Chapter Six
LANDON WAS EXPERIENCING A profound sense of relief after his conversation with Bailey.
She had been very calm about the situation he’d found himself in.
Now at least he could breathe a little easier without feeling as if a sharp object were lodged in his chest. He wouldn’t have to disappoint Hattie, and Bailey hadn’t treated him like a mutant from another galaxy for asking her for this favor.
How many times in the past had he been misunderstood?
Because of the fact that he’d always had a single-minded focus on science, he’d been regarded as a bit of an oddity.
He yearned for a partner who would accept him and embrace the things about him that might be unusual.
Once again his mind veered toward Bailey.
What would it feel like to be loved by a woman like her?
His chest tightened, and he could feel his pulse quicken at the mere thought of being the object of her affection.
He had the feeling that it would be some kind of wonderful.
Now that he’d been honest with Bailey about the situation he’d found himself in, he could focus on another important matter.
Heading back to California and getting his good name restored was his main priority.
He had been thinking nonstop about what the folks at Abbott Laboratories had done to him and why.
He had been on the brink of a monumental discovery that would cure diabetes.
A few of his colleagues had known about it, and when they’d discovered he was an advocate for low-cost treatment, he’d been the victim of a smear campaign followed by being locked out of the laboratory and accused of poor work quality and falsifying records.
He had been helpless to defend himself after the lab had confiscated his computer and taken ownership of all his records and data.
Even though he’d been told to get over it and move on, Landon couldn’t manage to do so.
He had worked so hard academically to build a solid foundation for a career as a research scientist. And he’d been an excellent employee at Abbott Laboratories until they had decided to sacrifice him on the altar of their greed.
He clenched his fists just thinking about how it had all gone down.
It sickened him to think that there were colleagues of his who thought poorly of him because of Abbott’s smear campaign.
Although Caleb and Xavier had urged him to sue, he knew that without any evidence, it would be pointless for him to take the case to court.
Not to mention the legal costs would savage his meager savings.
He had been stuck between a rock and a hard place.
For the first time in his life Landon had been outsmarted and outplayed.
It still enraged him.
But, because he’d saved all his research files, Landon had been able to share that information with Sonali and Griff, who were on the inside at Abbott looking into things.
They had come up with compelling evidence that the lab had stolen his work and was trying to pass it off as the work of another scientist. Whistleblowers were coming forward in droves.
It was clear that things were actively falling apart at Abbott.
Maybe, just maybe, the bad guys weren’t going to prevail.
By the time he made his way to the executive offices, Landon was pumped up at the possibility of righting past wrongs.
Landon knocked on Xavier’s office door, then walked in after hearing his brother telling him to come in.
The oldest Stone brother was sitting at his desk, looking nothing like a former football player and everything like a successful executive at a hard cider company.
Xavier was someone who truly had it all.
He had always been athletic and gifted in football, which had led him straight to the NFL.
His stint with the Arizona Cardinals had resulted in heartbreak after a career-ending injury.
He’d been at an all-time low when they had arrived in Moose Falls.
Xavier’s luck had changed when he’d met his wife, True, at Northern Exposure, the tavern she now owned.
“Thanks for meeting me for lunch. Thought I’d check in on you and see how you were doing,” Xavier said.
“I miss working alongside you, but Hattie genuinely felt the cider lab was a better fit.”
“It is,” he acknowledged, sitting down across from his brother and unpacking the lunch he’d brought from home. One look at Xavier’s meal had him wishing that his sister-in-law had packed his lunch as well. He sniffed the air. “What smells so good?” he asked.
Xavier let out a contented sigh. “True packed me up some leftovers from the tavern. Salmon and mashed potatoes with rosemary and mixed veggies.”
Landon wondered whether he was drooling. He looked down at his tuna sandwich and chips. He needed to work on his lunches. Compared to what True had whipped up, his looked pathetic.
“Want some?” Xavier asked, pulling a plastic bag and utensils from his satchel. He had a wide grin on his face, as if he’d had this all planned out.
