Landon (In Safe Hands Book 1) (11 page)

Pale
brown eyes gaze up at me. “That’s amazing. What do you do when you find them?”

“We
send all the information we have on them to the police.”

“Why
didn’t you want me to know?”

“We’re
hackers, Zo. Most of what we do isn’t legal.”

“But
the cops don’t care?” she asks, her eyes on the sky.

“They
don’t know who we are. It’s all done anonymously.”

“Isn’t
it dangerous?”

I
wrap my arm around her, relieved she isn’t pissed I lied to her. “If we were
found out, maybe, but we’re too good for that.”

“So,
Dare is part of the group too?”

“Yeah.”
She’s quiet while she thinks it over. “You can’t tell anyone. I trust you or I
wouldn’t have told you, but if anyone else finds out, I’m not the only one who
would go to prison.”

Her
arms wrap around my middle. “I would never do anything to get you in trouble. I
think what you’re doing is wonderful.”

We
stay there, cuddled in the back of my truck, watching the streaks of blue,
green, and yellow draw lines across the sky. I have this gorgeous woman alone
on a mattress, and for once, I don’t want to fuck her. Okay, I do, but I also
don’t want to break the spell. She’s warm in my arms, and when she scoots down
to lie on her back, staring up at the color filled blackness, I lie beside her,
tossing a blanket over us.

Apparently,
we’re too comfortable, because my eyes slip closed. When I open them again, the
sky is a shade or two lighter. Shit. Shit. Shit. The sun is getting ready to
come up. “Zoe, wake up sweetheart.” I scoop her up before she’s fully awake and
settle her into the passenger seat. “Sorry, but we have to go. It’s getting
light.”

Now
she’s awake. “We shouldn’t have fallen asleep! We won’t make it back before the
sun rises.”

“No,
we won’t,” I agree, speeding as fast as I dare down the curvy road. “There’s a
hotel just before we get to the highway. We’ll have to go there.” Damn it all.
This is why I don’t date. The first time I try to do something with her and
look what happens.

“Can
we make it in time?” she asks, worry written on her face.

“Relax,
I won’t burst into flames like a vampire.” I squeeze her hand.

“I
know. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” She’s too damn good for me. Too good
to bring into these kind of screwed up situations. I’ll have to spend the day
in a grubby little hotel room.

The
horizon is just turning pink when we get to the roadside hotel. The attendant
at the desk barely looks at us as we sign in and get our key. Like an actual
key, not a card. This isn’t going to be pretty.

It’s
a typical cheap room. A thin green curtain covers the window and Zoe eyes it
with distaste. “That’s not going to be enough, is it?”

“No.”
I jerk open the drawer of a chipped and scarred dresser. Hotels always seem to
keep blankets in the bottom drawer, and this one is no exception. Tossing Zoe
one end, I grab the other and we hang it over the window. It’ll have to do.

“I’m
sorry, Zoe. This isn’t how I wanted our date to end. I can get Jeremy to come
and get me tonight. You can take the truck home.”

She
looks at me like I’m insane. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t
you have a class today?”

“No,
tomorrow, and Ethan doesn’t get back from his class trip until tomorrow
evening.”

“Still.”
I flop onto the bed. “You don’t have to be stuck here all day.”

A
mischievous smile spreads across her face as she sits beside me. “Stuck in a
hotel room all day. What could we possibly do?”

“Love
how you think, dirty girl, but we don’t have any condoms.”

She
bounces to her feet and drops a quick kiss on my lips. “I’ll be right back.”

Less
than an hour later she returns with food, drinks, and a box of condoms.

This
woman is too good to be true.

Zoe

Landon
is frustrated. Though we’ve had a good time holed up in this little hotel room,
I can tell he’s brooding on what brought us here. We’ve spent the day eating
junk food, and watching bad T.V. In between fucking our brains out, of course.

I
understand why he’s upset. It must be terrible to be restricted in such a way,
but I’m sure we can work around it like we always do. The last few days have
been great, but I have to get back to real life tomorrow. Ethan will be back
from his trip, and I have class—not to mention I still need to find a realtor.

We
leave the hotel as soon as it’s dark and he’s quiet on the drive back. When I
squeeze his hand, he only glances at me with a quick smile that doesn’t reach
his eyes. I hate to leave him when he’s clearly upset about something, but I
have to get back to Ethan.

“I’ll
call you tomorrow,” I murmur, hugging him goodbye.

“I’ll
text you the name of the realtor I recommended,” he replies, kissing my
forehead.

Ethan
is just getting out of a friend’s car when I pull up at our apartment. “Hey!
Did you have fun?”

“It
was cool, you know, except for the boring museum and government building
tours,” he replies, following me inside with his suitcase in tow. He deposits
his suitcase in his room and flops on the couch beside me. “So, what did I
miss?”

“Well,
we now have three quarters of a million dollars in my bank account, two
properties we need to sell, and…oh yeah, a tornado destroyed my boss’s house,
so I won’t be working for a while.”

