Chapter 17
As the week passed by, Lily made a point not to think about anything relating to her gift or possibly being kidnapped. She decided that she was protected as much as they could manage at the moment, and it wasn’t helping her any to worry all day about it. Worrying wasn’t going to make her gift vanish and it certainly wasn’t going to prevent that creep from doing whatever it was that he wanted to do. Whatever was going to happen would happen and she would deal with it when it knocked on her door. Friday afternoon it was Landon’s turn to watch over her.
“Where are you going,” Lily asked suspiciously when he turned in the opposite direction of her house, which was their usual after school hang out location.
“My house,” Landon said. “I want you to meet my mom.” A ripple of anxiety coursed through her body, but subsided as soon as logical thinking kicked in. She had no idea what his mother was like, but if she was anything like Landon she had to be a nice lady. Lily would probably like his mother just fine. There were very few people she didn’t like. Lily was more concerned about whether or not his mother would like her. It was her own insecurities that were bothering her. Would Mrs. Turner think she was good enough for her son? She didn’t know how many other girlfriends Landon had had other than Amberly. Lily couldn’t help but compare herself to her predecessor. She felt like Amberly was so much prettier than she was. She had perfect skin and her hair always dazzled in the sunlight. Lily felt so plain in comparison. Amberly was also talented at a variety of different things. She was athletic and a great dancer. She made the perfect cheerleader. One of Amberly’s many talents was knowing what made a person tick. She somehow knew what could make you the happiest person in the world, and also the saddest. She usually used her gift to manipulate others, but whenever she wanted to she could switch gears and come across as an angel. Mrs. Turner probably thought she was a saint. How could Lily compete with a stunningly beautiful angel?
A few minutes later when they reached the front porch of the Turner house, Lily’s nerves had returned full force because of her constant mental comparison between herself and Amberly.
“Are you okay,” Landon asked. “You’re not nervous, are you?”
“No,” Lily answered unsteadily as she stared wide eyed at the brass knocker on the front door. “Well maybe a little,” she admitted.
“You have nothing to worry about. Trust me,” he said turning the door handle and pushing the door open. Instantly they were warmly greeted by the smell of fresh baked bread. He led her through an immaculately clean living room to a bright sunny kitchen.
“Hi mom,” he said announcing their presence.
“Hello dear,” his mother said pulling a loaf of bread out of the oven. Once she had set it on the stove to cool she turned to give him a hug. “Oh, hello,” she said surprised to see a stranger in her kitchen.
“Hello,” Lily said trying to sound as friendly and sweet as she could.
“Landon, introduce me to your friend,” Mrs. Turner told her son.
“Mom, this is Lily,” he said as if Lily was someone his mother should already know.
“Oh, yes. Lily, it’s so nice to meet you. Landon’s told me so much about you.” Lily hoped that was a good thing.
“We’ve got some homework to do, so we’ll be in the living room,” Landon said ushering Lily out of the kitchen.
“Alright hon, don’t mind me,” she said smiling at their retreating figures. Landon and Lily sat on the comfortable sofa and laid out their homework in order of importance. They had been working for maybe half an hour before Mrs. Turner walked in with a tray filled with freshly sliced whole wheat bread, butter, and jam.
“I figured you’d need some brain food,” she said setting it on the only clear corner on the coffee table.
“How’s it going?”
“As well as homework can go, I guess,” Lily replied spreading jam on a thick slice of bread.
“It’s cruel and unusual punishment, that’s what it is,” Landon assessed. “You would think all those hours spent at school would be enough,” he said inhaling a slice of buttered bread.
“This bread is amazing,” Lily raved to Landon’s mom.
“Why thank you,” Mrs. Turner replied beaming. “It’s a family recipe that’s been passed down from mother to daughter for several generations. I’ll let you two get back to work.”
“Does your mom bake bread very often,” Lily asked after Landon’s mom had left the room.
“Maybe once or twice a week she’ll bake a loaf, and then there are the muffins and cookies. She loves baking. It’s relaxing to her I think. She also likes knitting and sewing. She made the curtains in here,” he said pointing to some muted green silk curtains that pooled on the carpeted floor.
“She did a good job. I would have guessed they were store bought.”
“She likes to do things herself, the old fashioned way, even if it takes longer and she has to work harder. That’s how she’s always been. My dad on the other hand, always wanted the latest gadget and would be perfectly happy to depend entirely on technology.”
“There are good things about both ways. Sometimes it’s good to use technology, and sometimes it’s best to stick to the tried and true old fashioned way of doing things. I think it just depends on the situation.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” They finished up the homework that was most important and then went to say goodbye to Landon’s mother before driving Lily home for dinner. Her aunt would be at home and be able to watch out for her the rest of the evening.
