“Lando, what happened?”
“Diane fired me.” Her voice was so small and weak. Lando hated it. She wanted to be the bigger person, strong and ready for anything. “And the check she gave me as payment barely even covered the plane ticket.”
“Lando.” Eli’s voice and gaze filled with pity. She stepped in close and wrapped her arms around Lando’s shoulders, tugging her in for a hug. “Jesus, what happened?”
“I don’t know.” Lando plastered her face into Eli’s shoulder and held on as if Eli was her lifeline. She needed this more than she’d thought she did. It would have been better if Eli were Aunt T, but for now, Eli was the next best thing. She was someone Lando had come to like and trust. She cried while Eli rubbed hands up and down Lando’s back in a soothing motion.
“I’ll take you wherever you need to go, but know you’re welcome to stay here for a few days. I have an extra room in the basement if you need some space from them.”
“No. I need to go home. I…I probably never should have taken this job.”
“Okay.” Eli squeezed her tightly before letting go. “Okay. When’s your flight?”
“Two.”
“You go pack up, and I’ll make a phone call. Then we can get going, okay?”
Lando nodded, agreeing to anything Eli said. She needed someone to take control of the situation because if she was left on her own, she wasn’t in the right mind to do anything except try not to go find the beer she knew was left over from a few nights ago. It would be the easiest thing to get hold of, she knew that, even if she’d prefer something harder.
“Eli?” Lando cleared her throat.
“Yeah?”
“I need to ask you another favor.” Lando looked into Eli’s brown eyes, begging for her to understand how serious this was.
“Anything.”
Lando nodded. “I need you to not leave me alone for a bit. I can’t… I don’t want to drink.”
“Yes.” Eli gave her answer without hesitation. “Yes, I can do that.”
Lando stayed with Eli until she finished up what she was working on and made her call to ask a guy Bill for help that day. They walked together to the house, talking about anything under the sun that wasn’t related to storms or Violet or Diane or her drinking. Lando had never been more grateful to someone than she was just then.
Eli stood by as she quickly shoved everything she could think of into her duffel and her backpack. Then together, they walked down the stairs and toward the barn where Eli had left both her trucks. Violet was nowhere to be seen, and Lando was grateful for that. The Hummer was still parked out front of the house, so she knew they hadn’t gone anywhere. They were probably making plans for the storm that afternoon. Lando slid into the passenger seat of Eli’s truck and buckled her seatbelt.
“Are you sure you don’t want to leave a note for her or something?”
Lando shook her head. “No. She knows already. Diane said they discussed it.”
“And you trust Diane?”
She wanted to say no. Instead, Lando kept her mouth shut, not looking at the house as Eli drove them away. She couldn’t stand to look at it, to see what she was leaving behind, because it wasn’t Violet, it wasn’t Diane. It was her hopes and dreams of being a storm chaser. She wouldn’t find another team that season to join with, and she didn’t have the time to wait around for it to happen with no income, either.
She would be lucky to get one the next year without a degree and without the experience, and with being fired from the first team she’d ever been on. The prospects were dim, and Lando knew she’d have to make some changes to what she had planned for the future. Her words from the night before came back to haunt her, although she had been right. She couldn’t do anything to change the past, all she could do was hope to change the future and make it that much better.
Eli walked her into the airport and then spoke quietly with one of the front workers. When she came back, Eli wrapped an arm around Lando’s shoulders. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told them you’re not allowed any alcohol.”
“Thank you.” Lando could have cried again. “You’re too good to me.”
“I think of you kind of like the little sister I never had. You’re welcome back toIndigoany time, Lando. I’m serious. You can crash in the basement if you just need a break or whatever.”
“Will Sadie be there?”
“Who knows.” Eli winked. “But we can always try to line up visits.”
Lando chuckled lightly. “I think I’ll be okay for now. I know you have to get back to the ranch.”
“Lando.” Eli turned her by the shoulders so they faced each other. “For the record, I think Diane’s got a stick up her ass so big it’s gone into her brain.”