Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(92)

Landon





“Frankly, I’m worried about you,” Karla said as she sat across from me during our dinner date. She had a very stern look of worry in her stare as she cut into her steak.

Months passed since Shay pushed me away. She turned her heart cold once more, and I wasn’t certain that she was ever going to let me try to defrost it again.

“I’m doing good, kiddo,” I said, trying my best to hide my sadness with a grin. Truthfully, my heart was shattered into a million pieces. Each day was hard, but I kept moving forward the best I could. I was living on autopilot, taking it day by day. Trying my hardest to not fall apart and spiral into a place that I couldn’t come back from.

“You’re not doing good,” Karla disagreed. “You are miserable, and I can’t keep seeing you like this. Which is why I brought in reinforcements.”

I arched an eyebrow. “What? What are you talking about?”

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. “Hey, yes. We’re ready. Come on in.” When she hung up the phone, she gave me a sloppy grin. “Don’t worry, Uncle Landon. This is for the best.”

Before she could explain herself anymore, the door to the restaurant opened, and a group of people walked inside.

Greyson, Eleanor, Camila, Maria, Raine, and Hank all gathered around the table. They each pulled up a chair and sat down.

“What’s going on right now?” I asked, confused as ever.

“We’re having a love intervention,” Camila said, clasping her hands together. “Because we think it’s about time you get off your butt and do something about winning my daughter’s heart back.”

“What? No. There’s no way I can get back into her good graces. Not after what I’ve done.”

“You mean trying to get her script into the right hands because you cared that much about her succeeding at her dreams? You mean that mistake?” Maria asked.

“Well, yeah. That’s the one. That piled with all the other stuff of our past is just too much.”

“Bullshit,” Greyson said.

“Yeah, bullshit!” Karla repeated.

“Language, Karla,” Greyson scolded.

“Sorry, Dad,” she replied.

“Regardless, they are right. Your excuses are weak, just like hers are. You two are just too afraid of getting the happily ever after you both worked your butts off to receive,” Maria explained. “And frankly, we are all sick and tired of waiting around for you both to get off your bums and to do something about it. So, now we’re getting involved.”

“How? I don’t know how I can fix this. I can’t come up with the right words to make this all okay.”

“You’re right. You can’t come up with new words to give Shay. They might seem too empty, but what you can do is give her your old words,” Raine offered. “You never stopped writing her in those notebooks, Landon. You have years of your feelings written down for her to receive. Now’s the time to pull those out and give them to her. She needs to see those words more than ever.”

I still wasn’t certain. I’d spent the past months pushing myself into Shay’s life. The least I could do was give her the space she wanted.

“For the love of all good things, can you stop overthinking everything for five minutes and just take a leap?” Camila barked out, tossing her hands in the air. “I know I wasn’t your biggest fan when you were younger, Landon, but I was wrong for holding so much against you. I overlooked your love for my daughter because of my past hurts, and I fear I’ve made her heart hard based on how I spoke about love around her. She’s afraid of love, Landon. She doesn’t know how to let it back in after being hurt so many times, but if there is one person who can find a way to break through to her, it’s you. Your love and your words can heal my daughter’s broken heart. It might take some time, but I already know that you’re willing to put in the work. So, do it.”

I sighed, feeling a small wave of hope rush into me as the people who loved both Shay and I sat around the table, pushing for our love story to finally get our happily ever after.

“Do you know what Shay told me once?” Karla asked. “She said, if you’re ever given the chance to choose between being afraid or being brave, be brave. So, this is your chance, Uncle Landon. This is your chance to be brave. It’s what Shay would’ve wanted you to do.”

Be brave.

“Yes,” Maria agreed. “Sé valiente. Sé fuerte. Sé amable. Y quédate.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “You’ll have to dumb that one down for me, Maria.”

Camila laughed, and took my hand into hers. “Be brave. Be strong. Be kind. And stay. Now’s the time to fight for your love, Landon. So, go ahead. Be brave.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “So, where do we begin?”

Raine smiled wide and clasped her hands together. “Okay. So, the plan starts with you kind of, sort of being an asshole to Shay on Christmas. Like you were in the good ol’ days. Before you two ever made a silly bet.”

Well, then.

I didn’t see that coming.

“We need you to shake her up a little. Push her in a way she doesn’t see coming,” Raine explained. “Shay is working hard to keep you at a distance, and if you came to her with nice words, she’d push them away without thought. So, you have to get under her skin. If you treat her as if you’re a jerk, she’ll be so confused that she’ll have to react. Her blood will begin to boil, and she’ll be forced to interact with you. There’s no way she won’t stand up for herself if you treat her like a monster, and then that’s when you sweep in with part two of this plan.”