Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(75)

“Oh, this looks fancy. It will go great with everything. Thank you. Now come in, come in, make yourself at home.”

I did as she said, taking off my shoes as I walked inside.

Maria’s home felt so welcoming, just like the woman who lived inside of it.

“Shay and Camila should be on their way soon enough,” she explained. “One or both are always running behind.”

“Did you tell them I was joining you all?”

“I figured it would be a nice surprise,” she said, heading back to the kitchen to finish preparing the meal.

Oh boy. I wasn’t sure how either of the two were going to take to me joining their dinner party. It was no secret that Camila wasn’t my biggest fan when I was a teenager, and I was certain she’d hated me even more after things went south with Shay. I wouldn’t hold it against her if she hated me completely.

Then there was Shay. Sure, we’d spent the past few days on set together, but I wasn’t certain we were to the point of having Sunday dinners with one another. She was letting me in a little at a time, and I didn’t feel right crashing into her world too much. I wanted to work my way back in, but I didn’t want to seem desperate—even though I was. I wanted her back in my life to the extreme, but I also knew I didn’t want to scare her off at all.

“I put out a photo album on the living room table if you want to give it a flip through it to see some adorable photographs of Shay while I finish setting the table.”

Don’t mind if I do.

I hurried to the couch and picked up the album. As I began flipping through it, the widest smile in the world fell to my lips as I studied a young Shay, riding a pony. She looked absolutely terrified by the whole situation, which made the picture that much better. The next one was an awful elementary school photograph with her hair in two messy pigtails. I couldn’t help but snicker at the sight of it. Even though it was a bad, bad picture, it was so perfect.

She was an adorable kid.

I used to wonder what she looked like as a child, and wonder what our kids would look like if we had any.

As I flipped through the photos, the doorbell rang, and Maria hurried to let the new arrivals in. My head was down as I heard a voice piercing through the air.

“OH MY GOSH LOOK AT THIS PLACE! IT’S SO QUAINT!” the woman expressed, her voice rocking through the apartment.

The moment I heard the sound, I knew exactly who it was coming from. What I didn’t know was why that voice was in Maria’s home.

I stood from the couch and turned around to see Sarah standing there, wide-eyed and bushytailed. Shay walked in after her, and confusion swirled in my stomach as I took in the situation.

The moment the two women looked up in my direction, shock hit both of them.

“Oh my gosh, Landon, what are you doing here?” Sarah gleamed, shooting over to give me a hug.

I hugged her quick and dropped my embrace quickly. “Maria invited me over for dinner a few days ago.”

“Really?” Shay asked, eyeing her grandmother. “That’s funny, she hadn’t mentioned it to me.”

“The same way you didn’t mention you were bringing a friend,” Maria shot back at her granddaughter before giving her a kiss on the cheek. “But the more the merrier I always say.”

“I hope it’s all right?” Sarah asked. “I was supposed to fly out to New York, but my flight was canceled due to the weather, so I would’ve been stuck in the hotel for the evening. Shay was going on about how she always spent Sunday’s at your house, and the way she went on and on about your cooking just made me want to invite myself over.” She eyed me up and down. “It’s even better now that there’s a surprise guest.”

Shay’s phone went off, and she was quick to answer the message that came through. “It seems Mom is running late. Bella chewed through her favorite pair of shoes, so she said they’d be late.”

“And she thought a dog would be better than a man,” Maria remarked, making me raise an eyebrow, but I wouldn’t question the question. That seemed right up there on the ‘none of my damn business’ category.

“Well, we’ll set a spot at the table once she and Bella show up,” Maria said. “For now, let’s all go sit to eat before the food gets cold.”

We all did as she said, and as she went around the room serving each one of us, she smiled toward Sarah. “So, Sarah. You’re an actor, too?”

“Yes. I’ve been in the business since I was four years old. I come from a family of artists. We’ve all been in the film world, dating back to my great-great grandfather. Oh,” Sarah held her hand up in front of Maria right before she was about to put the food on her plate. “I’m sorry, is there pasta in that?”

Maria raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking if there’s pasta in lasagna?”

“Yes, sorry. I should’ve mentioned I’m working on being low carb. I can’t have noodles of any kind.” She smiled brightly at Maria. “Do you have any pieces that are a bit less noodle-y?”

The blank stare Maria gave to Sarah almost made me burst out in laughter. Shay had to turn away to hide her chuckles.

Maria was her calm, sweet self and said, “I can pick the noodles out for you.”

What a waste of a perfectly great piece of lasagna.