Drifting into Darkness (20 page)

Me: Who said you had to wait to say goodbye to kiss me again?

I was being bold with my reply, but I didn’t care. I was being flirty and it was something I hadn’t done in a long time.

Landon: If you don’t want me to be a gentleman, city girl, all you have to do is tell me. :)

I laughed out loud. Oh, boy. I better stop this now or I’d never get any sleep.

Me: Don’t you have a garage to clean up?

Landon: Yes, I do. I’m staring at it, but don’t feel like doing it. I’d rather keep texting you.

I smiled and got that girly tingly feeling in my stomach. I’d rather keep texting him too.

Me: I would too, but I need sleep. ttyt

Landon: ttyt :)

I set my phone down on my side table and snuggled down into my covers with a smile. I really did like him a lot. I still had that warning in the back of my mind that men couldn’t be trusted, but I knew I couldn’t live that way. There was that saying, ‘Live in the now.’ I needed to live by it. I couldn’t dictate my future and I couldn’t change my past, but I could live in the present. That’s all that mattered at that moment anyway. If I dwelled too much on what happened or what could happen, then I’d never be happy.

Thirteen

The next morning, I woke up drowsy. It took forever to drift off to sleep after texting back and forth with Landon, but I wouldn’t let my drowsiness get me in a bad mood. Changing out of my sleep clothes, I put on some shorts and a tank top and slid into a pair of flip-flops. I was hungry, and seeing as though I had no food in my place, I planned on looking through the pantry at the main house.

“Good morning, hun,” my mom greeted me when I walked into the kitchen.

“Good morning.” I smiled as I opened the fridge and pulled out the orange juice. “Is Dad at work?” I asked, pouring a glass.

“Nope, I’m here,” my dad stated as he entered the kitchen with his coffee cup. “I don’t have a case until later today.”

My eyebrows shot up at my mom at this proclamation. He never stayed at home when he had cases during the day, even if they weren’t until hours later. This was definitely new and my mom only smiled.

I walked to the pantry to pull out a box of cereal and retrieved a bowl and spoon from the cupboard and drawer.

“How was your night last night?” My mom asked. She was sitting at the island eating a grapefruit and drinking coffee.

I placed the bowl on the counter, opposite her, and poured the cereal. I looked up at her and couldn’t contain my smile. Was I really going to smile every time I thought about Landon now? “It was great.”

I put the cereal back in the pantry and went to the fridge to get the milk.

“Did you go bowling with Lisa?”

I walked back to the island, poured milk into my bowl, and took a seat. She was looking at me with a raised eyebrow and I frowned at her expression.

“No, actually, I didn’t. I met up with a different friend instead.”

My dad sat at the island next to my mom after making another cup of coffee.

“Is that the same friend who was parked in the driveway last night,” she asked in a calm tone.

When I moved in above the garage, nothing was ever said about having people over. I was almost twenty-one, so I wouldn’t think this would bother her, but I might be wrong. It wasn’t like he spent the night.

“Yes,” I mumbled with a mouth full of cereal. She looked at me as she chewed a piece of grapefruit. I knew that look. She was going to look at me until I spilled the details. She didn’t know who I had over, but it was like she could read my mind. “Am I not allowed to have people over?” I asked defensively.

She looked down at her grapefruit and scooped another piece onto her spoon. Dad just sat there and messed with the iPad he had in front of him, pretending like he wasn’t listening to our conversation.

“As long as there aren’t any sleep overs without me knowing about it, I’m fine with you having people over. I know we haven’t really set any rules for you since we moved, but the only thing I ask is for you to be respectful and no parties.” She picked up her coffee and took a sip.

I shook my head. “I don’t have that many friends, Mom, plus I wouldn’t have a party up there. There isn’t even enough room,” I stated sarcastically. My dad looked up from his iPad with a small smirk on his face. This was the kind of behavior I was used to. He never really got into any of the conversations Mom and I had. She was the disciplinarian and he usually went along with whatever rules she set for me.

