Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Summer
Five days had gone by since the grocery delivery to Hatch, and during that time, I took all the jobs Kennedy offered. None of them led me back to Hatch’s door, a sign that I was meant to stay away. It was good to be busy. To feel useful again.
Dog tired after an afternoon walking a chocolate Lab, a Chihuahua, and a Pekinese—which sounded like the start of a joke—I trudged into the apartment and was greeted by a lush wall of sound.
Motown, but slower than usual and not so upbeat.
In the living room, I found Adeline and Rosie belting out “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?” and swaying with martini glasses in their hands.
“Summer! Finally!” Rosie rushed over to hug me, her drink sloshing over the glass’s rim. “You’re missing Martini Monday.”
“It’s Tuesday.”
“Well, I had to work last night so we moved it to tonight, which means Taco Tuesday is now on Wednesday.”
“Give her a Scandi Noir,” Adeline said. “Oh, and her present!”
This adult beverage was well-known even to me, a martini created by Adeline’s great-grandmother in honor of Lars Nyquist’s grumpy vibe.
With great ceremony, Rosie poured a grapefruit-vodka-vermouth mix into a martini glass, added a twist of lemon peel, and passed it over. I sipped gratefully and took a seat.
“How was work?” Rosie asked.
“Peyton Bell sent me to Nordstrom’s to buy him underwear. I was instructed to get extra-large for his hockey butt.”
Adeline made a face. “Was it as weird as it sounds?”
“Actually, not so bad. I thought I’d be embarrassed to be reduced to errand girl for guys on the team after my previous lofty position as WAG, but I don’t mind it, really. I love walking the dogs. They’re my favorite.”
Rosie took a seat beside me and clinked my glass as the Miracles oohed the intro to “The Tracks of my Tears.”
“The dogs are awesome. Even more awesome, you got a delivery!”
“I did?”
Adeline put her glass down and picked up a box at the side of the armchair. “Someone sent you a present.”
Sure enough, that was my name on the label. The return address was something called Boarderie.
“Open it!” Rosie handed me a steak knife.
A minute later, we were gazing in wonder upon a gorgeously arranged cheese board. A handy legend listed off aged Gouda, Cranberry Wensleydale, a creamy Camembert, Rosemary-pepper crackers, figs, almonds, candied ginger, and more.
“Wow, that looks soooo good,” Adeline said as she picked up the accompanying card before I could. I knew who had sent it. Please God, let him have had the common sense not to own up to it.
Adeline read off the card, “Just in queso you need a friend, I’m right here. No name.”
“Cute.” Rosie narrowed her eyes at me. “Who sent this?”
“I really can’t say.” True to the letter, if not in spirit. I hated lying, but there was no way I could fess up.
“Looks like you have a cheesy admirer.”
“Someone who really brie-lieves in you,” Adeline said with a grin. “I really can’t say.” She repeated my words, slightly exaggerated. “That accent of yours has always thrown me.”
“That’s Mississippi.”
Rosie’s brow lined. “I thought you were from the Bay Area.”
“I—well, I might have fudged the truth there. Long story.”
Adeline smiled. “Worth telling over cheese? I was going to make pasta but maybe we should have a cheese night. If you don’t mind eating it.”
“It is very pretty, but yeah, let’s smash this thing.”
“And then we can settle in for Summer’s thrilling backstory and a few episodes of Downton,” Rosie said. “Got to get caught up ahead of the movie.”
I grasped her arm. “You guys are Downton fans?”
Adeline’s smile was wry. “Of course we are. I’m kind of hoping they find a way to have Bates accused of murder for a third time in this entry. I want to see Anna rushing to the gallows with evidence of his innocence.”
Rosie laughed. “And Lady Mary throwing her title around as she talks down her nose to the prison governor. But to be fair, Bates needs to alibi himself every time he leaves the house!”
I could have cried. How lucky I was to have fallen in with this crew. While Rosie grabbed plates, I headed to my room to change and shoot off a text of gratitude.
Me
Thank you for dinner tonight.
Dino Boy
Glad to feed your cheese habit, Sunshine.
Me
The board is so beautiful. I hate having to ruin it, but cheese.
Dino Boy
That’s what it’s there for.
How have you been?
Me
Working hard, it’s good to be busy.
I didn’t mention Carter. He still had my number blocked, and I was tired of talking and thinking about him.
Me
How’s hockey camp going?
Dino Boy
Awesome. I love working with the kids. Also, it’s been cool to hang with my uncle Jason. We’re accountability buddies at the Rebels gym.
