Page 93 of Isolated
Landen believed his problem with me stemmed from his loneliness. I was inclined to agree with him. And if that was the case, Landen believed I could quickly and easily remedy the situation. So, I was going to wait on thisporch until he came outside, and I was going to come right out and talk to him about what was going on. I wouldn’t go back home until I had answers and a resolution.
Of course, I wasn’t a fool.
I brought lunch.
Walter would have a much more difficult time turning me away if I brought food to share with him.
Landen had gone home not long after we’d finished breakfast, but he would be back in a few hours. He wanted to give me the time I needed to rectify things with Walter on my own—it was clear Walter was hesitant to talk to me when Landen was around. Not only that, but Landen hadn’t anticipated spending the night at my place last night, so he didn’t have a change of clothes. He wanted to go home, grab a shower, and pack a bag before returning later this evening so he could take me out on the date we missed having last night. After what went down between us this morning, it was a sure bet he’d spend the night again tonight.
And if things went well this afternoon with Walter, I might feel compelled to show Landen how much I appreciated his glorious mind. The man did so well in a crisis, never getting too worked up over anything while being such a solid source of strength and comfort for me.
I really had gotten lucky with him.
I’d been sitting in the rocking chair on Walter’s porch for about a minute when his door finally opened, and he stepped outside.
Slowly, I tipped my chin up in his direction, my eyes meeting his, and I smiled. “Hello, Walter.”
“What are you doing here?”
I held the wrapped sandwich out to him. “I’m here to have lunch with you.”
His mouth was pinched, but his eyes darted between the sandwich and my face. I knew my chances of success would be far greater if I had offered him some food. “I’m not hungry.”
That was a surprising response. It was also a big lie.
Deciding it was best not to call him out on it, I shrugged and set the sandwich down on the arm of the chair beside me, where he always sat. “Okay. Well, it’s for you, so you can just save it for later if you want.”
Somehow, his expression grew even more annoyed.
I ignored it, focused for a moment on opening the parchment paper surrounding the sandwich I brought for myself, and said, “I’m starving, so I hope you don’t mind if I eat while we talk.”
“Talk? There’s nothing to talk about.”
My teeth bit into the sandwich, and I let out a moan of delight. Keeping my eyes fixed straight ahead, not even looking in Walter’s direction, I replied, “Maybe you don’t think so, but I’ve got lots to talk about. I’ll do the talking for both of us. You can just sit there and listen if you don’t have anything to say to me.”
I took another bite and chanced a glance in his direction. He looked like he was putting massive effort into remaining upset with me. Unwilling to undo any of the progress I made, I schooled my features into neutral. But inside, I was screaming.
Landen knew.
He just knew, based on the way I’d always spoken about Walter, that the man beside me would not be able to hold out.
“It feels a bit strange to be sitting here talking to someone while they’re standing over me. I’d much rather you sit beside me. My neck is going to get a kink if I have to keep looking up like this.”
Walter huffed, but finally took a seat.
I did my very best not to break out into a full-fledged grin.
Instead, I offered an appreciative smile and held my sandwich up between us. “This really is delicious.”
He gripped his tightly in his hand, but he chose to be stubborn and not open it. “What did you want to talk about?”
“You know, it surprises me that you’ve got nothing to say to me when we haven’t spoken to one another in more than a week.”
“Neighbors don’t have to talk to each other every day,” he grumbled.
“I suppose they don’t,” I returned. “But you and I speak to each other just about every day, and it’s one of my favorite things about living where I do. I just really miss our talks.”
Walter let out a snort. “You’ve got plenty of friends and family and visitors to talk to.”
