Waterfront Weddings (8 page)

But Summer wasn’t snobby like he’d expected. The first day he’d met her in the backyard of the home they now shared, she’d peppered him with questions about the flowers and plants. She’d even invited him to sit with her on the piazza and have a glass of lemonade. His uncle had been furious with him until Summer’s grandmother offered them a contract to care for the yard the rest of the year.

Luke met Summer’s eyes as they reached the top step. “Truce?” he asked. “At least until we get back in the car?”

She managed a tiny smile and nodded. “I need you to be on my team while we’re here.”

“I’m always on your team.”

The door swung open, and Vivian Rutledge stood before them. “Summer, Luke…come in.” Vivian greeted both of them with a kiss on the cheek. Her flowery perfume stung Luke’s nose, and he resisted the urge to cough.

“Thanks for having us,” he said to Vivian.

His mother-in-law gave him a broad smile. “Everyone else is already here. They’re out back by the pool.” She raised an eyebrow in Summer’s direction. “I was beginning to think y’all weren’t going to make it.”

Luke stepped in. “It was my fault. I had a late night last night.” He grinned, hoping he still had some charm left. “But we’re sure looking forward to some delicious barbecue.”

Summer caught his eye. “Thanks,” she mouthed silently.

He nodded. “No problem,” he mouthed back with a wink. He put an arm around her waist and led her to the french doors that opened into the backyard. He wished he could pull her to him and hug her tightly and tell her how worried he’d been that morning. But this wasn’t the time or the place, and besides, she’d been so cold toward him lately that he wasn’t sure if his affection would be welcome.

“There you are.” Gram greeted them with a smile. She hugged Summer and then Luke. “I guess I’m going to have to start dropping by your office if I want to know how my oldest granddaughter is doing.”

Summer hung her head. “I’m sorry I haven’t been out to see you lately.” She shrugged. “We’ve been super busy.”

Gram raised one drawn-on eyebrow. “Sweetie, when you are too busy for the people you love, you are too busy.” She looped her arm through Luke’s. “And how is my favorite grandson-in-law?”

He chuckled. “You might not want to say that too loud, considering I’m not your only grandson-in-law.”

Gram shot him a mischievous look. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you can do as you please.” She patted his arm. “Someday you’ll know what I mean.” She winked.

Summer walked over to them carrying two glasses of sweet tea. “Here you go.” She handed one to Luke. “The food looks wonderful.”

Luke looked over at the spread of food. “Impressive.” He glanced at Gram. “Catered?”

She laughed. “Of course.” She shook her head. “I wanted to do the cooking, but Vivian wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Well, it looks good, but I know your cookin’ would taste better,” he said with a smile.

Gram’s wrinkled face lit up. “Thanks.” She motioned toward a table next to the pool. “I’m going to go have a seat. But once you’ve filled your plates, come sit with me.”

Summer nodded. “We will.” She turned to Luke. “Guess we should go say hello to Daddy and Mitch.”

Luke looked around the expansive backyard. “There sure are a lot of people here. I thought this was just going to be a small family gathering.”

“I have no idea what’s going on.” She motioned toward where her father stood with a group of men. “There they are. Come on.”

Luke clutched his sweet tea and followed behind her.

“Hi, Daddy,” Summer greeted her father.

Thomas Rutledge bent down to kiss his oldest child on the cheek. “Hey, baby.” He nodded in Luke’s direction. “Luke.”

Luke nodded and shook his father-in-law’s outstretched hand. “Thanks for having us, Mr. Rutledge.”

“Well, well.” Mitch Rutledge stepped from behind his father. “I haven’t seen you two in a while.”

Summer smiled at her brother. “We’ve been busy.”

“Busy?” Mitch shook his head. “That sounds like a flimsy excuse to me.” He pounded Luke on the back. “After y’all skipped out on Christmas with the family, we were all beginning to think we’d done something to offend.” He smirked. “I figured it was something Chloe had done, but she denied it.”

