Page 21 of If the Summer Lasted Forever

“We’re at the fireworks right now, but we’ll be back at the—” Mrs. Tillman stops abruptly like she was interrupted. She flashes Landon a helpless look and shakes her head, like whatever is happening is completely out of her control. “I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”

I tug away from Landon and draw my knees to my chest, crossing my arms over them.

“No, I don’t think it’s smart to drive back in the dark…” Mrs. Tillman turns her face toward the sky. “We’re near the lake, not far from the boat ramp.”

She’s here. Evie is here.

How is this even happening?

“Mom,” Landon practically snarls as soon as Mrs. Tillman hangs up the phone.

She shakes her head, looking incredibly uncomfortable. “I didn’t know what to do. She said she drove here to see you. I didn’t want to send her back this late.”

“From home?” Landon asks, incredulous. “That’s at least fifteen hours.”

So…apparently Evie is unbalanced. That’s good to know—I’ll just file that tidbit of information away.

“I’m so sorry, Lacey,” Mrs. Tillman says, turning to me. She grimaces, looking mildly dazed. Apparently, she didn’t know Evie was insane either.

Mom and Uncle Mark don’t say anything, but I can tell they’re questioning the wisdom of pushing my relationship with Landon.

“How can she just drive here?” I demand to no one in particular.

“She’s eighteen,” Landon says quietly. “Same as me. If she wants to hop in the car and drive fifteen hours to confront her ex-boyfriend, there’s not much stopping her.”

She’s older than me. Even better.

Twenty minutes later, a dark green sedan drives slowly through the line of cars, and it stops when it reaches the Tillmans’ Suburban.

“Is that her?” I ask Landon at a whisper.

He gives me a tight nod.

There’s not a lot of room between the SUV and the truck on the other side of them, but Evie manages to maneuver into it.

I sit here, more uncomfortable than I’ve ever been in my life, waiting for the first glimpse of the girl Landon was in love with.

And then there she is. Does she look insane? No , she looks gorgeous. Her hair is a medium brunette shade, and it falls in a perfectly straight sheet to her waist. She has perfect cheekbones, light eyes framed with long lashes, and she’s slender and tall like a model.

And she doesn’t look eighteen—she looks twenty.

She glances my way and then dismisses me like I’m nothing more than an insignificant speed bump in her plan to win Landon back.

“Landon,” she says, her eyes finding his. It’s a greeting, reprimand, and a purr all at once. “We need to talk.”

He glances at our group. Every single one of us, except for Caleb who couldn’t care less, watches the two of them.

Looking plenty uncomfortable, Landon gives her a curt nod. Then he turns to me. “I will be right back.”

I try to smile, but it’s weak at best.

Landon leaps from the truck, and as he steers her away from the group, I try not to admire how good they look together. They look like they stepped off the cover of a summer-themed magazine, one that makes teens everywhere feel inadequate.

I sit with a forced smile on my face, waiting, waiting, waiting for Landon to return. I refuse to look at my phone to check the time, but it’s been at least fifteen minutes since Evie stole him away, maybe more.

“Oh, I forgot your lemon tea,” I absently hear Mom say to Uncle Mark.

I leap to my feet. “I’ll go back for it.”

Mark shoots me a concerned look. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll drink a soda.”

“No, I got it.” I don’t wait for a reply before I hop out of the truck. As I’m hurrying away, back toward our campground that’s a good thirty-minute walk from here, I hear Mom call my name.

I keep going. As soon as I reach the main road, I start to run. I make it back in record time, but even when I catch my breath, I still can’t breathe .

Why did I let my guard down? I knew better.

I stop in front of the fish pond, staring at the dark water, ruminating over my rotten life choices. At least I didn’t tell Landon I wanted to stop pretending.

That would make it all that much worse. The last thing I need is him to pity me.

Poor little campground girl. She went and fell for one of the guests.

It’s almost dark now, and the campground lights have flickered to life. The fireworks will start soon, but I don’t intend to go back.

Mom and Uncle Mark will understand.

The campground is so quiet you can hear the creek bubbling just past Hallie and Greg’s cabin. Most of the campers are in the grassy meadow by the lake, waiting for the display to start.

A dog barks from one of the sites, and then he goes silent. Everything is so still; it’s a little eerie.

I head for the house, knowing I’ll feel better once I’m inside. Just as I round the corner, I hear the crunch of rapidly approaching footsteps on the gravel behind me. My heart freezes. I whirl around and find a shadowed figure heading my way.

I let out a yip and stumble back, ready to dart.

“It’s me,” Landon says, finally close enough I can make him out in the dim glow of our front porch light. He sets his hands on his hips and draws in a deep breath. “You’re fast when you’re not in flip-flops.”

