Page 82 of Clean Sweep
“Your father is paying for half of it,” I added as an aside, because Ethan had already sent the money. “Either way, I’m here for both of you.”
All the blood drained from his face.
“The wedding,” he whispered. “I almost forgot. We can’t have the wedding when she feels like this! It’s in like three days!”
I rolled my eyes. “Landon, you’ve always been my most dramatic son, and you maintain that title even today. Please, invest a little faith in your mother. Starla is a part of the family now, and we take care of family. Starla asked the doctor about it with Tanner today. The doctor gave her a sufficient prescription so that she can have a better day then, and almost everything is already lined up. We’re going to have that wedding, and it’s going to be one you will never forget.”
THAT NIGHT,I collapsed on my bed.
With Blake, Nicholas, and Max gone to a shoot ‘em up movie at the theater in Jackson City, and then to stop and see Landon and Starla for a few minutes, I had the house to myself for the first time in a while.
For what felt like hours, I kept my face pressed into the blankets and drew in deep breaths of a light, clean cotton. It only made me think more of Tanner, so I turned my face to the side and stared at my dark room.
This situation was beyond me.
Desperate, I dialed the only person that could help me talk out of this disaster. Within two rings, a perky voice answered the other line.
“Leslie!” Lizbeth called. “Hello, my favorite. What’s up?”
I rolled onto my back. “Lizbeth, I desperately need your optimism.”
Her voice dropped. “I’m here. Spill.”
“You have a few minutes?”
“I haveallthe minutes. Baby girl just fell asleep and I’m relaxing with a rom-com I’ve seen eight billion times.”
Almost like a robot, I let the story flow out. Tanner, our time together at Christmas, Landon and Starla, and the crash of finding out the truth. Her quiet exclamations, calm murmurs, and gentle questions soothed the story out of me. By the time I got around to what happened today, my throat felt raspy.
“So.” I let out a hard breath. “That’s the story.”
“Sweet baby pineapple,” Lizbeth breathed. “Your life is a walking romance novel. You see it, right?”
With a scowl, I muttered. “I see it.”
“Okay!” Her voice perked up. “All romance ever wants is acknowledgment. Moving on. How are you feeling toward Tanner?”
“I don’t know! That’s what you’re supposed to tell me. How am I supposed to feel about Tanner?”
She scoffed. “I can’ttellyou what to feel, Leslie. Nor can I tell you what to do. But I can listen and guide, and Imma guide you right into the place ofoh my gosh, look at how much he did for your kid while you weren’t there.How about them apples?”
My nose wrinkled. “I don’t like your apples.”
“You never do.”
“Right, Tanner was very helpful to Landon. I am truly grateful for that. But he should have told me.”
“From what I gather and sort of assume, Landon asked him not to say anything. What would you have done if the situation was reversed? You love Celeste. You’d do anything to help her in a situation like that.”
I drew in a breath to reply, then paused. Reversed situation certainly gave me a moment of pause. Would I hold Celeste’s secret? Likely, as long as she wasn’t on death's door and was mostly safe.
“I’d do what he did,” I muttered. “I’d help her however I could within the boundaries she set.”
“Right, because that whole situation is one that needs to come from your son, right? It wasn’t Tanner’s place. So he did the best he could. Super hot, if you ask me. I’m just sayin’.”
I rolled my eyes. Her reminder of Tanner’s attractiveness certainly didn’t help, but I set that aside for now.
“I was angry with Tanner,” I admitted quietly. “Landon too, but I snapped at Tanner and asked him to leave and sort of took the whole situation out on him.” My eyes squeezed tightly shut. “Oh, crap, Lizbeth! I suck at this!”
