Rebound
Sophia Summers
Rebecca Connolly
Heather B. Moore
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Falling for Centerfield Chapter One
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Rebound
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Breakaway
Shootout
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1
Rocco De Luca smiled politely at a giggling group of college-age women wearing University of Wyoming sweatshirts. He pulled his leather jacket tighter across his chest, zipping it up as high as it would go. Star Valley, Wyoming, was cold, but it was only bitterly, bone-chillingly cold when the wind blew. Otherwise, despite the cold temperatures, the warm sun made it nice. With mountains surrounding their valley, Rocco had postcard-ready views every day he was in town. He breathed deeply in satisfaction.
“It’s so gorgeous here, honey. You play hockey in such a beautiful place.” His mom smiled, showing a row of sparkling, white teeth. He wasn’t sure how his family would fit in, coming from Chicago, but already his mom was expecting to love everything about their new home. Rocco’s chest puffed a little bit at his mother’s praise.
“They say it’s awesome any time of year—and even better in the summer.” He hoped so, because he liked to be warm.
She linked an arm through his. “How are the local ladies? Any beautiful Italian women in this town?”
Rocco’s brother, Stefano, grunted. “That’s what I’d like to know. Where have you taken us, brother?”
All the De Lucas stood in a line, shaking in their loafers, while their realtor held up his phone to take a picture.
“Say ‘antlers’!” The man laughed at his joke. Rocco’s dad laughed, his mother tried to laugh, Rocco grimaced a fake smile, and everyone waited for the realtor to take the photo.
Not every hockey player could boast a family that would follow him to the home state of his pro team. The De Lucas stood under the world’s largest elk-antler arch in Afton, Wyoming, one of the cities in Star Valley. Shane, their realtor, who was doubling as their tour guide for the day, insisted on taking a picture of them under the arch and then made them all sign a statement authorizing his use of their image for marketing purposes. Which was fine. Sort of.
Truth was Rocco despised publicity, but he had come to accept the necessary promotion that came from being in the pros.
The De Lucas were in love with the town, and even if they hadn’t been, they would have moved anywhere Rocco went. The De Lucas were like that.
Before Shane could take another picture, Rocco turned so that he faced his family. “I don’t know. I haven’t met many locals yet.” Did he want to get involved with a girl from Wyoming? He hadn’t given dating much thought, even though the guys teased him about taking so long in between girlfriends. He just hadn’t met anyone he wanted to spend time with.
Shane approached, his plaid shirt tucked into no-nonsense jeans. A faded sports coat completed the look as he scrolled through images on his phone. “We have just a few more stops. After Heggs for lunch, we’ll tour the museums to give you the history of this place, and then I’ve got the snowmobile tour at three.” Shane was keeping them pretty busy, which was fine for now. Rocco had one day left before his next home game, and he’d been living in Afton since the beginning of the season, so he really didn’t need a tour.
Giovanni De Luca turned to his family. “This is a great place to expand the De Luca food empire.”
Rocco smiled at the excitement in his dad’s eyes. “Yeah, Jackson Hole’s not far from here, is it?”
“Nope. And we’ve already got a great team set up there, restaurant manager, hosts, amazing chef. I’ll only have to travel there once a week at first, and later, maybe once a month.”
Rocco’s attention drifted. People were noticing them. Across the street, clusters of locals were looking in their direction and talking. Rocco frowned as a car slowed down and the woman inside held up her phone like she was taking their picture. Did they stand out that much? He looked at the line of De Lucas still huddling under the arch, all in leather. Stefano stood next to him. His brother leaned closer. “People are staring.”
“Yeah. They’re just trying to get a good look at your ugly mug,” Rocco teased.
“Yours, more like. Aren’t you the town’s new famous hockey player?”
More people looked in their direction.
“They have a few famous people here. Like an Olympic wrestler, I think, and some actors own houses up at the ranch with us. I think it’s more the way we look, maybe?”
Everyone was in jeans, but theirs were bootcut to the De Lucas’ skinny fit. They wore layers of warm clothes that looked like they’d seen a few winters. But besides that, Rocco could see nothing glaringly different. He shrugged and then waved. The group of women chattering in a huddle startled, and then one of them waved back.
“See, they’re friendly.”
