Fourteen
I must have composed and deleted a text to Landon at least a dozen times. Problem was, I knew what I wanted to say, I just didn’t know how to say it. Not over text. I wasn’t that lame. But I needed to talk to him before I talked to him so we could set up a place to meet. Unless I did that whole ambush thing, which was looking better and better, let me tell you.
I sighed and stared down at the ring still encasing my finger.
What? I didn’t want to take it off and misplace it. Happened to my retainer I don’t know how many times as a teenager and cost my parents a pretty penny each time to replace it. Landon’s ring, however, was irreplaceable.
I should probably just return it to Carol. It was hers, anyway. And if she happened to know Landon’s particular whereabouts and if I happened to find myself at the same place…well then, happy accident.
It took about ten minutes to get to her place from mine, and I admit to a small case of nerves as I raised my fist and knocked on her front door. I hadn’t seen or talked to her since the last book club meeting. Wasn’t sure if Landon had seen or talked to her since then either. Or if she was still peeved at us for deciding to go through with the sham in the first place. Hopefully she’d react better to a real relationship between her son and me.
Of course, I still needed to talk to him about that.
Carol opened the door, her eyes widening in surprise. “Ashleigh, what are you doing here?” Her voice was over-loud, and she leaned against the door jamb, holding the door in place on the other side of her.
Was she really still so upset with me that she wouldn’t even let me come in? I shifted my weight between my feet, even more uncomfortable now than before I’d knocked. “I’m sorry if I caught you at a bad time.” I tried to peek past her body into her apartment, an unspoken request to maybe have this conversation somewhere other than a public hall.
She didn’t budge. “Something I can do for you, dear?”
She didn’t sound mad, but she wasn’t welcoming me in, either.
I held up my left hand, fingers spread. “I wanted to return your ring.”
“Oh.” Was that disappointment coating her words?
I slid the ring off and held it out to her. “I was also wondering if you might know where Landon is. I kinda need to talk to him.”
She pushed the ring into her pocket. “That depends.”
“On?”
“Landon told me what happened. How he blew up at that Ken Abrams fellow and ruined everything for your sister.” Her head tilted. “So my knowing Landon’s whereabouts depends on whether or not you forgive him.”
My lips curved into a smile. “There’s nothing to forgive, Carol. Your son didn’t do anything wrong.”
She snorted. “Leaving when he did, that wasn’t right. Especially leaving you.”
“Well, he did miss out on some key information, but that’s kind of why I need to talk to him.”
She studied me, her gaze turning knowing and then maternal. The lines framing her mouth softened as she took a step back and opened the door wider. “Come in, dear.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’d really like to find Landon—”
For the second time that day someone gripped my wrist and yanked me into their home.
Landon stood on the other side of the room, a sheepish look on his face. “Surprise.”
Ambush. I mentally waved my hands above my head.
But then I noticed the books littered all over the floor and the banner strewn across the coffee table that was easily the length of a human body, colored markers lined perfectly in a row waiting to be opened and used. “What’s all this?”
Landon stepped around the mess and stopped in front of me. His usually neatly-kept hair was disheveled, and a button on the vest he wore over his plaid shirt had been placed in the wrong button hole. “I know you said there’s nothing to forgive, but Ashleigh—”
I placed a finger over his lips, my heart light at simply seeing him again. “Have you been eavesdropping again, Landon Novak?” I glanced over at Carol and winked.
“Pretty sure I taught him not to do that as a kid.”
“I’m sure you did.” I looked back at Landon and let my finger slip off his lips “Because if you were eavesdropping, you would have heard the parts where I said there was nothing to forgive and that I need to talk to you.”
