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“I appreciate that. I do the same thing, but I might not have connected it with you. Landon. I wanted to thank you again. I hope you know I’ll respect your story. I won’t move forward until you’re good with it.”
I bent down and kissed her on the lips, not wanting to tear myself away but knowing I needed to. I couldn’t stop the momentum of writing because I couldn’t tear myself away from her. She dressed quickly and walked me upstairs, kissing me on the porch. In the truck, I noticed she was still standing at the door. I couldn’t believe how much had changed in the last few days. I’d gone from hermit to falling for the most amazing woman in the blink of an eye. For the first time in a long time, I felt lucky.
The drive home was filled with thoughts of her and how I wanted to spend our time together. Not just in bed, but traveling, learning more about her, and creating our life together. I had so much more to tell her. Things that had nothing to do with my writing or the breakdown. Things I’d never shared with anyone. I disliked more than just cheesecake. I laughed out loud, filling the truck cab.
I wondered if she wanted kids. I’d never considered it before. What kind of dad would I be? My own parents weren’t around much when I was younger, and they’d both been gone for years now. My grandmother had raised me, but she passed away when I was a freshman in college. Her death had been my first breakdown. I remembered thinking of her after the accident and how she would have responded to my behavior before it. Honestly, if anyone could have pulled me out of it, she could have. It had only made me miss her more.
I realized I was almost home and hadn’t worried about traffic or sliding off the road at all. It was a welcome change. That all changed when I pulled down my road and got closer to my house. What the hell? They had penetrated my quiet safety. Someone told, or they figured it out. It didn’t really matter. What mattered was that my yard was full of news cameras and lights. It looked like they’d been staked out for a few hours. I was furious. I considered confronting them, but I was too angry for that. I’d come too far to let them get the best of me. Instead, I turned around in the middle of the drive, knowing it wouldn’t go unnoticed. Sure enough, I looked into the rearview mirror as I pulled onto the main road, and at least one car was following me. This couldn’t be happening again. I was just getting my life back. What did these vultures want?
My truck slid slightly on some gravel on the road. The slide triggered a memory of the accident, something I’d tried very hard to bury deep. The truck slid again as I overcorrected. I could feel my throat tightening, and my heart was so loud it echoed in my ears. Another look in the mirror confirmed they were still on my tail. Had they no soul? No remorse? Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a truck coming up quickly on a side road to the right. I swerved, crossing both lanes of traffic, and felt the truck lurch forward as it hit the ditch.
25
TARA
My parents came home not long after Landon left. I wondered if they had passed each other on the road. It was so close. I had so many things to think about, now that we were moving forward. I wanted to make a real go of the freelancing work so I could stay in town. As much as I’d enjoyed traveling all over the place for my job in DC, I didn’t really want to do that anymore unless Landon and I could go together. It was crazy how my entire world had tilted in just a couple of days. I’d never thought I would come home and fall in love.
I finished putting a few things up and making sure I didn’t look like I’d just had sex before I headed upstairs to talk to them. My mother was in the kitchen cutting vegetables. I assumed my father was either in his office or out in the barn.
“It was nice of you and Landon to stop by.” My mother grinned, looking up from the carrots. “I’m making vegetable soup if you’re interested.”
“I am. Do you need any help?”
Her shocked look should probably have embarrassed me. It was a surefire hint I didn’t help out very often. To be fair, it had been longer than normal since my last visit, but I couldn’t really defend myself much. My sheer lack of cooking knowledge could be used against me all day. I hadn’t been kidding when I’d told Landon I could boil water and toast bread.
