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His brow furrows, but before he can respond, the study door opens and steals our attention. I stand abruptly, turning to face Mom. My heart sinks immediately when I see she has been crying, and I look to Hayden with dread, expecting to see a similar expression of defeat on his face.
But Landon was right, he hasn’t given up just because victory is impossible. I can see it in the firm set of his shoulders, the sharpness in his eyes. This is just another court case for him, and he’s not prepared to lose.
He glances over at me, his star witness, and I know what he needs as he hands her off to me.
Mom sniffles. I want to go over and hug her, but she looks too fragile to be touched right now. “Can we go to your room and talk for a little bit?”
“Of course.” I make my way over to her and follow her up the stairs. I glance back and see Landon walking toward his father, then they turn toward the study, so I guess they’re having a talk, too.
Great.
I send a plea into the universe for Landon to please, please just be cooperative. This is so important, and if I fail at holding it all together now, when we’re actually getting along, after suffering for the cause before that…
I can’t accept that reality.
But it feels like theonlyreality.
When we reach the top of the stairs, I head toward my room, but Mom glances toward hers. “Go on in your room. I’ll be right in,” she says, pressing her hands to her hot, tear-stained face. “I just need a moment.”
“Okay,” I say, my heart heavy with dread.
I sigh heavily once I’m in my room, allowing my shoulders to slump.
It has been aday.
While I have a moment to myself, I remember what I wanted to check before everything blew up. I make my way over to my jewelry box and pull out the card Javi gave me that day at the country club.
I sit at my desk and put down the card, then I take out my phone and pull up the contact screen with the phone number I put in.
I’m expecting them to be different, so I’m utterly baffled when I see… they’re not. The number on this cardisthe number in my phone, and I don’t understand how that’s possible when I watched Javi write his name on the back of this card and hand it to me himself.
It would be much easier to imagine Landon somehow got his hands on my phone after I saved his number and I just didn’t notice, but then, I guess that wouldn’t make sense, either. As soon as I saved the number, I sent Javi a text to make sure I had saved it correctly before I tucked the card away. If I had been talking to him that night but Landon ever since a theoretical number change…
But it can’t be that. Landon’s phone number is written on the back of this business card.
I can’t figure it out. There’s no way it makes sense. The only plausible thing I can think is that somehow, Landon forced Javi to write his number on that card and give it to me, but going over that interaction, it just doesn’t make sense. Javi was relaxed and charismatic despite my awkwardness. Unless I wasutterlywrong about him and he really is just an opportunistic creep, I can’t see him so easily going along with Landon’s plan to manipulate me.
Then again, he was making out with Anae Richards earlier tonight. I have a difficult time believing anyone who would go for her has an upstanding sense of morality.
Maybe Landon was right and he was just looking for a “rich girl” to mess around with.
Still doesn’t explain all this, though. Not to my satisfaction, anyway.
The bedroom door opens behind me and I turn, putting down the card. Poor Mom looks so emotionally spent, so I walk over and give her a big hug.
She wraps her arms around me and hugs me back. “I feel like I’ve failed you,” she murmurs, and that’s all it takes for the dam to break.
I can’t stand to see her cry.
“No,” I tell her fiercely, shaking my head. “You haven’t.” Pulling back to look at her so she can see I’m serious, I tell her, “This isn’t like before. I know he has done a lot of bad things in the past, but the kiss, this thing between us… it isn’t that anymore. He really likes me, and I really like him. I know how cliché this sounds, but there truly is a side of him you haven’t seen. And haven’t you noticed he has been nicer lately? I know ‘nicer’ for Landon isn’t exactly a high bar, but he has been more open to doing all the family stuff. He’s stopped being such a jerk to you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better. Oh, my daughterwantsto kiss the boy who has preyed on her for a good chunk of her life? Yay.”
I bite back a faint smile despite the stakes of the moment. “Well, sure, when you package it that way, it’s not great. But let me package it differently. You know how since before you even met Hayden, you started feeling anxious about losing me when I go away to college and start a chapter of my life that doesn’t include you as much? How you’ve literally lost sleep imagining me wanting to spend the holidays with my boyfriend’s family instead of you? You will never have to worry about that as long as I’m with Landon because… it’s the same family! And I understand that’s a little weird, but honestly, who cares? If it works for us, that’s all that matters, and thisdoeswork for us. I swear, Landon is being a good boyfriend so far, and if that changes, then I’ll end it. And sure, that could be a little awkward if we were exes and we still had to spend the holidays together, but more awkward than him being the asshole who tormented me at school and I have to do holidays with him? Probably not. There was always going to be some awkwardness here. Honestly, the only way the awkwardness leaves permanently is if Landon and Iaretogether. Then we really can be one big happy family, and yes, as I’m saying that, I know how twisted it sounds, but… it really isn’t. And I know he doesn’t have a track record of treating girls well, but it’s different with me.” I roll my own eyes. “And I knowthatsounds idiotic, but in this case, I swear it’s true. I wouldn’t be with him if it weren’t. You just have to trust me. I’m not a kid anymore, Mom. It means so much to me that you want to protect me, it really does, but this isn’t something I need protecting from. Landon likes me and I like him, and Hayden loves you and you love him, and those two relationships do not need to interfere with each other.”
I have to take a breather after that patented Parker ramble, but I’m ready to go again the moment she brings up something I forgot to touch on.
Instead, she smiles a faint, watery smile.
