Lies in Love (40 page)

“Hey,
bro. You come by to get some more stuff?” Dawson walked into
Landon’s apartment unannounced.

“No.”
Landon was holding a piss warm beer in his hand. It was the fourth he
had in just over an hour.

“What’s
going on?” Dawson sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

Landon
held up his beer in response and gawked at a speck of missing paint
on the wall, the same speck he’d been focused on since he sat
down with his first beer.

“What
are you doing, Landon?”

Landon
realized his brother must have just noticed the near empty six pack
sitting on the floor next to him. “Drinking.”

“Why?”

“I
feel like it.”

“What
happened?”

Landon
knew his brother wasn’t going to stop until he got a real
answer. Even through the start of a drunken haze he could sense it.
“Talia kicked me out.”

“What?
Why?” Dawson stammered.

“I’m
an escort.”

“No,
you
were
an escort. Now you deliver flowers.” Leave it to his brother to
bring up the flower shop.

“Not
anymore.”

Dawson
snatched the beer from Landon’s hands. “Landon, quit this
shit.”

Landon
snorted. “You better watch your mouth. Mya’s gonna have
your ass.”

“Damn
it, Landon.” Dawson got up and left the room.

Landon
let his head fall against the back of the couch, closing his eyes to
try and avoid what was left of the miserable day. After what seemed
like seconds, he could smell coffee brewing. “What are you
doing?”

Dawson
rounded the couch and handed Landon a mug of coffee. “Here.
Drink this. We’ll talk more when you’ve sobered up some.”

“I’m
fine. I just don’t feel like talking.”

“Drink
the damn coffee, Landon. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“Fine.”
Landon sipped at the coffee, burning his tongue on the first swig.
“Shit.”

“It’s
hot.”

“Thanks
for the warning.” Landon scowled at his brother, holding the
warm mug in his hands. The burn to his taste buds had him finding his
way out of the fog. Neither one of them said anything while Landon
sipped at his coffee. Nearly ten minutes of miserable silence passed
while he nursed the molten liquid and visions of Talia’s
tear-stained face continued to burn into his memory. He could swear
the sound of her crying echoed in the walls. When his mug was empty,
he carried it to the kitchen to test his sobriety, rinsing it and
placing it in the sink, then leaning over the counter, doing
everything in his power not to scream. “What am I going to do?”

“Well,
you can give up and turn into a worthless heap of crap like our
father or you can fight for her.”

Landon
turned to lean against the counter and found his brother standing
across from him, their mother’s eyes looking back at him. “How
am I supposed to fight for her? She told me to get out.”

Dawson
carried the remaining contents of Landon’s fourth beer and
dumped it down the drain. “If the answer was easy, do you think
you’d have to fight to get her back?”

“Damn
it.” Landon pushed off of the counter and stumbled to the
living room. “I ruined everything.”

“You
don’t know that. Maybe she just needs some time to cool off,
time to process. You don’t know what she’s thinking right
now.”

“I
know she didn’t need this today.” Landon faced his
brother, consumed with the anger he felt for leaving her in such a
fragile state. “She found out her ex-fiancé and his
girlfriend are expecting. And from Talia’s reaction, I’m
guessing it happened while they were still together.” Landon
paced to the opposite side of the living room. “Why couldn’t
I have kept my damn mouth shut?”

“Quit
beating yourself up. Use your anger to figure out how to get her
back.”

Landon
nodded, going through a dozen scenarios of how to do just that. “I’ve
never had to work this hard for a woman in my life.”

“Then
she must be the one.”

Landon
laughed. He knew his brother was right, because he couldn’t
imagine going through this with any other woman. “How did you
know Mya was the one?”

“When
Mom died, I shut everybody out. My friends tried to get through to
me, but I stopped answering their calls or showing up to …
anything. They all gave up on me, but Mya never did. When I wouldn’t
take her calls, she showed up on my doorstep. I knew she was it when
she stepped inside my door and didn’t leave.” Dawson
stood next to his brother and very softly said, “And I realized
I would’ve done the same for her if she needed me to.”

“I’d
do anything for Talia, but I don’t know how.”

“You’ll
figure it out. Come Monday morning, you’ll know exactly what
you have to do to get her back.”

At
that moment, a light bulb flashed on. “That’s it.”

“What?”

“I’ll
show up to work Monday morning. After all, she didn’t fire me.
She’ll need me for deliveries. I’ll get some work in and
convince her to listen. I’ll make her see how much I love her
and that I’m not giving up that easy.” A smile erupted on
his face. “Thanks, Dawson.”

“Sure.”
Dawson left the apartment scratching his head.

Landon
had just under thirty-six hours to figure out his plan of attack, but
one way or another, he had to win Talia back.

“Did you talk to
Talia?” Camey questioned Sara when she walked in the door
Monday morning.

“No.” Sara
looked at the staircase, listening for any noise from above.

“Do you think she
forgave Landon?”

“I think the better
question is, did she forgive us?” Sara stood at the base of the
stairs, gawking at the apartment door when it opened and Talia
appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Why are you just
standing around? Get to work,” Talia barked from her apartment
door.

Sara turned for the cooler
and ducked inside. She was certain Talia hadn’t forgiven them
yet.

“Shit, Sara. This is
going to be worse than the break-up with Mason.” Camey had
followed her into the cooler, slamming the door behind her.

