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Fresh, clean air greeted me when I stepped inside. Debbie must have had the place cleaned while I was away. I could still smell a hint of lemon in the air from the cleaning products. Wheeling my bag inside the living room, I dropped on the couch, leaning my head on the headrest, closing my eyes. It had been a day from hell. I couldn’t help thinking how the end of the day would have been if I were still in LA. Maddie and I would probably be in her bungalow, or on Val’s porch, laughing at something my sister said. Or I’d be training Milo.
The urge to hear Maddie’s voice was so strong that I barely stopped myself from calling her. She wasn’t mine to call. This morning it hadn’t seemed like she wanted me to call her again. She’d offered to book me a plane ticket, as if my leaving was no big deal. I’d been such a fool, letting myself hope, envisioning our life together.
Blinking my eyes open, I intended to head to the kitchen and order something from one of the takeout menus pinned to the fridge door. Instead, I took a long look around the living room. It felt like a stranger’s house, even though I’d lived here for four years. A specialized company took care of decorating this place, and it had felt like home. It was still a home, but it didn’t feel like my home anymore.
One hour later, after I’d eaten and showered, I still felt out of place. I went to bed convinced I’d see things differently in the morning, but after three hours of relentless tossing and turning, I booked myself into a hotel, packed a bag, and left. I needed my mind clear to deal with the crisis, and I couldn’t afford a sleepless night, or channeling my energy into discovering why I felt out of place in my own condo, even though deep down I knew the answer.
I was missing Maddie.
***
Maddie
Why, oh why, did the fair have to be this week?
I was in no mood to be around people. But I’d put my kicking-ass pants on and come to the House & Garden Remodeling Fair after finishing my workday at the school. I’d hoped to pick up some contacts, maybe even some new clients.
“Ms. Jennings, this looks very promising,” an older man said, tucking my business card in his pocket. “My wife’s been talking about letting a professional handle our garden for a while now.”
“Tell her to give me a call. I’ll give her all the details.” I shook his hand and nodded. I’d been doing a lot of nodding and shaking hands for the past few hours, and this day was a long way from over. I had to drop by some potted flowers for Val’s porch after the fair ended.
I felt like I was on autopilot, and I didn’t like it one bit. But I couldn’t help the way I felt, which was as if a piece of me was missing. Since Wednesday morning, I’d been going through the motions. Grace had slept at my house on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and she promised to drop by tonight too.
I needed girl time and lots and lots of love to nurse my heartbreak, which meant my sister had her hands full with me. Luckily she didn’t mind. On the contrary, she enabled my craving for girly activities, such as painting nails. So far I’d painted them red, pink, light pink, dark pink, and neon green before deciding on a French manicure.
I didn’t think changing the color of my nails another fifty times would stop me from missing Landon like crazy, but I persevered. My heart grew heavy every time I thought about how fast he’d cut me out of his life. Meanwhile, here I was, wondering what was wrong with me that made it so easy for the people I loved to walk out on me.
I sighed, knowing I couldn’t dwell on any of that now. I was here to make contacts and kick ass. So ass I kicked. I still had a lot of fairgoers to plow through, so I went to the restroom to freshen up a bit. I’d chewed my lipstick off, and my concealer wasn’t concealing much anymore. I smeared on some more of the latter and dabbed with my finger to even it out. Yeah... that wasn’t a lost cause or anything. My lack of sleep was showing.
I’d never been a troubled sleeper, but that had been before Landon. Problem number one: My bed was empty. I’d gotten used to that mountain of a man sprawled on it, and using his hard chest as my pillow. Or his arm. Or his abs. I didn’t mind any part of him, really.
Just feeling the heat of his skin and the rhythm of his pulse had filled me with a peaceful happiness. He’d made me feel so loved and cherished. Sometimes he’d decided sleep was overrated and had his wicked way with me in the middle of the night. That had filled me with giddy happiness.
Everything Landon did made me happy. Except leaving, of course.
Since he’d left, I’d discovered my trusty old pillow just didn’t cut the mustard anymore. I even missed the sound of his breathing filling my room. I’d woken up several times each night, convinced he was next to me. When I’d realized he wasn’t, taking the next breath physically ached, squarely in my chest. I hoped it would dull in time.
I took another look in the mirror and gave up on the whole concealer business. I could kick ass without it too.
One hour later, I had the pleasant surprise of running into Elise from the flower shop.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I said, kissing her cheek. Like me, she had a stack of papers and brochures.
“Thought I’d try and nab a few customers.”
“Great minds think alike.”
“Not easy, though. Most people don’t think about their garden until they’re halfway through remodeling their house.”
“Depends how you sell them the idea.” I glanced at her brochures, then at mine, which had pictures of some of my best work, all of which contained plants I’d procured from her. “Let’s stick together. I use your stuff all the time anyway.”
She smiled. “I won’t say no to that.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon together, chatting up customers. We were more efficient together, that was clear.
“Elise, are you still interested in a partnership?” I asked.
“Hell yes.”
