Chapter 23

A week later

Landon's POV:

"She looks good behind a wheel," Dean says from my left, watching Emma zoom past us. "Super agile."

I slap him upside his head. "Don't start," I warn.

"What the hell?!" Dean hits me back. "I didn't mean it in a flirty way, I meant it in a 'that's where she belongs' kind of way."

He's right. Emma will forever belong behind a wheel. When I watch Emma race, it's like watching my father race. She's picked up similar habits from him.

I change the subject, wanting to shake off the thought of my dad. "Do you think she'll get past Geezer? He keeps blocking her."

If Emma doesn't do well in this race, she doesn't make championships. I really want to crush my little sister in championships.

"I'd say she just did," he answers, motioning to Emma going down the inside of the track and coming out on top.

"That's a JT move," I reply, feeling proud of my little sister. "She's seriously improved a lot this year."

"What about me?" Dean asks, seemingly hopeful.

I don't say anything.

"Is that your way of saying 'no'? As in, I haven't improved?" He asks me, insecure.

"It's not just a 'no', it's a resounding no. You've been to like two races all year," I point out the facts. "If anything, you've gotten worse."

"Jeez, dude, thanks for the vote of confidence," Dean replies, unhappy.

Before Dean can say anything more, I shush him and gesture to Emma crossing the finish line first. I grin when she gets out and throws her fist into the air. The people cheering her on cheer even louder.

I walk over to Emma to congratulate her. "Talk about overkill. You always overdo it." I fist-bump her. Dad would be proud. "You're a typical sore Kitler winner. Pride is in your blood." I hug her and thankfully, she's over the last argument we had. "I'm proud of you, Sis."

I step back when everyone else pitches to talk to my sister. I wish my dad was here to see this. I wish he was here to hug Emma. I've never really missed him as much as I do in this moment. I'm tempted to search the crowd for his face or look around for his car...but I know better, and I really wish I didn't.

I turn to see where Dean and his comments are but he's not where I last left him. I scan the crowds and locate him. Of course, he's talking up a girl. Where else would he be?

I think Dean only races for the vibrant life. It's always been his scene. He likes people. He likes noise. He enjoys the dancing and the loud music. He enjoys pulling stunts and doing donuts whenever possible. He enjoys watching cars speed past him. And, of course, he enjoys the barely clothed women. It's not so much the racing he likes as it is the life of an illegal street racer.

I take my phone out of my pocket and text Sarah while walking back to my car.

Meet me at the garage in about 3 hrs.

She texts back almost immediately:

Okay...a little confused...but I'll be there.

I smile to myself and get into my car with the realization that I'm finally doing it.

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

"What are you up to?" I hear her voice.

I roll out from underneath the car on a creeper and drop my spanner in the toolbox. "Hey, Sar." I stand up to greet her properly. "I know it's short notice but thanks for coming."

Her gaze strays from me to the car in confusion, and I can practically see the gears turning. "Is that...?"

When she falters mid-sentence, I finish her thought for her, "The broken-down car from the back?"

She smiles and nods. "Is it?" she repeats in a hopeful tone of voice – it makes me wonder why she cares so much.

"Yeah," I answer her. "Except, it's not so broken anymore. Keen for a ride?"

It didn't even take that long to fix. Seeing Emma race today made me realize that my dad isn't completely gone. He lives through Emma, and he lives through me. And he'd want us to treasure every moment.

Her smile widens. "So, then you lied to me?"

I frown at hearing her words. "What?"

Am I seriously in trouble again?

"You said that it couldn't be fixed," she reminds me of one of the very first conversations we ever had – it feels like a lifetime ago. It was one of the first times I ever opened up to someone.

"You were right," I reluctantly confess. "I didn't want to fix it back then."

"I figured as much," she replies thoughtfully. "You were afraid to let go of him and move on," she says, placing a hand on my arm.

I lean back against the car and arch an eyebrow at her. "How'd you know?"

