The Billionaire Band Director

Chapter 14

    Landry led Martha down the path to the driveway, where a black sports car was waiting for them.  It looked expensive, but Martha really didn’t know much about cars.  It was certainly a big step up from her station wagon. 

    Landry opened the passenger side door and Martha got in.  The car was low to the ground, and Martha had to lower her face to the level of Landry’s hips to get in the car. Thank god my mother’s ghost isn’t watching, thought Martha.  I would NEVER hear the end of it!

    Landry went around to the other side and got in the car.  He smiled over at Martha.

    “Ready, ma chere?” he asked.

    “Oui,” said Martha.  She was fairly sure his accent was Cajun, although she had never met a Cajun person before.  She was certain that ma chere was French.

    That made Landry laugh out loud.

    “Well then, laissez les bons temps rouler!” he winked at her.

    Yup, thought Martha. Definitely Cajun.  And a long way from home, mon ami.

    Landry pulled out of the driveway and navigated his way through the thick woods.  He seemed to know where he was going.

    “Do you live on the grounds?” asked Martha.

    “Nah,” he responded.  “But my house is nearby.  In the woods, but not on campus.  And what about you?  Are you just visiting, or…”

    “No, we live here now,” said Martha.

    “Ah,” said Landry, contemplating her answer.  “So are you working at the school, or just staying close to Josie?”

    “Working,” answered Martha.  “But people can do that?  Just… rent a house at the school?”

    Landry shrugged his shoulders.  “It’s not unheard of.  There’s lots of little houses hidden in those woods, and there’s always some available.  Sometimes, they loan them out to someone connected to the school in some way, like a faculty member’s friends or family, and there have been a few overprotective parents who wanted to be close to the school.”

    Martha wanted to laugh about the overprotective parents, but she knew she would do the same thing.  If Josie went off to some boarding school for high school, she’d follow after. 

    Landry drove towards the coast.  Martha did not know the area well yet, but she could see the water up ahead and then out her window as they turned on to a coastal road.  He pulled up to a white single story building with a flat roof.  As he reached the front door, a valet ran over to Landry’s door. The valet looked a little too eager to drive the fancy car, in Martha’s opinion.  Landry got out and gave the valet the keys, then walked around to Martha’s door to help her out of the low sports car. 

    Landry escorted Martha in to the restaurant and to the hostess’s podium.  A young blonde stood just to the side of the podium, positioned such that anyone walking in to the restaurant could see her tight black dress.  Or, at least, they could see what little bit of it was there.  They could certainly see a lot more skin than dress.  Martha peeked at Landry and was happy to see that he was completely focused on her, not the hostess.  The hostess, however, had certainly noticed Landry.  She eyed him up and down, licking her lips.  Subtle, thought Martha.  Very classy.

    “LeBlanc, party of two,” said Landry, barely acknowledging the eager young hostess.

Try as she may, the hostess was unable to divert Landry’s attention to herself.  Pouting, she led them to a table in the back of the restaurant that was pressed up to a floor-to-ceiling window.  The back of the restaurant was extended over the water.  When Martha looked out the window, all she could see was waves crashing below.

    “Beautiful, isn’t it?” said Landry.

    “Beautiful,” Martha agreed. “I wish Josie could see this.  You know, we’ve been here two weeks, and this is my first time seeing the ocean?  I don’t think Josie has ever seen it at all.”

    They talked about Josie, and Martha told him their life story.  She told Landry about how all of their family had died and left them with no one but each other.  She told him about their hometown in Michigan, and taking care of Josie while in college.   She talked about adding a degree in education so she could find a job quickly instead of going on to graduate school. It was not something she often talked about, but something about Landry made her willing to share.  He seemed to relate to what she was saying, and he definitely seemed genuinely impressed by Josie.  That means he’s smart, thought Martha.  Josie is special, like he said.  He’s smart to realize that.

    They were almost done with their main course when Martha realized she had not learned a thing about him.  It was not like Martha to blabber on about herself, but he had put her at ease and, in doing so, avoided the spotlight himself.

    “Okay, Mr. LeBlanc.  Your turn.” Martha demanded.

    Landry looked confused.

    “My turn?”

    “Yes, Mr. Band Director.  Your turn to share.  I just gave you my whole life story and you haven’t told me anything about yourself.”

    Landry smiled mischievously.

    “Well then, ma chere, I’ll start with this.  I’m a person who always orders dessert.”