“Just humor me, Sadie,” she chastised. “What’s his name?” she asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

That got my dad’s attention and he looked from me to her, then back to me. “What’s whose name?” He looked lost. Maybe he really wasn’t paying attention.

I let out a sigh and set my spoon in my bowl. “Landon. The guy I mentioned a while ago.”

She smiled. “Oh, well next time you have him over, bring him down here so we can meet him first. I’d feel more comfortable meeting your friends first before you take them up to your little hideaway.” She gave me a soft smile and got up from her stool.

I sighed again. This was not how I wanted to start out my exciting day. Now, I’d have to bring Landon down to meet my parents before we had movie night.
Great
. “He’s actually coming over tonight. We are going to have a movie marathon and eat pizza.”

“How old is this boy?” Dad finally chimed in.

I laughed. “He’s not a boy, Dad. He’s a man. He’s twenty-four. And yes, I know he’s older than me, but girls mature faster than boys,” I smiled at my dad.

“What time is he coming over?” Dad questioned, drinking his coffee.

“Six,” I replied as I continued to eat my cereal. Might as well eat. There was no getting out of it now. Dad wouldn’t have to deal with it though, Mom did.

Mom stood at the sink and rinsed some dishes before putting them into the dishwasher. “Okay, just bring him by so I can meet him.” She walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I just want to meet him, okay? I won’t embarrass you or anything.” She knew that if I was talking to a guy, let alone having him over, that this was a big deal to me. We talked a lot over the last couple of weeks as we’ve reconnected so she knew I had reserved feelings about seeing someone again.

I nodded my head and pushed my bowl away.

“I’m going up to shower,” she stated as she headed off down the hall.

I picked up my bowl and dumped the contents down the disposable before rinsing it out and setting it into the dishwasher. I needed to head back to my place and take a shower too, but before I walked out of the kitchen my dad called my name.

“I was wondering if you had any plans Wednesday evening?” he asked, scratching at his jawline. It was a clue for him, the scratching of the jaw. I knew that whatever he was about to say made him feel uncomfortable or out of his element.

I shook my head.

“I’d like for us to go to dinner Wednesday night if you’re up to it. I don’t have any cases and it’s been a long time since we’ve done anything like that.”

I looked at him surprised. I wasn’t expecting that. It had been a very long time since we’d gone to dinner together, probably ten or twelve years. I couldn’t remember. He would always ask me what I wanted to eat and take me there, and then we’d go for ice cream. He wasn’t busy then like he was now so we did it often. “Sure,” I nodded with a smile. I would actually look forward to this. Maybe Mom was right. Maybe he really was trying to make things right.

He smiled at me and nodded. “Great, we’ll probably go around seven or so. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “I’m going to head up and go take a shower myself. Have a good day, Dad.”

“You too,” he replied, as I walked off down the hall to the front door.

I had a smile on my face as I made it into my place and headed into the bathroom for a shower. It was weird, but I was actually really happy my dad asked me to go to dinner. I figured with everything going on, I’d be the least of his worries. I knew deep down I was still his little girl, but so much had changed over the past couple of months.

I took a shower and put on some comfy clothes to wear around the house. I had no other plans for the day besides cleaning up and watching crappy TV. I did need to call Erin though, and tell her all about my night. I knew that if I didn’t call her by at least one in the afternoon, she’d end up calling me.

I pulled up her contact info in my phone and called her as I sat on the couch.

“Hello,” she drawled. “I’ve been waiting for you to call me.”

I laughed. “I know. I was actually going to wait and see how long it would take you to call me, but I figured I do it myself since I was bored.”

“Whatever,” she retorted. “How did it go last night? Did you get over your nervousness?”

I rolled my eyes and smiled. “It was great. I had fun.”

“That’s it? It wasn’t spectacular? You didn’t see fireworks or anything? It must have definitely been a friend thing then,” she said, sounding disappointed.

“It definitely wasn’t just a friend thing.” I laughed and she gasped.

“What the hell, Sadie, spill it. I want to know all the details.”

I told her everything that happened the night before, leaving out our flirty texting after he left. She didn’t need to know
all
the details. I had to keep some things to myself.

