by Ava Wood
She softly whispered, “Okay,” and they began to walk along the fence line.
They moved along in silence as Landon tried to decide where to start. He decided to let the words come freely and began his story. “My father bought this ranch as a wedding gift for my mother. He had just made his first million in the oil company and shortly after the sale of the property was finalized they began building my mother’s dream home. Every single detail of the house was to my mother’s exact specifications. She absolutely loved it here.” Landon avoided looking at the plantation-style home where he grew up, holding tight to Talia’s hand as he spoke. He wanted her to know his story, every bit, but it wasn’t an easy story to tell. He hadn’t talked to anyone about his life before he became an escort. This was a major step for him.
He continued, seeing she was hanging on every word. “Over time, they built a barn and bought horses for my mother. She loved to ride, but she came from a poor family so she never had the money to own a horse of her own. My dad worked effortlessly to give my mother everything she wanted.” As they came to the edge of the property, Talia stopped him to remove her ballet flats then they continued on. “She used to drag me out of bed at the crack of dawn on Saturdays to go for a ride. I was the only one of us kids that would actually join her on her trail rides.”
“How many siblings do you have?” Talia was staring contently at him, obviously taking in every word.
“I have two, a brother named Dawson and a sister, Celia.”
“Are you close?”
Landon wondered why they’d rarely discussed family before. He realized he knew so little about Talia’s parents and he had no idea if Talia had any other siblings aside from Sara. “My brother and I are very close. In fact, my apartment belongs to him.”
“What about your sister?”
“We had a falling out about six years ago and I haven’t spoken to her since. She doesn’t agree with my lifestyle.” Landon immediately kicked himself for that last statement.
“Your lifestyle?”
“Let’s just say, she’s very reserved. She thinks everyone should be married by the time they are twenty-five and have two point three kids. I don’t fit into her cookie-cutter existence.” It was a vague stretch on his truth, but it was what Celia had always wanted for her family.
“That’s ridiculous. You are your own person. She can’t expect you to be exactly like her. Besides, not everyone meets that certain someone by the time they are twenty-five.”
“And not everyone wants to get married.”
“You don’t want to get married?” Talia stopped in her tracks, pulling at Landon’s hand and turning him to look at her.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I used to think I’d never get married, but I’m not so sure now. My opinion seems to be changing.”
Talia cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”
Landon smirked at her. He was surprised she didn’t know his change of heart was all because of her. “Because my life is different now. I’m not who I used to be.”
Talia furrowed her brow, eyeing him.
“Come on, I want to show you the barn.”
Talia took Landon’s hand and fell in step with him again.
“When I was a kid, I used to hide up in the hayloft to get away from my sister. She was such a bossy little thing. You never would have known she was a year younger than me.”
Talia giggled, resting her head on his shoulder.
The door to the barn was open just enough for a person to easily step inside and when Landon and Talia entered, the smell of moldy hay assaulted them. They both quickly covered their noses and Landon pulled her back outside. “I guess that wasn’t such a good idea.” They laughed, and Landon decided to take Talia around to the back of the property. He’d tried to avoid looking at his childhood home, but it was growing harder as they made their way closer to the house. “My mother was so amazing. She loved the sound of all of us kids running around the house, laughing and having a good time. Friday nights, we would all get to invite one friend over and the house could get pretty noisy, but my mother loved it. She would spend the entire night cooking for everyone making these amazing feasts fit for a holiday dinner and when we were done eating, she’d begin baking cookies and brownies. We never went hungry when she was around. It’s a miracle I wasn’t overweight.”
Landon stared straight ahead, knowing he was passing his old bedroom window as they walked by the side of the house. “I remember this one Friday. My sister brought over her best friend, Melanie. I had such a crush on that girl.” He stopped to take in Talia’s reaction, but she was still fixated on him, smiling. “I was maybe ten or eleven and I chased Melanie around the house, pulling her pigtails and calling her Punky Brewster. Celia was ready to kill me, but my mom just laughed at all of it. She loved watching us just be kids. She never wanted us to grow up too fast.” He took a deep breath, realizing how quickly he did grow up when everything changed.
After a moment of silence, he continued. “When I was twelve, my mom got sick. My brother was a senior in high school, so he had a better grip on things, but Celia and I were lost. Our mother had been an integral part of our lives. She helped us with our homework, made our lunches; she even ironed our clothes every morning before we went to school, whether they were wrinkled or not. And when we had a problem, without us saying a word, she knew and she was always there with words of wisdom to get us through it. All of that stopped when she got sick. She was constantly tired. She didn’t have the energy for the things we’d grown accustomed to. Celia and I looked to my father to fill her shoes, but he just didn’t have the time. When my mom got sick, my dad devoted hours to tirelessly searching for a doctor who could make her better.” Landon was struggling to keep it together as he began to recall how his family fell apart.
Talia’s hand slipped up his arm, caressing his bicep.
