Borrowing Trouble(39)

“Oh, I saw your patented head tilt and Bambi eyes routine.”

“My best moves!” she whined. Landon laughed. Damn, he loved his friends.

“Okay, hon, I’ve got to get off here and finish my grocery shopping.”

“Helluva Friday. You’re such a party animal.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” Landon scoffed.

“Landon, be cool. Okay, sweets? You’re the no-drama friend. You’re the rock. Yeah, it means you’re kinda boring, but we love that you’re steady. It freaked us out when you went all neurotic.”

They ended their call with promises to get in touch soon. He’d promised Mitch he’d try to make it down during Thanksgiving holidays when he had a few days off in a row.

He thought on her parting words. She was right. He’d been a bit neurotic. What he needed to do was keep his head on straight and let Jay be Jay. He could be the calm in the storm. That’d been his job for most of his life. Others lost their minds around him and Landon let them come around in their time, just held things together until they were back on solid ground. He hoped he’d been that for Jay, as a friend at least.

He peered wistfully at his phone, wishing Jay would call, but knowing that wouldn’t happen. He still hadn’t managed to tell Jay about his job offer. In the couple of days since he had fallen asleep to Jay’s humming, they’d only seen one another at work. And Landon wasn’t ready to share the news with his dad until he knew for sure he’d be taking the position, so the time hadn’t presented itself. They’d attempted to make plans for the weekend, but Bethany had some surprise news she’d come down for the weekend to share.

Landon didn’t begrudge her that. After that initial shock of Bethany making herself at home, Landon had truly come to grips with the fact that she would always be the mother of Jay’s kids. Whether he and Jay were ever actually together or just remained friends, she’d be around in some capacity. Though, he didn’t hate it that she lived hundreds of miles away for now.

Landon came out of the tiny frozen food aisle of their small country grocery store and ran into some familiar faces.

“Hey, Mr. Landon!” Millie waved at him when she and Clint saw him. They’d seen each other once more since they got home after stopping by the saw mill to get something from their daddy. The kids were always unfailingly polite, but Clint seemed to study Landon every time. Millie, though, was always ready with a smile and a hello.

Landon stopped and gave them a hello. They looked so much like their daddy, it made Landon’s stomach knot up. They both had those same kind brown eyes and light brown hair. Clint was almost the spitting image of a younger Jay, while Millie had her mother’s chin and nose.

“Thought y’all had company tonight?” How else did one make small talk with kids, especially ones whose father you were carrying on with?

“Oh, yeah, Dad sent us for dessert,” Clint mumbled, definitely uncomfortable.

Millie beamed, though. “They sent us out because they have to talk about mother coming back home!”

Landon gawped. He noticed a flush crawl up Clint’s face as he shushed his sister. “What?” she snapped at her brother, then turned a smile back on Landon. “After grandmama and grandpa left, mother said she was moving back.” Landon’s stomach lurched.

“They said they were going to discuss it,” Clint mumbled. Landon blinked, forcing his expression to something close to good cheer.

“Well, that’s good news.” News Jay surely hadn’t expected, and news Landon would f*cking love to flail over. But not in front of the kids. Millie’s mood reflected such joy, he couldn’t be angry. And surely Bethany didn’t intend home to be Jay’s. Could he even get angry over that, if she was? They had years of history, and at best, they’d determined Jay was bisexual. There hadn’t been any labels attached at all so far, and he’d obviously been happy with her for a time. They had seventeen years and two children.

“Uh, we should probably get home,” Clint mumbled, giving his sister a push.

“Oh. Yeah,” Landon said lamely, then smiled and nodded at them both. “Y’all have a good night.” He definitely wasn’t going to send his best to their folks because Lord knows that could come across as passive aggressive.

Hell, he was too surprised to even be actually aggressive, much less something as calculated as passive aggressive. He’d learned Jay could be surprising, though. He’d trusted him so far. Even if they were going to end this…

Who was he kidding? After he paid out, he didn’t know why, but the tension, the strain of it all, hit him. He definitely didn’t want to push, but he had to ask, or at least stake some sort of small claim. If Bethany might be back for keeps, he had to at least let Jay know to think about him.

He made his way to his truck, then dropped his head on the steering wheel. He’d known this day might come, even if he hadn’t quite seen this. And he owed it to Jay to let him figure out what he wanted to do. Hell, he was guessing wildly, anyways, off the word of a twelve year old girl who didn’t know much more factually than Landon did himself.

He straightened in his seat, turned over the ignition, and headed for home. He didn’t know how to handle this. He had the feeling all he could do was wait. Even if that was hard as hell. He had to trust Jay.