3. Landry
CHAPTER 3
landry
“We’ll need some house rules if we’re going to make this work,” I tell Daisy once I clear my head again. “Like being fully clothed at all times.”
She’s still glaring at me, though I see her lips twitch this time. “Fine. I’ll try not to get my dress stuck in my hair again, as long as you learn to knock before you enter a room.”
I chuckle under my breath. She’s definitely feistier than I remember. “Let me guess, rule number three has to do with leaving the toilet seat down?”
“That’s rule number four. Three is ‘What happens in Camellia stays in Camellia.’”
There she goes again.
“You can’t say anything to my family about the seizures I’ve been having, no matter how worried you get. It’s my secret to tell,” she continues.
I furrow my brow. “I don’t like that rule.”
“Then think about it as doctor-patient confidentiality. You wouldn’t violate my rights if I were one of your patients, would you?”
“I guess not.” I sigh, although thinking about her as a patient isn’t a bad idea.
“Dr. Reed.” We’re interrupted by Dr. Broussard, one of the partners in the pediatrics clinic. He comes over to greet me with a smile and offers his hand. I shake it and nod politely before he introduces his wife.
“And this must be your …” he trails off as they all stare at me, waiting for me to speak. I open my mouth, but I freeze, unsure of how to introduce my unofficial new roommate.
“I’m Daisy,” she answers for me without missing a beat. I shoot her a look as she sidles up to me and ducks under my arm. “You must be one of the amazing pediatricians Landry’s hoping to work with?”
“Guilty as charged,” Dr. Broussard replies, already charmed by her. Meanwhile, I’m still squinting and trying to figure out what in the hell is going on.
“Camellia has the best doctors and nurses around. You’re all so nice. And I would know, since I’ve got a few of them in my family,” she rambles, scrunching up her nose and adding an appealing laugh.
“Well, you know, some of us doctors can be a bit quirky,” Dr. Broussard replies, and they all chuckle together. I stand there quietly, unsure whether it’s a dig at me or not.
“How did you get invited to this, anyway?” I blurt out, proving his point. Daisy nudges me in the side, and I clear my throat. “I mean, I didn’t know you were acquainted with my sister and her boyfriend.”
“We’re here for Nurse Tenley,” he says with a knowing smirk. “But Drake and Monica Bourgeois were good friends of ours, so we’ve known Blake and JD since they were … well, I guess I was their pediatrician when they were born,” he adds with a chuckle. “As well as yours. Heck, I’ve probably circumcised half of the men around here back when they were infants.”
His wife pats his arm gently. “Yet another reminder that it’s past time for you to retire, Steve.”
“Right,” I say shortly, trying to process while everyone laughs again.
“But I imagine that’s one of the reasons you’re thinking about joining us at the clinic?” he poses, referring to my recent job application. “You must be looking forward to working with Nurse Tenley, since she’s practically family.”
My nostrils flare at the reminder that one of my job duties would include checking out the newborn babies Tenley helps deliver as the town’s resident midwife—not that it would be so bad seeing Tenley every day. But it means I’ll undoubtedly see more of JD, too.
Daisy interrupts my thoughts when she jabs her elbow into my side, and I stifle a protest before I respond. “I’m really here for my sister, to help her with the twins.”
“That’s right. Congratulations on becoming an uncle,” the doctor replies.
I swallow hard. I am excited about gaining two new nieces, even if I’m not thrilled about the circumstances.
Daisy smiles genially when I hesitate to thank him. “Those baby girls will have him wrapped around their little fingers in no time, right?” She glances over at me, encouraging me to play along. “And Landry just couldn’t resist the opportunity to work alongside his old friends and family. There’s nothing like living in a small town, and Camellia really is the best community. I know I’m loving it here so far.”
“You’ve recently moved to town?” Dr. Broussard asks, raising his brow at me approvingly.
“We’re moving in together,” I blurt out a little too loudly. “In a house. You know, just the two of us.”
They smile at Daisy and me. “Congratulations, then,” Dr. Broussard says awkwardly. “We look forward to seeing you around, especially if we’re able to convince Dr. Reed to join our staff.”
