by Len Webster
AJ glanced in the mirror and took in her reflection. She was happy she decided against getting too dressed up for her first date with Landon. She hadn’t wanted to set any standards she couldn’t reach if they were to go on another date. It was about letting him get to know her as her.
The real Alexandra Parker.
The little eyeliner and mascara she wore would be more than enough. She decided to keep her hair in their natural curls and wore a dark green long-sleeve dress and a pair of black sandals. According to her roommate, the sandals made her outfit a little dressier and date worthy.
“Told you the green dress would make your eyes pop. Landon doesn’t stand a chance,” Savannah commented, smiling as if she were proud of AJ’s transformation.
“Thanks, Sav,” she said before she picked up her pink tinted lip balm and applied it to her lips. Her phone ringing on her desk had her setting down the lip balm and picking up her phone. She answered it when she saw his name on her screen. “Connecticut, if you’re calling to tell me that you can’t make it, I will be devastated.”
He chuckled. “I’m outside your dorm. Can I come up?”
AJ reached over and grabbed her purse. “I’m coming down now. Much better than risking some sort of talk Sav might give you.”
“You’re right. We promised this would be a pressure-free date. Sav might put pressure on me.”
“She definitely will,” AJ agreed as she got off the chair, slung her purse onto her shoulder, and smiled at her roommate. “Landon’s downstairs. I’m going to go.”
Savannah crossed her arms over her chest. “Doesn’t even want to meet the roommate …?”
AJ rolled her eyes. “He’s already met you. I don’t want you to scare him. I’ll see you later.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “But don’t do anything reckless or stupid … or anything I would do. You’re the smart one. I’ll see you when you get back. You better take care of her, Landon!”
“Hear that?” AJ asked Landon, eyebrow raised at Savannah.
“Every word,” he confirmed.
“I’ll see you later, Sav.” AJ headed to the door, twisted the handle, and exited her dorm room. “Stay on the line?” she asked as she closed the door behind her and made her way toward the staircase.
“Sure.” He paused. “Can we discuss my family now before we actually have our date? I don’t want to talk about them when I see you.”
She smiled at the nervous tone in his voice as she began to walk down the stairs. “Okay. Let’s talk about your family. Landon, seeing them, I don’t think they like me.”
“They don’t like anyone. Well, my mother and sister don’t like anyone. Lincoln and my father like you. They know how important you are to me since I insisted that I wanted no background checks on you.”
AJ came to a stop. “What?”
Landon laughed. “I’m kidding. No background checks were done. I promise. My family is just particular about their image and who can affect that image.”
That had her sweating. “I can affect your image?”
He sighed. “This is a lot more pressure than I had wanted on our first date. There are expectations. And well, my mother’s dream for me is to be with someone who has a worthy surname and a family with millions in their bank accounts.”
She nodded as she continued down the stairs. “Landon, I don’t have a surname that would fit your mother’s expectations. You heard her when she realized I’m not from the ‘old money Parker’ family. My parents work hard for their careers and income. They saved up for college, but thanks to my scholarship, we don’t have to use it. I know the value of a dollar since I worked during high school. But my family is comfortable without having millions. My family is happy. Is that good enough for your mother? Or are we doomed before I even see you?”
Landon was silent.
AJ stood at the bottom step and waited.
Then, after what seemed like forever, Landon said, “Open the front door and let me tell you.”
She nodded, knowing he couldn’t see her. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the front door and exhaled. AJ grasped the door handle, then told herself he was worth the fight and that his family’s opinion of her had no hold over them. She opened the dormitory door to find Landon standing before her with his phone held to his ear. He lowered it when he saw her, and AJ did the same. She took in his white dress shirt that was tucked in his tailored black pants. The simple black belt and leather shoes completed his outfit. His brown hair was combed back, and his pink cheeks were adorable.
Landon slipped his phone into his pants pocket and squared his shoulders, appearing more confident. “Here’s the truth. Alex, you’re far too good for my mother. She’s always wanted me to find someone she can control. With you, you threaten that for her. You’re smart. You’re undeniably beautiful. You can think for yourself, and that makes you unworthy in her eyes. But to me, I’m unworthy. You’re far too smart and far too beautiful for someone like me. As for us being doomed? Maybe with my mother but not in every way that matters to me. I really like you, Alex, and I don’t want my family to ever make you feel like you don’t deserve me. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Her lips stretched into a smile she couldn’t bite back. Landon Carmichael had just made his intentions very clear. They weren’t doomed. He wasn’t going to let his family get in the way of them.
And AJ had to make the same declaration.
“I’m an only child,” she said as she placed her phone into her purse. “My parents would love you, but that doesn’t mean they would completely trust you. I’m not from an old American bloodline. My mother moved to the US and gave up dream positions in restaurants to be married to my father. They have expectations when it comes to relationships. And I think you’re worthy of meeting them and having my heart someday. Socially and financially, I don’t think I’m compatible with you. Your family is far too rich and too societal …”
“And that matters?” he asked in a small voice.
