3. Langdon
Three
Langdon
“ I swear to Christ, Anderson, if you don’t stop annoying everyone in town, Mom will kill you. Or I will,” I grunt.
Anderson glares at me. “Shit, I didn’t do anything. Vivianna was just being mean.”
I ignore the curse word. He only does it for shock value at this stage. “You broke a pot and managed to destroy her plant.”
Anderson rolls his eyes in a way that only a twelve-year-old boy can manage. “Her whole store is plants! I said I was sorry. It’s not like one plant is going to end the world.” He brushes dirt off his knees as we approach the house. “And really Lang? Mom will kill me? She’s more likely to check every inch of me for a scratch or infection if you tell her. ”
I chuckle.
“Language little man.” I ruffle his too-long hair.
“You swear.” He ducks away from my touch and crosses his arms over his bony chest.
I arch a brow at him. “I’m five years older than you.”
Anderson huffs out a breath before taking off in a sprint up the front path. I stop to roll my neck and stretch my shoulders before heading inside.
I glance in the fridge, starving. Mom will be home in twenty minutes but if I can sneak a snack before dinner, I’ll be happy. Unfortunately, tomorrow’s grocery day and the food remnants in the kitchen are unappetizing. A kitchen full of ingredients but no actual food. Eighteen minutes.
I grab an apple and take it up to my room. I’m on a schedule. As always. If anyone deviates from the schedule my mother has a full-on meltdown. She wasn’t always like this. But ever since the accident, she clings to sanity by controlling all of our lives. By knowing where we are and what we are doing at all times. By keeping us all on a schedule. Overbearing? Yeah, definitely.
Annoying? Super fucking annoying.
Do I understand it? Yeah.
And until I graduate and get out of here, I will go along with it to make her happy. Happy might be a stretch—to ease her anxiety is more like it .
I toe off my sneakers, bite the apple between my teeth and fluff my hair as I stomp upstairs to my room. It’s fucking hot today and everything feels matted down and sticky.
Flopping backward onto my bed, I take another chunk out of the apple. It’s tart and crisp. The fan oscillates, the breeze sweeping from my knees upward until it hits my face. I’d give anything for an air conditioner, but my parents don’t believe in them. It’s only hot a couple months out of the year. We don’t need one. That’s all fine and dandy but they work in air-conditioned offices all day and by the time they get home, the heat of the day is finally breaking while Anderson and I suffer the sweltering heat all day.
Ugh. Vivianna .
I now owe her thirty hours of volunteer work at her shop. The humidity in her greenhouse is damn near unbearable and I have to spend thirty hours there sweating my goddamn balls off when I should be swimming or floating in the river with the guys for the last two weeks of summer.
Fucking Anderson .
Vivianna was pissed about the plant he demolished. I don’t even know how he does it. How he can manage to run down Main Street and accidentally run into a giant potted plant on display. At least he wasn’t hurt. That would be a real issue. Mom would freak. But still, I didn’t have cash for the cost of the plant .
Scratch that…the rare plant…and to get Vivianna to shut up, I offered up myself as free labor. Anderson better be a goddamned angel for the next week.
I finish the apple, wipe the juice from the corner of my mouth, and toss the core into the trash bin next to my bed. There was one intriguing outcome though. Anderson’s little accident put me in the right spot at the right time to catch sight of the most beautiful girl I’ve set eyes on. When I saw her I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Green orbs, wide and innocent, bored straight into my soul. I swear I stopped breathing. Milky, soft-looking skin framed dark, long lashes. She was the stuff wet dreams were made of.
At least for me.
My pants grow uncomfortably tight just thinking of her face. Sure, in the summer the town got its fair share of tourists, but generally those people were all over thirty. I grinned like a cheesy townie at her and waved.
What the fuck was a wave going to do?
And the stunner slipped down into her seat so far that I couldn’t see her. I almost laughed, but then the driver waved back. I assume it was her mom but maybe an older sister? I didn’t get a good enough look at her to know for sure. Heat crept up my neck and I’d grabbed Anderson’s hand and yanked him away while mumbling to Vivianna that I’d see her Sunday when she opened.
“Langdon! Anderson! I’m home.” Mom’s voice wafts up the stairs. “Come help me make dinner.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Coming,” I holler back .
She’s turning him around, scouring Anderson’s body with laser focus. I sigh.
“Mom, it’s just dirt. He’s fine.”
“Well, how’d he end up dirty, Langdon?” She says, narrowing her eyes at me.
“He’s a twelve-year-old boy.” I shrug. Anderson squirms out of mom’s grip. “Hey, so Vivianna said she needs some help at the shop. I told her I had some time to help out. I start Sunday.”
“Sunday, we have dinner at the orchard, Langdon, you know that.”
“You don’t need me there. It’s only till school starts for Viv.”
Mom shoots me a look as she pulls ingredients from the fridge. “You’re coming. Viv’s closes at four on Sundays.”
Shit. Busted. “Right. Okay. So see, not an issue.” I shrug.
“When’s Dad home?” Anderson asks. He scoops up a pile of silverware for the table.
“I’m right here buddy.” Dad drops his keys in the bowl near the door and strides over to Anderson, scooping him up, and squeezing him tightly. Not gonna lie, there are days I wish I was still small enough for him to do that to me.
“Put him down, James, he’s covered in dirt.” Mom’s voice is playful yet tight. A tone she’s mastered over the last couple of years.
Dad holds Anderson’s gangly body at arm’s length to inspect him. “Gross,” he laughs.
“Anderson, go wash up,” Mom says.
I get a manly slap on the shoulder as Dad passes by to give my mom a peck on the cheek before disappearing down the hall .
“So Vivianna just happened to mention that she needed help?” Mom asks.
“Yup,” I answer.
“Where?” she pushes.
“In town.”
“You were in the shop?”
I grab some plates and turn away from mom, so she doesn’t see me roll my eyes. “No, I was on the sidewalk. I got Anderson ice cream and we were walking back to the car.”
“And she was just outside?” Mom asks.
“Jeez, is this an interrogation?”
Mom shakes her head and resumes chopping vegetables. “Just curious.”
I bite my bottom lip. I’m trying to be a good big brother but she’s not making it easy. In fact, she’s making it downright impossible.
“Seriously, she was out front you know, watering her plants or whatever and we said hi, and she just mentioned she needed some help. I thought a job would be good. Plus, you’re on vacation next week so Anderson won’t be alone, right?” I glance at her. “I mean, I can tell her you said no.”
Exasperated, she stops chopping. “Well, that wouldn’t be very Christian of you, would it? You can’t make a commitment and then back out. It’s fine. Just make sure you write down on the calendar when your shifts are, so I know where you are.”
“Yes Ma’am,” I answer.