Page 14 of Second Chance at Sunshine Inn

Everleigh stood silently as surprise—soon followed by guilt—filled her heart. Had Alana told her she was ill, she would have broken her contract with the hospital in Houston. Whyhadn’tAlanaasked her to come home? Oh, how Everleigh wished she had. She would have jumped at the chance.

Everleigh tried to push past her feelings by forcing her lips to curl into a smile. “Do you live here on the grounds?”

He pointed toward the large picture window at the far end of the dining room. “In the apartment above the garage.”

“Huh.” She nodded.

An awkward silence expanded between them.

Finally, Cade stood up straight and folded his arms over his wide chest. “You going through Alana’s things?”

“Right.” She’d almost forgotten the purpose of her visit. She started across the kitchen, her Birkenstocks slapping the hardwoods. “My mom’s already in her suite.”

Cade only nodded. “I’ll be around then,” he said, stepping backward toward the entry. “We can talk later.”

“Okay.” Once he was out of sight, she walked down the hallway, passing two guest rooms, the laundry room, and an office, until she reached the doorway leading to Alana’s suite. Everleigh rested her hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath.

She pulled the door open and entered the suite. It was just as she remembered: a sitting area decorated with the same lumpy gray sofa, worn coffee table, and flat-screen TV. Beyond it was the door to the bathroom and the bedroom. Everleigh ran her hand over the back of the sofa and recalled the nights she’d slept on it after watching movies and eating popcorn and ice cream with Alana. They were some of her best childhood memories.

She padded to the bedroom doorway and stopped. Mom sat on Alana’s double bed, wiping her eyes with her fingers as she flipped through a photo album. Everleigh jumped into action, hoping to ignore the sadness blooming inside her. She sat beside her mother and looped her arm around her shoulders. “What are you looking at?”

“Do you remember the time we went on vacation with Alana?”

“You mean the time we drove to Florida and ran out of gas on I-95?” Everleigh asked.

“Right.” A smile broke out on Mom’s face, and relief tumbled through Everleigh. Mom pointed to a photo of her, Alana, Everleigh, and her siblings standing by their broken-down SUV.

Everleigh took in Alana’s bright smile in the photo. She’d always thought she was lovely and larger than life with her dark hair, petite nose, and contagious laugh.

“We spent hours waiting for a tow truck, and it was so hot. We sang Dolly Parton songs trying to keep our minds off how humid it was. And Landon kept whining that he wanted to go to SeaWorld.”

Everleigh laughed. “I had forgotten about that.”

They spent the next half hour going through the photo album and reminiscing, but they finally had to pull themselves away. They had a job to do, after all. Everleigh located a few empty plastic containers in Alana’s walk-in closet, and they started packing them with Alana’s mementos.

Everleigh chose a spot on the floor, opened one of Alana’s desk drawers, and found it full of folders. She flipped through file after file full of artwork Everleigh had given her, beginning in preschool. She pulled out drawings of stick figures at the beach and stories Everleigh had composed in messy handwriting.

She found another folder that held the detailed business plan for their nonprofit, Helping Angels. Everleigh had emailed it to Alana, and her godmother’s comments and suggestions were written in the margins in her beautiful script.

“An angel always finds its way to you, even in your darkest moments.”

Even though Alana was gone, their dream could live on. And one day, whenever she opened an office for the nonprofit, Everleigh was going to have an artist paint her godmother’s words onto the entrywall to remind people that hope can always find you, even when you are lost.

At the sound of a jingling keychain, Everleigh spun toward her mother on the other side of the room and smiled.

“I think these are her car keys. You should drive Alana’s car until yours is delivered.” She tossed the keys, and Everleigh caught them.

She recognized the little metal keychain with the words “I Heart U.” Everleigh had bought it for Alana years ago, and she still used it. The sweetness was almost too much. Alana had held on to every drawing and gift, yet Everleigh hadn’t even bothered to come home to see her for almost two years. Guilt moved in and set up camp.

She set the keys on the dresser and then stood. “I’m going to get a glass of water. Would you like one?”

Mom shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. Go ahead.”

Everleigh jogged out to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, then took a long drink. She rested her arms on the sink and dipped her chin. This day was turning out to be even more difficult than she’d imagined. Part of her wanted to respond to the constant calls she was receiving from the agency recruiter, take the first hospital position she could, and get as far away from Coral Cove as possible—but she knew that was a coward’s move. She had to stay until Alana’s affairs were settled.

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