The Inn at Summer Island

by Rachel Magee

  “I should’ve come sooner,” she whispered.

  She could almost hear her aunt’s voice whisper the one piece of advice she often gave to Millie. “The past is behind you, dear girl. Focus on what’s to come.”

  Hopefully whatever was in the locked drawer would help firm up the shaky future of Seascape.

  “The moment of truth,” she said to Bear. He sat up next to her, his ears perked.

  She slid the key into the lock and rotated it. There was a clicking sound as the lock disengaged. She did a little victory shimmy and then pulled the drawer out. The very first file was titled “Seascape Business Documents” in her great-aunt’s neat cursive writing.

  “Bingo.” She lifted the folder out and opened it on the desk. Excitement glimmered through her. The document on the top was the hotel operating license. But that wasn’t all. Behind it was the certificate of occupancy and the fire safety permit along with a host of other official-looking documents for Seascape Inn.

  “Woo-hoo! We found it, Bear!” She broke into a seated version of a happy dance. This didn’t solve all her problems, but it proved that Seascape Inn was perfectly legal and operational—even if it wasn’t operating—up until her aunt was admitted to the nursing home.

  She neatly stacked the documents and closed the folder. “Tomorrow, you are coming with me. We are making some copies!”

  As she slid the folder to the center of the desk, she caught sight of something else. There, next to the mug she’d abandoned earlier, was the stack of envelopes tied together with a red ribbon she’d found the other day when Braxton was here.

  Still floating from her success, she pushed the mug aside and picked up the stack, wondering what kind of important documents it contained. She slid the first letter from the stack without untying the bow and carefully pulled the folded piece of cream-colored paper from the matching envelope. A single gold C was stamped into the top of the stationery.

  February 4, 1955

  My darling Mildred,

  Millie paused as a different kind of excitement sparkled through her. These weren’t official property documents but handwritten love letters to her aunt. The only handwritten note Millie had ever gotten that was even slightly romantic had always come on the inside of a store-bought Valentine’s Day card.

  She refolded the bottom third of the letter, covering the bulk of the words, and contemplated if she should read it. Aunt Mildred had never married or had a lover, at least not one she’d presented to the family. Which meant these were very personal, private letters meant only for her great-aunt to read.

  The other part of her, the part that loved happy endings and wanted to believe in fairy tales, couldn’t pass up the chance to read the sweet words of someone falling in love.

  “You don’t think she’d mind, do you, Bear? At this point, it’s considered history not snooping, right?”

  Bear continued chewing on his bone which she took as affirmation. Millie settled into her chair and unfolded the letter.

  My life during the last four days has become more colorful. The trees that line my walk are a brilliant green. The yellow feathers on the finch that nests outside my window seem more vibrant. And, as of late, the rich azure ocean sparkles as if it’s full of jewels.

  All of this is because of you.

  Your radiance brightens the world around you. Your joy overflows and enhances everything in your path. I myself have never felt as alive as I do when I am with you. How blessed I am, my darling, that you have come into my existence. Though it hasn’t been long, my heart already beats for you.

  Always,

  Millie dropped the letter to her lap and stared at Bear. “People don’t write letters like this anymore. Just imagine…” She picked it up again, reading the sweet words out loud. A warmth fluttered in her chest as she imagined what it must have been like for a young Mildred to read this on a balmy, starlit February night.

  She picked up the ribbon-wrapped stack and thumbed through it. There had to be at least twenty letters there. She slid out the next one. The date was February 14.

  Dearest Mildred,

  I’ve just left you, and I can’t help but count the minutes until I am in your presence again. When I’m with you, I feel like a man who can fly. You give me wings, and your exuberance is the wind that carries me off the ground.

  Tomorrow evening seems a long time to wait until I can see you again, until I once again can fly in your presence. But until then, I will relive every one of our moments together. Until then I send you all of my love.

  Always,

  Millie read three more letters after that, each more beautiful than the one before it. The love radiating from the old yellowed paper caused the swell in her chest to rise.

  “But none of them are signed,” she said to Bear, reexamining the envelope for any hint of the author. Other than the gold C at the top of the stationery, there was no identifying information on any of them.

  “Who’s Aunt Mildred’s mystery Romeo?” She leaned back in her chair, looking for clues in the photos hanging all around the room.

  Aunt Mildred had never married. On one of Millie’s last visits, she’d asked her aunt about her decision to remain single.

  “Life, my dear, is full of all kinds of adventures,” she had said. “Choosing some adventures means leaving other ones behind. But don’t ever get so caught up on what was left in the past that you don’t get to appreciate the excitement waiting for you.”

  At the time, Millie thought she was advocating an independent life, but what if it was something else? What if it wasn’t a missed opportunity she left behind but a heartbreak?

  One thing Millie knew for sure was that Aunt Mildred had been involved in a love story. Of course, the story thus far was one-sided and lacking a lot of information, but Millie was dying to know how it ended.