“I sure hope so,” Daisy drawls, and Dr. Broussard bids me goodbye until our interview. She cringes as soon as they walk away. “I know we technically didn’t say anything untrue, but that definitely felt like lying. Do you think he assumed …”
“Yeah, thanks to you,” I say, taking my arm back.
“You’re the one who volunteered the information about us moving in together. In a house, you know, just the two of us ,” she retorts, lowering her voice to mock me.
“I’m not the best liar, okay?”
“You don’t say,” she replies sarcastically.
“I guess it doesn’t matter, anyway, since no one would believe we were an actual couple once they got to know us,” I mumble. “You’re so nice. And I’m so … old.”
She laughs softly. “Oh, come on. We’re only, what, eight years apart? Besides, don’t all you doctors have a thing for younger women?”
I shake my head and hold back another smile. She keeps surprising me. “I’m not like all the other doctors.”
“Right,” she says, biting her lip. “Because they’re all so quirky and awkward.”
“Geniuses usually are,” I declare, and she smirks. I stare at her until I notice the crowd gathering over near my sister and Blake, and I pull Daisy forward to get a better look.
“Well, shit,” I curse under my breath when I realize Blake is down on one knee. I guess I didn’t think he’d really go through with it, certainly not this soon.
“So … ah, will you? Marry me?” he asks tentatively, holding up a ring in front of her. He isn’t wearing his trademark cocky, arrogant expression either. He looks … well, terrified.
Hell, is he crying ?
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” Loren answers after a while, her tone uncertain, and I almost feel sorry for him.
“Sure?” he repeats.
“I mean, of course I will,” she says a little more convincingly before everyone applauds. But I can’t tell whether she’s cringing or smiling as he slips the ring onto her finger and wraps her up in a hug.
That son of a …
He’s guilting her into marrying him because of the babies. There’s no way Loren wants this, if her expression is any indication. He’s probably using her to fix his reputation so he can get ahead politically. I’m sure that’s why he’s proposing now, while the assistant district attorney and his wife are here. I’m barely holding back a growl when I feel Daisy’s hand on my arm.
“Landry?” she whispers.
I watch helplessly as Blake ushers Loren into the house. “I have to?—”
“No, you don’t,” she tells me, tugging me back when I instinctively move to follow them inside.
“Lo needs me to?—”
“Nope,” she cuts me off again. “She doesn’t need anything from you except your love and support, right?”
I pout. “But she clearly didn’t want to say yes,” I point out.
Daisy sighs, her eyes darting around nervously when I say it loudly enough for someone to overhear. “Look, I don’t know enough about your relationship with Loren to make a whole lot of assumptions, but I’m pretty sure your skepticism is the last thing she wants to hear right now,” she explains quietly. “Not to mention, she doesn’t seem to be the one who just got her heart broken in front of everyone.”
I take a step back and blink at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She tilts her head to the side in a gesture, and I follow her to the edge of the lawn. “Landry, I know you’re worried about Loren, but Blake is obviously head over heels for her while she’s, well …” She pauses to sigh before she continues. “I get the impression she’s been testing his loyalty.”
“She’s having his babies. I think that’s fair.”
“You’re right, and she shouldn’t be forced to marry him if she doesn’t want to. But I don’t think he’s proposing just because she’s pregnant, which means he’s going to be devastated if she tells him she doesn’t feel the same.”
I purse my lips as I reconcile Daisy’s take on their relationship with my own observations over the years. “Are you saying my sister’s the asshole here?”
She stifles a smile. “I’m saying she’s capable of looking out for herself. And she and Blake probably need to talk this out … without your help.”
I think back on the last serious conversation I had with Blake when he asked me to be more supportive of their relationship because Loren couldn’t seem to get over our parents’ failed marriage. And the way he’s repeatedly stood up to me on her behalf does sort of track with the idea of him having been in love with her all this time.
But then again, there’s no way Loren or anyone else could possibly believe the Blake Bourgeois I knew throughout college could ever be trustworthy, not after all the women I’ve seen him go through.
