Page 129 of Rebel Bride
“‘A lot’ is putting it mildly.”
His grin was wry. “I only tell you so you can learn from my mistakes. Well, not only was your mom determined to handle her pregnancy with you as independently as possible, we also had the problem of your grandparents.”
My mom’s parents were once grifters, meaning they bilked people out of their savings and used their daughters, my mom and my aunt Amy, to help them with their scams. Mom was well out of their schemes by the time she met Dad, but she kept her past a secret because she was worried he would think she was out to swindle him.
The woman didn’t know Theo Kershaw at all.
But I did. I knew exactly what my dad would have done. “You tried to deal with them?”
“Uh huh. I paid them off. In my defense, I felt that this was the best way to keep your mom stress-free in the final months of the pregnancy. She didn’t quite see it that way. According to her, I was patriarchal and infantilizing and a whole bunch of other big words I can’t remember. So I hear what Summer’s saying. She gave up her job because someone she thought she loved or she thought loved her told her she didn’t need it. That job meant a lot to her, right?”
I nodded. “And I thought getting it back for her or something like it would make her happy.”
“But were you thinking of her happiness or were you thinking of your own? And I know we like to assume that they’re one and the same. But not always. When I paid off George Butler, I convinced myself this was for Elle’s benefit, but really it was so she would see me as her protector. Her savior. I had ulterior motives that aligned with my preferred self-view.”
This sounded a little too familiar.
“I want Summer to be happy. I thought the job would make her happy. I also thought it would keep her in Chicago. With me.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Is it so selfish to want her with me? To want to carve my own path?”
So we weren’t just talking about Summer.
“No, son, it’s not. But she needs to figure out what she wants first, without pressure from you.”
“But what if she figures out this job is all she wants? Or that she doesn’t love me like I love her?”
My father looked at me, more serious than I’d ever seen him. “That’s always possible.”
So not what I wanted to hear. “She said that I fell for someone I didn’t even know. That I couldn’t possibly be in love with her because that person didn’t exist. She was just some princess I put on a pedestal. And maybe that was true, once. But not now. I got to know her, Dad, the real her. That’s the Summer I fell for.”
She had never told me she loved me, though, and for the last two months, I’d sat with the knowledge that the debacle with the job was just an excuse to cut me loose.
“You’ve given her time to think on it. You have a couple of days after training camp ends and the pre-season games begin.” My dad leveled his gaze at me. “Time to make your play, Dino Boy.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Summer
* * *
My phone was blowing up with notifications, as if I needed anyone to tell me what was wrong. I had fucked around, and boy was I finding out.
I needed to handle this in person.
So here I was, adulting the hell out of it, yet still feeling like a fraud as I stood before Victor in my old apartment building. With cupcakes.
“You didn’t have to do that, Miss Landry.”
“It’s Summer. And I never thanked you properly for saving my belongings. I hope that didn’t get you into trouble.”
“It was a pleasure. And no trouble. A couple of days after Mr. Nyquist picked up your stuff, I got a visit from Mr. Kershaw who told me not to worry. Gave me his number and said to call if”—he lowered his voice—“Mr. Carter tried to punish me for going against his wishes. Said he could get the team’s lawyer to assist with any employment issues. Luckily, Mr. Carter didn’t retaliate except to act a little cold to me, but it was nice to know a guy like Mr. Kershaw would think of a guy like me.”
Yes, it was. “Theo is one of the best.”
“Not Theo. Hatch, Kershaw the Younger.”