  Chapter Eight

  Friday evening, Millie quit her projects earlier than normal to make it to her first neighborhood book club on time. The last thing on her list for the day was to check the mail. So she walked out to the rusted old mailbox next to where her long drive met the street and pulled out the handful of envelopes that were inside. She flipped through them as she strolled back to her house.

  Electric bill. She skipped right over that one since she didn’t need whatever astronomical number was inside to ruin her perfectly good mood. A letter from a local insurance company claiming they could save her hundreds on her car insurance. She highly doubted their claims would hold true if she actually called for a quote, but depending on the electric bill, it might be worth a shot. Then she got to the envelope on the bottom.

  Millie rolled her eyes. She’d already received a letter from the Oceanside Estates HOA earlier this week. It had been a formal warning of a deed restriction violation—leaving trash cans out—signed by her trusty neighbor, Braxton Bossy-Pants Channing.

  Why send her a formal warning after telling her about it in person? It was a waste of a stamp, but she was glad it made him feel better. She’d filed the letter in her kitchen trash can, to be dumped in the very same receptacle that got her in trouble in the first place. It only seemed fitting.

  Millie let out a huff as she tucked the other letters under her arm. She wanted to file this one in the same place as the last one, but since the board held the fate of her B&B in their hands, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the paper inside.

  To the valued property owner of 121 East Shore Drive,

  It has been brought to our attention that one or more aspects of your property is out of compliance with the Oceanside Estates Deed Restrictions. Please address the item(s) listed below.

  Requested legal documentation not submitted

  *Please note that the HOA executive board will not be able to consider your formal grievance if these document(s) are not submitted.*

  This is your first warning rega
rding the above violation(s). You will be given ten (10) days to rectify this matter.

  Thank you for your cooperation and dedication to keeping Oceanside Estates a wonderful place to call home.

  Kind Regards,

  Braxton Channing

  Oceanside Estates HOA President

  A cold anxiety swirled in her gut as she remembered the documents still sitting on her desk. She’d gotten so distracted by the love letters that she’d forgotten to make the copies or take them to Braxton.

  “But, really? He had to send me a formal warning? That’s so unnecessary,” she said to Bear who was waiting for her on the front porch. She headed straight to her office to grab the file folder with the documents in it, letting her anxiety and embarrassment morph into anger. If he was so desperate to get it, she’d drop it by his house right now. She might even tell him exactly what she thought about all of his formal letters while she was at it.

  She headed to the kitchen to grab her keys, letting the anger fuel her, only to find Bear sitting next to the back door with his leash in his mouth. The sight added another pang of guilt to her already complex assortment of emotions.

  “Oh, right. I promised you a walk, didn’t I?” She checked her watch. “How about we walk down the beach to get to Braxton’s. That way you get a walk and I get to drop off these papers along with a piece of my mind.”

  Bear wagged his tail in response, which she took as the go-ahead to tell Mr. HOA President what she thought of his formal letters. She could always trust Bear to be on her side. She clipped on his leash and they headed out the back door.

  It took her walking halfway across her wide backyard for her thumping pulse to drop to a normal-ish level. To her, the world didn’t offer a more stunning view than this one right here, and it always caused a sense of calm to wash over her. She loved the way the sea oats sat atop the sand dunes and swayed in the breeze as if beckoning her to the beach. The greenish-blue of the waves that gently rolled into the shore reminded her of the color of her favorite crayon as a child. The private deck that led over the dunes to the beach always felt like a sort of magical bridge leading from reality to paradise.

  Of course, the bridge didn’t look magical at the moment. It more closely resembled a rotted pile of jagged splinters that almost guaranteed a trip to the doctor for a tetanus shot. And it currently was the thorn in her side. Somehow, this item had been missed when they were making up the original budget. But since it was hard to offer beachfront accommodations without beachfront access, it had to be done.

  “You’re on the list. We’ll get to you soon enough,” Millie said to the structure as she navigated over it, careful to step on the parts that looked the least rotted. Once she got to the other side, she stepped onto the beach and slipped out of her flip-flops, letting her toes sink into the sand.

  She took a deep breath of the salty air and let it go, along with the rest of her annoyance. “We have an HOA who hates us, a boardwalk we have no idea how to repair, and the only functioning toilet has to be manually flushed from inside the tank,” she said, unhooking Bear’s leash. “But we live here, Bear. In a house that gave me all the best summer memories. And I’m not ready to give that up.”

  Bear wagged his tail at her words, then bounded past her into the water, jumping over the small waves rolling into the shore. She strolled down the beach, mentally going over what she was going to say when she saw Braxton. She wanted her words to be well thought out and pack the most powerful punch. It wouldn’t hurt if she had the perfect last line she could deliver right before she turned on her heel and marched away like one of those stick-it-to-’em scenes she loved in movies.

  She was so involved in her own thoughts that she missed the figure walking down the beach until she was less than twenty yards away from the very person she was coming to see.

  Only, it didn’t look like the Braxton Channing she knew. He was wearing his signature button-down shirt and shorts, but his shirttails were untucked. He was squatting down at the water’s edge with his adorable daughter pointing at a crab scuttling across the sand in front of them.

