmother, but I couldn’t believe I had never thought to look under my own mattress.
“What do you think it could be?” Jensen asked, his voice soft as he sat beside me on the bed.
With trembling fingers, I slid them under the flap to open the envelope. “I have no clue,” I replied, my stomach fluttering with nerves.
It was obvious my grandmother wanted me to find the envelope . . . eventually.
Once the flap was open, I slid the folded letter out and tears burned my eyes as I read the last words my grandmother ever wrote me.
My dearest Everleigh,
If you are reading this letter, it means I am no longer with you. Well, either that or you didn’t follow my instructions to open this when it specifically said to do so only if I was gone. If I am still alive and you’re reading this, then hopefully, I’m prepared for your questions. However, if I’m not on this earth anymore, I just want to tell you how much I love you and that I never intended to keep any secrets from you. This will be very confusing, but I need to tell you some things.
I’m hoping that with me leaving you the house, you’ll find your way back. Oak Island is your home, and it’s where you belong. If there was one wish I could’ve made for myself, it wouldn’t have been for more money or a longer life . . . it would’ve been for YOU to be happy. I know you love your job in Boston, but even I know your heart longs for something else. There was a time when my heart did, too. And it’s because of that I’m going to tell you one of my innermost hidden secrets that I’ve kept to myself all these years. No one knows, not even your mother.
To be loved passionately and to love passionately is one of the best and scariest feelings a person can experience in their life. That’s why I pushed you to work things out with Jensen all those times. I loved your grandfather, Everleigh, I did with all my heart. But there was a time when I loved another before him. He was very special to me, and I often wondered what would’ve happened if things had turned out differently. But if they had, the universe wouldn’t have aligned for you. I know none of this makes sense, but it’s about to.
When you love someone as deeply as I have, it’s hard to let them go. If you look under the fifth floorboard from the wall in my bedroom, you’ll find a notch where you can lift it up. Underneath is a box full of old love letters. It was too hard to part with them, so I hid them. Also, there’s a secret note hidden in the box with a set of coordinates and a lock combination. The coordinates will lead you to Airlie Gardens, and the combination is what you’ll need to get inside the box hidden in the ground beneath the bench.
A gasp escapedmy lips and I looked at Jensen. His eyes widened and he waved his hands for me to speak.
“What did you read? I’m only at the part where she said she knows you love your job in Boston.”
My heard raced as I held up a hand, indicating to Jensen that I need to read on. “This is wild. We’ll talk about it in a minute. But, first, I have to finish reading the rest.”
Then, afterward, we were heading straight to Airlie Gardens.