She shrugs. "I put myself in your shoes." She takes a step toward me and holds my gaze. "But, Landon, I want you to know that fixing this car doesn't mean you're leaving him behind. If anything, it's going to bring him closer to you. You'll be reminded of him all the time. And I'm not talking about all the sad memories; I'm talking about all the good memories you and Emma had with him in this car."

We did have awesome times in this car. Dad wouldn't want those memories to go forgotten.

I can't help but grin at my girlfriend. "I didn't realize that you know me this well."

Yeah...I definitely got lucky with her. There is no other explanation for her being here with me right now.

She smiles again, this time timidly. "I'm observant." She folds her arms over her chest. "And now," she adds, determined, "it's time you continue the good memories in this car."

"Yeah, starting with you and me," I tell her before opening the passenger door for her.

She sends me one last smile before climbing in. I join her in the driver's seat. As soon as I place my hands on the familiar steering wheel, I'm overcome by many happy memories filling my mind, all of them starting and ending with my dad.

I feel Sarah reach out and hesitantly touch my shoulder. "Lan, are you okay?" she asks me, clearly concerned by my silence.

I place my hand over hers to reassure her. "Yeah...yeah, Sarah, I'm actually good."

I'm grateful my dad left a piece of him behind.

Sarah squeezes my shoulder before releasing me. "Good."

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

My dad's Boss 302 Mustang runs as smoothly as I remember it to. I can almost hear him correcting me on every mistake before laughing at me whenever I accidentally repeated a mistake.

"What are you thinking about?" Sarah asks me, noticing the smile on my face. "Your dad?" she guesses, tucking her hair back when the wind picks up as a result of the increase in speed.

"Yeah," I admit to it. "I'm remembering things about him that I thought I'd forgotten. It's...nice." It's really nice.

Emma is going to be so excited when she sees that this car is in use again. She always wanted it back but stopped pushing for me to fix it a while ago.

"Just as well I gave you an extra nudge to fix this car," Sarah teases, happy for me.

"It was always fixable. It was just me who needed the fixing," I try to explain it to her.

From my peripheral vision, I see her shake her head. "You never needed fixing, Landon. You just needed healing." She pauses and sucks in a deep breath, almost if afraid to say what's on her mind. I send her a reassuring grin and that seems to be enough. "For what it's worth, Dean was right about you. You can fix anything."

I chuckle under my breath. "If you guys say so."

"I'm serious," she hesitates before continuing, "you...you fixed me."

I don't say anything because, in truth, I don't know what to say.

"When Sue died, I was broken," she continues. "I mean it, Landon, I was really broken. And it wasn't just Sue, it was Ryan too. You were there for me. At that time, I know that you didn't really want to be...but you still were. You listened. You related. You let me cry. I'll never be able to put into words how much all of that helped me, how much you helped me."

Her words touch something inside of me and I'm moved by it.

"And you helped me by just accepting me," I respond with as much transparency as her. It may have taken her time but in the end, she still did -- that's what matters to me.

Life has always felt like a never-ending landslide of problems. Over these last few months, Sarah has shown me grace. She's taught me about perspective and shown me that I don't have to live in this continuous mindset. I don't have to be captive to myself anymore. I don't have to be like her to survive. I can rise above like my dad did and like Sarah does, no matter how difficult it might be and no matter how certain I am of the fact that it just might kill me.

"I guess we just met each other at the right time," I conclude, satisfied with the outcome. For once, I'm content.

My dad would have liked Sarah. He would have also told me that she's out of my league, and he would've been right about that.

Sarah touches my hand lightly, bringing me back to the present, before nodding at me in agreement. "I guess we did."

*~**~*

Hi guys :)

I hope you're all coping and doing well? Let me know :)

This is officially the last chapter of 'Landslide'. However, I have written an epilogue and a 5-part bonus chapter. I'll be updating those chapters soon. Be on the lookout for familiar faces ;)

Keep well & take care!

~ CJ