complete the sentence.
“I saw the toll it took on you. As much as I’d like you to stay, I won’t try to convince you to. But you must promise me not to place yourself last. To not let go of your dreams. To sound terribly cliché,” he said, chuckling under his breath, “You must not let them wither in the sun.”
“I won’t.”
“I still don’t agree with the decision,” he said, “but I must respect it. Please call me, should you need a reference letter for another internship or opportunity within the science program.”
And with that, the line cut off.
Despite the abrupt end to our call, I couldn’t help but feel relieved—and moved. Professor Valdez was methodical… driven, to a fault. His begrudging respect was more than I could hope for.
A weight lifted from my shoulders, I scooped the key out of the cup holder and jammed it into the ignition.
I had a plane to catch.
Chapter 3
Landon’s mother was hospitalized in the nearest big city—Tacoma, not Seattle. The hospital reminded me of a bee hive, tall but not really square, with honey-comb shaped windows.
I hadn’t told Landon I was coming, and it took three information desks before I wised up and pretended his mother was my own. At the fourth desk I was directed toward the correct room, three floors up from where I’d started.
He was facing the window when I entered, his tall frame folded into a little upholstered easy chair, one ankle resting on his knee. His broad shoulders were a shadowed outline against the vivid blue skies of our Pacific Northwest summer, sunny but lacking the humid heat I’d left behind.
I hesitated, because there was something vulnerable about seeing him like that, in a quiet moment. I stayed near the door, glancing over at his mother. She was asleep, her finely-lined face at peace. I looked back at Landon, taking in the tension in his shoulders, the way that even here, he didn’t slump, didn’t relax. If I didn’t see him at night, sleeping peacefully, I’d think he was never at ease.
He didn’t move as I walked to him, as I placed a hand on his shoulder. I rounded the chair, my fingers trailing down his arm, and took in the surprise on his face as he realized it was me.
We faced one another for several beats of silence, and the questions in his eyes were enough to make me speak. “The internship didn’t feel right anymore,” I said.
He furrowed his brow, and I hoped to hell it was worry—not disappointment—written in his eyes.
“I thought the internship was what you wanted,” he said.
I raked in a steadying breath. “Yes. Wanted. Past tense.”
He folded his hands in his lap, studying me, as if trying to find the regret he was sure I’d have. Just a day ago I’d done the same to him. “I don’t want you to walk away from your dreams for me,” he said.
I pursed my lips. Shook my head. How funny that I was so afraid he’d regret walking away from his dream, and here he was, only concerned that I’d done the same thing. “Dreams come in many forms, Landon. That internship… it wasn’t the right one for me.”
He stared longer, and I met his gaze, willing him to understand.
“You’re sure.”
“Absolutely,” I said, shoving my hands into the front pockets of my shorts.
He looked tired, the stress written on his face. “No regrets.”
“None.”
He stood, then, wrapping me up in his strong arms. I sank against him, inhaling his scent and knowing this was where I was meant to be. We stood like that, for what may have been hours but felt like seconds, until a rustling noise made us pull apart.
I spun around to see his mother, her hands clasped over her stomach, eyes open. There was something hazy about her look, like her eyes were out of focus.
“Mom?”
Landon rushed over, taking her hand in his, and I nervously followed. She’d been here for almost 24 hours already, but I knew from Landon that she’d been out of it, that he still hadn’t been able to hold a conversation with her.
She blinked up at him, and recognition slowly dawned.
“Landon,” she said, her voice raspy.
Desperate to be useful, I went to the little water pitcher on a table near her bed, filling a tiny cup half-full with water and handing it to him.
He adjusted her bed, allowing her to partially sit up, and then helped her drink a sip of water. This was the Landon