Lies in Love (41 page)

Getting to unfold the
mystery is something I’ll never forget. I’ll wait all my
life for your forgiveness.

-Landon

Talia threw the card in the
trash as she passed and took a seat behind the register, grateful for
the phone order that currently occupied Izzy. She wasn’t up for
talking and she knew the second Izzy sat down next to her, the banter
would never stop. The shop had been swamped with work since Marisa’s
wedding, and she was thankful, but she detested it at the same time.
Trying to put together happy flower arrangements when she was
miserable was just plain torture. Landon’s unexpected delivery
didn’t help her mood. The only thing she could think to do was
interrogate the guilty party, get some answers on why she did it. She
found Camey loading up the van for another delivery and stopped her
in the alley.

“Why did you help
him?” Talia hadn’t thought she could feel more betrayed
after finding out the girls had hired him, but now, with this? Camey
was talking to Landon behind her back and arranging flower
deliveries. It just wasn’t right.

“He’s miserable,
Tal. He just wants to talk to you. He was hoping you would hear him
out after you saw the flowers.”

“Yeah, well he can
forget it. I have nothing to say.” Talia started for the back
door, but decided to add, “Why are you on his side? I mean, I
know you guys hired him, but he’s a whore. Is that really okay
with you?” She was fighting tears. She had been doing that way
too much lately. She never had to fight the tears this much after
Mason.

“That’s not who
he is anymore. It’s not who he wants to be. He just wants you,
Talia.”

Talia could swear Camey was
close to tears as well. “How does none of this bother you?”
She thought back to all the times Camey went home with different men
and realized she wasn’t like Camey. They worked differently. “I
guess I can’t expect you to understand.”

“What is that supposed
to mean?”

“Nothing. Forget I
said it.” Talia kicked at a rock near the back door. “I
just wanted to feel special for once and honestly, I feel like
nothing more than a piece of trash. Was anything he said to me
special?” She fell against the brick wall behind her. “I
guess I’ll never know.”

“Just talk to him,”
Camey pleaded.

“I can’t.”

“Why not? Maybe you
wouldn’t have all this doubt in your head if you just heard him
out. Give him a chance to explain.”

“What is there to
explain? I get it. I know he said escorting is in his past, but I
just can’t get my head around it. I just keep seeing him with
countless women charming the pants off of them.” Talia rolled
her eyes. “Ugh, I can’t do this.” She stormed back
inside, defeated. She could understand why everyone sided with Mason
after she left him. They didn’t know what he’d put her
through. But they all knew who Landon was and they still took his
side. There wasn’t a single soul who understood how she felt.
It was agonizing. As much as drowning herself in work usually helped,
she just couldn’t do it this time, not with all of the girls
looking at her like a wounded dog.

She needed to escape, but
everywhere she went, Landon was there. He was in her bedroom, the
shop, even her favorite diner. She knew he was gone, but she didn’t
think she could ever really get his memory to go away.

It was nearing the end of
the day, so she snuck to her apartment a little early in search of a
bottle of liquid amnesia. It was the only solution that sounded half
worth trying, even if the pain only subsided for a little while. It
was the only way she’d get any sleep tonight.

She found a bottle of
tequila underneath the kitchen sink and curled up in her father’s
old recliner, downing the bottle sip after miserable sip. Soon
Landon’s face wasn’t dancing right before her eyes. His
voice wasn’t keeping her awake. The pain didn’t hurt so
badly. When she’d consumed nearly a quarter of the bottle, she
passed out in her father’s chair.

Pounding.

Oh good, quiet.

Pounding.

Damn it, what is that?

Pounding. “Talia, it’s
Camey?”

Talia opened one eye, trying
to figure out where she was. Everything in her hurt. Every joint felt
stiff and her stomach was dancing in circles. And with every knock on
the door her head felt like it might explode.

“Talia. Open up.”
Camey began pounding on the door again.

“I’m coming,”
she called. “Just stop pounding on the damn door.” She
stumbled through the apartment, wondering where she’d left her
shoes. The floor was freezing and did nothing to help her monster
hangover. She eased the door open, leaning her head against the cool
surface trying to ease the beating her head was undertaking. “What
do you want?” She could barely stand opening her eyes.

“Maybe you want to
come to work today?” Camey stepped inside, assessing the
apartment. “Did you get drunk last night?”

Talia touched her finger to
her nose. “Bingo.” She pushed the door shut and fell back
into the recliner. “Would you like a drink?”

“Talia,
no
.”
Camey took the bottle from her and carried it to the kitchen. “This
isn’t helping anything.”

“Bah.” She let
her head fall against the chair and closed her eyes. “What time
is it anyway?”

Camey spoke from next to her
chair, “It’s noon.”

“Noon?” Talia
jumped from her chair but immediately regretted it, grabbing her head
and falling back to the cushion below. “Bad idea.”

“I’ll get some
coffee going.” Camey returned to the kitchen and began knocking
around dishes.