Ethan’s
eyes widen. “Whoa, what about a million dollars?”

“Our
parents had two life insurance policies that just paid out. I put two-hundred
fifty thousand dollars into an account for you when you turn twenty-one.”

“Holy
shit, Zo! Can I get a car?”

Of
course that’s his first thought at sixteen. “Once you get your license,” I laugh.
“I think you missed the forest for the trees, kid. We’re going to find us a
house. I’m making an appointment with a realtor tomorrow. They’ll also be able
to help us sell our parents’ house and the commercial building.”

“We’re
rich.” A wide smile spreads across his face.

“Not
exactly, but we won’t have to struggle anymore. My college and yours are
covered, we can get a house and new cars and still have plenty left over to see
us through the next few years.”

“It’s
about damn time something went our way.” He flashes a shy smile. “Colin and I
are officially together.”

“Do
I need to give you the safe sex talk again?”

“If
you’re afraid I’ll knock him up, I may need to explain a few things to you.” He
catches the pillow I toss at him. To be fair, it is a throw pillow. “Don’t
worry, I know how to be safe. So, are you finally going to give in to your
boss, now that he isn’t your boss?”

“We’re
seeing each other.”

“Ha!
Knew it. Just don’t keep me up when he stays the night. I don’t need to be scarred
for life.”

“Relax,
he won’t be staying over.” I explain Landon’s condition to him.

“That’s
messed up. I mean, I’d go crazy if I had to stay inside so much.”

“Me
too.”

After
thinking for a moment, he asks, “What if our new house had windows with UV
tinting? If they can make sunglasses that protect from the sun’s rays, they
should make windows that do.”

Why
the hell didn’t I think of that? I wonder if Landon has looked into it at all.
He hasn’t been living at his uncle’s house long. Maybe he planned on having
them installed later. “That’s a hell of an idea. I’ll look into it.”

Ethan
stretches and yawns. “I’m tired. At least there’s no school tomorrow for the
kids who went on the trip. Can we go look at some houses?”

“I’ll
call the realtor and see when she’s available. I have class in the afternoon.”

“Sounds
good.” He gets to his feet and heads to his room. “Night, Zo.”

“Night,
kid.”

I
wake early the next morning when Landon texts me the realtors name and number.
There’s no good morning, see you later, or anything in his message. I’m tempted
to call him, but we’ve been stitched at the hip for days. If he’s trying to get
some time to himself, I’m not going to be the clingy girl. I settle for texting
the word thanks, and leave it at that.

The
realtor gets back to me within a couple of hours and offers to show us a few
properties in our price range this evening. Ethan is just as thrilled as I am
to get out of this shitty apartment.

Between
school, house hunting, and dealing with my parents’ estate, the next week flies
by. I put in an offer on a beautiful four bedroom house in a safe neighborhood.
The large screened porch complete with swing won me over, and Ethan is thrilled
with the large basement that he wants to make into a game room.

My
parents’ house is now cleaned out and up for sale. Ms. Hafley, the realtor,
seems to think it’ll sell quickly. The commercial building, maybe not so much.
It’s in good condition, but not in a great location. Until it sells, I’m
allowing the church to keep using it, but they know their time is limited.

All
in all, it’s been a great week, except for Landon’s lack of communication.
After not hearing from him for a few days, I texted him, but his only response
was to say he’s busy. That was four days ago and I haven’t heard another word.
I know he’s busy getting his house repaired, dealing with the insurance
companies and everything, but it can’t be eating up all his time. I know when
I’m being blown off.

I
just don’t know what I did wrong. Those days with him were wonderful and I
really thought he had the same feelings for me that I do for him, but I guess I
was fooling myself. I’m not going to call him. I’m not going to be the
desperate girl who can’t take a hint. Still, it hurts. I miss him and I feel
like I’m dragging through my days, just waiting to hear from him.

Ethan
approaches me one morning with a suggestion. “Zo, the building you inherited,
the one the church uses?”

“Yeah?”

“What
would you think about letting the homeless shelter use it instead? I mean, if
we need the money, I understand you have to sell it, but if not, we could help
them out.”

See
what a damn good kid he is? I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. The
shelter is right down the road from the church. They picketed them a few times
when they found out they housed gay kids.

“That’s
a fantastic idea. Why don’t we stop by and talk to the director today?”

Martin
Day, the director of the Every Life Counts Homeless Shelter and Gay Youth
Center greets us both with a warm hug. “Ethan, good god boy, you’re taller than
me. What have you been eating?”

“Anything
that appears near him,” I laugh, hugging him back. “It’s a wonder I have all my
fingers.”

“What
are you doing here? Not that I’m not always glad to see my two favorite success
stories.” This place saved me when my parents threw me out. They gave me a
place to stay, helped me get into college, find a job, and get my first studio
apartment. Ethan stayed here a few years later while I rushed to get a two
bedroom apartment and find a way to support us both.

