Unforgiven(76)

“Babysitting. You’ll pay us back in babysitting.” She laughs.
“Deal. I think I can handle that.” Our server delivers our food and we enjoy lunch together, just laughing and having a nice afternoon. “Can you do me one more favor?” I ask Reagan as she pushes her plate away.
“Of course. What do you need?”
“Will you take me to get a car after lunch?”
“Yeah, sure. I mean, you can use ours. We’re going to be gone for two weeks after the wedding. There’s no need for you to rush and buy a car.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m ready for this too. I want to get a car and I hope to find a place of my own so that when you get back, I’m all settled.”
Her tone becomes more serious. “Are you going to stay here? I mean, stay in North Carolina?”
“Here or nearby. The furthest I’d go would be Charlotte or Raleigh.”
“Those are hours away, Linds.”
“I know. It just depends on where I can find a job. I’m going to start looking when I get back.”
“When are you leaving?”
“I was thinking about Sunday.”
She gasps. “Does Landon know?”
“No. Because he’s going to want to go with me. I need to do this on my own, Reagan.”
She nods her head. “I understand. But you have to tell him and turn on your phone.”
“Turning it on as soon as we get home from buying a car!”
 

 
“Whose car is that in the driveway?” Landon hollers as he slams the front door behind him.
“Welcome home, honey!” I holler back as I flip through the pages of my Shape magazine.
“Who’s here?” he asks as he walks into the kitchen and kisses the top of my head. I’m sitting at the large kitchen island, enjoying an iced tea, reading articles, and getting healthy eating ideas.
“No one. The car is mine.”
“You went and bought a car?”
“Yeah. Reagan took me. Why do you look so wounded?”
“That was kind of our thing to do together.”
“The only time you went with me, you embarrassed me. Matt went with me the last time I bought a car. And this time, I went with Reagan. It was a fairly painless process,” I admit and turn another page in the magazine. He scoffs and pulls a cup out of the cabinet, pouring himself a glass of iced tea. My cell phone sits on the counter in front of me. I’ve yet to turn it on, but it’s fully charged. He’s eyeing it and looks at me.
“Did you turn it on?”
“Not yet.”
“You’re not turning it on to piss me off, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.”
“You’re just as annoying as always, you know that, right?”
“Yep.”
“Turn it on, Lindsay. I like to know how to get ahold of you, especially now that you’re driving again.”
“I was driving before.”
“In our cars, so we always knew where you were going.”
“I’m not twelve, Landon.”
“Just turn the phone on so we can get ahold of you, please, and stop being so difficult.”
I roll my eyes at my overprotective brother, but I push the power button on the top and watch as the screen comes to life. I set it back on the counter and drink my tea. The phone begins to buzz and hum and chirp and vibrate. The damn thing looks like it’s having a seizure.
“Jesus Christ,” he says, laughing at it as it bounces around the counter.
“This is why I left it off.” I laugh. I rest my hand over the phone and hold it in place and look up at Landon, who’s leaning back against the kitchen island. “Hey, Lan?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m leaving on Sunday for just a few days.”
“Where to?”
“I need to go wrap up some loose ends and hopefully make some amends.” His blue eyes grow slightly larger.
“No way in hell you’re going to Phoenix alone,” he says, rubbing the side of his face.
“I am. I’m ready and strong enough and I need to do this. I have to go pack up a few things and I need to go back to the station and talk to Rob. I have to apologize for my behavior and just have closure there.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he voices his concern.
“Then, I’m flying to California. I need to talk to Jess. She’s my best friend and I miss her, but a phone call isn’t going to cut it. I need to see her and apologize.” He nods his head.
“Okay,” he says quietly. “But that fucking phone stays on and charged the entire time.”
“It will be, I promise.”
“I don’t like this, Lindsay. But I trust you.”
“Thank you, Landon.”
He grumbles something as he walks away and I finally swipe the screen on my phone to see all the voice messages, emails, and text messages that I’ve successfully ignored for the last two and half months.