“I couldn’t imagine you without your crazy. It’s my crazy now.” He snapped his finger. “I forgot I brought you a present.”
I gawked at his naked, muscular ass as he walked over to his jacket and took something out.
He returned to the bed. “I bought this for you out in California. I wanted to get you something. And this totally reminded me of you.”
It was a white box that said Pandora in gold lettering on it, so I knew that brand was pretty pricey. Inside was a silver bangle bracelet with two blue-colored, round beads.
“It’s beautiful, Landon!”
He opened the clasp and placed it around my wrist. “I figured we could build upon it over time, kind of like our relationship as a whole. But I started with these two beads because they reminded me a lot of us thus far. Any guesses why I chose them?”
Then it hit me.
Two blue balls.
NO MORE SECRETS
“I’m doing it! I’m really doing it!” I shouted as we made our way around the circular path for the umpteenth time.
Landon had decided that his first order of business in Michigan was to teach me how to drive. He was totally amused that I was having so much fun. Granted, with no other cars around, there really wasn’t anything to be scared of.
“Slow down a bit, baby. The turns don’t need to be that sharp.”
Landon had taken me to the nearly empty parking lot of the mall we used to frequent growing up. The shopping center had closed down years ago, and they never rebuilt. The area was like a ghost town, and some of the old store signs were still intact even though the building was boarded up. But he was intent on running my driving lesson at this exact place.
I turned another corner. “Woohoo!”
“Go a little easier on the gas.”
“I think I might be ready to try the street.”
Landon seemed skeptical. “Let’s stick with step one today. Once you really get the hang of it and ease up on the lead foot, we’ll take you out on the road. We might not get to do that before I leave, but I promise to finish what I started.”
Screeching to a halt, I put the car in park before turning off the ignition. “How long are you here? You never said.”
“A few days. I couldn’t leave the truck for much longer than that on such short notice. My coming out here was really impulsive, and I didn’t take care of everything I needed to before I left.”
Turning my body toward him, I took his hand. “Long-distance relationships don’t have a very good track record, do they?”
“Well, I’m counting on this not being forever.” He looked down at his phone and grimaced.
“What’s wrong?”
“My mother just texted me to confirm tonight. I sort of told my parents I’d go visit them.”
Disappointed at the prospect of not spending time with him later, I frowned. “Oh.”
“I want you to come with me. I want them to know about us.”
A rush of panic hit me. “You do?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how they’ll react to me.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“What do they know about your…” I hesitated. “Life in California?”
“If you’re asking whether they know about the escort stuff, they don’t. I never had the nerve to tell them, and I really don’t think anyone benefits from them knowing. My mother would be devastated. My relationship with my parents has been strained pretty much from the moment I decided that I wanted to move out west in search of Beverly. They’re good people, and I know they love me and mean well, but I’ve sort of unintentionally distanced myself from them since moving. I do regret that and figured the least I could do is visit them while I’m out here.”
“When was the last time you saw them?”
“About a year ago, they came out for a visit over Christmas. But before that, it had been a couple of years.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. I need to work on being a better son.” Landon squeezed my hand. “So, you’ll come with me, right?”
Sucking up my insecurity, I smiled. “Yeah…sure.”
I let out a deep breath as we stood in front of his parents’ house. It was emotional for me to be back at the place where it all started with Landon so many years ago.
He rubbed my back. “Don’t be nervous. It’ll be fine.”
“They’re gonna freak out when they realize who I am.”
“Well, then, that’s their problem if they do.”
Marjorie Roderick answered the door and immediately pulled Landon into a hug. “Landon...honey, welcome home. It’s so good to see you, son.”
“You, too, Mom.”
With short, blonde hair, Landon’s mother had a very all-American look. She really hadn’t changed all that much. She had to have been in her late fifties or early sixties now.
She looked at me. “I didn’t realize you were bringing a friend.”
“Yes. She’s the reason I’m in Michigan.” Landon smiled at me reassuringly and paused. “It’s Rana, Mom. You remember her…”
She squinted, examining my face. “Rana? Rana…Saloomi?”
Grinning nervously, I shrugged. “Yes, it’s me.” My jitters caused words to stumble out. “I’ve…had a nose job.”
I probably shouldn’t have just come out and said that. But I was so nervous and figured I would just address it head-on.
Marjorie leaned in to hug me. “Oh, my. You look so…”
“Different, yes,” I said.
“I was going to say beautiful. But you always were, honey.”
“Well, thank you.”
Marjorie looked at her son. “But admittedly, I’m confused…”
“I can understand that,” I said.
Landon finally offered the explanation she was waiting for. “We reconnected this past year, started talking on the phone. And then Rana came out to visit me in Cali. The rest is history. Now, she’s my girlfriend.”
It warmed me to hear Landon call me that. Even though he’d told me he loved me, it was the first time he’d labeled me his girlfriend.
As expected, she seemed genuinely shocked. “Wow. This is just so unexpected, but honestly…anything that brings Landon back to Michigan for a visit is a great thing in my book.”
Landon’s father, Jim, entered the room.
“Son!”
Landon and he embraced and patted each other firmly on the back.
“Hey, Dad. Missed you.”
Marjorie introduced me. “Jim, you remember Rana Saloomi, don’t you…from years back?”
Jim looked stunned. “Well, I’ll be damned. You look completely different.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Landon and Rana have reconnected. They’re dating.”
I felt the need to immediately address the elephant in the room with Landon’s dad. “I’m very sorry for what happened years ago, the way my parents left the apartment.”
Jim lifted his hand up to stop me from going on about it any further “You don’t need to apologize for that. It wasn’t your fault.”
Marjorie added, “You were always very respectful. We never blamed you. I actually remember feeling sad for Landon because he’d lost a friend when you left.”
Landon and I looked at each other for a brief moment, exchanging smiles.
“Things were pretty messed up back then with my parents,” I said. “Thank you for understanding.”
“No thanks necessary,” she said. “Honestly…I feel that we owe you now for getting Landon back here for a visit.”
I actually felt really bad for Landon’s mother. It was clear that she’d been hurt by his virtual disappearance from their lives.
Landon offered her another embrace. “I’m sorry it’s been so long.”
Marjorie then looked right at me when she said, “We really love our son, and we’ve always just wanted what’s best for him. But you know, you can only hold your kids close for so long. At some point, you just have to let them go, let them discover themselves. I couldn’t keep him here no matter how much I begged, and then I realized that he had to live his life and learn from his experiences. Letting him go to California was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I knew I couldn’t stop him.”