Page 43 of Best Year Ever
I put my hands on the counter before I answer. “Don’t freak out, Grace.”
She doesn’t miss a beat, like any little sister. “You have me freaking out by telling me not to freak out. But it sounds like it’s something good?”
I look down at where my hands touch the counter to avoid eye contact. “Yes. I think…I think I might be interested in someone. A woman.”
“WHAT? Like for more than just hanging out for a night, you mean?” Grace drops Grover’s leash and comes closer to me, causing me to glance up and catch her surprised eyes.
“Yes.” The word comes out slowly, like I’m trying it on for size.
“Who is she?”
I pause a beat. “Thisreallyis the ‘don’t freak out’ portion of this conversation. It’s Rori Reilly, the tennis player.”
Grace takes a step closer, her hand resting on the opposite end of the counter, her eyes now the size of saucers.
“Landon Thomas Battle, tell me everything.” She softly hits her hand on the counter to emphasize the last three words.
So I explain to Grace the history of what happened, starting with the New Year’s party and ending with my exchange with Rori only a few moments ago.
“Huh,” she says as I finish, lightly cuffing her hand on my arm. “Landon, this is incredible.”
“Incredible?” I ask, wondering what she meant.
“I know that everything with Mom and Dad messed you up and you’ve been allergic to commitment or something. It’s driven me nuts to watch you jump from one random girl to the next. Letting yourself be pulled down by our family history.”
Damn, okay, Grace is holding nothing back.
“You have the biggest heart for all of us, your team, Grover. Yet you shut down this other side of yourself. I’ve been hoping you’d snap out of it.”
“Okay, okay, I hear you,” I say, nodding. “It’s just been so much easier that way. Don’t have to worry about trusting someone if they’re out of the picture the next day.”
“Easier maybe, not better. You deserve more. I still think therapy would be a helpful for you, and I say that with love. But I’m excited that you’re starting to open up and be vulnerable with someone. Sometimes finding the right person is enough to make it worth it.” Being a bit of know-it-all, she says this with a mixed tone of genuine love and smug little sister energy.
“Well, it’s far from a sure thing,” I say. “She doesn’t want anything serious and I don’t even know how she feels about me.”
“It’s progress though, for you,” Grace says. “And that’s huge.”
She gives me a hug, and something about our conversation calms my mind. I’m going to need to take some risks and expose myself to figure out if this situation is meant to be something more.
That may sound less dangerous than taking risks on a football field but, with my parent’s BS hanging in the background, it isn’t to me.
Speaking of which, there’s another part of this conversation that I need to have. This time with Johnson. Questions that only he’ll really understand.
“I’m going to go to Johnson’s house for dinner. You can hang here as long as you want, though. Would you mind watching Grover tomorrow night? When I go to Tampa? I don’t know when I’ll be home.”
Waving her hand at me, Grace says, “Consider it done.”
I thank her again and then turn towards my bedroom. After a shower, I head over to Johnson’s house. When I get to his place, he answers the doorbell with a tired smile.
“C’mon in,” he says, holding the door while I walk in, then swinging it shut and leading us through the hallway. “Thanks for doing this here. It’s been a long few months.”
“How’re you doing, J? How’s your sister and the baby?” I ask, so he knows he has room to talk about it if needed.
“They’re doing much better,” he responds, obvious relief on his face. “Mom’s going to stay with them indefinitely. She was duefor retirement from the school soon anyway, so I told her to do it now if she wanted and I would help with the finances.”
“That’s awesome, man. What a thing to do for her and your sister.”
He nods. “Yeah, my sister and I were never too close, since she was eight years older. But I wanted Mom to be able to do whatever she wanted. She earned it.”