Luke locked eyes with Summer. Except for Gram, her family had no idea why they hadn’t made it to Christmas. “We both were a little under the weather,” he explained. It wasn’t a lie, exactly. The events before Christmas had made both of them physically ill, but not with an actual sickness.

“Summer
Nelson
. I haven’t seen you in fifteen years, and now I see you twice in one week,” a deep voice said from behind them.

Luke turned to see a tall, familiar-looking man with his eyes on Summer.

“Hi, Jefferson,” she said softly.

Luke fought to keep his face neutral. Jefferson Boudreaux had been Summer’s first love. His family and Summer’s family had been friends for generations. There were even pictures of Jefferson and Summer playing together as babies. The guy might be rich and good-looking, but as far as Luke was concerned, he was a pompous jerk. “Hi there, Jeff.” He knew the nickname would get under Jefferson’s skin.

A shadow crossed Jefferson’s face. “Luke.” He held out a hand. “So good to see you again.”

Luke reluctantly shook hands. Back when they were teenagers, Jefferson had done all he could to make Luke look stupid in front of Summer. He’d mocked his clothes, made fun of his vehicle—even accused him of stealing a watch one time. “Good to see you, too.” He almost choked on the words. “Hope you enjoy your visit.”

Jefferson smirked. “Didn’t Summer tell you?” He raised his eyebrows in Summer’s direction. “I’m back for good. I’m house hunting now.” He pounded Luke on the back. “Maybe we’ll wind up neighbors.”

Luke would rather walk over hot coals than have Jefferson as a neighbor. “Great.” He considered it a minor miracle that he was able to keep from punching that smirk right off Jefferson’s face. He turned to Summer. “Babe, let’s go get something to eat. I’m starved.” He put an arm around Summer’s waist and guided her toward the food.

As soon as they were out of earshot, he leaned down to Summer. “Why didn’t you tell me that Jefferson was moving back?” he hissed. “And when did you see him?”

She wrinkled her brow. “I ran into him Thursday.” She sighed. “And I haven’t had many conversations with you since then to tell you.” She reached for a plate. “Besides, it’s not a big deal.”

He sighed. “I don’t like for that guy to feel like he’s got one over on me.”

Summer rolled her eyes. “I know. I almost drowned in all the testosterone over there. Can’t you two play nice?” She scooped some potato salad onto her plate. “That was all a long time ago.”

Luke grumbled. “He’s still a jerk.” Maybe he was overreacting. But seeing Jefferson after all this time brought up all the insecurities he thought he’d put behind him. And who wore seersucker anyway? So pretentious.

The sound of silverware clinking against glass rang through the yard.

“Could I have your attention, please?” Mr. Rutledge called.

Vivian walked over to join her husband. “Thanks for joining us today,” she said. “We’re here to celebrate a special occasion.” She smiled broadly.

Luke glanced at Summer, and she shrugged.

“That’s right,” Thomas said, putting an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “We invited you here to tell you that our daughter Chloe has given us some news we’ve been waiting to hear for a long time.”

Luke caught sight of Chloe and her husband, Preston, standing just beyond Thomas and Vivian. Chloe looked like she was about to burst into song.

“What’d they do?” he whispered to Summer. “Cure cancer?”

She elbowed him. “Shh.”

“We’re pleased to announce that in six months, we’re going to have new titles,” Vivian said dramatically. “Nana and Poppa.” She threw her arms out with excitement.

The crowd burst into applause.

Luke felt Summer stiffen next to him.

She thrust her glass of tea at him, nearly spilling it, and hurried off toward the house.

He froze, unsure of whether he should follow or not.

Gram caught his eye and nodded her head toward the house. She rose and moved as quickly as she could to the french doors.

Luke looked at the abandoned glass of tea in his hand, once again filled with the sense of helplessness that had plagued him for months. Ever since that cold day in early December when he and Summer had learned that she’d suffered a miscarriage.

Even though it had been years since Summer had lived in her parents’ home, her bedroom hadn’t changed much. The ornate white furniture and pale pink bedding had been fit for a princess. Today, though, they were a painful reminder of all she’d lost.

