43. Landry
CHAPTER 43
landry
“Landry, wait!”
I stop in my tracks when an unexpected voice calls after me. I turn, surprised to find Tenley jogging my way. She slows down as soon as she realizes I’ve stopped, clutching the potato in the baby sling that’s strapped over her chest and trying to catch her breath as she approaches.
“Sorry, I just … I’m not much of a runner.” She waves a hand in the air and gasps.
“What do you need, Tenley?”
The baby grunts and squirms, and she pats his butt before she continues. “I wanted to make sure you were okay, I guess.”
“Since when do you care whether I’m okay?” I spit out, and she flinches. “Sorry, I’m not in the mood for this right now.”
“I know,” she says, “and you don’t have to worry about hurting my feelings. I’m here for solidarity … and to apologize.”
“Solidarity?” I cock an eyebrow at her. “What the hell would you know about …” But I trail off when I realize what she’s trying to say.
“I always thought I was terrible at expressing my emotions and recognizing that in others, too. It turns out I was just scared.” She shrugs and drops her hands to her sides. “I was so afraid of failing that I kept pushing everyone away, and in doing that, I hurt them more than I thought.”
“Well, looks like you’re managing just fine now. Congratulations,” I say sarcastically, gesturing to the baby. “I don’t know what any of that has to do with me.”
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, you do.”
I frown and cross my arms. “Are you really trying to offer me advice right now?”
“I’m trying to prove to you that it’s not too late to pull your head out of your ass and see how much everyone in that house cares about you, despite the way you’ve convinced yourself otherwise.”
“Now you’re blaming me for this?” I ask incredulously.
She throws her head back and groans. “I’m not saying any of this is your fault. But you don’t have to keep punishing yourself for wanting something different. You deserve to feel loved and safe and understood as much as the rest of us, but you have to give your friends and family a chance to make you feel that way.”
By the time she finishes her rant, I realize her teeth are chattering, and she’s rubbing her hands over her baby, presumably to keep him warm. I turn and open the door to my Jeep, which I’ve already used the remote to start a few minutes before.
“Come on, you’re freezing,” I tell her, gesturing for her to sit inside.
She peers at me curiously. “Thanks,” she finally says before she climbs into the seat. “Aren’t you going to get in?”
“Is that okay?” I shove my hands in my pockets while I wait for her consent.
“Of course, Landry,” she replies, glaring at me. “I’m not worried about being alone in an enclosed space with you. And like you said before, we’re family now, aren’t we?”
I sigh and nod before going around to the driver’s seat, then I turn up the heat as soon as I close the door behind me.
“This was very kind and intuitive of you, you know,” she comments after a while. “I don’t think you’re as bad at reading people as you think you are.”
“I’m a doctor,” I say with a scoff. “I can’t just look the other way when someone gets sick or needs my help.”
“Is that why you married Daisy?”
I purse my lips and look down at my lap. “She needed the health insurance. I couldn’t let her go without.”
“You could have, but you didn’t. And I’m sure she’s very grateful.”
“Yeah, well, believe it or not, I didn’t do it so I could collect a debt from her later.”
“I know you didn’t, and so does Loren.”
“I’m not sure anyone thinks that much of me,” I mutter.
She laughs softly. “Well, I used to think you walked on water. You probably couldn’t have convinced thirteen-year-old Tenley Robin that Landry Reed was anything less than future-husband material.”
I roll my eyes. “Until he made a total ass of himself in front of everyone in Camellia and proved he was a terrible kisser, right?”
“No,” she says to my surprise. “Your fall from grace actually had very little to do with you and a lot more to do with the guilt I felt after ditching Lo and throwing myself at you on the same day I found out my dad had cancer.”
“What do you mean?”
“You weren’t the bad kisser, Landry—I was. I was also the one who practically begged you to make a move and got upset when you followed my lead, and that wasn’t fair of me. I’m not flattering myself by thinking any of this had a lasting effect on you or that you even remember it at all. But I’m still sorry for setting you up the way I did,” she offers, reaching over to pat my hand. “You knew about my crush for a long time, and you were only ever kind to me. You deserved better.”