I’m still mulling it over when I catch JD and Tenley walking into the house. “Wait a minute, why do they get to go inside?” I demand, gesturing in their direction.
“Because she’s Loren’s best friend. And he’s Blake’s,” Daisy says plainly. She looks me in the eyes again. “Get over it, Landry. If you really love your sister, you’ll back off and let her make up her own mind. All she needs is your love and support, remember?”
I growl under my breath. “Fine. But don’t blame me for saying ‘I told you so’ when this blows up later.”
She pats my arm. “You know, if this does indeed blow up, we’re both out of a home. Maybe you should think twice about your allegiance here.”
I smirk, impressed again with her ability to read the situation. Even for a homeschooled kid who’s spent half her life in and out of the hospital, she’s already way better than I am at this. Though that’s not saying much. “You’re not as naive as you look, are you?”
She grins in return. “Oh, I’m practically clueless. But I’m also a fast learner.”
Eventually, my sister and her alleged fiancé return to the party, looking a little worse for the wear. Loren’s obviously been crying, and Blake’s clothes look suspiciously wrinkled. But I can’t tell whether they’ve been fighting or celebrating.
Scratch that. Blake wouldn’t be frowning like that if it were the second option.
I narrow my eyes and stare at Loren carefully. Her color is off, and she’s moving slowly, cautiously, like she might just faint from exhaustion at any second. She’s also in pain, judging from the way she keeps alternating rubbing her belly and her lower back as the sunlight glints off the huge rock on her left ring finger.
I don’t like any of this.
“You’re doing it again,” Daisy whispers beside me.
“What? Oh.” I relax my face when I realize what she means. “But don’t you think Loren looks?—”
“Let it go, Landry,” she begins again. “Loving and supportive.”
I heave out a deep sigh as Blake speaks. “I’ll try.”
He says something about Loren needing to rest now, which somewhat appeases me, and the other guests begin filing out of their backyard. Daisy and I both join the cleanup efforts, and before long, only our family and Tenley’s remains.
“I’m going to go wait in the Jeep,” Daisy tells me once most of the work is done. “I’m sure you want to congratulate her.” She gestures to my sister across the kitchen, and I nod appreciatively.
“You should be resting,” I tell Loren sternly as soon as I approach her. “You’re looking pale.”
She rolls her eyes, but even that small effort seems to tire her. “I’m fine,” she murmurs.
I open my mouth to argue, but Daisy’s words echo in my mind.
Loving and supportive.
Loren is a grown woman, as much as it pains me to admit it. And I’ll have to start letting her make her own mistakes at some point, right?
I soften my expression. “If you say so.” Then I reach out to wrap her up in my arms before I lose the nerve. She hesitates before she returns the embrace, which honestly stings a little, but she melts into the hug after a second.
“And congratulations. I love you, Lo,” I add after a while. “Be safe and call me if anything changes. I want to be here when my girls arrive and check them out myself.”
There. That was loving and supportive, right?
She pulls away, rolling her eyes again and looking more like herself. “Yeah, yeah, we get it. You’re a doctor,” she quips, making me laugh.
I want to say more, to demand that she put her feet up, but my gaze meets Blake’s from across the room, and I can see the same concern in his eyes. I make my way over to him as the rest of my family crowds Loren.
“Congrats,” I say dryly. It takes all I have not to remind him that I’m holding up my end of our deal even though he failed to do his part.
Hey, I’m trying.
“Thanks, man.” He smiles softly, extending an open hand. I return the handshake, but I don’t miss the way his eyes dart to Loren again when my mom goes in for a hug. Blake might be just as worried about her as I am.
“Can you make her?—”
“Yeah, I’m on it,” he cuts me off, patting my arm before he strides over to her, and I nod to myself before I go, feeling slightly more confident in his abilities to take care of my baby sister.
I watch as my dad takes Blake’s hand and embraces Loren next. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him looking so pleased with anything his own kids have ever done, but I suppose it’s different now that a Bourgeois is involved.
I guess some things never do change.