“Just keep your head
down and steer clear of her for the next few days. I’m sure
this will all blow over.”

“That’s what you
said last time.”

Sara remembered the break-up
with Mason. She recalled thinking that whatever bug had crawled up
her sister’s ass would surely find its way out before long, but
it never did. Suddenly, she grew very aware that this time around
would be much, much worse. Her sister hadn’t just lost her
boyfriend, she’d lost all trust in them as well. Sara was
inspecting flowers for an order she was putting together when Talia
stormed in. Her shoulders immediately tensing up at the sound of
Talia’s angry footsteps.

“Why are you still
just standing around? Damn it, Sara, if you weren’t my sister I
would’ve fired you by now.” Talia grabbed a pot of
daisies that were just starting to wilt and threw them out. “Where
are the new daisies I ordered? Why isn’t anything getting done
around here?” she grumbled and burst back out of the cooler.

Sara dropped her shoulders,
trying to relax now that Talia was no longer in the vicinity.

“We are so screwed.”
Camey grabbed a small arrangement she’d thrown together and
carried it to the showroom.

Sara was putting the
finishing touches on a delivery when she heard Talia yelling in the
workroom.

“What are you doing
here?”

Sara stuck her head out of
the cooler to see what was going on. She was certain Mason had showed
up to stir up trouble but was even more surprised when she found
Landon ducking in the back door.

“I’m here to
work.”

“What part of
get
out
didn’t you understand? I don’t want you here
anymore.
AT ALL
!” Talia’s voice grew louder with
every word she spoke.

“Talia, please. Can we
at least just talk?”

“There’s nothing
to talk about.
GET OUT
.”

Talia ran up the stairs,
back to her apartment. It was a replay of Saturday afternoon, but at
least this time she wasn’t crying.

Landon stood looking
helpless at the bottom of the stairs when Camey walked up to him.

“She’s still
pissed.”

“Obviously.”
Landon’s hand ran through his wheat-colored hair as he fell
against the worktable. “I can’t lose her, Camey.”

Sara listened to Landon
pleading, surprised that she felt sorry for him. Sure, she had helped
bring Landon into Talia’s life, but he wasn’t what she
wanted for her sister long term, so it came as a huge shock when a
pang of sadness hit her. She could see he truly loved her and deep
down, she knew her sister loved him, too. That was what made this all
so unbearable now. It would have been so much easier if no one cared,
but she knew they all did.

“I’ll see what I
can do.” Camey was running a consoling hand over Landon’s
bicep. “I’ll call you later.”

“Thanks.” With
his head hanging low, Landon left the shop.

Sara watched him go, her
heart a bit heavier when he was out the door.

“What are these doing
here?” Talia hoisted a large pot of blue roses into the
workroom where Camey and Sara were hard at work. Reina had called in
sick for the last two days and Talia was very close to firing her if
she called in sick again. She couldn’t deal with any more
incompetence in her life.

“They are for an order
I took yesterday.”

Talia scowled at the guilty
look on Camey’s face. “Don’t take any more orders
for blue roses. I don’t want these damn things in my shop
anymore.” She rotated to find the picture of her blue rose
still hanging on the wall and recalled the first night she brought
Landon into the shop. His unforgettable sapphire eyes haunted her
dreams. They were the same color as that damn blue rose. She ripped
the photo off the wall and chunked it into the trash can, the glass
of the frame shattering when it hit the bottom. “I don’t
want to see another blue rose for as long as I live.” She
walked to the front of the shop when a customer entered, halfway
listening to Camey and Sara whisper in the backroom.

Marisa breezed in smiling
brightly. “Oh, Talia, I just wanted to thank you for the
beautiful flowers at the wedding. I’m still getting calls from
people asking who put them together.”

Talia coerced a smile.
“That’s great.” She said the words, but there was
no enthusiasm behind them.

“Is everything okay?”

Obviously Marisa hadn’t
heard about all the commotion in the hall at her reception. Talia
couldn’t explain how in one day she went from telling Landon
she loved him to kicking him out. She still didn’t know why she
ever allowed herself to say the words. It was a mistake on her part.
“Everything’s fine.” She compelled another fake
smile. “Thanks for coming by. It’s always good to know
people love our work.”

“Of course.”
Marisa’s smile had disappeared. “Are you sure
everything’s okay?”

“Yeah. We’re
great.” Talia tried to raise her voice an octave, hoping to
sound perky.

“Okay.” Marisa’s
fingers drummed on the counter before she added, “I guess I
ought to go. Ronald and I are leaving for our honeymoon tonight.”

“Have fun.”
Talia wished she could drum up some sincerity. It just wasn’t
in her. “We’ll see you when you get back.” She
watched Marisa wave and go. She wanted to muster up a little bit of
happiness, but there was just none left. Miserable and tired since
sleep continued to elude her, she decided to head out for some coffee
and try to put a little life back in her for the remainder of the
workday.

A massive bouquet of blue
roses sat on the counter festooned with purposefully placed violet
Hyacinths. Talia took one look at the bouquet and knew it was from
Landon. She wished she’d never told him her favorite flower, or
that flowers had meanings. She should have known he wouldn’t
give up that easily. She carried the flowers to the workroom and
placed them on the counter in the corner. The card attached was
hidden near the base of the flowers, but she found it as she set the
bouquet down.