And now I had a lovely image of Hatch sweating after a workout, maybe even lifting the hem of his shirt to wipe his forehead and showcasing off those perfect abs …
I considered asking him out for tea, as a proper thank you for the cheese. It didn’t have to lead anywhere.
Sure, Summer. You’ll be thanking him on your knees before you can say “Earl Grey, hot.”
Adeline called out, “Hey Summer, dinner’s up, and Lord Grantham is walking his dog!”
Saved by cheese and the opening credits of Downton.
Me
Sorry, got to go. Have a Gouda night!
The next morning, I walked into the kitchen, nursing a Scandi Noir martini headache and a cheese hangover, and found Rosie on her phone. She looked up guiltily, turned the phone over on the counter, and gave me a thin smile.
“Coffee?”
“I’ll make tea, thanks. What’s wrong?”
Last night we’d binged a few episodes of Downton Abbey and I’d told them a little about where I’d been raised. Not quite as much as I shared with Hatch but enough to make me feel closer to them. They had taken it all in stride because they were the best people.
Rosie expelled a weary breath. “I suppose you’re going to see it anyway. I’ll send you the link.”
My phone buzzed and I opened the link she had sent from the Hot Goss site. The headline sent my heart plummeting to the floor.
Dash Carter Breaks His Silence: “Summer Checked My Heart.”
I clamped my hand to my mouth, then met Rosie’s worried gaze. “I’m guessing the title is the nicest part of it?”
She jumped up and pushed me to a chair at the kitchen table. “Have a seat, get it over with, and I’ll make you breakfast. Blueberry pancakes.”
“You don’t have to—”
“This is a blueberry pancake situation!”
She busy bee’d her way about the kitchen while I read the “article.” More like a hit job.
Chicago Rebels hockey player and heir to the Dominion Hotel Group, Dash Carter, has finally spoken out about the shocking events surrounding his wedding almost a month ago. In a horrific turn, Dash was abandoned at the altar by his long-time fiancée, Summer Landry.
“If she had come to me and told me how she felt, we could have worked something out,” Dash said. “But the way she left? Only someone with a cruel streak a mile wide could think that was a good way to break up with a guy.”
Regular readers will recall that Summer exited the church in what some have labeled “a cowardly manner”—she used a bathroom window to make her escape—instead of bravely facing the man she supposedly loved.
Over four hundred guests were left speechless when Dash’s best man, his cousin, Saxon Carter the Third, made the terrible announcement that the wedding was cancelled due to the absent bride.
What happened next reveals Dash’s depth of character and resilience.
“I went on my honeymoon alone and did some soul-searching. What was it about me that would have a woman do that? Sure, we had our problems, like any couple. She didn’t like that I was on the road so much, even accused me of cheating.
Early in our relationship, she slept with someone else, and I forgave her.
Because I thought she was worth it. That we were worth it. ”
“That liar!”
Rosie paused mixing the pancake batter. “The cheating accusation?”
“Completely made up. He cheated on me! Only I could never prove it.”
I returned to the phone, my hands shaking.
Many observers have speculated about Summer’s motives in taking such drastic action. Dash has his own take on it.
“I know it wasn’t about the money because, if she was a gold digger, why not go through with it?
And I don’t want anyone calling her that.
Sure, I gave her some nice gifts. Jewelry, clothes, a car.
She definitely did okay out of it. I think she just likes the idea of stringing guys along. It’s a power thing.”
When asked if he had spoken with his former fiancée since she left him in front of his friends and family, Dash shook his head.
“I’ve reached out to her, asking if we can sit down and talk.
She’s ignored all my calls. I returned to the city to volunteer with the Rebels Youth Hockey Camp, which is dear to my heart, and to see how she is.
Summer made sure I was out of town when she came by to pick up her belongings, which I had set aside for her.
I guess she prefers to spread rumors that I left them to be trashed.
Funny what you find out about people when they’re under pressure.
She didn’t have any family, so I’m not sure she even understands what it’s like to connect with people.
We wanted to accept her, but she always set herself on some sort of pedestal. ”
Phew, that’s a lot! We asked Dash if he saw any chance of reconciliation?
He likes to think there’s always hope. “I’m a big-hearted guy. Always have been. Ask my family, my friends. Ask Summer, if you can get a hold of her. Despite her cruelty, I still think there’s something between us. Call me a fool, but then I’m a fool in love.”
“He is so full of it!”