  As soon as the crab scurried into the water, Braxton picked up the little girl and tossed her in the air. She was only a few inches higher than his hands, but it still elicited a round of giggles. The smile on his face was best described as fatherly adoration.

  Millie stood there for a second taking in the sweet father/daughter scene and trying to reconcile the serious man sending her HOA violation letters to the doting father in front of her. While he still had his faults—lots of them—it was becoming more and more evident that there was also a soft, caring side. At least when he was around his family.

  The spirited speech she’d planned out in her mind started to fade away.

  Bear, who’d been preoccupied with the waves up to this point, froze as soon as he noticed the other people on the beach, his head cocking to one side.

  “Oooohh! Doggie!” The little girl screeched and held both hands out, as if in an attempt to grab the dog, while looking up to her dad for permission.

  Bear, who loved kids more than any other humans, wagged his tail and bounced in anticipation.

  It was time to announce herself, whether she was ready or not. After telling Bear to sit and stay, she awkwardly held up the file in her hand, suddenly feeling guilty for encroaching on their family time. “Hi. I’m coming over to deliver the documents you asked for.”

  It took a second for recognition to register on Braxton’s face. When it did, he nodded once. “Great.”

  Meanwhile, the little girl seemed unfazed by Millie or her documents and made a beeline for Bear. “Hi, doggie! Hi!”

  Braxton scooped up the kid before they reached Millie and her dog.

  “Is it okay if she pets him?” Braxton asked.

  “Absolutely. He loves kids.” Millie stepped closer to her dog.

  Braxton lowered Alice to the ground next to Bear, and immediately she grabbed fistfuls of the curly fur on his head with both hands.

  “Be gentle, sweetheart.” He scratched behind the dog’s ear while keeping a protective eye on Alice. Bear panted happily. “He’s a nice doggo, huh?” Braxton said to his daughter.

  As if agreeing with him, Bear stood, licked Alice on the cheek, and trotted off.

  “Doggie!” Alice squealed in delight and went with him, leaving Millie and Braxton to follow along behind them.

  “I guess you haven’t officially met my daughter Alice yet.” Braxton kept his eyes on the little girl.

  “She’s adorable. How old?” she asked.

  “Two,” Braxton said. “Well, two and a half and one hundred percent sugar and spice and fearless.” He glowed with pride as he watched his daughter, which Millie found endearing. Doting father looked good on him.

  “Fearless is a good thing. You need a bit of fearlessness to do great things.”

  Braxton diverted his attention long enough to look at Millie. “Like moving someplace new and taking on the HOA on your first day in town?”

  She smiled and a streak of warmth shot through her. He thought she was fearless? “It was my second day in town. And that was necessity. I didn’t have an option.”

  Braxton nodded. “I’ve had some experience with necessity myself.” A hint of sadness passed over Braxton’s face as his gaze returned to Alice. The little girl was examining a piece of driftwood that had washed onto shore, Bear at her side.

  “What did you find, Little Foot?” Braxton stepped up to look at the log with her.

  Millie watched them, captivated by the sweet gentleness he had around his daughter. There wasn’t a contest about which of them had to be more fearless. Suddenly, becoming a single father to a newborn baby didn’t even compare to renovating a house, and he seemed to have conquered his role with excellence. All she had to do was watch YouTube videos to figure out how to replace the flushing mechani
sm in a toilet, and it still wasn’t working.

  After a few seconds, Alice and Bear took off again, and Braxton dropped back to where she was.

  “What’s on your agenda for the rest of the evening?” he asked. “More solo roof repair? Standing on the top rung of the ladder with a chainsaw to trim the palmetto palms, perhaps?”

  “I haven’t tried the ladder against a palmetto…yet.” She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face, and she tapped her chin as if she were considering the hazardous idea. “But that will have to wait because tonight I’m going to a book club that Sophia and Tessa invited me to.”

  “Ah yes, the neighborhood book club. From what I hear, there’s a lot of talking but it rarely revolves around the book.”

  “Since I only read the first chapter, that’s not a bad thing. Plus, it’ll be nice to spend the evening in a house where I don’t have to step over power tools and stacks of two-by-fours.” She bent down and picked up a large pink and white shell that was just above the water line. “How about you two. Any big plans on this Friday night?”

  “Absolutely. After our pre-bedtime walk, we have our own nightly book club. Right now, Alice and I are reading a riveting family saga about a baby bird trying to figure out who is her mother.” He gave a nonchalant shrug. “I hate to give anything away, but it has a pretty good plot twist at the end with a big, scary crane.”

  Millie chuckled, thinking about the famous children’s book she’d read when she was younger. “Sounds like a good way to kick off the weekend.”

  “The best.” He stared at his daughter with an adoring look in his eyes. “Then one of us is going to hit the hay while the other gets caught up on work.”

  “Tell Alice not to work too late. It is the weekend, after all,” she teased.

  He shot her a playful look that sizzled through her. “I’ll pass the wisdom along.”

  This conversation had taken a very different turn than what she had planned when she first stepped on the beach. And what surprised her even more was that she was enjoying this twilight stroll with her dog and his daughter. What was happening here?