“Goodbye Mrs. Turner. It was nice to meet you,” Lily said with a wave. She needn’t have worried so much. Landon’s mother had been kind and gracious the entire time she was there. She even reminded Lily a little bit of her own mother, in a June Cleaver kind of way.
“Goodbye dear. You’re welcome to come back any time. You’re a good influence on this one,” she said wagging a hitch hiker thumb in Landon’s direction. “I’ve never seen him buckle down and get his homework done so quickly.”
“I think almost everything in life is more enjoyable when you are doing it with someone else,” Lily said blushing.
“You’re probably right about that,” Mrs. Turner said, escorting them to the door. “Drive safe.”
***
“I told you that you didn’t have to be nervous,” Landon said once they were inside the car with the doors shut.
“You were right,” Lily said with a smile. “Although, just because you tell me not to worry, that doesn’t mean I won’t. I tend to get nervous about things. I’m a bit of a worry wart.”
“I’m not at all. I guess opposites do attract,” he said taking her hand that was closest to him. Tingles ran from Lily’s hand all the way up her arm and her stomach did a little flip flop when she glanced over at his dimpled smile. He was just so cute. Lily wondered how she managed to attract someone as handsome as Landon Turner. She had stopped comparing herself to Amberly a few hours ago, but she still felt plain. She didn’t feel like she was Landon’s equal in the appearance category. She had always thought that guys only wanted the most beautiful girls in the school, but she must have been wrong. The magazines, television shows, commercials and movies were all wrong. Maybe beauty really isn’t everything. Landon saw something in her that she didn’t even see in herself. Lily decided she wanted to discover what it was that made him like her so much. Maybe if she knew, she would like herself better.
Landon turned out of his neighborhood onto a main road. His brows furrowed and he seemed a little uneasy as he looked in the rearview mirror. His driving was normally careful and steady, but he began swerving in and out of lanes.
“Are you okay,” Lily asked.
“I don’t know yet,” he said as he switched lanes once again barely escaping a fender bender. Landon glanced in the rear view mirror again not satisfied with what he saw. “I thought I saw someone following us.”
“A black car?”
“Yeah, it was the same type that guy had outside your house. It’s too hard for me to see his face.” Lily twisted to look back at the traffic surrounding them. Not one car was black. She turned back to face the front windshield.
“If it was there, I don’t see it now.”
“Just in case, I’m taking another route.” Landon turned left at the next traffic light instead of going straight. He found himself on a less busy road and took the next left so he could loop around and go back to the main road.
“There it is. Quick, look and see if it’s him,” Landon said tensely. Lily turned her body to get a good look at who was driving the sedan.
“It’s him Landon,” Lily said with dread filling her voice. “What do we do?”
“Well, first we don’t panic. We’ll just call the police and tell them someone is following us.”
“Okay,” Lily said, taking the cell phone Landon was handing her.
“Um, Lily,” Landon said unevenly.
“What?”
“Tell them to hurry. The gas tank is on empty.”
***
“We’re going to head to the police station,” Lily said snapping the cell phone shut.
“That’s on the other side of town,” Landon said tensely.
“They have a couple squad cars on the way, in case we don’t make it. They said we need to call them every couple of minutes to update them on our location.”
“Good. I’m not sure how long this tank is going to last. I don’t remember seeing the empty light on earlier this afternoon. I’m usually on top of things like that. I can’t believe this,” Landon said gripping the steering wheel with both hands until his knuckles turned white.
“It’s not your fault,” Lily said, trying to comfort him. “It could happen to anyone.”
“Well it’s not happening to anyone, it’s happening to us, and we’re being chased by the man I’m supposed to protect you from,” he said angrily.
“The police can’t be far away. Even if we run out of gas, they will probably be minutes or even seconds away.”
“I’m so sorry this is happening Lily. I should have made sure the tank was full before you even sat in the passenger seat.”
“You didn’t know he would try to follow us in the car. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” They were both on edge as they altered their route to head towards the police station. Now that they had a destination, Landon didn’t worry so much about trying to lose the guy. The police would be there and would take care of him if he was stupid enough to pull into the police station parking lot. Lily glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard of Landon’s car. It had only been ten minutes since they started driving, but it had seemed like an eternity. When Landon pulled out onto the main highway the man was still following them.
“This guy isn’t going to give up easily, is he,” Landon remarked looking in the rearview mirror for the hundredth time.
“No, I don’t think so. I really hope the police can get him so we don’t have to do this again.”
“Even if they get him, they can’t toss him in jail and throw away the key. We’ll get a restraining order on him and then if he does try anything again, then he’ll go to jail.”
“I wish I knew what it was he wanted,” Lily sighed. “If he would just try talking to me like a normal person we wouldn’t be dealing with all this.”
“Obviously he isn’t a normal person.”
That was when they ran out of gas.