Page 21 of Searching for Sunshine

“Wyatt, that woman has to be ninety years old,” I tell him, my eyes wide.

“Yep. She’s harmless, but this is a bit much for me,” he admits just as Miss Clara walks over and uses her cane to push Miss Eleanor back into her chair.

“You may proceed,” she yells as loudly as she can from the shore before sitting back down in her own chair and picking up what looks like a knitting project.

Trent looks between us, waiting for directions about what to do until Wyatt whispers, “Let’s get this thing going again, huh?”

“Right, sorry. It’s time for vows. Wyatt, you’re first,” Trent tells us, reading off the paper in his hands.

I’m only half listening as Wyatt recites his vows, overwhelmed with how fast this is all happening. After a moment, Wyatt squeezes my hand and whispers, “It’s your turn, Stella.”

I shake my head, realizing I completely zoned out during my own wedding before giving Trent and Wyatt a warm smile. “I got distracted. I’m so sorry, but could you repeat what you just said.”

“No problem. Let’s try this again. Stella, please repeat after me,” Trent says, as he starts reciting the traditional vows again from a paper in front of him.

“I, Stella Hale, take you, Wyatt Robinson, to be my lawfully wedded husband,” I say, trying to focus on keeping my voice steady as I repeat the rest of the vows.

As soon as I finish, Trent turns to Wyatt. “Do you have the rings?”

I look around in panic, realizing ring shopping never occurred to me over the last week. “Here you go, I’ve got ’em both,” Wyatt says, and I look at him in surprise.

God, this man really thought of everything. What kind of wife am I making him buy his own wedding ring?I think, breathing a sigh of relief as he pulls both rings out of his pocket.

It doesn’t take long for us to exchange rings, and before I know it, Trent gestures to us. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Wyatt, you may now kiss your bride.”

Wyatt smiles and reaches out, cupping my face before leaning down and kissing me gently. The kiss only lasts a few seconds, but I feel myself melting into him the same way I did when he kissed me in the hut.

He pulls back and whispers, “You were right, Stella. I’m glad we practiced.”

I laugh at that just as Trent turns to the shore full of people and yells, “I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt Robinson.”

The crowd screams and cheers, and Wyatt grabs my hand to lead me back down the dock. Despite the fact that we didn’t plan for everyone to find out about the wedding, I have to admit that the decorations they set up are beautiful. There are orange and white flowers on all of the posts that perfectly match the sunset behind us, and the lights twinkle off the water.

“God, can you believe we’re married?” I whisper as we walk back down the makeshift aisle.

“Yeah, I know we’re doing this as friends, but I wasn’t expecting it to feel that damn real.”

“Same,” I admit. “Here’s to a year of friendship and married bliss, am I right?”

“Hell yeah. It’s wild how much can change in a week, huh?” he says and I can’t help but laugh.

“God, has it really only been a week?” I sigh. “I feel like the last few days have been such a whirlwind. In the last few weeks I lost my job, moved to a new state, inherited a hotel, married my childhood friend, and walked into a fucking lizard living in my bedroom.”

“Damn, well, when you put it like that…” he says. “But despite how crazy everything’s been, I think we’re making thebest of this whole situation. And I’m glad you ended up back in town.”

“Yeah, I always loved spending the summers here,” I admit as the crowd of locals heads toward us.

“Are you still feeling that way?” Wyatt whispers, taking in the mass of people heading our way. “Because at this exact moment, I'm kinda wondering why I haven’t gotten the hell out.”

“Come on, they’re harmless. And I’m pretty sure they won’t ever leave us alone if we don’t acknowledge them,” I say, and he gives me a look just as Miss Clara hobbles over as quickly as she can.

“Hey, there. You know, when I saw the announcement in the paper this morning, I didn’t think it was real. I figured there was no way you wouldn’t have mentioned it yesterday, and I’ve gotta say, my feelings were hurt. But then I remembered what it was like to be young and in love. We could barely keep our clothes on, so I’ll give you a pass this time.”

“Oh, um, thank you for that,” I tell her, and Wyatt shoots me a look over the top of her head.

“All right, well, on that note, we have a lot of people to see, but yeah, we’ll see you later,” I tell her, pulling Wyatt away before she can say anything else.

“One down, at least a hundred and fifty-seven to go,” I murmur to him, and he groans.

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