CHAPTER2
The last weekhad been lonely and depressing. Lando hadn’t done much other than lounge around the house her grandmother had left her, puttering here and there and pretending like she was doing something productive. The week off from school had been such a change to her routine, and she wasn’t looking forward to the next week, when everyone returned and she was left with nothing to do.
The place she’d worked prior to the winter had fired her. She couldn’t blame them. Three days was not enough to grieve her grandmother’s death. Maybe for someone who hadn’t been that close, but her grandmother had raised her. Twenty-three years they’d spent together, and Lando was devastated it wouldn’t be more.
The house was so quiet without her.
Tears stung Lando’s eyes as she collapsed onto the couch in the center of the living room, not bothering to turn on the television or anything. Loneliness had never bothered her much before, but after her grandmother had gotten sick, she’d been so caught up in trying to take care of her. The end had been swift, which was a blessing, but the rest was too much for Lando to comprehend.
She was going to need to find a job soon. She’d done a few applications, but the problem was without a degree, being in school, and with the firing on her record, it was harder to find one than she’d thought. Since school was out for at least a quarter, if not longer, Lando at least had the time. If only she could figure out how to motivate herself to open her laptop and start filling out applications.
It was such tedious work, and often there was little to no reward since she rarely heard back. She was lucky the house was paid off, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have other expenses, and those student loans would come due soon. The weight of the world rested on her shoulders, and Lando could barely breathe from the pressure.
Deciding she had to do something, Lando dragged herself off the couch and toward the kitchen. She’d bought the paint before her grandmother had died. They’d talked about redecorating and renovating the kitchen for years, and just when she’d gotten ready to start that project, her grandmother had gotten the diagnosis. The least she could do was get that project done while she had the time.
She was halfway through emptying the cabinets when there was a knock at her door. Furrowing her brow, Lando stood up and brushed her sweaty and dirty palms over her thighs to try and clean them off. Peeking her head around the corner toward the door, Lando tried to see who it might be. She didn’t expect visitors. They’d mostly stopped the week after her grandmother passed, and had left her alone. They were her grandmothers’ friends anyway, not hers.
Lando brushed her hands again when she couldn’t see who it was. She put her hand on the doorknob, opening it slowly, wishing she wasn’t dressed in her run-down pair of sweats and a T-shirt, but again, she hadn’t expected anyone and she’d been set for hard manual labor. As the door swung open, she had to hold back the strangled gasp that wanted to escape.
Diane leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed and pulling her suit jacket tight across her breasts. Her eyes were locked on Lando, a single blonde eyebrow arched perfectly over her questioning gaze. Her lips were plump with a pale-pink lipstick, her makeup perfect. Diane was sex on a stick if Lando had ever seen it. She’d noticed it in Professor Myers’ office, and she was witness to it here.
Lando could play this one of two ways. She could flirt with the woman who clearly flirted with everyone. Or she could be standoffish and try to figure out why this virtual stranger would show up at her house without warning. Diane clearly wanted something. Lando just wasn’t sure what it was.
Keeping silent, Lando eyed Diane again, the black suit jacket giving way to a pair of tight dark blue jeans. She was the quintessential example of business casual. Lando kept her hand on the door, holding it tight, giving Diane a pointed look as she waited for the other woman to make the first move.
“Imagine my surprise at discovering your real name is Heather.”
Lando pressed her lips together tightly. She despised that name. Her mother had given it to her in honor of her best friend, and they’d had a falling out shortly before Lando’s mom died in a tragic car accident. All the name had brought with it was a memory of death and family she never had.
“Imagine my surprise at discovering an unwelcome woman on my porch.”
Diane’s lips curled up into a brilliant smile, and Lando feared she’d walked right into whatever trap Diane had set. “May I come in?”
“No.”
Diane pouted. “It’s about your internship.”
“I don’t have an internship.”
“Yes, you do. May I?” Diane straightened and tried to push her way inside.
Giving up, Lando let her in but didn’t offer any refreshments. Her grandmother would kill her for being so hostile toward a guest, but she still couldn’t figure this woman out. She was attractive for sure, and Lando would enjoy flirting with anyone who gave her the time of day, but there was a sense of underlying expectation that Lando didn’t quite feel privy to.
They sat together on the couch, which boasted a messy blanket. Lando picked it up and threw it onto the chair next to the coffee table where a couple of cups were. She found herself staring at Diane again, attempting to decipher every action and facial reaction she had. Yet she couldn’t. Diane’s expression and body were perfectly schooled.
“What internship?” Lando asked.
“As I’m sure Violet told you, we’re going chasing this spring and summer. She’s taken extra time off work in order to spend more time with the team. We’re hoping to make progress in terms of tracking the movement of storms, specifically smaller rope tornados and the damage they can do.”
Lando thought it sounded good, pleasant enough, as though it might be interesting, but she still failed to see what any of it had to do with her. She hadn’t been able to find an internship with a team in the month she’d known she had access to the funds, and if she didn’t find one in the next two weeks, she was going to be out those funds, out a potential job, and likely out of work and school as well.
“Sounds like an interesting project.”
“It is.” Diane flashed another seducing grin. “Violet does more of the analysis than I do.”
“So what do you do? For the team, I mean.” Lando crossed her arms and leaned into the couch, pretending she was far more confident in the conversation than she was. She wanted to come off as strong and put together even when she knew she was falling apart at the seams.
“I mainly drive and track the storms overall so we know where we’re going.”