    Martha laughed.  She was sure there was some deeper meaning in that, but at the moment she could concur with the surface level sentiment.  They each ordered a dessert, and then Martha leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow.  Landry mirrored her.

    “Well?” prompted Martha.

    “What?” asked Landry.

    “Do you have anything to add?”

    “Oh, you want more than that?” replied Landry.  “I just shared a deep part of my soul with you- not many people know about my sweet tooth.”

    He winked, and Martha could not help but laugh.

    “Be that as it may, it doesn’t give me much of a back story.  Why don’t you tell me where you’re from and how you ended up at George I Academy?” 

    Landry scrunched his mouth to the side while he thought.  Damn that’s hot, thought Martha.  How is a thinking face hot?

    “Welll…” started Landry.  “I was born and raised in Louisiana.  Mostly raised by my grandmother, like yourself.  And I love music.”

    Martha pondered this.  It was more information than she had had before, but it was nowhere near as detailed as she had been.  

    “Why did you come to Connecticut?” she asked.

    Landry smiled.  “Like I said, I love music.  I was told that if I taught at the school I would have the resources and flexibility to teach music any way I wanted.”

    His speech was very measured.  He did not give much away, and it was clear to Martha that it was intentional. Why?  What sort of deep dark secrets could a music teacher be hiding?

    “Did you study music in college?” she asked.

    “Yes” he answered, without elaboration.

    Martha decided to circle back to his family.  He had freely volunteered that he was raised by his grandmother, even though it was not directly responsive to her question, unlike the other answers he gave that had to be forced out of him.

    “Tell me about your grandmother” asked Martha.

    Landry visibly relaxed his posture.  He told Martha about being raised in a small town near the bayou, and his grandmother’s Creole cooking.  He talked about singing in church and making his own instruments out of wood and strings.  He was telling Martha about the time he tried to make an instrument that sounded like a frog (for hunting, he said) when they both realized, at the same time, that they were the only ones left in the restaurant.  They laughed, and Landry motioned to their waitress that they were ready for the bill.

    They went back to his car and headed back to the school.  They were comparing swimming in Michigan lakes to Louisiana swamps when they pulled up to Dahlia House. Landry put the car in park, but he did not turn it off.  He unbuckled his seat belt and reached over to Martha.  He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, trailing his fingers down the side of her face.  He gently guided her face towards his, leaning over until she could feel his warm breath on her face and neck.  Slowly, he moved his lips towards hers.

    Do it! Martha screamed internally.  Just do it already!  I’m about to explode!

    Instead of making contact with her lips, Landry gently brushed his lips along her cheekbone and to her ear.

    “I’m a man of my word,” he whispered into her ear.

    “What?” asked Martha, confused and aroused.

    “That’s something else you should know about me,” he whispered softly.  “I order dessert and I keep my word.  I told you tonight would just be dinner and talking, and that’s all it will be.”

    Martha felt disappointed.  Not just disappointed.  Annoyed.  How dare he look like that, make her laugh all night, tuck her hair behind her ear, whisper softly into her ear, and then not even kiss her? 

    Landry’s soft lips were still at her ear.

    “But that’s just tonight, ma chere.  Don’t you go thinking I’m not going to ask you out again.  Because I will.  And if you say yes, I’m warning you now- next time, it’s not going to stop at kissing.”

    Oh, thought Martha.  That was interesting.

    Martha knew her face was growing red.  Landry surely felt it, with his own face being so close to her.  She also knew that he probably intended to open her door for her, but she could not wait for that.  If she did, he would walk her to the house.  If he did that, he would see her under the house lights and notice that she was redder than a strawberry.  Unless he had some sort of weird fruit fetish that sight could put a damper on his promises for next time, and Martha definitely wanted to find out how far beyond kissing he intended to go.

    Martha reached behind her and fumbled with the door handle.  Once it was open, she half-climbed and half-fell out of the car.  Landry rushed to open his own door, but before he could get out to help her she was back on her feet, racing towards the door of Dahlia House.  She unlocked the door, threw it open, and slammed it closed behind her.

    It was not the most dignified way to end a date, but Martha would have lost a lot more than dignity if she had stayed in that car a moment longer.  For example, her clothes.  She definitely would have lost her clothes.  While she liked the idea of losing her clothes in the presence of Landry LeBlanc, she would prefer to do so on an occasion when he was at least willing to kiss her.  Next time, she told herself.  He promised a next time.