Landon

Just before I boarded the plane, Adam sent me all the details on the buying offer. I read the entire document during the flight, but I couldn’t concentrate. My mind was on Maddie. I hadn’t waited for her to say goodbye. I’d waited because I was looking for a reason to fight for us. Instead she talked about goodbye dinners, and how she’d known we had limited time together.

Had our closeness been just wishful thinking on my part? I’d imagined a future with her, a family—all those things I hadn’t let myself wish for anymore. My chest ached at the realization that I’d been alone in wanting all those things.

As the plane started the descent, I tried to push away all thoughts of Maddie. Hard as this was, I had to focus.

After landing, I went directly to the office. I knew the board could move fast when it wanted to. Entering the building through the garage, I went directly to the private elevator that led up to my office. As I strode through the corridor, anger simmered through me. This was my company. My building.

Voices reached my ears as I approached the meeting room. I hovered a few seconds in front of the door, attempting to cool down. It didn’t work. My anger had wired into a nasty headache. When I pushed the door open, the buzz died almost instantly.

“Landon, you made it,” Bowman, the chairman of the board, said. His tone clearly conveyed that he’d hoped I wouldn’t.

“Yes. Yes, I did.” I surveyed the room, my gaze lingering on each of the twelve board members. Adam and I had agreed that he wouldn’t attend this meeting. “Don’t look so disappointed. When someone threatens my company, I don’t waste any time.”

“We weren’t—” Bowman begins, but I held up one hand and he fell silent.

“Let’s not pretend. It will make this much quicker.” I took my seat at the head of the table.

“We are just considering the offer. No one’s made any decision, yet,” Delacroix explained. He was one of the mentors I respected most.

“So that six of you already voted for selling is a rumor?” I asked in a measured tone. A shiver went around the table. No one answered, which was answer enough.

“Have you looked at the offer?” Bowman asked.

“Briefly, on the flight.”

“We suggest you look closer. The offering price is more than fair,” Delacroix continued.

“If I were interested in selling, I would look closer, yes. But I’m not interested.”

Delacroix and Bowman exchanged a glance. The rest of the board was unusually silent.

Eventually Delacroix spoke again. “If I may, Landon, you’ve brought this company to a point so high, one none of us here imagined. But you can’t take it higher by yourself. The partnership with Sullivan was a good interim solution. The synergies would have allowed for exponential growth. But the endgame of a software company of this type, especially when you have so much investor capital, is going public or selling. You know that. I drafted the first business plan with you. You had projected to sell the company three years ago.”

“Business plans can change,” I said dryly.

Delacroix spoke again. “You could move on to other endeavors. Think about what you could do with all that capital. We’re talking north of a billion.”

“I know how much the company is worth.” I leaned back in my chair. The pounding in my temple became more pronounced, and the fact that I’d only slept a few hours last night was taking its toll. I was prone to making rash decisions, and lashing out at people when I was tired. Add people pushing my buttons to that and you had a recipe for disaster.

“Clearly we’re at odds here,” I said as calmly as I could muster. “I know I can still grow the company, bring in higher profits for all shareholders, without selling or going public. We’ll meet again next week, and I’ll present you with the options.” It was Wednesday, which gave me a few days to come up with a plan. “If I get wind that any of you contacted Sullivan, I will be going for blood. Understood?”

No one spoke. They usually didn’t when I was in my ruthless mode, and now I was beyond even that. Exhausted and livid, I left the meeting room. I wanted to go straight home, but first I stopped by Adam’s office. My assistant, Debbie, was in there too. The door was ajar, and she jumped to her feet when she saw me.

“How did it go?” There were finger markings on her cheeks, as if she’d pressed her hands to her face for a long time.

“I’ve bought us a few days to come up with a plan.”

“Do you want me to order from your favorite Chinese restaurant? I can have them deliver it when you get home,” Debbie said.

“I’ll order for myself,” I told Debbie and then left the office. My headache didn’t subside on the drive home, but I was sure it would once I’d cooled down in my loft.

Fresh, clean air greeted me when I stepped inside. Debbie must have had the place cleaned while I was away. I could still smell a hint of lemon in the air from the cleaning products. Wheeling my bag inside the living room, I dropped on the couch, leaning my head on the headrest, closing my eyes. It had been a day from hell. I couldn’t help thinking how the end of the day would have been if I were still in LA. Maddie and I would probably be in her bungalow, or on Val’s porch, laughing at something my sister said. Or I’d be training Milo.

The urge to hear Maddie’s voice was so strong that I barely stopped myself from calling her. She wasn’t mine to call. This morning it hadn’t seemed like she wanted me to call her again. She’d offered to book me a plane ticket, as if my leaving was no big deal. I’d been such a fool, letting myself hope, envisioning our life together.

