Seeing Wyatt Shaw so flustered, Yvonne Sutton didn’t have the heart to spoil his plan, so she pretended she hadn’t heard.
"What did you just say? I didn’t quite catch that."
"He said a donkey kicked him in the head and he needs to get it checked out at the hospital later." Fearing David Sutton would let sothing else slip, Wyatt Shaw quickly pushed him toward the door.
"He’s coming on a business trip with , so we’re leaving now. Rember, you have to go to the island tomorrow. I’ll be waiting for you!"
With that, he grabbed David Sutton and hurried away.
Yvonne Sutton waited until they were gone before she let out a laugh. ’He has no idea his surprise is already riddled with holes.’
The next day, Yvonne Sutton deliberately waited until after noon to take the boat to the island, wanting to give them plenty of ti to prepare.
Ms. Young t her and led her toward the villa.
"Madam, you must be tired from the boat trip. You can take a hot bath in your room first."
"That sounds good."
This ti, no film crew was using the villa, so she was able to stay there. In the second-floor master bedroom, Ms. Young had already prepared a hot bath and even arranged for soone to give her a spa treatnt.
By the ti she had finished enjoying the pampering Ms. Young had arranged, the sky had already grown dark.
"Madam, this is the evening gown Sir has prepared for you." Ms. Young brought in a wine-red, spaghetti-strap evening gown and a matching diamond jewelry set.
Without asking any questions, Yvonne Sutton changed into the gown, put on the jewelry, and followed Ms. Young downstairs.
The courtyard lights were all off. In the center stood a small round table and a single chair.
Ms. Young led her over to the chair and brought her a cup of coffee.
"Madam, please wait a mont. Sir will be here shortly."
Yvonne Sutton nodded at Ms. Young, then glanced up at the starry sky and the sea in the distance. A sea breeze caressed her face, whispering past her ears and carrying the sound of the waves.
She took a deep breath. The cool, fresh air was invigorating.
From the row of houses to the east ca the sound of whispering, of sothing being accidentally bumped into, and of people being shushed. She could guess that a lot of people were hiding there, waiting with her for Wyatt Shaw to raise the curtain on his surprise.
Yvonne Sutton nursed her cup of coffee for a long ti—so long that it eventually grew cold.
The mont she set her cup down, a slightly flustered Ms. Young hurried over and poured her another one.
Yvonne Sutton smiled at her. "I’m afraid if I drink too much coffee, I won’t be able to sleep tonight."
"Erm... Sir will be here any minute now."
"I’m not in a hurry. He must have been held up by sothing."
"Right, right. No need to rush."
After Ms. Young left, Yvonne Sutton stared blankly into her cup. The sound of the waves seed to fade, and the entire world fell silent around her.
A long, long ti passed. She didn’t touch the second cup, letting it go completely cold.
When Ms. Young ca over for the third ti, she could no longer conceal her panic.
"I’ll give him a call."
In truth, having sat there for so long, Yvonne Sutton already had a bad feeling. And just as she’d suspected, when she tried to call, Wyatt Shaw’s phone was off.
She let out a long sigh, rose to her feet, and faced east toward the houses. "Sorry to have troubled all of you. Wyatt Shaw was held up by sothing, so he won’t be coming tonight. I’d like to thank you all on his behalf. Also, since dinner has already been prepared, let’s not let it go to waste. Please, go ahead and start."
As she finished speaking, the courtyard burst into light. It was filled with string lights, brighter and more beautiful than the stars above. A huge, multi-layered heart had been laid out with red candles. It must have taken ages to arrange. ’A pity there’s no reason to light them now,’ she thought.
Claire Lawrence, Silas Rhodes, David Sutton, Chad Miller, Mrs. Miller, and many others erged, all looking completely at a loss.
"Yvonne," Silas Rhodes whispered, "my uncle must have gotten tied up with sothing. I’m sure he’ll co, no matter how late it is."
"That’s right," Mrs. Miller added. "Wyatt Shaw isn’t an irresponsible person."
Yvonne Sutton smiled at them. "I know. I’ll wait for him here. You all should eat and then go back to your rooms to rest. I’m so sorry about tonight, making you go to all this trouble for nothing."
She gave them a slight nod and then walked away.
"Yvonne, I’ll walk with you," Claire Lawrence said, catching up to her.
Yvonne Sutton shook her head. "I... I’d like to be alone for a little while."
Claire Lawrence still looked worried. Yvonne Sutton laughed. "You’re not worried I’m going to do sothing rash, are you? As if!"
"Well, just... get so air and then co back."
"Okay."
Yvonne Sutton waved for her to go back, then headed toward the beach.
’In truth, I’m not angry, or even sad and disappointed,’ she thought. ’If Wyatt Shaw really was held up, it must have been sothing urgent, and of course I can understand that. And if... if it was for so other reason... I can understand that too. It would just an we weren’t ant to be.’
Yvonne Sutton walked along the beach for a while, then noticed that the blue-and-white house in the distance was lit up. Her heart gave a hard thump, and she quickly headed toward it.
’Is he in there?’
Her pace quickened, until she was running. She reached the house and saw the door was ajar. After a long mont of hesitation, she finally went inside.
The room wasn’t large and was mostly empty, containing only a wide lounge chair. A blanket was folded neatly on it, as if waiting for its owner’s return.
The walls were white, and posted on them were many colorful pieces of paper.
She looked at the nearest piece of paper. A sentence was scrawled on it in a ssy hand: "Wyatt Shaw, when the wind blows across your face, you must think of ."
The handwriting was far from pretty, but it was full of personality.
She read the next one: "Wyatt Shaw, when you bask in the sun, you must think of ."
"Wyatt Shaw, when you’re standing sowhere far away, you must think of ."
"Wyatt Shaw, no matter where you are in this world, you must think of ."
"Wyatt Shaw, no matter who is by your side, you must think of ."
...
’How domineering,’ Yvonne thought. ’She demanded that Wyatt Shaw think of her constantly, no matter where he was or what he was doing.’
Yvonne Sutton read them one by one, until she got to the last one.
"Wyatt Shaw, you can only love for the rest of your life. If you fall in love with soone else, I will kill you, kill her, and then kill myself."
Yvonne Sutton frowned. ’Weren’t these the words of a madwoman?’
She paced around the room before stopping in front of the lounge chair. She picked up the blanket, lay down, and discovered a glass panel in the ceiling. Lying there, she had a perfect view of the brilliant stars.
’Hannah Abbott must have said it, too,’ she thought. ’"Wyatt Shaw, when you gaze at the starry sky, you must think of ."’
’So, this is where he ca to think of her.’
’And then he ran away, abandoning the surprise, the proposal, all of it.’
Yvonne Sutton let out a self-mocking laugh. ’Good thing I didn’t let on that I knew about his surprise. How awkward would that be right now?’
Just then, her phone rang. Thinking it was Wyatt Shaw, she quickly pulled it out, but the caller ID showed Silas Rhodes.
"Yvonne, I just got in touch with Mr. Webb. My uncle flew to Country M this afternoon. But I called his assistant, and they said it wasn’t on his company schedule, so it must be for personal reasons. Do you have any idea why he would have gone there?"
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