Page 8 of Searching for Sunshine

“I—I—I came to meet with Mr. M—M—Marshall an-and he said that I—I need to t—take over the H-Hideaway and get mar—married,” she says between sobs. Her body shakes with the tears and she’s crying so hard she has to gasp for breath between each one.

“Stella, wait. I need you to calm down. Take a few deep breaths for me, okay?” I say, trying to keep my voice steady as she continues to cry.

“I just don—don’t know where I-I went wrong,” she cries and her breaths quicken again as she continues to get worked up.

I kneel on the ground so I’m at eye level with her and grab her hands. “Stella, look at me. We can figure out whatever it is that’s going on, but for right now I just need you to breathe.”

Her smaller hands shake in mine as she takes a few small breaths before muttering, “I feel—like I’m gonna—have a-a panic attack. Meds—in th-the back seat.”

I jump up and open the back door looking for the meds she was talking about before grabbing the small prescription bottle and holding it out for her to take.

“I—I’m sorry,” she pants, taking one of the small pills before leaning her head back against the headrest and closing her eyes. She continues to cry and take deep breaths as I kneel back on the ground and lean against her open door.

“You’re going to be okay, Stella,” I tell her, making sure to keep my voice gentle. “Just breathe and then you can try to tell me exactly what’s going on.”

We sit like that for a while in silence. I’m vaguely aware of my phone vibrating repeatedly in my pocket, and I pull it out to make sure everything’s okay while I wait for her medicine to kick in. I roll my eyes when I see that I have more than twenty missed texts and calls from my brothers, and I scowl as I turn my phone off until I have time to talk to them. “Sorry, my damn family won’t leave me alone,” I murmur, tucking my phone back into my pocket.

Finally, she finally calms down enough to talk. “God, Wyatt. I’m so sorry. You must think I’m a complete disaster. You haven’t seen me in years and then you walk by me having a complete meltdown in my car. And I’m sure you have somewhere to be.”

She laughs weakly before reaching out to tousle my hair. “God, some things never change. Wyatt Robinson—always here to save the day. But no, really, thank you. It’s been a long time since I felt the start of a panic attack that bad, and I really appreciate you talking me through it. But unless you have an idea to help me find a husband in the next five days, I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”

I lift my eyebrows, trying to figure out what she means. “Husband? I’m sorry, Stella, but I’m completely lost. What’s happened that made you so upset?”

“Well, I drove down today because Mr. Marshall called me last week and said he had something urgent to discuss with me in person about my grandmother’s will. I thought it was going to be something minor like those books she loved to read or the creepy dolls she kept around to scare the extra bratty preteen guests back when we were growing up.”

“Oh my god, how did I forget about those? Remember when she and my grandmother set one up in my room after my brothers and I told her we didn’t want to come to her weekly lunches? I woke up and found it looking at me through the window in the middle of a thunderstorm, and every time the lightning flashed I was convinced there was someone looking in the window. It's been fifteen years and I still have nightmares about that thing.”

Stella laughs at that before nodding. “Yeah, she did something similar to me when I refused to stop texting at the dinner table while I was in high school. It’s definitely one of those memories that sticks with you.”

“Right, but anyway, so you met with Bernard?” I ask, and she lifts her eyebrows at me in question.

“Who the hell is Bernard?” she asks and I fight the urge to laugh at her bewildered expression.

“Bernard Marshall—he’s the lawyer you said you met with. Sorry, in a town this small you’ve gotta remember that everyone is pretty much on a first name basis. He moved here a few years after you stopped visiting.”

“Oh, gotcha. But yeah, I met with him and he started going over the stipulations of the will. And apparently, Memaw left me the High Tide Hideaway.”

“Wait, Stella, that’s awesome. So you are moving back? I know you always loved that place when we were growing up.”

She winces at my words and sighs. “I wish it were that simple. My grandmother left some pretty specific requirements, and as much as I want to make it work, I don’t know how.”

“I’m sure you can figure it out. What exactly are the requirements?”

“Well, I’ve gotta move here immediately and live on the property for at least a year. Which, now that I’ve calmed down, isn’t that big of a deal. I lost my teaching job last week, so it’s kinda coming at a pretty good time,” she rambles before continuing, “but she also added a stipulation that I have to be married in order to take over. And apparently, they had a hard time getting a hold of me so the deadline is the end of this week.”

I wince, finally understanding why she’s so upset. “Stella, that’s wild. I’m sure you can find a way to fight it.”

“Maybe you’re right. But if I don’t get married by the end of the week, the Hideaway will be sold to a developer and they’ll tear it down. So I’m out of time. And plus, Memaw left me a note explaining her reasoning, and a part of me will always feel like I’m going against her last wishes if I don’t do it her way, you know? But really, none of that matters, because I’m definitely not married. I’m going to have to let the place she and my pops worked their whole lives to build turn into rubble because I can’t find a husband,” she says, tears welling in her eyes.

I’m not usually an impulsive person, but as I watch her cry, my protective instincts rise and I don’t take the time to think. Before my mind can catch up, I decide to just go with it.

“Why don’t you just marry me?”

CHAPTER 6

STELLA

Iblink at him in shock, confident that I’ve heard him wrong.

---