Page 12 of Rebel Bride
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said sullenly. It was kind of fascinating to see a bad-tempered Summer. She was usually all glitter and unicorns, a total Miss Sunshine, not that I’d ever bought it.
My guess was that Carter encouraged her to quit. He made a tidy sum playing hockey, but the family billions were the true jackpot. No way would the heir to the Dominion Hotel Group want his wife working in the front office for his team. He probably expected her to stay home, nesting and keeping house.
If I had billions, would I expect my wife to play Susie Homemaker and prep for the passel of kids I’d fill her with? I like to think I’d be open-minded enough to let any wife of mine choose her own path. But the partner of a hockey player often had their life circumscribed in ways partners of civilians did not. The threat of trade was ever present, and a trade upended a family. It was hard for a spouse to build a career that was location-dependent when their husband’s took precedence. That might have sounded harsh, but it was the reality of a pro-hockey athlete’s life.
“Seems like the least of your worries. You’re going to have to talk to Carter sometime.”
“Not now.” She stood, grasping her skirt, and headed over to the edge of the pond. For a second I thought she might hurl herself into the water, but then she pulled out something from a hidden pocket at the side of her dress. A moment later, the pond’s surface was dotted with pieces of cracker. Momma Duck and her two babies attacked.
I moved forward to stand beside her. “You just happened to have crackers?”
“Rosie gave them to me because I barely ate anything for breakfast. Told me to nibble on them, but I think these little guys need them more.”
Something shifted in my chest. Rosie was one of my closest friends and she’d already texted asking me where I was. My absence from the church had been noted.
What I had noted was that Summer was thin. Too thin. Like she needed those crackers. Maybe it was a bride thing, losing weight to fit in your dress, but I suspected more. Over the last few months while we skated our asses off to get to the Finals, Summer had always looked drawn and tired, even during the post-game celebrations.
I might not like her much, but I hadn’t enjoyed seeing that. She was supposed to be happy and healthy, gearing up for her big day and thrilled at her man making it so far in the playoffs.
“What do you want to do, Summer?”
She startled at my gentler tone. “That’s the first time you’ve said my name to my face. Not just today, but ever.”
I doubted that was true, but I was in no mood to argue with her.
“Next steps?”
“I just want to get away from here. I can’t face them. Any of them.”
“What about your family?” Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen anyone from the bride’s family at the rehearsal dinner.
She shook her head, her eyes welling with tears. If I were a gentleman, I would have taken her in my arms, folded her skinny frame up tight, and comforted her as best I could.
But I wasn’t a gentleman, not where Summer Landry was concerned.
Instead, I said the dumbest thing I could think of:
“I’ve got somewhere you can hole up for a while.”
Chapter Five
Dash Carter in “Jilted at the Altar” Shocker!
In a stunning turn, guests at the wedding of Chicago Rebels forward, Dash Carter, the Dominion Hotel Group heir, were shocked to learn that the nuptials were cancelled—and the bride, Summer Landry, was nowhere to be found. Dash’s best man, Saxon Carter the Third, made the announcement to the congregation of four hundred at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Riverbrook, just a few miles north of Chicago.
* * *
“Apparently she left without a word, not even to Dash,” Zara Jacobs, wife of Rebels center, Cody Jacobs, observed. “No one saw it coming.” Peyton Bell, Rebels forward and one of the groomsmen, reported that the couple had always seemed very happy, though they had broken up several times in the early days of their courtship. “But each time, they found their way back to each other. They were perfect together.” One guest, who asked to remain anonymous, commented, “No one would ever have thought Summer capable of this. She always seemed like such a nice girl.”
* * *
It looks like there’s more to the runaway bride than meets the eye. Get ready for a “summer” of Rebels drama, or as we like to call it in the Hot Goss bullpen, R-Drama. We’ll be bringing you the tea as it’s poured!
-@HotGoss
Summer