She sank onto the bed and ran her hand over the soft bedspread. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on her. Her sister, Chloe, had always hated kids. She’d never babysat like Summer had. Never been the one the little kids at church flocked to.

And yet here she was, pregnant.

Not that it should be any surprise. Summer had always heard that when you’re trying unsuccessfully to have a child, everyone you know gets pregnant. And that had certainly rung true for her. She couldn’t count the number of high school and college friends who’d come out of the woodwork over the past months to share their happy news with the world. It was almost to the point that she hated to log on to Facebook, because she knew she’d be faced with a bevy of new profile photos depicting protruding bellies and ultrasounds.

Maybe things would be different if she’d shared her news with everyone. Then they’d be more sensitive to her feelings. But she and Luke had taken so long to get pregnant, she’d wanted to wait until she was past the first trimester. She’d lost the baby right at the end of the three months, so very few people ever even knew of her loss.

“I had no idea about Chloe, or I would’ve warned you first,” Gram said quietly from the door. Gram had been her lone confidante in the family. She’d promised not to say anything but had urged Summer to tell her parents what she’d gone through.

Summer looked up, tears in her eyes. “I know you would’ve.” She managed a smile. “Maybe I should’ve listened to you and told them the news months ago.” She’d had this great plan to announce her pregnancy at Christmas, thinking it would be such a wonderful surprise for her parents— and had hoped it would be just the thing to bring them close again. But then she’d miscarried just before Christmas and hadn’t the heart to tell them. She had seen no reason to share the grief.

Gram came and sat down next to her. “That was your decision to make.” She patted Summer on the knee. “And I understand you wanting to protect them. But sometimes there is strength in numbers. You might not be as close with your parents and siblings as you could be, but they would’ve stood by you as you were grieving. They would’ve grieved with you.”

Summer shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe Mother would’ve given me some speech about needing to take better care of myself or about how we should’ve started trying sooner.” She sighed. “But mostly I didn’t want them to look at me with pity.” She refused to meet Gram’s eyes. She knew how ridiculous she must sound. Even though she knew her family loved her, she never felt like she measured up to what they’d expected her to become. And failing to give them a grandchild seemed like one more way her best wasn’t good enough.

“You get that streak of pride from your grandfather.” Gram shook her head. “He never could admit when he was hurting either.” She clasped Summer’s hand. “But darling, you might find that if you let people see your weaknesses, it will make you stronger in the long run.”

“Maybe.” Summer looked down at their entwined hands and felt the strength of the woman next to her. She’d always admired her grandmother so much. At least she had one family member who had always been in her corner no matter what.

Summer stood and walked over to the vanity where she’d gotten ready for so many important events in her early life. She traced her fingers over the smooth top, remembering when she and Chloe had sat in front of the mirror and tried on Mother’s lipstick. Her gaze went to an ornate wooden box that she’d kept her treasures in since she was small.

She turned to Gram with a grin. “I can’t believe this is still here after all these years. I think the first ring Luke ever gave me is in this box.”

Gram looked at her curiously. “The first ring?”

Summer nodded and returned to her spot on the bed. She opened the box and began sifting through old letters, pressed flowers, and trinkets that had once meant the world to her. “Did I ever tell you that Luke proposed to me three times?”

Gram raised her eyebrows but stayed silent.

“The first time we were eighteen. It was the night of my debutante ball.” She laughed and pulled out a tiny silver tab from a Coke can. “As soon as he saw me in that white gown, he stuck this on my finger and asked me to marry him.” She shook her head at the memory.

She pulled a silver gum wrapper that had been folded and taped and fashioned into a circle. “This one was during my sophomore year of college.” She slipped the paper ring onto her finger. “Luke was in Nashville and I was at USC. We missed each other so much.” She took the ring off and placed it gently back in the box. “He was home for Christmas, and he begged me to go back with him to Nashville. Said we could get married and get jobs.”