Blinking my eyes open, I intended to head to the kitchen and order something from one of the takeout menus pinned to the fridge door. Instead, I took a long look around the living room. It felt like a stranger’s house, even though I’d lived here for four years. A specialized company took care of decorating this place, and it had felt like home. It was still a home, but it didn’t feel like my home anymore.

One hour later, after I’d eaten and showered, I still felt out of place. I went to bed convinced I’d see things differently in the morning, but after three hours of relentless tossing and turning, I booked myself into a hotel, packed a bag, and left. I needed my mind clear to deal with the crisis, and I couldn’t afford a sleepless night, or channeling my energy into discovering why I felt out of place in my own condo, even though deep down I knew the answer.

I was missing Maddie.

***

Maddie

Why, oh why, did the fair have to be this week?

I was in no mood to be around people. But I’d put my kicking-ass pants on and come to the House & Garden Remodeling Fair after finishing my workday at the school. I’d hoped to pick up some contacts, maybe even some new clients.

“Ms. Jennings, this looks very promising,” an older man said, tucking my business card in his pocket. “My wife’s been talking about letting a professional handle our garden for a while now.”

“Tell her to give me a call. I’ll give her all the details.” I shook his hand and nodded. I’d been doing a lot of nodding and shaking hands for the past few hours, and this day was a long way from over. I had to drop by some potted flowers for Val’s porch after the fair ended.

I felt like I was on autopilot, and I didn’t like it one bit. But I couldn’t help the way I felt, which was as if a piece of me was missing. Since Wednesday morning, I’d been going through the motions. Grace had slept at my house on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and she promised to drop by tonight too.

I needed girl time and lots and lots of love to nurse my heartbreak, which meant my sister had her hands full with me. Luckily she didn’t mind. On the contrary, she enabled my craving for girly activities, such as painting nails. So far I’d painted them red, pink, light pink, dark pink, and neon green before deciding on a French manicure.

I didn’t think changing the color of my nails another fifty times would stop me from missing Landon like crazy, but I persevered. My heart grew heavy every time I thought about how fast he’d cut me out of his life. Meanwhile, here I was, wondering what was wrong with me that made it so easy for the people I loved to walk out on me.

I sighed, knowing I couldn’t dwell on any of that now. I was here to make contacts and kick ass. So ass I kicked. I still had a lot of fairgoers to plow through, so I went to the restroom to freshen up a bit. I’d chewed my lipstick off, and my concealer wasn’t concealing much anymore. I smeared on some more of the latter and dabbed with my finger to even it out. Yeah... that wasn’t a lost cause or anything. My lack of sleep was showing.

I’d never been a troubled sleeper, but that had been before Landon. Problem number one: My bed was empty. I’d gotten used to that mountain of a man sprawled on it, and using his hard chest as my pillow. Or his arm. Or his abs. I didn’t mind any part of him, really.

Just feeling the heat of his skin and the rhythm of his pulse had filled me with a peaceful happiness. He’d made me feel so loved and cherished. Sometimes he’d decided sleep was overrated and had his wicked way with me in the middle of the night. That had filled me with giddy happiness.

Everything Landon did made me happy. Except leaving, of course.

Since he’d left, I’d discovered my trusty old pillow just didn’t cut the mustard anymore. I even missed the sound of his breathing filling my room. I’d woken up several times each night, convinced he was next to me. When I’d realized he wasn’t, taking the next breath physically ached, squarely in my chest. I hoped it would dull in time.

I took another look in the mirror and gave up on the whole concealer business. I could kick ass without it too.

One hour later, I had the pleasant surprise of running into Elise from the flower shop.

“Fancy seeing you here,” I said, kissing her cheek. Like me, she had a stack of papers and brochures.

“Thought I’d try and nab a few customers.”

“Great minds think alike.”

“Not easy, though. Most people don’t think about their garden until they’re halfway through remodeling their house.”

“Depends how you sell them the idea.” I glanced at her brochures, then at mine, which had pictures of some of my best work, all of which contained plants I’d procured from her. “Let’s stick together. I use your stuff all the time anyway.”

She smiled. “I won’t say no to that.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon together, chatting up customers. We were more efficient together, that was clear.

“Elise, are you still interested in a partnership?” I asked.

“Hell yes.”

“Okay. I’ve given this a lot of thought. Let’s meet next week and talk about the details.”

“I’d love that.”

When she’d suggested a partnership months ago, I couldn’t even wrap my mind around it, too weary after the fiasco with Eden Designs. Now I was seeing things in a different light. I wanted to take the risk. Landon’s influence, no doubt. The man had changed me in more ways than one.

Despite everything, I smiled to myself.