Midnight Run (14 page)

Lynne paused. “He said he found another
training group,” she said finally. After a moment, she added, “I
sort of got the impression there was something going on with the
two of you.”

Nora was so startled she laughed. “I wish!”
She blurted out.

Lynne studied her face. “He sure seemed upset
when he saw you with that guy.”

“What guy?” Had he seen her talking to Todd
at work or something?

“At your mom’s funeral. The guy with the
piercings.”

It took Nora a moment to process the words,
but when she did, her jaw dropped. “You mean Carl?”

Lynne shrugged. “I don’t think I was
introduced to him that day.”

Nora shook her head, astonished. “But
he’s…Carl’s my roommate,” she finally said. “There’s nothing going
on between us.”

Lynne cocked her eyebrow. “Not my business if
there is.” She hesitated. “Seriously?”

“He’s been my best friend since high school,”
Nora said, “but Lynne, he’s not even straight! Was Kingston
actually jealous?”

Lynne held up her hands. “I don’t know what’s
going on; I’m just telling you what it seemed like to me.” She
tapped the side of her head. “I usually have a pretty good
intuition about relationships,” she said, but then added with a
rueful smile, “other than my own, that is.”

“And you really thought Kingston and I might
have been together?”

Lynne studied her in the dark. “Is that so
impossible to believe? You just said that you liked him.”

Nora shrugged, embarrassed. “But there’s no
way he even knew I existed.”

“That’s not what it looked like to me,
Nora.”

Nora stewed on Lynne’s revelations the whole
time they ran. It was hard for her to believe that the girl
Kingston had told her about had been her, but Lynne seemed pretty
sure of herself. Nora stumbled, almost wiping out on the asphalt,
but even as she caught her balance, she didn’t pull her thoughts
away from the mess she’d made of things. First, she’d totally
misread Kingston’s signals, and then she’d made him think she was
just toying with him. True, Carl had been with her most of the day
at the funeral, and she remembered embracing him beside the grave
when her tears threatened to break her, but how could Kingston have
thought they were a couple?
What’s even worse is the fact that
he WAS talking about me all along, and I was too dumb to see
it
.

Sweaty and angry with herself, Nora finished
up the run in silence. Part of her wanted to ask Lynne if she knew
a way to get in touch with Kingston, but another part of her felt
like that would be too desperate.
You had your chance, and you
screwed it up.
Dejected, she made it halfway back to her
apartment before she realized that she hadn’t told the group about
signing up for the marathon. The earlier excitement she’d felt had
been replaced by an uncomfortable knot in her stomach, and Nora
started thinking about calling in sick to work and staying home
with her head under the covers.
I wish I could talk to Mom about
this mess
, she thought as she turned her key in the door and
let herself into the dark apartment.

A wave of loss washed over her, and Nora
squeezed her eyes shut. “Mom,” she whispered, “I miss you so much.”
The empty room didn’t answer, and, limbs suddenly leaden, Nora laid
down on the couch. She didn’t want to make the effort to go to her
room, and she felt the old cushions sage under her weight as she
closed her eyes. That night, her dreams were a jumbled swirl of
regrets and broken wishes, and Nora woke up with tears on her
cheeks.

Kingston kept training,
but with his longer hours at work, he didn’t always make it to his
new running group each day. He thought about going back to the
midnight runners time and again, but after his encounter with Nora
at the coffee shop, he didn’t want to risk running into her. Her
eyes had looked hurt when he’d finally confronted her, but Kingston
tried not to dwell on the way his heart clenched when she looked at
him that way. Seeing her again had been a mistake, so even though
he probably would have gotten more training if he’d swallowed his
pride and gone back to the group, he wasn’t ready to see Nora
again.

Carrie must have noticed the change in his
demeanor, because she started badgering him to go out for lunch
again, until finally, one day, Kingston decided to put a stop to
it.

“You’re a nice lady, Carrie,” he said,
leaning over the receptionist’s desk and smiling down at her. “But
you might as well stop asking.”

She started at him, her mouth hanging open.
“But I—“

“I don’t date women I work with.” He said,
giving her an apologetic shrug. “And since neither of us has any
plans to move on, well…” he trailed off. “I hope we can be still be
friends.”

