3. Linda #2
“I didn’t say right away,” Michael assured them and gave a nervous laugh. “Maggie only just managed to secure her divorce.”
“So that good-for-nothing is now finally out of Maggie’s life for good!” George sounded pleased.
“Yes,” Michael confirmed. “But not before trying to get half of her boutique and his new fiancée’s knock-off shop to be amalgamated with Maggie’s exclusive brand.”
“What a weasel,” George choked. “That man… I don’t know what she saw in him.”
Uncle George had seen Maggie as his own child when she’d lost her parents and came to live with them. He was very protective of her, as he was of all of his family.
“She was young,” Linda reminded him. “I guess we all made mistakes.” She looked over and smiled at her brother. “The only one who did was Michael.”
“I got lucky,” Michael’s voice dropped, and his eyes darkened with emotion. “Twice now.”
“You really did,” George and Linda said in unison.
“You were also lucky, Uncle George,” Linda pointed out to George. “Even though it didn’t work out the first time…” She grinned at the look on her uncle's face as Linda neatly steered the conversation back to Anna. “I think your second chance of love is with your first and only true love.”
George sighed, and Linda saw the look of defeat on his face when he realized she was not letting this conversation go.
“Anna and I have talked,” George admitted. “As you know she has retired from lecturing at the college in Charleston and has decided to move back to Sweet Blossom Bay.”
“That’s wonderful news, Uncle George,” Linda said, her eyes and heart lighting up for him.
“Looks like everyone really is coming home,” Michael smiled.
“What do you mean?” George’s eyes were curious as he looked from Michael to Linda and then back to his nephew.
“Well,” Michael started. “I’m moving here; Linda has already basically moved here.”
“That is the best news,” George stated, sighing. “And it makes my old heart soar with joy.”
“That’s not all,” Linda told him. “Ethan and Olivia are going to move here and start a clinic in Sweet Blossom Bay where the old campground across from Hearts Hotel was.”
“What?” George’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really?” He stared at Linda as if he was dreaming. “That means that Sophia and Jake…”
“Yes, they will be here all year round now,” Linda said with a nod.
“And Ryan and Brooke are also moving here and opening a marine and wildlife center also in the campgrounds that will span across the street into the wetland beside Hearts Hotel,” Michael added.
Tears sprang into George’s eyes as he looked at his niece and nephew. “My whole family is coming home?”
“They are,” Michael and Linda chimed together.
“This really is the best news ever,” George sighed and slid down into his pillows. “I’m sorry, I’m feeling a little sleepy.”
“Of course,” Linda and Michael said, standing.
“We’ve drained you,” Linda’s voice was laced with guilt.
“No,” George assured her, shaking his head. “You’ve just given this old heart so much joy that now it will mend even faster.”
George's eyes started to slip closed, the heavy blankets rising and falling in a slow, tired rhythm as the evening shadows lengthened across the linoleum floor.
He looked so small against the stark white hospital sheets, a far cry from the proud patriarch who had spent decades guarding the bay's shoreline.
Linda leaned closer, gently squeezing his rough, calloused hand to keep him anchored for just a moment longer. "Before you drift off, there's something else we need to tell you. Something we've been holding onto."
George's dark eyes fluttered open, focusing on her face with a sleepy curiosity.
“After all the good news, I hope this isn’t the other shoe dropping and about some more bills?" he mumbled, his voice a dry, raspy scratch.
"No," Michael said with a meaningful laugh. He leaned his broad frame over the bed rail, resting a hand on his uncle's shoulder. "No bills. Actually, it's the opposite of bills. It's the best news we've had in years."
Linda felt an emotional lump swell in her throat as she looked at her brother, then back down at her uncle. "You know how you've always worried about what would happen to this coast? About the family legacy when you're no longer running the hotel?"
George offered a slow, tired nod, his jaw tightening slightly. It was a silent, painful truth he had carried alone for far too long.
"Well, you don't have to worry anymore," Linda whispered, a bright, tearful lilt lifting her voice. "Not only are we all coming home for good."
George blinked, his gaze shifting slowly between his niece and nephew as if trying to process the words through the lingering haze of his medication. "What is it?"
"The hotel is saved,” Michael told him. “Everything is clear now, Uncle George.”
A faint, disbelieving spark lit up the old man's glassy eyes. He swallowed hard, his fingers twitching against Linda's palm. "Are you serious?"
Linda leaned forward, her heart pounding against her ribs as she watched the raw realization dawn on her uncle's face. They would only give him the full breakdown when he was better, but he needed to know that he didn’t have to worry about the hotel any longer.
“Yes.” Michael looked up, and his eyes caught Linda’s. “The new man in Linda’s life played a big part in getting it back for us.”
“Linda’s got a man in her life?” George turned his sleepy eyes to his niece. “Oh, honey, I’m so glad for you.” He looked at Michael. “For all of you.”
The silence in the hospital room grew thick, the only sound being the steady, rhythmic ticking of the cardiac monitor.
George didn't speak. He lay still against the white pillows, but his chin began to tremble, and a single, heavy tear leaked from the corner of his eye, tracking slowly down his wrinkled temple.
For decades, he had lived under the crushing assumption that his stubborn sacrifice was in vain, that the younger generation had moved on to bigger cities, leaving him to guard a decaying fortress alone.
Hearing that his struggle had actually brought his family back to the coast, that his nieces, nephews, and their children and grandchildren were all returning to live and work under the Sweet Blossom Bay sky, was the ultimate medicine.
And the cherry on top was that the hotel was saved. Their legacy would live on.
"You crazy kids," George finally whispered, his voice cracking with a raw, emotional vulnerability that made Linda's own eyes spill over. He squeezed her hand back with surprising strength, his knuckles white against hers. "You really did it."
"We did," Linda murmured, leaning down to press a gentle kiss against his forehead. "So you have to stay strong. You have to focus on your recovery, because we're going to need our senior consultant to keep us all in line."
"Darn right," George mumbled, a tiny, weak shadow of his usual stubborn grin touching his lips as the heavy pain medication finally began to pull him back under. Michael let out a delighted chuckle. "This is the best news ever."
George's eyes drifted closed, his breathing slowing into a deep, peaceful rhythm as he slid back into a restorative sleep. The monitor's steady count sounded lighter now, carrying a hopeful beat in the sterile room.