Stefano didn’t respond, but his face reflected doubt. The brothers were both dark and tall and built broadly across the shoulders. Where Stefano was softer looking, Rocco was chiseled. He attracted his own female attention, but Stefano was the ladies’ man. Something about his cherubic face and bad-boy persona melted their defenses.
Rocco had no intention of melting anyone. Though mutual sincere attraction would be nice. How long had it been since he met someone he really connected with? He and his brother climbed into Shane’s oversized SUV and
drove down the main street and then out toward the mountains.
Shane chattered the whole while. “I love the house you chose. And you will find up on the ranch most of the residents are transplants from somewhere just like yourselves. They have a regular community there in addition to what the town is doing down here.”
Rocco had one day with the family, doing his father’s requested tour of their new home, before he had practice and two home games. He’d been living in Star Valley since he started on the team. But he hadn’t really seen much of the place. With three or more games each week, sometimes two weeks at a time away from home, he really didn’t have much of a life there. But he knew his dad would change that. He was all about fitting in with the locals and joining the community. Rocco respected that about him. He just didn’t have much time for community. His team was his community. And then there was the Pit. He loved those guys from his club elite days. Amazing how they’d reconnected after all that time, and now a day didn’t go by when he wasn’t texting or calling them about something.
Heggs turned out to be delicious—real burgers and thick chicken sandwiches on the menu—full of thick pine tables and friendly-looking people. The guys sitting at the table next to theirs called over, “You guys new in town or visiting?”
Dad smiled. “We’re new, following our son Rocco, here, while he plays for the Steers.”
The guys stood and sauntered over. Rocco had never fully appreciated a good saunter until he saw these guys, belt buckles, flannel shirts, and all. Their smiles said the De Lucas might have come across some hockey fans.
“You Rocco De Luca?” The tallest grinned in Rocco’s direction.
He stood and held out his hand. “I am. You guys from around here?”
“Yep. We’re the Davises. Live just up the highway, there.”
“Hockey fans?”
“Oh yeah. Our dad might be the biggest fan in Star Valley, if not Wyoming. Roger Davis. Head of the fan club, he’ll tell you. I’m Eric, the oldest son, this is Jed and Jake. We’ve got three more hockey fans in our brothers.”
“And sister.” Jed grinned.
Stefano looked up from his phone.
“Join us.” Dad scooted his chair over and waved at the waiter. “Is there any way I could get a latte or espresso?” He lifted his coffee cup.
The Davises snorted, and the waiter shook his head. “No, sir. Just what you got there. Black with the cream and sugar packets…”
Stefano fist-bumped the Davis brothers. “Where’s the scene around here? Any local hangouts? You guys dating anyone, and do they have friends?” He laughed at his own joke, but Rocco knew he was serious.
“We can hook you up.” The Davis brothers turned to Rocco, who chose not to answer their unspoken invitation. He was still burnt up about his last relationship and wasn’t too keen on hooking up with the locals, at least not in the way Stefano was hoping. Had his brother ever had a real girlfriend? Rocco didn’t think so. His relationships never lasted longer than a month or two.
“Sweet, man. I’m all in. I need something to do around here before I pick up my next thing, you know?” Stefano pulled out his phone. “Let me add you guys.”
“Hey, awesome.” Jed typed his number in Stefano’s phone.
“Are you guys twins?” Jed and Jake looked very similar and could be the same age.
“Davis twins at your service. We’re here all semester. We’ll get the peeps together. Then we have the rodeo circuit before we go back and finish up our degrees.”
“Sounds like you have it all figured out.” Rocco smiled.
“Says the pro hockey player.” Jake jerked a thumb in his direction.
Eric shrugged. “We have a lot of folks who commute to the local universities, or they’re home getting ready for the rodeo like these guys are doing. So, you moving here, then?”
The De Lucas talked about their restaurants and learned about the local haunts, and they would have lingered, but once they were picking at the few remaining fries, Shane stood, looking at his watch. “Off to the museums and then snowmobiles and the walkthrough.”
Eric stood when they did. “Hey, it was great to meet you. My little brothers are gonna freak out.” He held out a napkin. “This might be hokey, but seriously, I’ve got a ten-year-old who might frame this napkin if you sign it.”
Rocco chuckled. “I’d be happy to.”
They found a sharpie for him, and when the De Lucas left, Eric held a “Rocco original” napkin.
