Page 52 of Searching for Sunshine

He rushes over to me and I smile at him. “I promise, I’m fine. I was cleaning and I just found this letter that Memaw hid for me.”

I hold it out to him and he takes it, reading it quickly and smiling when he finishes. “Damn, that woman really was something. But she’s right. My granny was always swearing up and down that we’d end up together. She actually pressured me to reach out to you right before she died, but I was already dealing with so much here, it just didn’t seem like the right time.”

“Well, thanks to Memaw’s scheming, it worked out anyway,” I tell him, dropping a quick kiss on his lips. “Now, are you ready to break the news to our friends that this fake marriage actually isn’t so fake anymore?”

Wyatt groans and runs his hand over his face. “God, don’t get me wrong, Stels, I’m so happy we’ve worked this out between us, but what if we just don’t tell them anything? They’re never gonna let me hear the end of this.”

I giggle at his expression and pretend to think about it. “Well, we definitely don’t have to tell them. But there’s no way I’m keeping this from Avery. Do you think she can keep it a secret?”

“Fuck, we definitely have to tell them.”

“That’s what I thought,” I say with a laugh. “Now, let’s get ready to go.”

CHAPTER 24

WYATT

“Hale, party of seven,” the hostess yells. Stella waves her hand.

“That’s us,” she calls, and we follow her to a large corner booth that looks out over the ocean.

“This place is so cute,” Chloe says, and Avery and Stella nod in agreement.

“I bet some of our bachelorette groups will love this place for Saturday brunch,” Stella agrees.

Avery pulls out her phone and taps away in her notes. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’m adding a reminder to include this place as a suggested restaurant on the handout we give everyone at check-in.”

“Damn, the two of you really think of everything,” Trent says, and Avery shrugs.

“We try. So far, we’ve had some happy customers and they’ve already started booking for next summer, so it seems to be paying off.”

“That’s awesome. We’ve already seen a huge increase in sales at the store,” Bennett says.

“Same thing with The Sand Bar,” Everett agrees.

“So, speaking of next year, have the two of you decided what you’re gonna do with the hotel once this whole fake marriage thing is over?” Trent asks, and everyone goes quiet as they wait for our response.

“Uh, funny you should ask,” Stella starts, looking at me and I nod for her to continue. “We actually finally decided there’s nothing fake about what’s between us.”

The table goes silent before Avery lets out an excited screech. “I fucking knew it.”

“About damn time,” Bennett mutters and Chloe cheers in agreement.

Stella and I both laugh at the reaction before Trent asks, “Wait, so just to be clear—you two are finally admitting there’s something real between you, right?”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Yes, dumbass, that’s what we just said.”

“Hell yeah, I won the bet,” he yells and Stella and I look at each other in confusion.

“Bet?” I ask, looking between my brothers and best friend. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“There may have been a friendly wager between us,” Bennett answers, refusing to look at me.

“On what, exactly?” I ask, waiting for them to fess up.

“We made a bet on how long it would take for you to pull your head out of your asses and admit that the two of you wanted to be together.”

Stella laughs, and I mutter “Asshole” under my breath.

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