“My mom had stage four ovarian cancer that had metastasized before they even knew anything was wrong. There was nothing the doctors could do, but my dad couldn’t bear the thought of living without her, so he searched day and night for someone to save her. At one point, he even turned to holistic remedies and healing ceremonies. My mother hated all of the treatments and medicines, but she tolerated all of it for my dad. She understood he was desperate to keep her around, but I think deep down she knew she wouldn’t make it and she just wanted to honor his wishes during the time she had left here on earth. With Mom in and out of treatment facilities and Dad constantly searching for an answer, my brother was left to raise us during our formative years while my parents dealt with my mother’s last days.”
Landon looked off at the backyard as they neared. He refused to look at the house. It was the hardest part of coming back here, but he needed this time to tell Talia who he was and what made him who he is now. As they turned the corner, walking onto the back lawn, he could see the dilapidated tree house still sitting in the dying oak tree. It was a mockery of everything his father shared with the ex-wife. He laughed in disgust, leading Talia around the back of the house. “I can’t believe she left it here.” He walked over to the tree, placing his hand on the carving in the trunk.
Talia gasped from behind him. “It’s the oak tree.” She stepped to his side, staring at the carving in silence.
He knew she’d put it together. This was the tree that was now tattooed on his arm for eternity. “After my mom died, this was the only place I still felt her. I couldn’t find her in the kitchen or her bedroom, or even in her library. This was it, for me. This was the only place I could still sense her in me.” Landon stared at the tree, remembering one of the last heart-to-hearts he’d had with his mother before she fell ill. He’d been up in his tree house crying over losing his first real girlfriend and his mother came in to console him. She explained the trouble with love and how it is a double-edged sword.
“Love can cut you to pieces when you lose it or tear you apart when you find the one. Love is the most unfair emotion, but we need to love and be love
d to live a full life. And when you finally find that one that I know is out there for you, you’ll have to fight with every breath to hold onto her forever.”
He’d forgotten all about that conversation until this moment, but he could still remember every word like she was saying the words to him now. It was suddenly very clear that he knew what true love felt like. He knew with every fiber of his being he loved Talia for better or worse, and he would do everything in his power to fight for her until his dying breath. She’d irrevocably changed his life without even knowing it. She was it for him.
As tears threatened to spill over, he blurted out, “I love you.”
Talia looked at him with amazement written across her face, unspeaking. Landon froze expectantly, praying she would say something. He’d just put it all on the line and her response was silence. He was about to take it all back when she crashed into him and began kissing him under the old oak tree. Her hands fisted in his hair as she pressed into him and they sank to its base. Landon continued to kiss her as he laid her in the plush green grass and fell into her deeper, his tongue teasing hers and stroking across the roof of her mouth. He felt her hands begin to roam across his back, tugging at the hem of his shirt, then reaching beneath, placing her frosty hands against his skin. The chill sent his blood racing, forcing his arousal into overdrive and he longed to get inside her.
Still clothed, his hips moved against her abdomen as he continued to kiss her, swiftly placing the kisses on her cheek and down her neck. She was panting as he worked his way across her jawline. He couldn’t wait any longer, using one hand to pull her pants from her legs, then unfastening his own to free himself. She continued to pant as she watched him reach in his pocket. “Damn.”
“What’s wrong?” Talia leaned close to him, her face etched with worry.
“No condom.” He tried to calm himself down, realizing their unexpected interlude was coming to an end.
“It’s okay.”
Landon’s eyes shot open. That wasn’t what he expected to hear.
“I’m on birth control, so we’re safe.”
Landon was full of mixed emotions. He’d never been with a woman without a condom. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
He was hesitant, recalling his past, but he couldn’t lost this moment. He leaned back over her, kissing her, and feeling all the love inside of him poured out with that kiss. When his jeans were out of the way, he thrust into her, truly feeling her for the first time. She was so wet and tight around him, drawing at his hardened flesh. With no barrier between them, he knew he wouldn’t last long, so he tried to slow things down, moving gradually in and out. She was moaning, moving beneath him, quickening his stride.
“That feels so good.” Her breaths were uneven as she arched her back to him.
He wrapped his arm around the small of her back and pushed deeper into her, gradually increasing his speed with the rhythm of her breaths. He could tell she was almost there as he tried to hold out for her orgasm. When she cried out his name, he thrust one final time and felt his release like never before. When their bodies ceased their trembling, he fell beside her, waiting for their ragged breaths to subside. Before their breathing had fully returned to normal, the sound of a car crunching up the gravel driveway could be heard in the distance.
“Who is that?”
“Let’s not wait to find out.” Landon pulled Talia to her feet, both of them quickly redressing before they went racing from the backyard to the main entrance, running hand in hand. When they reached the front gate, Landon found the trigger to open it, pressing it and waiting impatiently as it slowly swung ajar. Talia stood beside him giggling, and as anxious as he felt, he couldn’t help but smile at her. He looked over his shoulder one last time as they slipped out and hurried to his bike. He pushed the bike to the edge of the road before they hopped on to ride away. When Talia’s hands were pressed against his abdomen he placed one of his own over them and her head fell against his shoulder. That double-edged sword his mother had warned him about so long ago was now cutting his heart to pieces, each one belonging to Talia, each one screaming that he was hers for better or worse. There was no life without her now. He would be ruined if she ever walked away. He focused on the fact that she was here with him now, and that would have to be enough.