No one seems to notice when I walk out of the house and join Daisy in the car, with the exception of Tenley’s nephew. He gives me a short nod when we make eye contact before I pull out of the driveway, and the drive home is silent.
“You did good today, Landry,” Daisy tells me as we reach the house.
I huff. “I didn’t know I was being graded.”
She cringes. “Sorry, I need to do a better job of thinking about what I say before I say it. You know my family’s very … open with their thoughts and feelings.”
“Yeah,” I retort.
“And they’re sort of all I’ve ever had, so that doesn’t leave me with a lot of experience in socialization.”
“Right.” I already hate having to feel this guilty all the time. “Daisy, no offense, but I’m not sure this roommate arrangement is going to work out.”
Her shoulders droop as soon as the words leave my mouth. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just trying to be helpful.”
I groan and run my fingers through my hair. “I know. And that’s why we can’t live together. Neither of us understands how to read a room. And if you’re going to keep saying stuff that annoys me, I’m going to keep hurting your feelings.”
“But I’m a fast learner, remember? I’m sure I’ll pick up on what not to say after a while. And I can develop thicker skin. We can make it work.” Then she turns her doe eyes to mine. “I promise.”
“You can’t really think putting up with me is going to be worth the taxi service,” I grind out, trying desperately to resist her pleading.
“This is my one and only chance to make it on my own. I’ll never prove to my parents that I don’t need them smothering me to survive if I have to go crawling back before the first month is up.”
She’s added a trembling lip now, and fluttery eyelashes. Dammit.
“You’re not technically doing it on your own if you need me around,” I grumble, holding on to my resolve.
“You’ll just be my safety net, right? I won’t bother you unless I really have to, besides getting a ride now and then.”
I turn away. I don’t believe that for a second.
She sighs wearily. “I understand if you don’t want to live with me, though. And I’ll manage alone.”
“Oh, will you?” I pose.
Her expression shifts. “I spoke to JD earlier. He said he’d be more than happy to pick me up in the mornings on his way to school,” she declares with a smug smile.
My own face hardens. “You’re bluffing.”
“Am I?” she chirps, batting her eyelashes again.
I growl.
“What exactly do you have against JD anyway?” she asks, narrowing her eyes at me.
“Long story,” I grunt.
“We’d have plenty of time for long stories if we were having slumber parties every night. Or you could tell me about it over your morning coffee.” She’s grinning now, confident in her victory.
“If I talk more, will you talk less?” I don’t deliver the line with as much sarcasm as usual though, probably because of the effort it’s taking me not to smile.
“Probably not,” she replies. “But I’ll do my best to wait until the caffeine kicks in before I start.”
I can’t help it when a laugh escapes. “Fine.”
“Thank you, Landry,” she drawls sweetly and surprises me by climbing onto her knees and leaning over to press a kiss to my cheek. I turn in time to see the way she rolls her lips in as she sits back, almost looking embarrassed. “Sorry. That’s probably?—”
“I don’t like being touched.”
She nods quickly. “Got it.”
Then I furrow my brow. “Well, I guess I do, but not, you know …”
“By me?” she offers.
I’m not sure how to save myself on that one, but luckily, I’m interrupted by my phone ringing. I’m so concerned when I see Loren’s name on the caller ID that I don’t even apologize to Daisy before I answer the call.
“Lo? What’s wrong?”
“Landry,” says a familiar voice on the other side, though it’s not my sister’s. “It’s JD. I’m calling you from Loren’s phone because we’re on the way to the hospital. I thought you’d want to know.”
“What?” I ask dumbly. “Is she … are the babies …”
“Tenley thinks she’s having a placental abruption.”
“I’m on my way.” My breathing quickens, and I turn to Daisy. “Get inside. Now.”
Her eyes widen. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Loren. I’ve gotta go,” I practically yell.
Daisy nods and scrambles out of the passenger seat. “Will you let me know if they’re okay?”
I nod shortly to get her out of the way before I throw my Jeep into reverse and peel out of the driveway, leaving Daisy at the edge of the front porch with her arms wrapped around her middle.