He
took part in group counseling with other gay teens and it really helped him
accept and be proud of who he is. Years of being told homosexuals are
disgusting and should be put to death so they’ll go to hell tends to destroy
ones self-esteem. Meeting other boys who felt the same really brought him out
of his shell.

“I
recently inherited the building down the street. The one the pentecostal church
uses? Turns out my parents owned it, and all their property was left to me.”

“That
must chap their ass,” he laughs.

“Not
as much as Every Life Counts owning it will. I know you need more space. It may
not have the facilities you need for housing, but if you can use it for any
purpose, I’d like you to have it.”

Martin’s
jaw drops and he stammers, “W-we always need more space. We’d love to host tutoring,
GED classes, and employment training.”

Smiling,
Ethan tells him, “I think this would be the perfect place.”

“I
can’t promise you won’t catch shit from the church…”

“So
what else is new? We can handle them.” He still looks stunned at our offer.

“Why
don’t we go now and show him?” Ethan asks, excited.

“If
you aren’t busy.” I shrug.

The
parking lot outside the building is littered with cars when we arrive, so
there’s some kind of function going on inside.

We
make our way through the glass doors where an indoor yard sale is taking place.
The church has set up rows of tables and they’re covered in clothing,
housewares, and tools. Customers mill around, digging through the donated
items, but one face stands out. Especially since it’s glaring at me like I
walked in holding a vibrator or something.

“Mrs.
Frances, how are you?”

“Blessed
by God, Zoe Page. Can you say the same?”

Glad
to see we aren’t standing on formality or manners. “Same heathen I’ve always
been.”

Her
mouth puckers in disgust as her gaze sweeps over Ethan. Instead of speaking to
him, she regards me. “What are you doing here?”

I
can’t help but smile when I respond. “Oh! You haven’t heard? I own this
building. For now, anyway. Mr. Day is here to check out the place, see if it
will meet his shelter’s needs.”

I’d
be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the look of horror on her face. “You own the
church annex?”

“No,
I own this commercial property that was formerly used as an annex.”

“You
can’t take from the church!”

“Ironic,
since it’s only ever taken from me, but I’m not here to argue.” I turn to
Martin and Ethan as Pastor Hale approaches us. “Ethan, why don’t you show
Martin around while I talk to the pastor?”

“Sure.”
Martin follows Ethan toward the back of the building.

“Ms.
Page,” Hale sneers. I don’t think I’ve ever been hated by another person the
way this man hates me and Ethan. He was the driving force when it came to our
parents’ decision to disown us, so it goes without saying I can’t stand him.
“I’m sure we can come to some arrangement. You are expecting rent now from us,
I assume?”

“You
assume wrong. I informed you, as did my lawyer, that this property had changed
hands and would no longer be available for the church’s use. I’ll give you a
few days to clear out whatever you need to move.”

Trying
to control his anger, his teeth are gritted as he asks, “And why would you do
that? We can pay you rent.”

“Ethan
and I agreed that we should do something good with the space, and give back to
the people who helped us. I’ll be donating the building to Every Life Counts.”

Smoke
should be rolling from this self-righteous prick’s ears. “We will not stand for
this! We can’t have immoral sodomites across from our church.”

If
there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that you can’t argue with people so mired
in hate. It’s pointless. “You’ll have to take that up with the new owner. I’ll
be changing the locks Sunday night, so you’ll want to be moved out by then.”

Mrs.
Frances shakes her head. “Your parents would be so ashamed.”

“Good,
because that’s how I feel about them.” Martin and Ethan approach, both wearing
wide smiles.

“Let’s
go, guys.” They follow me out to the parking lot where we can talk without
being glared at.

“So,
should we expect torches and pitchforks?” Ethan asks, as we climb into the car
and head back to the shelter.

“You’re
going to have trouble from them, Martin,” I warn.

“I’ll
deal with it. They can’t keep us from moving there. Zoe, this is amazing. You
have no idea how many people this is going to help. Thank you so much.”

“We
wouldn’t be where we are without you and your volunteers. I’ll get with you in
a few days to sign the papers and it’ll be yours.”

Martin
climbs out of the car. “You’ll have to come to our grand opening party.”

“Wouldn’t
miss it,” Ethan replies, hugging him before he heads inside.

He’s
quiet on the ride home, lost in his thoughts. I imagine seeing Martin and the
shelter brought back some memories. “You okay?”

Ethan
nods, then shakes his head. “I don’t know. Colin invited me to go to church
with him Sunday. I didn’t know…didn’t expect him to be religious.”

“Which
church?”

“Unitarian
Universal. He says they’re inclusive, that no one will care I’m gay, but that’s
easy for him to say when he’s not out. I don’t think he understands how bad it
can get.”

I
understand his fears, but there’s something I want him to understand. He gazes
at me from the passenger seat as I park in front of our apartment. “I don’t
know what the UU church believes or teaches. I understand why any invitation to
church would freak you out. But you have to know that all religious people or
believers aren’t like the people we were subjected to our whole lives. There
are caring, loving, accepting people who go to church, just like Colin. You
can’t paint them all with the same hateful brush.