Page 47 of Never Fall Again

Landry didn’t miss Dylan. Not for a second. But she missed the dream of what parenting could be like with a true partner. Someone she could vent to after Eliza was asleep. Someone who would validate her concerns.

But Eliza was hers and only hers. And like she’d told Cal tonight, she had no intention of changing that. So if this Jerry became a bigger problem, she would deal with it.

She pushed the thoughts of Jerry and Dylan and pipe dreams from her mind. Eliza didn’t often stop moving long enough to cuddle, and Landry took full advantage of this moment. She rested her cheek on Eliza’s hair. Normally she smelled of her favorite apple shampoo. But tonight she smelled of woodsmoke, marshmallows, and the mountains on a fall day.

Landry held Eliza close until she squirmed. Five minutes later she locked the doors to her studio, and she and Eliza walked backto their home. Her phone buzzed as she opened their door, and she glanced at the text. It was from Cal.

From one friend to another: Eliza was a hit. So were you. Granny said to make sure you know you’re welcome anytime. And that neither I nor Abby need to be present. She also said if you haven’t started teaching Eliza how to crochet that you should get on that because “she’s not too young to learn.” At this point I suggested that Granny text you herself.

She asked Eliza about the crocheting. “Abby doesn’t like it, but I do. Granny said I was a natural.”

“Did she?”

“She said she could teach me how to make a doll blanket.”

“Would you like that?”

“I guess so.”

Landry closed the door and locked it.

After Eliza was in bed, she grabbed her phone and replied.

Hey, friend. How’d Granny respond to that?

The three little dots appeared almost immediately.

There may have been some snide remarks about me not being too old to get myself taken to the woodshed for sassing my granny.

So Granny’s not big on texting?

Granny’s not big on technology in general. She prefers a hands-on approach to everything. But she did have me put your number in her phone. I should warn you that she also had me put you in the “Quinn Extended Family” group text. Feel free to mute it.

Landry stared at her phone. She’d lived in Gossamer Falls for three years and made exactly zero friends with the locals. She had pleasant conversations with some of the regulars at The Haven, but she couldn’t call any of them friends. Her circle was small. She was friends with Bronwyn. Cordial with her coworkers. A few of them could be called friends. Maybe.

So how was it that in the space of a month, she’d managed to make several friends and get herself semi-adopted?

She had no idea.

But she didn’t hate it.

Fourteen

Monday morning Cal drove to The Haven with Chad and Connor behind him in their own vehicles. When he arrived at the gate, he rolled down his window. The security guard was an old friend. “Barry, good to see you.”

“You take a wrong turn somewhere, brother?” Barry looked behind Cal’s truck and his eyes widened. “Um, Cal, man, I...”

Cal tapped the door of his truck. “Relax. Call Bronwyn. We have a meeting with her this morning.”

“You do?” Barry blew out a huge breath. “Thank heaven. I thought y’all had decided to storm the castle or something.”

“Nah. This is a friendly invasion.”

“Never thought I’d see the day. Hang on a minute.” Barry stepped back into his guardhouse and lifted a phone to his ear. The call was brief, but Barry spent another minute opening a locked drawer. He returned to Cal’s truck with three cards. “Bronwyn said to give you each one of these.” He handed one to Cal.

“What is it?”

“It’s a pass to enter the grounds from the employee entrance. You know where that is?”