“You mind keeping it
down in there? Hangover here.”

“Ha. Not likely.”

“Bitch,” Talia
muttered. She knew Camey was being hard on her, but she also knew she
deserved it. Alcohol never solved anything. She just had to find a
way to stop thinking about Landon and move on. With a little time,
maybe she could find it in her heart to forgive him enough to begin a
new life without him.

“Here. I’m going
to go back downstairs and help out until you get your shit together.”

“I’ll be down
shortly.”

“Forget it. Take the
day. We can handle things.” Camey walked out of the apartment,
deliberately slamming the door behind her.

“Bitch,” Talia
sniggered, knowing Camey meant well. She couldn’t afford to
push them away again. They were the only thing she had left here.
She’d turn things around, find some way to forgive them, and
make up for the past.

“You shouldn’t
have come here. What if Talia comes outside?” Camey stood in
the back alley, trying to hurry things along.

“Look, just put this
card with the flowers we talked about.” Landon handed her an
envelope and looked back and forth in the alley.

“Where’s your
bike?”

“I parked a block
over. I didn’t want Tal hearing it and getting upset.”

Camey nodded and gripped the
doorknob. “She’s not going to like that I did this again.
She didn’t take the last bouquet so well.”

“What do you mean?”

“She drank a quarter
of a bottle of tequila and slept ‘til noon.”

“Why didn’t you
tell me?” Landon began pacing, watching the back door with
every step.

“What good would it
have done?” Camey grabbed his arm. “She’s got to do
this on her own now. At least until she forgives you. Just give her
time. I know she loves you.”

Landon chortled.

“I think the tequila
was a good indicator of that.”

“I suppose.”
Landon was still watching the back door. “She’s so damn
close I can almost smell her.” His hand reached for the door.
“I just wish I could touch her again.”

Camey looked at the crease
in his brow, the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. “Hopefully
soon.” She brushed her hand over his arm. “I’ve
gotta go. I hope this works.” She held up his card and slipped
back inside.

Talia was darting around the
shop filling the dozens of orders that kept streaming in. Work had
really picked up since Marisa’s wedding. Camey was glad Talia
had something to drown her sorrows in during the day, but she was
fairly certain that Talia’s nights weren’t so easy. Every
morning, Talia came down with bags under her eyes and a monster cup
of coffee in her hand. Her hair always looked like a tangled mess
hiding under that overgrown stocking cap. Camey was certain she’d
succumb to many sleepless nights and she wished there was something
she could do to help. She hoped the flowers Landon planned would help
her find forgiveness in her heart.

Sneaking in the freezer, she
found the crimson arrangement she’d hidden in the corner
earlier that morning. She couldn’t risk Talia seeing it and
asking questions. Slipping the card in between the peony and rose
blooms, she carried it carefully through the cooler. Poking her head
out, she made sure Talia hadn’t made her way downstairs before
she slipped the blooms onto the worktable and headed out the back
door for another delivery.

“What is this?”
Talia carried the collection of peonies and roses toward Camey.

“Flowers.” Camey
laughed and walked away, but Talia followed right behind her.

“You can’t keep
doing this.”

“Doing what, Talia?
They’re just flowers.”

“How do you expect me
to get over him if you keep helping him weasel his way back into my
life?”

“Why do you have to
get over him?” Camey took the flowers from Talia’s hands
and set them out of the way. “It’s been a week and a
half. You really have no desire to forgive him?”

“It’s not
forgiving him that’s the problem. It’s trying to forget
what he was. It’s too much.” Talia still may not have
been sleeping well at night, but it had finally started to hurt a
little less at work each day. The card he left with the flowers
completely ruined that for her.

Petal,

Here’s hoping these
flowers can find a way to heal our love.

-Landon

“Try.”

It was such a powerful word.
Landon had asked her to try so many times. Now Camey was asking her
to try and forget. She just wanted to be who she was without having
to change. She needed to be enough on her own. She had to be enough,
if not for anyone else, for herself.

It had been a little over a
month since the breakup with Landon and a little over two weeks since
the last bouquet of flowers, a bouquet of forget-me-nots. There had
been three arrangements in all, and, unbeknownst to Camey or any of
the other girls, Talia had kept one stem from each of the bouquets to
preserve them in her spare bathroom. As much as she tried, there was
no forgetting Landon. The words on that final card still resonated in
her mind.

Love always.

-Landon

Trying to clear her mind,
she set to cleaning the apartment yet again. The girls were all out,
celebrating the Fourth of July under the stars. Reina and Wade had
invited Camey and Sara to the lake to watch the fireworks over the
water. They’d invited her too, but she didn’t feel like
raining on their parade, so she was at home, cleaning. She’d
rearranged the furniture in the living room and scrubbed all of the
kitchen and bathroom surfaces. She was just about to clean under her
bed when her phone rang. When she checked the caller ID she found a
much-needed surprise. “Daddy?”