Chapter 24
The rest of that afternoon was spent wandering the Big Apple. They strolled in Central Park, but not long because it was so cold. The remainder of their day was spent at The Museum of Natural History. They wandered around for hours, and still felt like there was more to see. At the pleading of Malaya, they did some shopping. They all enjoyed their day together, and although Landon still wasn’t himself, he was far more pleasant that he was before. Lily still wanted to talk with him, but it could wait.
This time Mr. Turner had put Landon in a room three floors above Lily’s, instead of right next door. They rode the elevator to the sixth floor as they chatted about their day. When they reached his floor, Landon hugged each girl goodnight, leaning in for a lengthier hug with Lily. He got out and waved as the doors closed.
“Do you mind if I go to breakfast with Landon alone tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Malaya said quickly. “Needing some alone time, are you?”
“Well I was wanting to talk to Landon about how he’s been acting since he got here, and I thought it might go better if we were alone, since it kind of started when we were alone. Well, we were sort of alone. It started with a conversation we had anyway. At least, I think that’s when it started. I’m not even sure now. All I know, is he’s acting nicer, but I still know something is bothering him, and I have to try to help him somehow.” Malaya nodded in agreement.
“Something must be done,” Malaya said agreeing with her entirely. “Besides, I’ve been dreaming of ordering room service and having breakfast in bed ever since I knew we were actually coming here. Can you believe it, Lily? We’re doing everything we’ve dreamed of. Everything on our list of things we wanted to do in New York is all happening right now. Throw in a little action and excitement, and this is pretty much going to be the best Thanksgiving trip ever. It’s all turning out so perfectly.” Lily hoped her conversation with Landon would be just as perfect as Malaya viewed their trip.
***
“I already told you that I’m sorry,” Landon said throwing up his hands. They were sitting at a somewhat secluded table in the hotel restaurant finishing up their breakfast. “What more do you want from me?”
“I want you to tell me what’s really going on,” Lily said sincerely.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter. You matter. I want to help you. Whatever is going on with you has also interfered with our relationship. We need to get this taken care of or it’s going to keep coming back to lash out at us.” Landon sighed in defeat and threw his cloth napkin onto the circular table.
“My father left me and my mother, and the effects of that just don’t go away,” he said quietly in a faraway voice. “I’ve come to hate him because of that. But it’s not enough for him to just leave us, is it? Now, he’s trying to take away my girlfriend, my best friend.” Landon hunched over the table trying to conceal the emotion welling up inside of him. “I just found you, and now it feels like you’re slipping away from me, and there’s nothing I can do about it,” he spoke miserably. Without caring what anyone else in the room thought, she stood from her chair, and pulled Landon out of his. She wrapped her arms around him and just stood. She just held him. She hoped to somehow silently convey how she felt about him. She pulled back out of the embrace and placed a hand on the side of his face.
“Landon, you are my best friend too,” she said, a tear escaping from the inner corner of her eye. “I don’t want anything to happen to us. I will admit that I am interested in the job, and I might take it, or at least do it part time, if everything goes well on Saturday. The only thing that would prevent me from taking it would be if it interfered with my normal life in Texas. I refuse to give up my family, Malaya, or you. If I had to choose between going to work for your dad, or staying with you, I would always choose you.”
“What about the money?”
“What about it?”
“I know he offered you a lot. More than either of us could ever make.”
“You are more important to me that any amount of money.” They stood there staring at each other for longer than most people would find comfortable, but it was comfortable to them. It was like coming home. Landon stroked Lily’s silky brown hair away from her left ear and leaned towards it.
“I love you, Lily Harrison,” he whispered. Lily smiled blissfully and stood on her tip toes and whispered back into his ear, “I love you too.” There was no question that it was true. She knew it like she knew the sun would rise every morning. It was a fact. Landon smiled warmly at her and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. He took her hand in his, weaving their fingers together, and led her out of the breakfast room to an almost private alcove near the hotel lobby where he could demonstrate more adequately how much he loved her.
***
The next day was exactly how Lily had imagined. She didn’t let her crutches slow her down one bit. She wanted to see and do everything on her list. She happily walked right along with Landon and Malaya through New York’s busy city streets taking in the sights. They saw the Statue of Liberty and a Broadway show. They walked around Times Square taking in the array of lights. Sometimes they simply sat and watched people go by. Somehow, regardless of where they were, Malaya found a place to shop. She shopped, and shopped and shopped some more. By the time Friday night rolled around she had used up all but twenty dollars of her portion of the money Mr. Turner had given them. Her half of the hotel room was littered with shopping bags. Lily had a few shopping bags herself, but not nearly as many.
“You’re going to need to buy some more luggage to haul all that junk home,” Landon said as they rode to the warehouse Friday night.
“I don’t think I have enough money left to get any,” Malaya said, crushed. Her expression warped in panic. “I hadn’t even thought about how I would get it all home.”
“You can use some of my portion,” Lily offered. “We can go find what you need tomorrow after the job is over.”
“Thanks,” Malaya said gratefully. “So how do you feel about it?”
“About what?”
“The job of course.”
“I’m pretty nervous, but I feel like I’ll be safe with three people guarding me. Besides, the people we’re up against don’t know what I can do, so they won’t know to guard their thoughts. I will be able to hear if anyone is planning to hurt me personally.” She had spent a lot of time thinking about it, and a lot of time worrying about it. Finally she had come to the conclusion that she had the advantage in this situation. She had a way to know exactly what was coming at her, and the other guys didn’t.
“You still need to be careful,” Landon advised.
“I know.”