Page 14 of A Room By the Sea

When she was done with the first one, she stepped back and admired her work. The first three shelves had been filled with the yarn—there was a lot of it—and the other shelves she’d filled with old books, magazines, and letters, which she’d tucked into some square baskets for protection. The attic was dry and they’d carefully checked it for any signs of mold, but she still wanted to treat the letters with loving care. Not only were they historical artifacts in their own right, but they were also artifacts that belonged to her family. When they had the time, she and her mother and grandmother were looking forward to reading through them together. If they found anything particularly interesting or directly related to the history of Coral Sands, they wanted to frame those letters and hang them up in a part of the house where they wouldn’t be damaged by sunlight.

She started to wander around the room some more, looking for more items she could put away on another empty bookshelf. A moment later, however, she stopped and looked down at a chest, her mouth popping open in surprise.

I didn’t see this when we were moving stuff, she thought eagerly, kneeling down in front of the chest. I wonder if this was Grandma’s? Is it a hope chest?

The wooden chest, which had been painted beautifully in pastel colors, had the name “Elaine” painted across the top of it in beautiful swirling letters.

She opened it, greeted by the fragrant aroma of cedarwood. The chest was filled with a variety of items, most of which had been organized into smaller boxes but many of which were tumbling across the center of the chest as if they’d been dislodged from their places when the chest had been moved.

Michelle picked up a pair of baby shoes with a coo of delight. “Grandma, you were so tiny,” she gushed. Next she pulled up a baby quilt that she felt sure had been made by hand. She dug further into the chest, finding high school awards, various trinkets like necklaces made with seashells and a jar filled with keepsake rocks, and souvenirs from trips to Hawaii and Europe.

She found a leather-bound photo album and pulled it out. Her heart stirred when she saw that it was filled with pictures of Elaine and Michelle’s grandfather, Thomas. Michelle vaguely remembered her grandfather, but she knew more about him from what Elaine and Audrey had told her about him. She remembered his kind eyes and his big white beard that scratched her face when he kissed her cheek. Elaine and Audrey had told her what a kind-hearted, hard-working, fun-loving man he was.

Michelle looked through the photo album for a few minutes, feeling her heart ache for her grandmother. The love that Elaine and Thomas had shared had clearly been extraordinary.

She set down the album and began to rummage in the trunk again. At the bottom of the chest, she found a stack of letters that were tied together with a baby blue ribbon. She reached for them curiously and sucked in her breath when she saw that they were letters from Thomas to Elaine. Immediately enthralled, Michelle carefully untied the ribbon and unfolded the top letter.

She paused, biting her lip. Although she was dying to read the letters, she wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do.

These are Grandma’s personal letters, she thought. Grandpa wrote them to her, and I probably shouldn’t read them—that would be overstepping.

She stared down at the letter, noticing that her grandfather had very nice handwriting. He had a uniquely small print, with rounded letters. Michelle smiled, feeling as if her grandfather was close to her in that moment. The letter smelled faintly of cinnamon and cloves, and she wondered if it had simply taken on the scent of other things in the chest, or if the smell was somehow a lingering aroma that had come from Thomas.

Unable to control her curiosity, Michelle started to read the letters, biting her lip and wiggling her toes as she read sweet and affectionate sentences that proved how much Thomas had adored Elaine.

She read letter after letter, becoming more and more absorbed in the words she was reading. Every once in a while, she told herself that she should stop, but her curiosity and wonder kept getting the better of her and she couldn’t help continuing to read.

The letters began at the very beginning of Elaine and Thomas’s relationship, and Michelle was fascinated by the revelation that Elaine had left only a month after they had begun dating to go on tour with a small ballroom dance company for two months. It was clear from the way that Thomas talked about it that it had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it meant that they had only corresponded through letters for those two months.

Grandpa clearly loved her already, Michelle thought. He’s so sweet in these letters. Even though they hadn’t been dating that long, he wanted to wait for her and wrote to her almost every day.

She laughed over the silly jokes he wrote to her and placed her hand on her heart when she felt deeply touched by seeing how supportive he had been. She grinned as she read a letter in which Thomas had written to Elaine about how excited he was to finally see her. He’d written, “I am counting down the days until I get to come pick you up at the airport. One more week!”

“You seem like you’re having fun.”

Michelle squeaked and whirled around. Elaine was standing in the doorway of the attic, arching a brow at her granddaughter. She held a plate of macaroons in her hand, and Michelle guessed that she had brought them up to the attic as a snack for her.

“Hey!” Michelle laughed, recovering from being startled. “I had no idea you were there.”

“You seem to be in your own world.” Elaine came forward, smiling.

“Actually, I was in your and Grandpa’s world.” Michelle gestured sheepishly at the letters.

Elaine stepped closer, a light shining in her eyes when she looked at the letters. She set the plate of macaroons down in her granddaughter’s lap and took the letter Michelle was handing her.

A look of wonder crossed Elaine’s face as she gazed at the letter. “Where did you find these?” Elaine asked. “I couldn’t remember where I put them—I’ve wanted to read these again for a long time.”

“They were in your hope chest,” Michelle said. “I’m sorry I read them, Grandma. I kept telling myself I shouldn’t, but then I couldn’t stop. Grandpa was such a sweetheart, and he loved you so much.”

Elaine smiled. “There’s no need to apologize. It makes me happy that you wanted to read them.”

“I really did.” Michelle excitedly but carefully handed her grandmother the rest of the letters. “You and Grandpa had an epic love story! Imagine you going away for two months only a month after you and Grandpa met, and he didn’t bat an eyelash and said, ‘Okay, I’ll just keep writing you all these sweet letters until you come back.’ The way he was so steadfast in supporting your dream and waiting for you to return is an inspiration. He knew right away that you were the one for him, it’s obvious from the way he wrote to you.”

Tears filled Elaine’s eyes. “He really was something special. I definitely knew from the first moment I met him that we could make a life together. It wasn’t love at first sight, exactly, but it was like I knew right away and all the feelings came later.”

Michelle squeezed her grandmother’s hand. “I’m so sorry he passed away.”

“I am too.” Elaine sighed. “It’s easier now than it was at first, but I still miss him so much. I miss having that companionship, you know? There’s something about having a partner that—well, I always slept better at night, knowing he was right there with me.”