AJ stepped forward, her body close to his as she closed the dormitory door behind her. Then she glanced up at him through her lashes. “It might matter … but not to me. I don’t care if you’re rich, Landon. So long as you don’t care that I’m not. I care about how you treat me and others. That’s what matters. And trust me, you have a heart that’s more than worthy.”
His smile was by far the most beautiful sight she’d seen in a long time. Then Landon reached up and cupped her cheeks, pressing his lips to her forehead in a soft kiss. “I really like you, Alex,” he confessed when he broke away and glanced down at her.
Her heart melted in her chest. “I really like you, Landon.”
“Now that we got our parents and their expectations out of the way, can I take you to dinner?” he asked. AJ nodded as his hands left her face, and he grasped her hand, their fingers threading together. “No pressure tonight, right?”
“No pressure.”
Because God knows the last thing either of them needed was pressure.
“Are you serious?” AJ asked with a laugh, staring at the bench they normally sat on when they had time between classes for coffee.
She should have known that a quick walk through the gardens wasn’t just a simple walk. It was the location of their date. And somehow, Landon managed to get this part of the gardens for themselves. Above them, paper lanterns hanging from the trees illuminated their bench.
“Those aren’t flammable, are they?”
Landon laughed as he pulled the rope away and led her to the bench. “They’re all battery operated. My request for candles was denied.”
“Well, this is pretty romantic,” she pointed out as she sat down and tilted her head back, taking in the stars and the paper lanterns.
They were a perfect combination.
A beautiful blend of twinkle and colors.
Landon impressed her with his thoughtfulness.
She had always wanted to experience the campus gardens at night but never had the chance to. He was fulfilling one of her desires. A desire she thought would never be a reality.
A rustling sound had her lowering her chin to find Landon pulling out a picnic basket from under the bench. Then he opened it and pulled out a blanket. She watched him get up from the bench and set the blanket on the ground in front of them.
“I know I promised dinner, and this might not be what you expected, but I made sandwiches and brought dessert and drinks. I thought you deserved a dinner without pressure and somewhere you were comfortable … God, your dress … you look so beautiful, Alex. This is stupid. I’ll pack this all up, and I’ll take you on a proper date to one of those French restaurants downtown that’s won a lot of awards. What was I thinking—”
Her heart almost burst in her chest at his rambling because he had put so much thought and effort into their date. She didn’t need fancy dinners. She wanted to be with him.
Just him.
AJ got off the bench, stepped in front of him, and pressed her palm to the back of his head. She brought his lips to hers and shut him up with her kiss. He seemed taken aback for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her to his hard chest.
Landon Carmichael kissed her with this indescribable need and passion.
He kissed her as if she were the reason he’d been looking for.
And AJ kissed him with sheer relief, appreciation, and devotion because Landon Carmichael became her everything when Evan Gilmore became nothing. A pang of guilt erupted in her chest at the thought of Evan. It had been so long since she’d truly thought of him. But that guilt left her.
Replaced by Landon’s kiss.
By Landon’s touch.
And Landon’s name etched into her heart.
Landon became a necessity. He was everything and more in a moment under the stars and lanterns.
AJ slowed their kiss until she pulled back. “This is perfect, Landon,” she assured in a soft whisper as her hands moved to his jaw, ensuring his eyes were firm on hers. “We should do this again.”
His eyes softened, tantalizing her when he bent down and kissed her, startling her.
When she had said again, she meant another date under the stars.
But this kiss was soft and sweet.
It felt like appreciation—which, from all her previous kisses, she believed she’d never experienced before.
AJ pulled back, laughing, knowing that he did it on purpose. “I meant another date. Here.”
“Again?” he asked breathlessly.
It was a loaded question. She saw it in his smile. It was again to dinner. It was again for another kiss. And AJ had the perfect answer.
“Again,” she whispered.
She smiled as his arms tightened around her, and she tilted her head as his lips pressed against hers. It felt so right.
Her heart beat with joy and resurgence.
Landon Carmichael brought her back to life, basking her with his affection, time, and belief. There was no guilt with Landon. Being with him felt right. And AJ knew she had done it.
She had let her past go with an affirming kiss with her present and future.
All because of Landon Carmichael and his belief in her and them.
65 Tb
terbium
ALEX
Now
“You should have gone to culinary school,” a familiar voice suggested, surprising her and causing Alex to spill some of the cupcake batter on the stainless steel counter.
“Damn,” she cursed as she set the mixing bowl down next to the paper cups in the cupcake tin. She had spent the past hour filling cupcake cups with batter at her mother’s bakery.
“Here,” Danny, the head chef at her mother’s restaurant, said as he handed her a cloth.
AJ took it from him with an appreciative smile and cleaned up the mess. When she was finished, she set the cloth some distance away from her. Then she took in Danny’s friendly smile. “Thank you, Danny.”
“For suggesting that you go to culinary school like your mother?” he asked as he walked over to the sink and washed his hands.
“For the towel,” she corrected. “Why aren’t you at the restaurant?”
