Page 17 of The Baxters
The other boys were picking on her because of her short hair. But Landon told them to quit it. “Ashley is a gymnast,” he told them. “Short hair is better for her sport.” Then he’d smiled at her and nodded. “I like it.”
And soon the whole class felt that way about her new look.
Yes, Landon had her heart from the beginning. Cutest boy she’d ever seen. Then, and still. With Landon, there hadn’t been any doubt that the two of them would end up together. Back then, Ashley would dream about the years and decades ahead and always she saw Landon.
Ashley closed her eyes and it was her sophomore year again, the time Landon came to her house and knocked at the door. Before that they’d studied together at his house or hers, but he’d never just come by unannounced.
Her mom answered the door that day. Ashley was up in her room drawing, but when she heard his voice her heart skipped a beat. Why had he come over? She had hurried down the stairs. And there he was, that swoop of brown hair hanging just above his amber-colored eyes.
“Ash… I wanna show you something.” He lookedlike he had just won a gold medal. They stepped outside and Ashley saw the reason. Not a gold medal. But an older Chevy Camaro. Golden brown. “I passed my driver’s test!” He grinned.
“You did?” She squealed at the news.
“Ninety-five percent!” He raised both fists and jumped around a few times. “My dad bought me this for an early birthday gift.”
They walked to the car and Ashley ran her fingers along the shiny door. “I love it.” She grinned at him. “It’s weird that we’re old enough to drive.”
“Well.” He gave her a teasing look, the one he’d been giving her since fifth grade. “I’mold enough. You still have a few months.”
She gave a light kick at the toe of his tennis shoe. “I’ll catch up. And I’ll be a better driver. Hundred percent. That’s my goal.”
Landon’s laughter faded and he took her hand, something he hadn’t done since they got lost at the zoo. But that day, with his car a few feet away, there had been something very different about the feelings between them.
He looked into her eyes. “Actually… I don’t want to be in separate cars, Ashley.” He took a step closer. “I want to date you. Be my girlfriend. Then you can sit in my passenger seat. For now.” His smile had etched itself in her heart, where it remained even now. His voice fell to a whisper. “Maybe forever.”
A shyness had come over them. Something Ashleyhad never felt with Landon Blake. Her heart fluttered and she put her arms around his neck and hugged him. “I’d like that.” She leaned back and laughed. “And maybe sometimes you can be in the passenger seat.” The car caught her attention again. “Because that Camaro is the sweetest.”
“No, it isn’t.” Landon never broke eye contact. “The Camaro is just a car.” He touched her cheek. “You’re the sweetest. And the spunkiest.” He grinned. “I’ve always loved that about you.”
It was true. Landon had called her spunky from the first week in Mr. Garrett’s class. And after that day at her parents’ house with the Camaro, Ashley never dreamed of dating anyone else.
Marriage wasn’t something they discussed. They were too young. But neither of them ever thought about breaking up. And to hear her parents lately, clearly they had also thought Landon was going to be in her life forever.
She opened her eyes and stared out the window once more. The two of them dated right up until their senior year. Their families attended the same church and on Wednesdays during youth group, Ashley and Landon always sat together. Their conversations were deep—about God and creation and miracles. About the gifts and talents He had given them. And about the future ahead of them.
Landon wanted to be a teacher or a basketball coach, like his dad. And Ashley, well, Ashley had always knownwhat she wanted to do. She would go to Paris and become a famous artist.
But in the months before graduation, they went to dinner one night and the mood felt heavy. Landon pushed his fork around in his spaghetti. “I’ve been thinking.” He looked up and their eyes held. “You really want to go to Paris?”
“Of course.” Her answer was out before she could stop it. “It’s been my dream as long as I can remember.”
He took his time before responding. “What about… being an artist here? In Bloomington?”
And in that moment, Ashley understood. Landon was looking ahead at the one thing they had never talked about. The coming goodbye. She stared at her salad plate. “I mean… I won’t live in Paris forever.” Her eyes found his again. “Are you staying here?”
He had applied to a few different schools. Last time they talked about it, Landon was torn between Indiana University down the street and Baylor in Texas, his dad’s alma mater.
That night at the restaurant, Landon shrugged. “I’d stay here if… if you did.”
Then, for the first time since she met Landon Blake, Ashley felt the walls closing in. “You mean… like stay here and go to school? And just… never leave?” The idea made Ashley feel trapped, the way she had felt once when she got stuck in the mall elevator.
The conversation died there. Landon was too youngto make promises, too green to want to talk about marriage. The two of them had kept their physical relationship at bay. “Nothing good came from kissing a boy too soon,” her mother used to tell her.
In those simple early days, Ashley had taken the advice to heart, and Landon never pushed. He was a good boy, that’s what Ashley’s dad always called him.
Landon Blake, the good boy.
They didn’t share their first kiss until senior prom a month later. Ashley found the palest blue dress, one with shirred shoulders and a swishy skirt that hit just above her shoes. Landon wore a dark gray tux and when he came to the door to pick her up, Ashley could barely breathe.
