Landon

It was six o’clock in the evening by the time I left my sister’s office. My right temple was throbbing, my mind spinning. Though I’d called Val periodically during breaks, I headed straight to the hospital to give her a blow-by-blow account of the day and to check on her.

“You look better,” I said.

She was lying in bed, one leg in a cast, her torso bandaged up. Her right side had taken the brunt of the collision.

She smiled. “Oh, yes. Please lay it on thick with the charm. I really need it. I haven’t seen myself in a mirror, but I can’t look better than I feel, and I feel like crap. I’ve already been spoiled with apparently all the goodies money can buy in LA, but my twin’s charm is always welcome.” She pointed to the hospital table next to her. It was buried under mountains of sweets and food. She sighed. “My head feels messed up. Tried to read some e-mails today and nearly got sick.”

The doctors said she had a concussion, which meant she’d be unable to focus on reading for some time, plus she’d get headaches and become tired quicker, but ultimately there would be no permanent damage.

“This is a disaster,” she said.

“It could have been worse,” I said quietly. When Will had called, he’d explained everything in one breath. But in the seconds it took him to add, “It’s not life-threatening” after saying, “A drunk driver hit her car,” my mind had already jumped to the worst-case scenario. I blamed the negativity on having lost so many people already: our parents, Rachel. The thought of losing Val had paralyzed me.

“I know, Landon. We’ve been through enough that I can appreciate I’m alive. But the timing sucks. Not that there’s any good time to be sick, but now with the deal.... Thank you for meeting with them today.” She fiddled with her cover, and I sat on the bed next to her good leg. “They’re going to jump ship. I could hear it in their voices, even if they didn’t say it out loud.”

I’d put her on loudspeaker during a few crucial moments, and I couldn’t lie to my sister.

“I had that impression too. They think your team won’t prioritize the project with you in recovery mode for six weeks.”

“And they’re right. I might be able to work from home once the headache subsides, but it’s not the same thing. A new project requires my presence at the office, to motivate and lead the team. This project was my baby. I was going to oversee the entire development of the line. If I were them, I’d jump ship too.”

She shifted her good leg a little to the right, then back where it was.

“I want to run an idea by you,” I said.

Val stopped in the act of rearranging her leg. “I’m all ears.”

“I could stick around for the next six weeks, get the project rolling, at least until your cast comes off. I know the business inside out. You’ve streamlined many processes, but I’m a fast learner. I think if we bring this offer to the table, it’ll swing things in your favor.”

Val looked too stunned to answer, which was saying something, because nothing stunned her into silence.

“Are you sure?” she asked finally. “Can you take so much time off?”

“I have an acting CEO. He’s gonna have to up his acting. And I won’t be taking time off anymore, just working remotely.”

Adam would give me hell, but I didn’t care. I’d thought about this nonstop since I realized Val’s deal would be slipping through her hands. I was needed here more than in San Jose.

“Landon, are you sure?”

“Yes. We can call Livingston right now and make the offer.”

She nodded vigorously, then winced. I whipped my phone out and dialed Livingston’s number, putting him on loudspeaker. The conversation lasted less than five minutes. He bought it hook, line, and sinker.

“I’d hug you right now, but I can’t,” Val said after the line went static. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re my hero.”

She reached with her left arm to the cornucopia of sweets, taking a bag of M&M’s from its midst. Then she narrowed her eyes at me, as if she just realized something.

“Wait a minute. Is your heroic decision one hundred percent about me? Or does Maddie have something to do with it?”

I grinned, stealing some M&M’s. “Does it make me less of a hero if I answer yes to the second question?”

Val threw her head back, laughing, then winced, touching her ribs. “I knew it. Oh, Landon, what am I going to do with you?”

“I’m a grown man, munchkin. Don’t need your blessing.”

“Just as good. I’m not in the habit of dishing blessings. Kicks in the ass, on the other hand... I’ll start right away with those once my leg’s out of the cast.”

“Good to know.”

“I’d throw a pillow at you if I could move.” That was Val’s way of expressing her joy—and it had annoyed the hell out of me for as long as I could remember.

“I’d help you move, but can’t, since the pillow would be aimed at me. Conflict of interests and all that.”

“You big oaf. I’m so happy for you. I thought something was going on, but I didn’t want to raise my hopes up too much. Just... be careful, okay? You two still have separate lives at the end of the day.”

My smile fell. “I know.”

“Did you talk to Maddie about this? Does she know you’re staying longer?”

“No, but I’m meeting her after I leave here.”

“Last night, did you two—”

“I’m not discussing my sex life with you, sister.”

Val grinned like a Cheshire cat, holding up the M&M’s bag. “I’ll take that admission. She brought me these this morning. Had this glow about her, kept smiling. Now I know why. And you should go. You’ve gone above and beyond your brotherly duty for today. Go have some fun.”

“You sure I can’t do anything else?”

“I’m sure. And Jace texted me to say he’ll be dropping by. I bet he’ll be here within ten minutes.”

I kissed Val’s forehead, then let myself out of the room. Knowing I was the reason for Maddie’s smile made me happy. My thoughts had drifted to her so often today that I phased out of the meeting a few times.

I ran into Jace at the end of the corridor, which was deserted otherwise.

“Landon, hey! How did the meeting go? Val was stressed about it.”

“It went about as good as it could have gone without her there. I’ve decided to stay in LA until her cast comes off, oversee the project for her.”

“You’ve.... You can do that? With the whole partnership going on in San Jose?”

“I’ll manage. And I’ll see about arranging for her to be comfortable at home. She’ll need help moving, so maybe a live-in nurse—”

“I’m going to handle that, Landon. There’s no stopping you when you go into doing-shit mode.” He gave me a shit-eating grin. “Take a breather. You don’t have to do everything by yourself. Focus on the business, leave the rest to us. Now, elevator’s behind me. Get in before you start discussing the details with me.”

I grinned back, because he was right. We had a lot of details to go through, but we could deal with all that in the morning. Right now, I needed to see Maddie.