days apart would feel like forever to him, he thought as he hugged her. “You barely know me, but you should know I’m super proud of you for how you’re handling this.”
“Thanks. My mom has always been there for me. I want to do the same for her for as long as I have her.”
“She’s raised a wonderful daughter.” He hugged her again before releasing her and then hugging Amanda. “I’ll check on you guys later.”
“Drive carefully.”
“I will. Don’t worry about me.”
“Love you,” Amanda said, giving him a wistful look.
Landon understood how she felt, because he was afraid of what was ahead, and he wasn’t even going to be there for most of it. “Love you, too.”
He stood in the doorway and watched them leave in Kelly’s sedan, waving as they drove away, taking his heart with them. For a long time after they left, he stared out the window at the empty street, wishing he didn’t have somewhere to be when he was needed there.
Before he left Kelly’s, he called the store and asked if someone could meet him at the rental car drop-off in St. Johnsbury. His dad said he’d be there at the appointed time.
On the three-and-a-half-hour ride north to Vermont, Landon had never felt more torn between what he had to do and what he wanted to do. The farther away from Amanda he got, the more wrong it felt. He wanted to be there with her and Stella to support them through this difficult time, but there was no way he could blow off work when Luc was out, too.
By the time he reached the rental car lot, he’d given himself a headache from grinding his teeth the whole way home.
When he came out of the office after dropping off the keys, his dad was waiting for him in the Range Rover. Feeling as if he’d traveled a million miles since they left for the wedding on Friday, Landon tossed his bag into the back and got into the passenger seat, shutting the door a little harder than necessary.
“Take it easy,” Linc said, always protective of his prized Range Rover.
“Sorry.”
“I can tell you’re loaded for bear just by looking at you.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
“Primed for a fight, and if I had to guess, you’re in an uproar over leaving your lady to deal with a heartbreaking situation without you.”
Leave it to his father to get straight to the heart of the matter. “Yeah.”
“It sucks.”
“It does.”
“But you have to come home to work because your brother is still on medical leave and you can’t leave the department any more short-handed than it already is. How’d I do?”
“Bull’s-eye.”
“For what it’s worth, I admire your work ethic.”
“For all the good that’s doing me when I want to be somewhere else.”
“I know it’s hard right now, but keep reminding yourself that this situation is temporary.”
“I hate that someone has to die for us to get back to some semblance of normalcy.”
“That’s a terrible reality to have to confront. But if I may make a suggestion…”
“Can I stop you?” Landon asked, grinning at his dad.
“I suggest you start making preparations to become a family of three. You don’t have room for a soon-to-be teenager at your place, which means you’re going to need to move. Why not take care of that while Amanda takes care of Stella and her mom?”
“That’s not an awful idea.”
“Gee, thanks, son.”
His father’s suggestions started the wheels turning in his mind. They needed to find a bigger house to rent or buy, and he absolutely could take care of that so they’d be ready to bring Stella home to Butler when the time came. “I appreciate the idea. It’s a good one.”
“Since you’re new to this relationship business, I’ll toss you one more pearl of wisdom, completely free of charge.”
Landon laughed. “Can’t wait to hear this one.”
“Make sure you consult Amanda throughout the process of finding a new place to live. A house she has no input on isn’t the kind of surprise a woman tends to appreciate.”
“Are you speaking from personal experience perhaps?”
“Possibly.” Legend had it that Linc had bought the Abbott family barn sight unseen and “surprised” his bride with her ramshackle new home.
Landon laughed hard.
“My goal in life is to save my children from making the same mistakes I did.”