I furrow my brow. “Well, um, thank you for that. But I still regret the way I treated you that night. I’m sorry, too.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” She smiles.
“What?”
“We’re all bad at this, Landry. It’s not just you. The thing is, we can’t stop trying to love and understand one another. And it’s never too late to apologize or explain how you really feel.”
I frown again. “Did Daisy put you up to this?”
“I actually came out here to spare you from having to deal with my husband,” she admits, chuckling. “He can’t stand lingering conflict, and the guilt is already eating him alive. But I didn’t think he’d have been well-received right about now, especially since he seems to think he owes you a hug.”
I snort. “Yeah, thanks.”
“And that last bit of advice was mostly paraphrased from what your sister told me that time I was in a similar predicament. But Daisy is pretty upset back there. She must care a whole lot about you.”
“Yeah,” I breathe. “I’m afraid she does.”
“Trust me, it’s so much easier once you stop letting your fears get in the way and just embrace it.”
“So I’m told,” I mumble.
“Once you allow yourself to finish falling for that sweet, little ball of sunshine in there, give me a call. I’m told I teach a very entertaining NFP class for marriage prep.”
“NFP?”
“Natural family planning … you know, Catholic sex-ed,” she says with a cocky grin. “You’ll need it if you want to get your marriage convalidated in the Church. And I promise I’ll only mention that time I let you get to second base in front of your wife again if it’s relevant.”
I can’t help the laugh that bursts out of me that time. “You know you don’t make a very good case for yourself with one of those things strapped across you.”
“Of course I do,” she says with a shrug. “It means my husband and I are doing it right.”
I cringe. “Maybe you guys are a better match than I originally thought.”
Tenley turns to reach for the door. “Yep. And from the looks of it, I’ve managed to make you feel uncomfortable enough to distract you and keep you from dwelling on your problems. Which is exactly what JD would have done.”
“Thanks for trying, anyway,” I tell her with a sad smile.
“We introverts have to stick together,” she replies. Then baby Jake stirs and lets out a loud grunt, and she sighs. “I’ll see you back inside?”
I press my lips together. “I don’t think so.”
She nods. “I understand. Can I tell them where you’ll be?”
“I think I’m going to my dad’s. After all, he won’t bother talking to me.”
Jake whimpers in his sling, and Tenley opens the door this time. “I’m sorry, Landry. But don’t give up on them, okay?”
“Yeah,” I reply, waiting for Tenley to walk inside the house before driving across town to my childhood home.
“What are you doing here?” my dad asks when he answers the door.
I sigh. “I screwed up, just like you said I would.”
He grunts and moves to let me inside. “Guess I can’t blame you. I didn’t exactly set the best example for you, did I?”
I blink a few times, his confession taking me off guard. “No, you didn’t,” I reply after a while.
“Yeah, well, you’d better make the effort to fix it now.” He goes back and sinks into his recliner. “Don’t wait until it’s too late, or one day you’ll retire from work just to realize you drove away everyone you love most.”
He keeps his gaze locked onto the TV, but I read the sadness in my dad’s face for the very first time. And it dawns on me that he’s been sitting here alone all day, while half his family celebrated Christmas without him a mere mile down the road.
“You say that like the fixing is easy,” I mumble after a while.
He huffs. “Sure it is. You just have to do whatever it takes to make sure they know you care.” He looks up at me for a second before he clears his throat. “You staying here all night?”
I nod. “If that’s all right with you.”
“Last night’s leftovers are in the fridge. Help yourself,” he says, leaning back in his recliner. But I think I see a faint smile forming on his face.
“Thanks.”
“No more of that bread pudding left, though. Think your girlfriend would mind making it again for New Year’s?”
I let out a short laugh. “I’m sure she’d be happy to do that, Coach. Especially if you requested it yourself.”
His smile grows more pronounced. “Better kiss and make up soon, then.”