“So you really like him, huh?”

I smiled to myself. “Yeah, so far I do. He seems like a great guy. He obviously has a past reputation though and it worries me, but I don’t want to judge him for his past. I need to focus on the now.” I reiterated the speech I had with myself earlier. “If I keep worrying about the past, I’ll never see the good that can happen in the future.”

“Well, look at you being all philosophical.”

I laughed. “Yeah, well, I’ve just been thinking about it a lot. How would I ever be happy if I can’t get past my hurt?”

“You’re a strong and smart person, Sadie. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. You can get past all this crap and you are. I’m happy for you. I’m glad you are moving forward.”

“Me too. But now I need to let Landon know he has to meet my mom before we have movie night.”

She laughed. “Nice. Nothing kills the mood like meeting the parents before date night.” She laughed some more.

“Shut up. You’re not helping.” I sighed. “Okay, well, I’m going to let you go. I need to clean up a bit. I don’t even remember the last time I cleaned. I’m actually kind of embarrassed that I let him come up last night. You should see the layer of dust on my TV.”

“Yeah, we all know your awesome cleaning skills. Have fun with all that.”

“Whatever. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Ha, bye.”

I hung up the phone and rested my head on the back of the couch. I really didn’t feel like doing anything for the rest of the day, but I knew I had to clean. I was a procrastinator when it came to cleaning. I usually put it off to the point where I couldn’t stand the filth any longer. It was something I needed to work on. I wasn’t proud of it, but old habits die hard.

Picking up my phone, I sent a quick text to Landon, letting him know he’d have to meet my mom before movie night.

Me: Hey, my mom wants to meet you when you get here, if that’s okay?

Landon: That’s fine. I’ll see you in a little bit.

I tossed the phone to the side, onto a cushion, and stared up at the ceiling. I’d better get up and get motivated. The house wouldn’t clean itself, unfortunately.

~*~

I cleaned the house for half the day. It was silly on my part to take a shower before I cleaned, but I wasn’t thinking at the time. I had to retake another shower because I felt gross after dusting, sweeping, and cleaning the bathroom, which was the worst chore ever.

When I was done with my second shower, I lay on the couch for a while and watched TV. I made the mistake of putting on the Lifetime Movie Network and got sucked into two ‘love gone wrong’ movies. I was so absorbed that I didn’t realize what time it was until there was a knock at the door.

I looked over at the clock and jumped up from the couch, frantic. It was already five fifty-seven. How the hell did I not realize what time it was?
Shit
. I wasn’t even dressed. I had on yoga pants and a t-shirt with my hair piled on the top of my head.
Ugh, damn you LMN.

There was nothing I could do except answer the door looking like I was, unless I wanted him to stand outside until I got presentable.

Sighing, I walked to the door. I wish he’d at least sent me a text letting me know he was on his way. At least then I would have had time to change.

Plastering on a smile, I opened the door. He stood there with a pizza box and a grocery bag.

“Hey,” he smiled, as he looked me over.

I felt my cheeks flush. “Hey, come on in.” Moving to the side, I let him walk past me. He walked straight into the kitchen and set the pizza box and bag on the counter then he turned to me.

I stood behind the couch facing him. “So, I kind of lost track of time,” I pointed behind me to the TV and bit my lip smiling. “If you don’t mind waiting for a few minutes, I’m going to go and get dressed.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Sadie, you already are dressed. You look beautiful to me. You don’t need to change.”

“I feel like such a mess,” I said as I looked over my clothes.

“You forget that I see you almost every day dripping in sweat,” he chuckled.

I scrunched up my nose. “Okay, you have a point.” I walked toward the door and stopped to look at him. “Let’s go ahead and get this introduction over with so we can get to our marathon.”

He smiled and walked toward me as I slipped on a pair of flip-flops. “Am I only meeting your mom?” he asked as we headed down the stairs.

“Yeah. My dad has a consultation or some kind of case at the hospital this evening.” I shrugged. “He usually doesn’t work late, so he shouldn’t be gone all night.” I smiled. “But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll meet him soon enough.”