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Hailey didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or break down and cry. It was nice of Landon to jump to her aid, but she desperately wished she didn’t need to ask.
“Who was that, Mommy?” Ellie asked.
“That was Mr. Landon.”
“Mr. Landon?” Ellie scrunched her nose like she didn’t know who that was.
Hailey sighed remembering that Landon never let them call him Mister. He said it made him feel old. Hailey had argued, but in the end, she’d lost that battle. “Landon,” she repeated.
“You know,” Charlotte said, “Daddy’s friend, Landon.”
“Oh,” Ellie said, understanding dawning on her. “That Landon.”
“We’re running late, so Landon is going to pick up Carter at school and bring him home.”
“Yay!” Ellie said. “Will we get to play?”
“Yeah, will we? Landon is funny,” Charlotte said.
Hailey cracked a smile remembering his antics with the kids. Landon was funny and playful with the kids. “I don’t know,” she answered the girls. “Mr. Landon is very busy and has a lot of work to do. I don’t know if he can stay very long.”
That had to be true, didn’t it? Landon must have stayed busy with work to stay away from them. He had told her to call if she needed anything, and today she had done that. But he had his own life. Sure, they had spent time with him before, but that was before they lost Kyle. She couldn’t expect him to stay close with them when his best friend was gone.
No, she would thank him for his help today, and then she would try to plan better next time, so she didn’t need to ask for help.
This was her life, and she had to figure out how to handle it on her own.
Since on her own was how it was going to be for the rest of her life.
3
Landon pulled into the driveway blasting country music through the speakers with the windows down.
Carter laughed as the wind blew through his hair, and he sang along to the music.
Landon glanced over his shoulder at the boy in time to see Hailey pull in behind him and park. Just in the nick of time. If she had beat them there, he was sure she would be worried sick, and he might be in trouble.
He stepped out of the car and waved. “Hey,” he called out before reaching back into the car. “Took a little longer to get here because I stopped and picked up pizza.” He held up the boxes as if they were a trophy.
“Oh,” Hailey blinked rapidly. “Well, um, thanks. You didn’t have to do that.”
Landon shrugged as he opened the car door for Carter to climb out. “It was no big deal. I thought it might help out.”
A look flashed across her face that he didn’t quite understand. Was it relief? Or fear? It was gone before he could decide, but he saw her touch her eyes quickly as if wiping away a tear.
“Thanks, Landon,” she said. “That’s a big help.”
He breathed his own sigh of relief and moved toward the front door. He carried the pizza inside and set it on the table. Glancing around the room, the awkwardness hit him full swing. It had been a long time since he was in this house. He came over once after the funeral to drop off something. He couldn’t remember what it was now. Something that he had borrowed from Kyle and felt like he should still return it. Now that seemed silly. Kyle didn’t need it. Maybe Landon just needed it out of his house.
He cleared his throat as he noticed the pile of laundry on the couch, and the toys that littered the floor. All signs that a busy family lived here. He turned to face Hailey. “Are the girls sick?” He rubbed his forehead. “I realized I didn’t ask, but you said you went to the doctor.”
Hailey waved a hand in the air. “Just a cold and ear infections.”
Landon narrowed his eyes wondering if she was minimizing it. Then again, he didn’t know anything about kids being sick. “Sorry about that,” he said.
“It’s okay. They’ll be fine.”
“Landon! Come see what I built with Legos!” Carter yelled, taking Landon’s hand and dragging him down the hall.
