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“Grant told me. And no. I haven’t watched it, so can I come in? Or are you going to hide something else from me just to round out your profile as the least trustworthy guy on the face of the planet?”
I swallowed. “It just wouldn’t be a great idea for you to come inside right now.”
“There’s a woman in your apartment. Isn’t there?” she laughed at herself without an ounce of humor in the sound. “I’m such an idiot. You’ve given me every reason to hate you and to never trust you again, and here I am still trying to—I don’t even know what I was trying to do. But obviously I was stupid for trying, wasn’t I? Because you’ve got—”
“Andi,” I said, meeting her eyes. “My mom is very sick. My brother and I live with her to save money. I didn’t want you to see that and think… I don’t know. I didn’t want you to think you were obligated to forgive me because of it.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “What kind of sick?” she asked softly.
“Lung cancer. It’s her third time. We just found out a few weeks ago and haven’t officially started treatments yet.”
She looked down, plucking idly at the USB with her fingers. “Now I feel like an asshole. I’m sorry, Landon. I shouldn’t—”
“No,” I said. “You’re not in the wrong because I kept something from you. And you don’t owe me anything. Okay? I don’t want to win you back because you pity me.”
“Win me back?” she asked. “Is that what you were trying to do?”
I blew out a long breath, then fixed my eyes on her. “No more half-truths. No more lies. Yes. I went to Florida to try to find a way to convince you to forgive me because I realized I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t. Then I saw you with that guy. Once I was done wanting to rip his head off, I realized you were better off. It felt like swallowing acid to admit it, but I left because I also wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if I fucked up something good for you because I was too selfish to walk away.”
“And what is this?” she asked, holding up the USB stick. “I think you know exactly why the lawyers gave it to us now.”
I sighed. “Come inside. I have a feeling watching the video will explain everything better than I can.”25AndiI followed Landon into the small apartment. He had admitted he needed the money from the club, but he hadn’t been clear about why. He had also told me his mom was sick at one point, but I had stupidly assumed it was past tense. The new information was forcing me to see everything that happened from a new perspective.
The apartment was clean and smelled fresh, but it was clearly not the home of people with abundant amounts of money. Hearing Landon admit he wasn’t really wealthy was one thing. Seeing it was another.
I smiled when his mom noticed me. She was pretty with Landon’s dark hair and eyes, but the similarities stopped there. She sat up straighter and flashed a kind smile. “You must be Andi. I’m Loraine.”
I nodded. “This is probably a little weird,” I said. After all, my “grandfather” was her ex-husband. My sisters and I were the people he had apparently replaced Landon, his brother, and his mother with. I realized I wouldn’t even blame them for hating us. How could they not?
“No. It’s good to see you. To meet you, finally. Landon has already talked so much about you.”
I shot a half smile at Landon, who was making himself busy in the cramped kitchen as he got tea ready. Tea? He didn’t strike me as a tea drinking kind of guy, so maybe it was for his mom.
“I can go back to my room and give you two some privacy,” Loraine said, starting to stand.
“You don’t have to,” I said.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m either going to take a nap right here on the couch or in my bed. I’d prefer the bed.”
Once she left, Landon stopped messing with the kettle and slowly walked back toward the couch, where I now sat. “Well, you really want to do this?”
I reached up to hand him the USB stick. “I do.”
He pulled out a laptop and set it on the coffee table in front of the couch, plugged in the USB, and then opened the video.
Once again, we saw my grandpa sitting at his desk. It looked like it could’ve been filmed the same day as the video I’d first seen in the theater of The Golden Pecker, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Well, well, well,” Grandpa said. “You know, I always loved mystery books and thrillers. There was something about the grand flourish at the end that always scratched a deep itch for me. When I realized I had a chance to leave behind a few flourishes of my own, how could I resist?”