Talia dropped her keys on the dresser and slipped her shoes from her feet before falling onto the bed. Landon had offered to lock up and she was thankful for the few precious moments of silent reflection. He’d told her he loved her. It was the last thing she expected to hear, even after all the revelations about his family. Words that were meant to be a reassurance to her felt more like a menace. She’d heard those words too many times from Mason and look how that turned out. She didn’t want to be hurt again, but deep down, she felt like those words meant something completely different with Landon. Ridden with bewildering feelings, Talia threw her arm over her eyes and focused on just breathing.
She felt Landon sit on the bed and lean over her, resting his hand on her stomach. “You okay?”
She pulled her arm from her eyes to look up at him. “Yeah.” She smiled faintly, seeing the love that he felt for her, trying to recall a time when Mason had looked at her that way, but failing.
“Thank you for today. I wouldn’t have gotten through that without you, but I needed it. I needed to find my mother again. It’s been too long since I really thought about her, about what she would think of me.”
“She would be proud of you, of the man you’ve become.” Talia could sense uncertainty in him.
“I don’t think so. I think she’d want nothing to do with me if she were still alive.”
“Why would you say that?”
Landon shook his head. “I meant what I said earlier.”
Talia was shocked by the sudden change of subject. “I know.”
“I get you’re not ready to say it, but I wanted you to know.”
Talia placed her hand on his cheek. “Thank you.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead before he stood. “I think I’m going to stay at my apartment tonight. I don’t want to push.”
“You’re not pushing.” She sat up and scooted closer to him, anxious to ease the worry lines forming on his brow.
“Still, we could both use the rest.”
Realizing she couldn’t convince him to stay, she stood up next to him. “Are we okay?”
“Yeah.” He smiled before he kissed her forehead again. “I’ll see you in the morning. Night, Petal.”
When he slipped out of the room, Talia sat back on the bed, watching the doorway until she heard the sound of her apartment door closing. When Landon’s motorcycle fired up, she fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She couldn’t figure out what had changed during the drive back from Landon’s childhood home, but he’d grown more sullen. She knew that rest wasn’t going to come easy after the way he left, but she decided she’d get ready for bed anyway and hope sleep would eventually come.
The night had been uneasy. Talia had gotten less than four hours of sleep and woke before the sun. She was going to need a lot of coffee to make it through this day. She just hoped Landon wasn’t still in his perplexing mood when he showed up for work. At a quarter after seven, Reina arrived with a determined look on her face.
“Morning, mami.”
“That it is.” Talia poured herself another cup of coffee as she moved about the shop preparing for the day.
“Carnala, can I talk to you for a minute?”
She should have known Reina had something on her mind, coming into work this early. “Sure, what’s up?”
“I’m just worried about you.”
“Why?”
“You’ve been so preoccupied with Landon and I’m worried you’re getting in over your head.”
Talia rolled her eyes, “Seriously?”
“It wasn’t that long ago you were head over heels for Mason and now Landon swoops in and you’re loco for him? I’m just worried
you’re moving too far too fast.”
“Honestly, Reina, this really isn’t any of your concern. My personal life is my business.” Talia was through with the conversation. She marched to the counter to get the computer ready for the day.
“But what do you know about him? Do you know where he lives or where he sleeps at night? Do you even know if he’s sleeping alone?”
Talia slammed her fist on the counter. “No, I don’t know where his apartment is, but I know where he sleeps at night, because he sleeps with me.” Which had been true every night until last night. That didn’t mean for once second that she believed he had left her to be with another woman.
“Dios mio. Are you insane?”
“What is the big deal? Camey finds a guy at the club and takes him home hours after they meet and you don’t bat an eye, but I sleep with the only man I’ve had a relationship with in months and I’m a whore?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Look, Reina, I’m really not sure what your issue is with Landon, but it’s about time you got over it, because he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Talia was on her way to the backroom when Landon walked in. She took one look at him and stopped in her tracks. As he entered, his face looked a little crestfallen, but he smiled diffidently when he saw her. She was conflicted with how to approach him. She didn’t know where things stood after the way he left last night. She was relieved when he walked over to her and kissed her cheek.
“Good morning, Petal.” His voice came soft and deep.
“Morning.” She looked up at him through her lashes, hearing Reina groan in disapproval behind her.
“What’s that about?” He looked over Talia’s shoulder.
“Nothing.” Her face fell thinking about the way he left.
“Hey.” He pulled her chin up, forcing her to look at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Is everything okay,” she fidgeted and added, “With us, I mean?”
Landon’s hand fell from her chin and he hugged her tightly. “Of course.” He let her go and looked deep in her eyes as he continued, “I just had a lot on my mind after visiting the house last night. I needed some time alone to reflect on my last days with my mom.”