“What are you doing here?” I will my heart to return to a regular pace, but it’s still racing like a spooked rabbit.

He steps forward in the dark. “Your mom said you left. I came looking for you.”

I don’t know how to answer. I realize I showed him my cards—he knows how I feel about him now that I ran away from the fireworks. Why else would I care that he went off with Evie?

Speaking of his psycho ex-girlfriend…

“Where’s Evie?” I ask.

“Watching the fireworks, I guess.”

“Didn’t she care that you left?”

A smile toys at his lips. “She was livid, but not because of the fireworks.”

I study him, wondering why he’s here. Unless, maybe, just maybe, this thing I’m feeling is mutual.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I know she hurt you, and it had to have been hard to see her again.”

He steps forward, meeting me. “It wasn’t so bad, not with you there.”

My stomach does a flip when he says almost the same thing I said to him about Thomas.

Not too far away, the first firework cracks in the sky. Though it’s masked by the nearby trees, the boom is still impressive.

“I have an idea,” Landon says suddenly, grabbing my hand and leading me to the side of the house.

“Where are we going?”

He stops at a ladder Mark has propped against the house. He was using it to fix a piece of trim this week, and he never got around to finishing.

“Ever climbed onto the roof?” Landon asks, jerking his chin toward the ladder.

“No,” I laugh.

“Do you want to?”

I look at the ladder and then back at Landon. Instead of answering, I check to see if it’s sturdy, and then I begin my climb. Landon stays at the bottom, holding the ladder until I reach the top.

“Who’s going to hold it for you?” I ask.

“I’ll be careful.”

I wait for him at the top, stepping back when he reaches me. The roof isn’t steep, nor is this section very high.

Landon takes my hand and leads me to a spot near the ridge. “How’s this?” he asks.

We can just see the fireworks over the tall trees, and we have the sky to ourselves.

“It’s perfect.”

We sit side by side, the tips of our fingers brushing, and watch the show. After a few minutes, Landon looks my way.

“Yes?” I ask, my focus still on the fireworks though my attention is solely on Landon.

“I like you,” he says, a sentiment that demands I look his way.

He continues, “I liked you the moment you tripped over your chair when you were leaving your desk to show me to the campsite.”

My stomach warms and tightens, but my limbs are loose and languid.

“I like you too,” I say even though I’m scared and elated and a dozen emotions in between.

“Then why don’t we stop ignoring this is happening when we both know it is? I’m not with you because I want to make my family happy. I’m with you because you make me happy.”

“And Evie?” I ask because I must know.

“Evie does not make me happy,” he says firmly.

I set my hand over his, and he immediately turns it so our palms meet.

“You could leave anytime now,” I point out. “What if your parents decide they’re done with Gray Jay? That they want to move on early?”

He digs his phone out of his pocket and holds it up. “There’s this really awesome device. It’s called a phone. We can each use one and talk no matter where we are in the country.”

I shake my head. “It’s not the same, and you know it.”

“Day by day, Lacey. I don’t know where we’ll be in a year, but I know I’m here, right now, with you. And I don’t want to waste it.”

Almost every fiber of my being wants to give in and see where this goes. But the part of me that was hurt by Thomas fights. I’m stuck here. I’ll always be stuck here because this is where my family needs me. This might be fun now, but what about in a month? The summer can’t last forever.

Seeing the conflict written on my face, Landon strokes my hand with his thumb.

“Everyone leaves,” I say quietly, looking down at our hands. “They come through, stay just long enough I get attached, and then they move on with their lives while I stay here, stagnant.”

He waits, letting me get my thoughts in order.

“I want this.” I squeeze his hand as I look up. “But I’m afraid if we go there, if we make this real, it’s going to destroy me when you go.”

“Then let’s not put labels on it. We won’t make it ‘official’—you won’t be my fake girlfriend or my real girlfriend. You’ll just be my Lacey.”

And my heart nearly breaks right now because the way he says it makes it sound infinitely sweeter than any official label.

Sighing in resignation, I lean my head against his shoulder and nod.

Relaxing, he pulls his hand from mine and loops his arm around my shoulders. We continue to watch the fireworks. They light the sky, coming faster now as the finale begins.

He shifts just a little, turning his head so he’s facing me instead of the sky.

“ What? ” I ask, trying not to smile.

“I’m wondering if I can kiss you. Is that allowed with our new arrangement?”

“No,” I say, being difficult just because I can.

Landon waits, probably trying to figure out if I’m serious.

Laughing under my breath, I turn into him, set my hand on his shoulder to anchor myself so I don’t fall off the roof, and press my lips to his.