Page 65 of Landon & Shay: Part Two

“You used to like coffee.”

“People change.”

“Okay. Maybe tea.”

“It gives me gas.”

He shook his head. “Tea doesn’t give people gas.”

“What are you? The tea police? Mainly what I’m saying is, I don’t want to see you, Landon. The other night was a one-time thing. A mistake of the highest proportions. We were drunk, and made a mistake, and now we’re allowed to just leave it in the past.”

“I don’t want to leave it in the past.”

“Yes, well, it isn’t like we are ever going to have a future. So, again. Let’s keep it easy, okay? If we happen to cross paths again, then we engage on a very simple level. We are adults, now, Landon. We don’t have to be the angst-filled children that we once were. I know I said some things at that party that were heavy, but I was honestly wasted. I didn’t mean any of it.”

“Really?” he asked, his brows lowered. “You meant none of it?”

“Not a word.”

“Even the part where you said you hated me?”

I snickered a little and rubbed my hand against my neck. “Of course, I don’t hate you, Landon. I reserve my hatred for people I actually know.”

A flash of despair past through his eyes as he nodded slowly. “That makes sense. Okay, well. Maybe we’ll cross paths and can exchange a few easy words.”

“Yes, of course. If we just so happen to cross paths, we’ll do exactly that.”

He blinked a few times as if trying to push away the moment of sadness in his stare. “Sounds good. And Shay? Thank you for what you’re doing for Karla. She needs someone in her life that believes in her. Thank you for helping her. You’re good for her.”

“She’s a good kid. She’s just a little broken, but she’ll find her way.”

He gently laughed and brushed his hand against the back of his neck. “We’re all a little broken and trying to find our way, I suppose.”

I wanted to smile at him, but he still looked a little sad. Nothing like he appeared in the magazines.

“She adores you,” I commented, wanting to give him an olive branch. “She really looks up to you. When you called, she lit up, and it was the first time I actually heard her laugh.”

“Like you said, she’s a good kid. She’s a great kid who was dealt a shitty hand at life. I’m just trying my best to remind her that this world has a place for her and that she belongs here. I know her, though. I know how her thoughts can get very heavy and dark. I worry about her every single day.”

“Well, if there is anyone who can help her out of the darkness, it’s a man who found his way out of his own.”

“You think I found my way out of the dark?” he asked with a low, smoky tone. His words shot straight through my chest.

Of course, he’d found his way out of the darkness. For years I’d watched his light and happiness unfold against my computer screen.

“Are you ready, Uncle Landon?” Karla asked as she emerged from her bedroom. She came right before I could respond to Landon’s comment, which was a good thing.

I hadn’t a clue what I would’ve even said in reply.

The two both said goodbye to me as we walked to our cars to leave. As they drove away, I took a few seconds to sit in my car as the engine roared. I took those few seconds to remind myself to breathe.

21

Landon

“So,you think she’s pretty amazing, huh?” I asked Karla as we sat eating a steak dinner together at one of the most expensive restaurants in Chicago. I called the day before to have the whole place to ourselves. Whenever I took Karla on her dates, I always made sure the restaurant was unoccupied with people, because once she mentioned how self-conscious she was with the fact that people stared at her as if she were a monster.

I hated people and their goddamn judgmental stares. Sometimes, I’d even heard them make verbal gasps. Other times, children would react out loud to Karla’s scars. “What’s wrong with her face, Mama? She looks scary.”

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