Page 130 of Rebel Bride
Hatch had done that for Victor? And he hadn’t breathed a word about it. That was so sweet, but then everything about Hatch Kershaw was.
The phone on Victor’s desk rang. “Yes, Mr. Carter. Right away.” He turned to me and said, “You can go up now, Miss Landry.”
“It’s Summer,” I muttered.
My internship had ended yesterday in Rockford, and this morning I drove to Chicago to see Dash. He’d unblocked my number and was apparently receptive to the idea that I would visit in person and apologize for how much I’d hurt him.
Again.
But first he needed to exert another power play. For fifteen minutes, I had been forced to wait in the lobby.
I was to squirm.
I was to grovel.
I was to crawl to him on my knees.
That’s when it struck me.
Shelby Mae would never.
What was I doing here when the one person I truly wanted to see was less than a mile away? I had messed up with Dash, and I had apologized for doing so. I wasn’t going to apologize for the circumstances of my getaway, or the fact I felt free for the first time in years, or that Hatch was the man who made all that possible.
Was the man I loved.
And I did love him. So fucking much.
I took a step back from the lobby desk.
“Miss Landry?” Victor frowned as I backed up even further.
“I won’t be seeing Mr. Carter today.” Or any day. I refused to give him any more of my power.
“You won’t?” Still baffled.
“No need for you to do a thing, Victor. Enjoy the cupcakes!”
The firepit’s flames flickered, casting shadows on the various plants and flagged stones around the patio. I pulled the fleece blanket tighter around my shoulders, hoping to fight off the chill of the night as well as my doubts.
He wasn’t here.
After abandoning my visit to Dash, I had tried to surprise Hatch at his condo. When he didn’t answer, I called Addy, who said he’d gone to Saugatuck. So here I was, aiming to surprise him with a grand romantic gesture.
The only one surprised was me. The house was shuttered, the rooms dark. I had retrieved the key from under the stone frog, and now I was sitting outside because I felt closer to him here than anywhere else.
Sending him a text after going dark for so long seemed weird. But I needed him to know I was trying.
Funny story …
I came to the lake to find you. Kalamazoo, not the other one.
You’re not here.
Then I waited. Each moment that passed without a response was absolute torture. Distancing myself from him had seemed like the best option, but once our secret became common knowledge, a new clarity overtook me. I had an idea about how to make things work, but first I needed to talk to Hatch. See if he felt the same, if he had felt the void of separation as deeply as I did.
If he could see his way to forgiving me for pushing him away.
I checked my phone again, its silence damning. The night air edged cooler, the flames started to dim, and with them my hopes of?—