Stefano sighed while they climbed back into the SUV. “Oh, the tragedy of not being able to go anywhere without fans hounding Rocco for a napkin.”
“Cut the crap. Go get your own fans and stop pestering me about mine.”
Stefano didn’t answer, but Rocco really did hope his twenty-year-old brother would find focus and a purpose in his life.
“But those Davises. They seem cool.”
Rocco felt eyes on him, but he refused to turn to Stefano.
“And they have a sister.”
He still didn’t respond, but he hoped Stefano would give the Davis sister some space. They seemed like nice people, and he suspected he’d be seeing more of them.
2
Summer Davis had a secret wish to fall in love. The secrecy only mattered because, in a house full of brothers, any desire to fall in love was met with ridicule or defensive posturing, and she could abide neither.
Her father, Roger, was not so secret about his wish for her. He was also the only person she knew who still read the newspaper while sitting at the kitchen table for breakfast. At least Summer assumed her dad was the only one. She wondered if they kept the Afton paper route open just for him.
He folded the top of the paper down. “If anyone sees the De Luca family anywhere, remember to roll out the red carpet. VIP Davis treatment. They’re new in this town and could use a good welcome.”
“Is that Rocco’s family?” Summer’s oldest brother, Eric, loved hockey. They all did. “We met them.”
All conversation stopped, and a couple forks dropped to egg-filled plates.
“You did?” Dad leaned forward. “When?”
“The other day at Heggs.” Eric seemed pretty smug about it. “In fact, Kyle has a signed napkin from Rocco himself.”
Summer looked around to see her little brother’s grin, but Kyle wasn’t downstairs at the moment.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I kind of forgot about it, and I think Kyle is gonna try to sell his napkin on eBay someday, so he’s keeping it on the down low.”
Summer laughed. That was so like Kyle. “I’d be surprised if he just didn’t keep it himself though.”
Hockey wasn’t rodeo, which was some of the brothers’ first love, but hockey held a close second. To their father, hockey was everything. To Summer, most things came second or third or even well behind hockey in importance. She was fine with it, but she often skipped the games even if all the brothers went together. But she’d heard of Rocco. Every girl in Afton knew about the best-looking player on the Steers.
Rocco De Luca was the Wyoming Steers’ starting right wingman and the Davis family favorite. Any one of her brothers could dish out many more stats about him than his position on the ice.
“Sounds like the whole De Luca family moved here to support Rocco.” Dad looked from Eric to Jed and back. “Is that what they told you? Did they tell you where they lived?”
“Not really. Looks like Shane is their realtor.” Eric stood with his plate. “Good family, though. I liked them.”
Summer’s mom, Joyce, smiled. “Now isn’t that nice! That’s just what a family should be. I’ll bring over a pie to welcome them as soon as we figure out where they live.”
“This is sounding a bit like stalking.” Summer knew how to find out where they lived, but she wasn’t about to let her family know, not when they were sure to embarrass her. Mrs. De Luca had already come by the library and registered and everything. A simple search would give Summer the
exact address. They lived in Star Valley Ranch, where all the out-of-towners came to live. There were plenty of folks there from California, but not too many from Chicago or New York where the De Lucas had come from. Mrs. De Luca had an awesome accent and a delightfully frank way with people. And she also had a heart of gold. She’d talked to everyone around them and helped a child choose a new book to read while she was at it.
“Stalking! Ridiculous. We’re just trying to be good neighbors.” Her father continued to read while Summer cleaned up the dishes. But her dad stopped her. “Boys, why is Summer cleaning up after you again?”
“Sorry, sir.” One of the twins ran to the table and grabbed his plate and cup.
“Get down here and clean up your plates!” Jed shouted upstairs.
Summer winced. She’d just as soon do it herself, but her father meant well, and it was important the boys learn.
Summer was the only girl in a family of six boys. Three older and three younger. She could have been living on her own by now, but she’d come back home to help her mom with the boys and chores on the ranch and because she wanted to save enough to be able to afford something nice and, possibly, far away. After all these years surrounded by her brothers, the quiet of an apartment sounded like heaven. If she could move somewhere interesting, she’d go, even if she was alone.
Now that the boys were handling the dishes, she hurried to the garage to grab her skates. “I’ll be out on the ice!” she called to no one in particular. They didn’t monitor her comings and goings any longer, but old habits die hard and she liked to pretend someone still cared how she spent her time.
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