she said setting it on the only clear corner on the coffee table.
“How’s it going?”
“As well as homework can go, I guess,” Lily replied spreading jam on a thick slice of bread.
“It’s cruel and unusual punishment, that’s what it is,” Landon assessed. “You would think all those hours spent at school would be enough,” he said inhaling a slice of buttered bread.
“This bread is amazing,” Lily raved to Landon’s mom.
“Why thank you,” Mrs. Turner replied beaming. “It’s a family recipe that’s been passed down from mother to daughter for several generations. I’ll let you two get back to work.”
“Does your mom bake bread very often,” Lily asked after Landon’s mom had left the room.
“Maybe once or twice a week she’ll bake a loaf, and then there are the muffins and cookies. She loves baking. It’s relaxing to her I think. She also likes knitting and sewing. She made the curtains in here,” he said pointing to some muted green silk curtains that pooled on the carpeted floor.
“She did a good job. I would have guessed they were store bought.”
“She likes to do things herself, the old fashioned way, even if it takes longer and she has to work harder. That’s how she’s always been. My dad on the other hand, always wanted the latest gadget and would be perfectly happy to depend entirely on technology.”
“There are good things about both ways. Sometimes it’s good to use technology, and sometimes it’s best to stick to the tried and true old fashioned way of doing things. I think it just depends on the situation.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” They finished up the homework that was most important and then went to say goodbye to Landon’s mother before driving Lily home for dinner. Her aunt would be at home and be able to watch out for her the rest of the evening.
“Goodbye Mrs. Turner. It was nice to meet you,” Lily said with a wave. She needn’t have worried so much. Landon’s mother had been kind and gracious the entire time she was there. She even reminded Lily a little bit of her own mother, in a June Cleaver kind of way.
“Goodbye dear. You’re welcome to come back any time. You’re a good influence on this one,” she said wagging a hitch hiker thumb in Landon’s direction. “I’ve never seen him buckle down and get his homework done so quickly.”
“I think almost everything in life is more enjoyable when you are doing it with someone else,” Lily said blushing.
“You’re probably right about that,” Mrs. Turner said, escorting them to the door. “Drive safe.”
***
“I told you that you didn’t have to be nervous,” Landon said once they were inside the car with the doors shut.
“You were right,” Lily said with a smile. “Although, just because you tell me not to worry, that doesn’t mean I won’t. I tend to get nervous about things. I’m a bit of a worry wart.”
“I’m not at all. I guess opposites do attract,” he said taking her hand that was closest to him. Tingles ran from Lily’s hand all the way up her arm and her stomach did a little flip flop when she glanced over at his dimpled smile. He was just so cute. Lily wondered how she managed to attract someone as handsome as Landon Turner. She had stopped comparing herself to Amberly a few hours ago, but she still felt plain. She didn’t feel like she was Landon’s equal in the appearance category. She had always thought that guys only wanted the most beautiful girls in the school, but she must have been wrong. The magazines, television shows, commercials and movies were all wrong. Maybe beauty really isn’t everything. Landon saw something in her that she didn’t even see in herself. Lily decided she wanted to discover what it was that made him like her so much. Maybe if she knew, she would like herself better.
Landon turned out of his neighborhood onto a main road. His brows furrowed and he seemed a little uneasy as he looked in the rearview mirror. His driving was normally careful and steady, but he began swerving in and out of lanes.
“Are you okay,” Lily asked.
“I don’t know yet,” he said as he switched lanes once again barely escaping a fender bender. Landon glanced in the rear view mirror again not satisfied with what he saw. “I thought I saw someone following us.”
“A black car?”
“Yeah, it was the same type that guy had outside your house. It’s too hard for me to