Page 11 of Searching for Sunshine

“Shit, sorry. I got caught up on the way here,” I explain, walking over to the bar where he’s sitting.

“Caught up? There’s less than a mile between here and your apartment. What in the hell happened?” Trent asks, making it clear he’s not letting the topic go.

I’m just opening my mouth to respond when Everett, my other brother and the owner of The Sand Bar, comes out of the stockroom in the back with a new bottle of whiskey.

“Hey, Wyatt, where have you been? Trent told me you were coming over an hour ago.”

“Well, I—” I start as Bennett, my best friend, walks over from where he was playing pool in the corner. Bennett and I have been friends as long as I can remember, and he runs the local surf shop here in town. He’s like another brother to me, and we usually meet up at least once a week for dinner, but I didn’t realize he was coming here tonight. Great.

“Hey, Wyatt, what took you so long? Trent told me you’d be here an hour ago,” he says, interrupting me.

“Holy shit. I didn’t know my whereabouts were such a big fucking deal,” I mutter, rubbing my hand over my eyes in frustration.

“Come on, man, don’t be a dick. You just weren’t answering anyone’s calls, and it’s not like you to be late. Everything okay?” Bennett asks, leaning against the bar while Everett grabs us all a beer out of the cooler.

I wince, realizing he’s right, before answering, “Yeah, everything’s fine. But I guess I do have some news. I wouldn’t make a big deal about it, but as soon as the news gets out this town is gonna go fucking nuts, and I’ll probably need y’all’s help anyway.”

Trent raises his eyebrows at me waiting for me to continue. “Uh, dude, what the hell happened?”

Bracing myself for their reactions, I sigh. “I’m getting married on Thursday. And I’m moving into the High Tide Hideaway for the next year.”

Both my brothers and best friend stare at me for a moment before they all burst into laughter.

“Damn, man, I know you’re not usually one for jokes, but that’s fucking hilarious. But in the future, you’re gonna want to make your pranks a little more realistic. Getting married on Thursday. That’s a good one, man,” Trent says before they all look up at me.

They must see something on my face, because after a moment Trent tells me. “Okay, joke’s over. You can laugh now.”

“I’m not joking,” I tell him, and the whole table freezes.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Bennett’s the first one to speak. “Uh, what? I don’t think I heard you right. Did you just say you’re getting married?”

“Yeah, I’ve only had two beers, but I must be a little tipsier than I realized because that’s what I thought you said too,” Trent says, scratching his head in confusion.

“Uh, I’m pretty damn sober, and I heard the same thing,” Everett interjects, and all three of them turn back to look at me.

“We’re going to need a whole hell of a lot more explanation on this one, Wyatt,” Bennett says, and Trent and Everett both murmur in agreement.

“Okay, fine. Do y’all remember Stella Hale?” I ask my brothers and they nod. I turn back to Bennett to explain, “Stella was Mrs. Betty’s granddaughter.”

“The one who ran the Hideaway for years, right?” Bennett asks.

“Yeah, that’s her. I know you weren’t always around during the summers while we were growing up, but our grandmothers were best friends. Stella came to stay with Betty every summer and since we were already living with our grandmother at that point, we spent a lot of time together.”

“God, the two of you were basically attached at the hip when she was in town. I remember our grandmother always told us that you had the biggest crush on her,” Everett says with a laugh, and I can’t resist the urge to roll my eyes at my younger brother.

“I did not have a crush. We were just friends,” I argue, turning back to my best friend.

“Basically, it started because our grandmother and Betty had a weekly lunch date. Even when they were taking care of us all, they only brought us along so they could see each other. And over the years, we just stayed friends when Stella was in town. Our grandmother volunteered us for odd jobs at the hotel as we got older, and Stella always kept us company because she didn’t know a ton of people in town.”

“Yeah, I think I remember meeting her one summer.”

“That sounds right. Well, anyway, we all know Mrs. Betty died a few months ago, but Stella only found out today that her grandmother left her the Hideaway in her will.”

“Okayyy,” Everett says, dragging out the word. “That’s great and all, but I don’t understand what this has to do with you getting married. We haven’t seen Stella in what? Ten years?”

“I’m getting there, okay? Betty left her the hotel, but there were some strings attached. In order for her to take over, she has to be married and she has to agree to live on the property and manage it with her husband for at least a year. Otherwise, she forfeits the place and it gets sold to some money-hungry land developer.”

“Damn, that sucks, man,” Trent says. “But have I missed something? I don’t mean to sound like a dick but what does this have to do with you?”

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