Carrie stared at him for a moment, and
finally the blond shook her head incredulously. “You know, I think
that’s the most polite brush off I’ve ever gotten.”

Kingston frowned. “I’m not trying to brush
you off. I just don’t think work relationships are a good
idea.”

“You’ve got a point,” Carrie said, but then
she lowered her voice and leaned forward with a seductive smile.
“But what about being friends with benefits?”

Kingston couldn’t help himself; he laughed
out loud at the suggestion. “Not my style,” he said. “Although you
are lovely,” he assured her when he saw her crushed expression.

“I’ll never understand men,” she grumbled
under her breath, turning back to her computer and beginning to
type away, effectively dismissing him.

“We aren’t too good at figuring you all out,
either,” Kingston said with a chuckle as he headed back to his
cubicle.

Things fell into a predictable rhythm after
that; Kingston ran whenever he could, worked harder than usual,
and, slowly, he found he was thinking about Nora less with each
passing day. He’d avoided calling his sister after the mess with
the funeral because he didn’t want her to press him about the
things he’d confessed while he was back in Texas, but guilt finally
got the better of him, and he called her one Friday night to check
in.

He was surprised when his mother answered the
phone, and he double checked to make sure he’d dialed the right
number. “Where’s Raye?”

“Kingston, is that you? How are you,
sweetie?”

He sat down on his sofa. “Fine, Mom. Is
everything okay?”

She laughed. “Of course everything’s fine.
Why do you ask?”

“What are you doing with Raye’s phone?”

“Oh, that. I’m over here babysitting tonight,
and she was in the shower when the phone rang, so I figured I
should answer it.”

Kingston tried to keep up. “Is she there
now?”

“Let me check.” There was silence for a
moment, and then his sister’s voice came on the line.

“Hi, stranger.”

He winced. “Sorry I haven’t been better about
calling.”

“It’s okay. But make sure you talk to the
boys before you go.”

“Of course.” He paused. “You okay? What’s Mom
doing over there?”

She was quiet for a minute. “She’s
babysitting,” Rachel finally said slowly.

“I got that much. Where are you going?”

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

Kingston glanced at the phone. “Why would I
be mad?”

Rachel exhaled loudly. “Well,” she said,
“I’ve got a date.”

It was like he’d fallen into an alternate
universe, and Kingston shook his head. “You what?”

“A date, King. Surely you remember what that
is?”

“But what about Mark?” As soon as he said it,
he felt like an ass. “Raye, I’m sorry—“

“No, it’s okay. I forgot I haven’t told you.
The divorce is almost final.”

Kingston raised an eyebrow. “That was
fast.”

He could almost hear his sister shrug. “We
agreed on the terms pretty easily; I guess we were both ready to
move on with our lives. Thank God it wasn’t some long, drawn out
fight. I don’t think the boys would have survived that.”

“But back to this date. Who’s the guy?”

Rachel giggled softly, and she almost sounded
like a teenager again. “Josh. I met him when I was on assignment
for the paper.”

“He’s somebody you interviewed?”

“No, he’s a reporter. He works for my
competition.”

Kingston rubbed his forehead. “You’re insane,
you know that?”

“Am I?” Her voice suddenly cracked. “King, is
this a bad idea?”

He wanted to tell her that he hadn’t even met
the guy, or caution her about falling too fast before she had time
to really heal, but she sounded happier than she had in months, so
Kingston closed his eyes. “If you’re happy, it’s never a bad
idea.”

“I
want
to be happy,” she said
quietly, “and Josh makes me laugh.”

“Then that’s good enough for me.”

“When are you coming home to visit? I want to
introduce the two of you.”

Kingston shrugged. “Actually, I was thinking
I might see about transferring back. New York has lost some of its
appeal.”

Rachel was silent for a moment. “I’m going to
call tomorrow so you can fill me in on exactly what you mean, but
right now, I’ve got to finish getting ready.” She paused. “You
okay, though?”

He thought about it for a moment, and finally
shrugged. “I’m getting by. Have fun tonight.”

“I will,” she said. “And King?”

“Yeah?”

