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My guilty gaze shoots to the closet door as I take a seat on the edge of my bed, then reconsider and climb under the covers, settling the comforter on my lap in case my shirt rides up.
“What’s up?” I ask, trying to sound cool and casual.
“I just wanted to pop in for a minute before I go to bed. See how you were feeling.”
“I’m good,” I assure her, smiling faintly.
“Things between you and Landon seemed a bit friendlier tonight.”
I nod. “I think he’s starting to adjust. I told you he probably just needed time.”
Mom nods, looking down at her lap. “Well, since Hayden brought up going to Disney, I wanted to steal a minute to talk just the two of us to see how you’re really feeling about it.”
“I’m feeling great about it. I think it sounds like a lot of fun.”
“Yeah?” she says hopefully. “Good. I thought so, too. I wasn’t sure Landon would be on board, but… Anyway, it won’t be like when we went. We don’t have to all sleep in the same room. Hayden said we’ll likely get a suite with at least one separate bedroom, probably two, depending on what’s available. I looked at a few of the suites and it looks like there are a few ways we can do it. You could have your own room and we could put Landon on a bed in the living room area, or we could stay girls in one room and boys in the other.”
“I’m sure Hayden would love that,” I say dryly.
She rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “He’s survived without me in his bed for this many years, I think he can make it another week. Obviously, I feel best about that option. If we aren’t able to get a suite, like if we’re not planning far enough in advance, we could even get adjoining rooms. Hayden and Landon could take one, we could take the other. We’ll be spending most of our time in the parks, anyway. I just wanted to make sure you know we’ll figure out the best sleeping arrangements. I want you to be comfortable.”
I place my hand over hers reassuringly. “I appreciate that, but honestly, don’t stress about it. I may look at rooms on my phone before bed because I’m excited and I want to get an idea of what’s available, but you don’t have to stress about Landon. He really seems to be making an effort, and I don’t think he’ll do anything to ruin our trip. I think everybody will have fun.”
“I hope so.”
I nod. “We will. I’m sure of it. Do you know if Hayden has a resort preference? Also, is there any kind of budget?”
Mom shakes her head. “No budget. I don’t think he cares where we stay, either, but they are used to staying in the nicest places, obviously,” she says, gesturing around the room. “So, don’t bother looking at the budget hotels. I know you might think you’d be doing a good thing, saving him money, but I think Hayden would rather spend the money and be more comfortable.”
“Remember we had to walk like 80 million miles to get to the buses from our room?” I say, smiling.
Mom rolls her eyes at herself. “I had no idea what I was doing when I booked that trip.”
“Nah, you did great,” I say, smiling at the memory.
She smiles, too, then pats my leg through the blankets. “All right, I should probably get to bed. Don’t stay up too late researching.”
“I make no promises.”
Mom stands, and I watch her walk to the door. “Lock this behind me?”
I nod. “I will.”
“Okay. Goodnight, honey.”
“Goodnight, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
With that, she closes the door, and I breathe a huge sigh of relief.
I throw back my blankets and walk over to open the closet door. Since it’s a huge walk-in closet, there’s a chair over by the shoe shelf. Landon is sprawled there like a king on his throne rather than stressing like I was.
“Coast clear?”
“Yes,” I say softly. Then, stepping back out of the closet, I quickly walk over and lock my door just in case Mom remembers something and tries to come back.
Landon comes up behind me, locking his arms around my waist and tugging me back against his warm body. “Now, where were we?”