“Big bro to the rescue,” Landon said, rubbing his hands together.
This was Xavier to a T. He was always looking out for him and Caleb, whether it had been dealing with bullies at school, taking them to the barber shop for the first time, or making sure they knew how to drive.
Once Xavier had placed his portion in the bowl, he handed it over to Landon.
Landon couldn’t wait to dig in. With an award-winning chef at the tavern, the food was out of this world.
“So, is there something you want to tell me?” Xavier asked him. He was staring a hole right through him.
Uh-oh. Had he figured out that he and Bailey weren’t even a real couple before the ruse even began? Xavier was smart and intuitive. Something must have tipped him off.
He put down his fork. “Wait. I can explain,” he said, ready to tell him how the whole situation had come to pass.
“You don’t have to explain. I understand why you didn’t tell me about you and Bailey.” He was grinning at him. “You wanted things to stay under the radar so the two of you could just enjoy the newness of your relationship. Am I right?”
For a moment he was stunned. He wouldn’t have to explain his fake relationship story to his older brother.
As astute as Xavier was, he hadn’t figured out that there was no relationship between him and Bailey.
He let out a breath of relief, then said, “Yeah, it’s all really new and I didn’t want everyone bombarding Bailey with attention.
She’s a strong woman, but it could still be overwhelming.
” It was kind of scary how fast on his feet he was with the backstory.
He was very quickly getting used to this fake-relationship story.
Landon let out a chuckle. “Hattie is already over the moon about it. That’s the distinct impression I got,” Landon said. She had practically been dancing on the ceiling. Which had been his main focus—making his grandmother excited and happy.
“So is Caleb,” Xavier said. “He’s the one who told me about it.”
“Of course he did,” Landon muttered. Caleb was the one who’d stirred the pot in the first place. His brother was becoming the town crier.
Xavier frowned. “You were going to tell me, weren’t you?”
“Of course I was,” Landon said. “I was just waiting for a private moment between the two of us to tell you. Also, we’re casually dating, not eloping.
” With Hattie and his brothers now involved, the situation could get tricky.
The quicker he spoke to Bailey about the particulars, the better.
To keep their stories consistent, she would also have to tell her family members they were dating.
Suddenly his head hurt. This was way more complicated than he’d imagined.
He hated lying, but it was important that no one slipped up now that he and Bailey were both fully in.
Landon couldn’t ask his brother not to tell True.
Likewise with Caleb and Sophia. Loose lips sank ships.
For now, he wasn’t telling a soul. Soon enough this would be over and he would fess up.
Until then, he was just going to forge ahead and hope for the best.
“I’m happy for you,” Xavier said. “I want you to have what True and I have. This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.
To go from rock bottom to this has been powerful.
I never imagined a year ago that so many great things were in store for me.
And I know they’re in store for you as well as Caleb.
Coming here to Moose Falls has been a game changer. ”
Landon was absorbing every word Xavier was saying.
He also had been at rock bottom after being given his walking papers by Abbott Laboratories.
For a while there he hadn’t been able to get out of bed.
He’d been depressed and feeling as if his life didn’t have a purpose.
His family had pulled him back from the edge, reminding him that his worth wasn’t determined by his profession.
Coming to Alaska had helped to snap him out of that state of depression.
Clearly it had been a blessing for all of them.
Even though he still didn’t know whether he wanted to stay in Moose Falls, or sell Yukon Cider, being here had changed him for the better.
Strengthening his ties to Hattie, Red, and his small hometown had made him a better man.
“I appreciate that,” he told Xavier. “I can’t wrap my head around what we would’ve missed out on if we hadn’t accepted Hattie’s invitation to come back.” Their mother had been adamantly opposed to their going to Alaska for a variety of reasons.
“We would’ve missed out big-time. I’m glad we made our own decision rather than simply listening to Mom. It’s pretty clear that she has her own issues about Moose Falls and, frankly, Red. But those are her issues, not ours.”