Despite Nora’s grief,
spring finally came, and with it, the New York City Half Marathon.
The night before the race, Nora skipped her midnight run. She
wanted to make sure she got as much rest as possible before the big
day, but she was too keyed up to fall asleep. Finally, she gave up
and took a long, hot shower, giving herself a mental pep-talk as
the water caressed her skin.

Slicking her hair back with determination,
Nora leaned toward the steamy mirror. “You can do this,” she said
to her reflection, “you’re ready for this.”

When she emerged from the shower, Carl was
standing in the kitchen. He grinned at her and held out a thermos
of coffee. “Go get ‘em, tiger!”

She laughed, taking a sip of the coffee.
“Thanks,” she said, but after a moment, she passed the coffee back
to him. Her stomach was too jittery to dump caffeine on top of it,
and Nora grabbed her water bottle instead. “Do you think you’ll be
at the finish line?”

He grinned. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.
When should I be there?”

The race had a rolling start, and Nora had
signed up for the first group at six am. “I’m hoping to run it in
two hours, or as close to that as I can get.” She pulled her
ponytail tighter. “I don’t know if I’ll be that fast, though, since
it’s my first time.”

“Then I’ll be there waiting at eight. You’ve
got this, girl.”

Nora gave him a quick hug. “Thank you,” she
said, trying to force a smile despite the way her stomach was
jumping around.

Just then, her phone buzzed, and she looked
at it for a minute before answering.
Who would call me this
early?

“Nora, it’s Todd.”

Her stomach flip-flopped. An early call from
her boss couldn’t be good, but she tried to keep her tone neutral.
“What’s up, Todd?”

“I need you to open the store today. I’m
dealing with a family problem, and I have no idea when I’ll get
there.”

Her stomach felt like lead. “Todd, I want to
help, but it’s the half marathon today.”

“Just open the store and wait for Laurel to
show up; don’t worry about working a full shift,” he offered
hurriedly. “Can you do that for me?”

She took a deep breath.
If Laurel’s on
time, I should still be able to make my start time.
“Sure,” she
finally said, crossing her fingers and hoping she wouldn’t miss the
marathon. “I got this.” After a pause, she added, “And I’m sorry
about whatever’s going on. I hope everything is okay.”

“Thanks,” he said, his voice tight. “Me,
too.”

Nora hung up the phone and looked at Carl. “I
have to open Books and Brew.”

He groaned. “But what about the race?”

“I should still be okay,” she said, trying to
make herself believe it. “But I better change; no one wants to see
a store manager in spandex.”

Carl frowned and pointed to the clock. “You
won’t have time,” he said. “Just take a spare pair of shoes; you
don’t want to coat your Nikes with flavored syrup for good
luck.”

She laughed. “Good point,” she called over
her shoulder as she rushed into her room and changed into her plain
black work shoes. Tying the laces of her running shoes together,
she slung them over her shoulder and grabbed her keys and her
phone. “Wish me luck!” She said as she headed out the door.

Carl waved after her. “You won’t need luck.
I’ll see you at the finish line!”

Nora hurried across town, thankful that the
train was on-time, and when she made it to the coffee shop, she
dropped her shoes in the back and went through all of the opening
manager’s duties on autopilot. Laurel showed up right at five
thirty, but she glared at Nora when she spotted her behind the
counter.

“What are you doing here?”

Nora glanced at the clock and pulled her
apron off. “Leaving. Todd had an emergency, so I opened up for him,
but now I’ve got to go or I’ll miss the start of the half
marathon.”

Laurel frowned and shook her head. “That’s
not fair! How am I supposed to handle the opening crowd alone?”

Before Nora could say anything, someone
pounded on the delivery door in the back, and Nora hurried to
answer it, glancing at the clock as she went. “I’ll take care of
this,” she called over her shoulder to Laurel, “but then I’ve
really got to go.”

When Nora opened the back door, an unfamiliar
delivery driver was standing there, staring at his clipboard.
“Books and Brew, right?” He asked, barely looking at her.

Nora nodded. “I’ll sign for it.” Reaching for
the clipboard, she barely skimmed the order before signing off.
“You know where it goes?”