Page 25 of Never Fall Again

Last week, she met Cal on the site to discuss the general location for her house. While there, she marked the trees she most wanted to keep. If it was up to her, she’d live surrounded by trees. But she also wanted a yard for Eliza to play in.

Cal had pointed out that if she kept all the trees, there would be so much shade that she wouldn’t be able to have much grass or a vegetable garden. She’d glumly accepted that there was no way to build her home without cutting down more trees than she’d originally planned.

Now, Landry walked around her property, searching for the markers Cal had told her were in place to indicate where the outer perimeter of her new home would be. They were red. There was another perimeter marked in blue that delineated the yard. Everything inside the markers would have to be cleared. But everything outside would remain.

A joyful bark reached her ears, and moments later Maisy bounded across the river and straight to her. Maisy had the decency to shake the water from her fur before making her final approach.

Landry dropped to her knees and threw her arms around the dog. “Hey there, girl. What are you doing home?” It was only 11:00 a.m. She’d assumed Maisy would be with Cal at a job site.

Cal appeared on his side of the river. “Hi.” He gave her a small salute and scrambled down the bank. She lost sight of him, and when he emerged, he was a hundred yards to her left. As he grew nearer, she could tell that he was completely dry.

“Hey! How’d you do that without getting wet?”

He smiled, and her heart did that annoying flippity-flop thing it had been doing every time she’d seen him for the past two weeks. Not everyone smiled with their whole face, but Cal did. Usually. And since she’d noticed the difference between his real smile and his polite smile, she’d learned something new about herself.

She was a sucker for a man with a gorgeous smile. One that reached his eyes and hid nothing.

Not that she was interested in Cal. Or, well, she was, but she couldn’t be, so she wasn’t. She was single and content. She andEliza had everything they needed. They were going to have a house in the mountains, on a river, with kind neighbors. A house that would be a girls-only residence.

Because while Landry had healed enough to consider someday risking her heart, she wouldn’t—she couldn’t—risk Eliza’s. Eliza had been born into a home where nothing was what it seemed and the man who was supposed to love her unconditionally had used her as a weapon against Landry.

They were free of that. And Eliza would never again be a pawn.

But that didn’t mean Landry couldn’t appreciate Cal’s smile, even if appreciation from a distance was as far as it would ever go.

Maisy abandoned her for Cal as soon as Cal reached them. “Maisy doesn’t mind getting wet. But there’s a spot a little farther down where we’ve strategically placed some rocks and logs. I’ll show you.”

His smile for her was genuine, but unless Landry was way off, Cal wasn’t in a smiling mood. She ignored the inner voice that insisted on noticing that if she’d gotten to the point where she could dissect Cal’s smiles, that might mean she paid way too much attention to them. “Everything okay?”

Cal waved a hand toward his side of the river. “Aunt Jacqueline’s having a hard week. Mo and Meredith are...well, normally they would talk to each other. And they are, some. But neither of them wants to burden the other—”

“So they’re burdening you?” Landry guessed.

“I don’t mind. They’re my cousins and my best friends. They were there for me when my life fell apart. Being there for them is the least I can do.”

She believed him. She also knew there was more to it than that. “I’m sure you’re doing a great job, being their support. But who’s supporting you? I got the impression you’re close to your aunt. This must be hard on you.”

Cal grimaced. “Am I that easy to read?”

“I don’t think you’re easy to read. But this situation is a common one. Sometimes it’s easy for family and friends to forget that the people in the support role are hurting too.”

Maisy leaned hard against Cal until he bent down and gave her some attention. “Maisy’s taking good care of me.”

“I can see that. But Maisy, for all her admirable qualities, can’t talk.” Before she could stop herself, her mouth kept on going. “I realize you don’t know me that well, but maybe in this situation, that’s a positive. If you ever need to vent, I’d be happy to listen.”

“I appreciate that.” He sounded sincere. “But I think you have enough on your plate.”

“Maybe. But”—she tried to slow down her thoughts, and her words—“I want to say this the right way, without it sounding like I’m a bitter old harpy. But your drama doesn’t weigh me down. I don’t know your aunt, or your cousins, really. So for me, while this is a sad thing my new friends are experiencing, it doesn’t have the power to pull me under. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about what you’re experiencing. I do. But there aren’t any other ways I can help other than to listen. I’d be honored if you’d let me do that. If you ever need it.” She yanked on her mental emergency brake. What was wrong with her? Every time she got around Cal, her mouth took off and left her hanging on for dear life.

“Thanks.” Cal changed the subject to her house and the upcoming appointment with the architect.

She fought the heat that threatened to consume her. She’d done it this time. He probably thought she was a total loony bird and that the sooner he finished her house, the better.

Except that she was going to be his neighbor.

Forever.

She had to fix this. But how? If she started talking again, she might make it worse.

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