He hummed an unfamiliar song as he wiped his hands on a dish towel before he returned to her counter. He picked up a clean mixing bowl. “Heard you were in the kitchen. And I mean it. I saw some good technique there.”
She let out a laugh. The first real laugh she’d made in what felt like forever. Alex picked up her bowl, ready to pour more mixture in the cups to bake. She had been at her mother’s bakery for two hours. After Evan and her father’s tussle, she got into her car and drove to the bakery to see her mother, but she wasn’t there. Her mother was with one of the head bakers, and they were scouting new ingredients. In a way, she didn’t mind helping at the busy bakery because it meant she wasn’t home alone. That she wasn’t next door to temptation.
She felt different in Brookline.
She felt the difference the moment Landon broke up with her, and she returned home. And different was worrying. Different meant she might revert to her old ways and feelings. And that included Evan. They might both be single, but her heart was confused.
Her heart still loved Landon.
And her heart wasn’t ready for another devastating break.
She had suffered more than enough at the hands of men who claimed they loved her.
Alex shook her head as she began to pour the vanilla, white chocolate, and macadamia batter into the paper cups. “My mother’s the baker, Danny, not me. I just remembered what she taught me. Just because I grew up with all of this doesn’t mean I’m the next Clara Parker.”
He grinned at her as he sifted the flour into his bowl. “No, your mother is quite unique. She could have given up on her culinary career after she moved here.”
She set the bowl down, curious. “But she didn’t.”
Danny shook his head. “No, she didn’t. Your mother loves your father, Alex. She gave up the best restaurants in the world for him. Not once has she ever regretted making the decision to move to the US to be with your father. She wanted to prove to him that she could adapt to life here. And she did for a little while. She was an intern at one of the best restaurants in Boston. That was until she quit.
“She lost her way, and then your father showed her home. Your father was the one who reminded her of her dreams. He bought her this bakery, and she never lost sight of her dreams after that. Having you helped because she wanted to welcome you into a world she helped build for you. This bakery was for you and for your father. The Little Bakery isn’t named after my old bakery in Melbourne. It’s named after you and your father. The little family whom she loved so big.”
Alex blinked her tears away. She had always known that her father had bought the bakery for her mother, but she never knew the true meaning of how the bakery came to be one of Boston’s favorite establishments.
“There’s a message for me in that, isn’t there?”
Danny nodded. “For over twenty years, your mother has had the love and support of a strong man. A man who has respected her and loved her. Who has encouraged her dreams. With that kind of belief, your mother has been successful and loved. Since your freshman year of college, Alex, I’ve watched you struggle to find yourself in your dreams. You gave up MIT for someone you loved, but you didn’t give up on your dream of being a physicist. But unlike your mother, you don’t smile or have passion in your eyes. You’ve lost your spark. Your true love and aspirations for your dreams. And seeing you here, back in Boston, you resemble your mother when she was at Boston University, doing the opposite of her dreams. She was conforming.”
“I’m guessing my father told my mother, and my mot
her sent you down to the bakery to give me some sort of inspirational talk. Am I right?”
He laughed, completely abandoning his cupcakes and ignoring the chatter of her mother’s staff around them. “Almost right. She just asked if I’d check on you while she’s in Providence. So why are you home, Alex?”
Alex picked up her tray of cupcakes and made her way to Georgie, one of her mother’s newest interns, who put the cupcakes in the oven. She smiled her thanks and returned to Danny. “I needed a break from Duke.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the truth.” Alex reached around her and tugged at the apron ties. Then she pulled the apron from her and set it on the counter. “My mother and I are different, Danny. She had my father’s love, support, and understanding. I don’t have that. I’ve never had that in someone who loves me because my dreams don’t matter. In the greater scope of it all, I’ve never mattered more than the person I love. My mother made sacrifices for the right reasons. I didn’t. I didn’t choose the right people to love. No one has sacrificed the way my father has for my mother. I’m not good enough. They’ve all made that clear.”
Danny’s shoulders fell. “You and Landon broke up?”
Alex nodded. “He can’t have a girlfriend like me. A girlfriend who wants to be a physicist. I fell in love with physics because it was the theory of everything. Then I fell in love with my best friend, and my dreams of MIT meant nothing because we were supposed to go to Stanford together. I chose an alternative to my dreams in Duke. Then my best friend found me and made me promises. He chose another girl over me. So I moved on. And I thought I found someone who respected my love for science. But it turns out that wasn’t true. He chose the NBA over me. And once again, I don’t fit in someone’s life. I lost my way, Danny. I don’t know who I am anymore. I was AJ here. I had a best friend who I loved. Then it was all gone. And then I was Alex in North Carolina, who went to basketball games and supported her boyfriend who she loved. And now that’s all gone, too. What am I doing wrong?”
“Hey,” he said as he walked around the counter, set his hands on her shoulders, and turned her to face him. Danny reached up and brushed her tears away and pressed a kiss to her hair. “Kid, I love you as if you were my own niece. I fell in love with you the day I met you when you were only hours old. You had the pinkest cheeks and biggest eyes that just brightened as you grew up. You need someone to believe in you? Well, a lot of people believe in you.