Page 51 of Searching for Sunshine

Stella: Shut up!

Stella: Are you serious?

Avery: Yep, I checked twice to make sure. I think we’re gonna need to up our search for more staff.

Avery: The knitting club ladies are great, but Miss Clara almost took out one of the guests with her cane on accident yesterday and Miss Eleanor keeps hitting on the guests.

Stella: Shit, okay. I’ll ask around and see if we can get the listings pushed out to some of the neighboring towns. And up the ads we’re doing online too.

Avery: Already taken care of.

Stella: You’re the best.

Avery: I know ;) See you in an hour.

After reading her text, I throw my phone onto the sofa, start the washing machine, and run the vacuum through the living room.

“Duke, I love you, but between the sand you track in and all the shedding, I don’t think I’m ever keeping this house clean,” I say, pausing to empty out the vacuum for the second time.

My dog lets out a loud sigh at my feet and rolls onto his back, looking over at me expectantly. I bend down and pat his stomach with a laugh. “I know, I know. I’m not complaining. But it’s a good thing you’re cute,” I tease.

After running the vacuum for a while longer and finally deciding the floors will have to do for now, I turn to the bookcases in the living room that are still full of Memaw’s romance novels. I’ve avoided them for the last two months, feeling like going near them is the last remaining hurdle for coming to terms with her really being gone. But even from the other side of the room, I can tell the shelves are covered in a light coat of dust, and today feels like as good of a day as any to knock this off the to-do list.

I spend a few minutes going through the stacks as I dust the shelves, and I smile at some of the fun names on thetitles in front of me. I take one off the shelf and flip through it, immediately noticing my grandmother’s loopy cursive in the margins throughout all the pages. It makes me smile when I read her thoughts, and for the first time since she passed, I feel like I have a little piece of her back.

“God, Memaw, you really were one of a kind, weren’t you? I guess I’ve got some reading to do, huh?” I whisper as my eyes catch on a cream envelope peeking out of an alien romance.

Pulling it out, I feel my breath catch as I see my name written in all caps across the front. Taking a steady breath, I tear open the envelope and start to read.

Stella,

Hi, my sweet girl. I hope this letter finds you happily married and running this hotel with all the determination and excitement you’ve met every other challenge and opportunity with. But I couldn’t go without leaving you this note, further explaining the choices I’ve made.

By the time you read this, I’m certain you’ll have made a decision on what to do with the Hideaway. You know an old hag like me couldn’t go without having a little fun with this old place. But I want you to know whatever you decide to do, I’m so proud of you.

I worried for months that you may hate me for the decisions my final wishes required you to make, but I knew if you had the option to keep the Hideaway without ever stepping foot back here, you would take it. I hopeyou can forgive me but just know all I’ve ever wanted is what’s best for you.

I also knew if I let you take this on by yourself, you’d lose yourself in running this place and forget to fall in love or see your friends along the way. I hoped the provision of marriage forced you to find someone to shoulder some of this weight with. And I’ve always said there’s just a little bit of magic in the walls of this hotel, so I selfishly hoped these walls would lead you to your soulmate the same way it led me to your pops all those years ago. But if not, I hope you at least found a friend to make you smile and keep you from withdrawing away from the rest of the world when times get tough.

Over the last few years, I’ve watched you lose a lot of the light you had for life. You took on everyone else’s problems and let the world dim a lot of that sunshine you always had inside you.

But, my sweet girl, if you can promise this old woman anything, promise me you won’t ever stop searching for sunshine. Storms can come along and shake us to our core, but they don’t have to define us. I hope that moving here reminded you that sometimes you have to choose yourself, and in doing so, it’s also okay to ask for help from your friends.

I love you so much, my girl. Keep choosing joy and keep choosing you.

All my love always,

Memaw

P.S.—Just in case my intuition was right on who you picked to marry, tell Wyatt I said thank you for taking care of my girl. You two always had something special, and I hate that Meredith and I aren’t there to give you shit for how right we always were about the two of you.

I finish the letter, wiping tears from my eyes. Duke comes over and licks my leg in concern, and I pat his head. “It’s okay, buddy. These are happy tears.”

I reread the letter again and I can’t help but smile at how well my grandmother knew me. She had no way of knowing I’d lose my teaching job at the same time I had to make a decision about the Hideaway, but I know she’s right. If she hadn’t put any of the stipulations in place, I probably would have taken ownership of the hotel and continued to avoid this place. And I definitely would have tried to do it by myself.

Just as I’m wiping the last of my stray tears, the front door opens and Wyatt walks inside.

“Hey, Stels, I missed you today. I thought we could—” he starts, dropping his keys on the table by the door and stopping when he sees my tear-stained face. “What the hell happened? Are you okay?”

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