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My phone buzzes on the nightstand. That’s the third time it has gone off in the last five minutes. The sun hasn’t even peeked through the blinds yet. After my first long, exhausting day in the shop, the sexy visitor, and my get-back-at-the-Jacksons plan that had me up way too late, I’m not quite ready to start the day.
My phone buzzes again. “All right.” I snatch it off the table before it vibrates onto the floor. “Yeah.”
“Up and at ‘em.”
“Regina?”
“That’s right. I’m outside. Time for our jog.”
After my waterlogged day yesterday, I completely forgot about our plans. Gah. The only thing worse than exercising this early in the morning is having a hangover.
“I think my doctor wouldn’t want me to strain myself so soon after my visit to the ER.”
“Get up,” Mel yells into Regina’s phone.
I let out a groan. “Fine. Give me a minute.”
“Every minute you stall, the humidity level rises another percentage. Tick tock.”
“I’m coming.” I fling the covers off me, throw on running shorts and a sports bra, and stumble down the steps with shoes in hand. I lock the shop behind me and shove my shoes on. “Let’s do this.”
We walk the three blocks to the high school, mostly in silence. Mel’s braid swishes around her as she takes long strides. I really should have brought a ponytail holder to get my mop of hair off my neck.
Out of the blue, Regina turns around to face me. “I’m going to get this out in the open right now.”
“Oh dear,” Mel says.
This isn’t encouraging. Regina’s brought me out here to turn on me? I’ll never find my way back to the shop.
“I’m still friends with Willow. There. I’ve said it.”
She acts as though I’m supposed to know who this person is. “And this means something because...”
Regina blows a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Willow is Gunnar’s ex.”
So now the hostility at the hospital makes perfect sense. They see me getting in the way of their friend getting back with Gunnar.
“She still lives in Chicago, but we keep in touch.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” I say. “I think you should know by the way I schooled you in the hospital that I can take care of myself.”
She groans. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“You should be,” Mel interjects.
We continue until we get to the high school. It’s a typical two-story school in need of repair, but the football stadium lacks nothing. I’ve seen college stadiums smaller than this one. Even if every resident in the county showed up for the game, it still wouldn’t be filled.
“Wow.”
“Yep. Football is king in the South.” Regina makes a sweeping motion with her arms as if she’s a spokesmodel on a game show. With a smile, she walks onto the track that surrounds the field and stretches her legs.
We start out at a slow pace. Regina and I run side by side, our short legs keeping the same pace. Mel runs ahead of us as if she’s bouncing off a cloud.
“I would kill to have legs that long,” Regina says.
“Tell me about it. I was not blessed with height. That’s for sure.”
“Don’t you hate it that us short girls have to watch every dang thing we eat?”
Mel jogs backward. “Hey now, I have to be careful too.”
“Pfft,” Regina says. “You gain a pound, and you don’t notice. But if I gain a pound...”
I finish her sentence. “You can’t zip your pants.”
“Exactly.”
Mel rolls her eyes. “I’m going to leave you two half-pints so I can get a real workout. See you in a few.”
Mel darts off, and before I can take one long, sucking breath, she’s halfway down the track.
“Show-off.”
Regina giggles then clears her throat. “There’s one more thing you might not know about.”
Crap. If there is a love child, I think I might puke worse than I did this weekend. I stop jogging and stand beside the goal post. “Lay it on me.”
Regina cringes. “There’s this blog...”
“I’ve seen it. Gunnar showed me.”
She exhales. “Oh, thank God. I didn’t want to be the one to show you the sinister side of Smithville.”
I pull a knee to my chest to stretch out my back. “Like I said, I can take care of myself. Let’s just say I might have started my own blog.”
She throws her head back and cackles. “I love it.”
Mel runs past us again if for no other reason than to show off her amazingly long legs.
Regina gets melancholy as she watches Mel run past. “Gunnar is a great guy.”
“There’s nothing going on between—”
“Not yet, but I’m not blind.”
Sweat trickles down my back. I think the humidity level jumped ten degrees in five seconds, especially in my nether regions.
“Here’s the backstory. Gunnar was so sweet to Willow when her family lost their home in a tornado, and after that, they were inseparable. She’s never gotten over him even though she was the one to break things off. To be the smartest person I know, she can be so stupid sometimes.”
“I’ve made a few boneheaded decisions in my life too.” The first time I met Tinsley was one of my lowest moments. He found me passed out next to my car. If he hadn’t come by, I could have been robbed or worse. Since then, he has been like my guardian angel, always there when I need someone to help me out of a tangled mess.
“Haven’t we all?” She starts down the track at a fast walk.
Mel zips past us again. I don’t even think she’s worked up a sweat.
“All I’m saying is that Willow can be really sweet. If she wasn’t, she and Gunnar would have never been an item. But when she feels threatened, she can turn into a real bitch. She’ll say and do things in order to get what she wants. I guess it comes in handy now that she’s an attorney.”
I think I’m going to hurl. Gunnar’s ex is an attorney. Thank God Granny didn’t get Willow to control the will.
“I don’t want any trouble.”
“Of course, but Jolene’s already told her about you, so don’t be surprised if Willow makes an impromptu visit.”
I stop walking and wipe the sweat from my eyes. From the way Gunnar has been flirting with me, either he doesn’t have feelings for her anymore, or he doesn’t know the grapevine has reached to wherever Willow now lives. Either way, she’s not my problem. I have an obligation to fulfill my grandmother’s wishes, and while I’m here, I’m going to enjoy myself as much as I can while still being sober. “I’ve spent the last ten years living on the south side of Boston. I don’t scare that easily. And something tells me if he wanted her back, it would have already happened.”
Regina shrugs. “Most of Gunnar’s friends don’t think too highly of her, especially after she dumped him. That was real shitty of her to do that. But there’s always two sides to every story.”
I chuckle. “Like when someone from out of town shows up in the emergency room dehydrated?”
She knuckle-bumps me. “Nice one.”
My instincts tell me I should tread carefully with everyone in this town. Regina could be setting me up to get knocked down by this big, bad Willow person. Or she could start her own rumors about me. I’m taking a huge gamble hanging out with her and an even bigger one showing her I’m not afraid of what anyone can throw my way. My heart wants Regina and Mel and even Gunnar to be real friends. I should stop kidding myself. I especially want it from Gunnar. He’s hot and single, and I’m not blind. I see the way he undresses me with his eyes every time he’s around me. It has been too long since someone drank me in with their eyes like that. Actually, no one has ever looked at me like that, as if he wants to devour me.
Regina glances down at her watch then yells, “Five, four, three, two, one.”
The sprinklers turn on, and we are surrounded by the most awesome spray of water that’s meant for the football field but also soaks the track. From the other side of the field, Mel squeals, trying to dodge the spray of water squirting all over her.
Not me. I let the cold water soak me to the bone, and it is exhilarating. I turn around in circles with my arms outstretched. “Woo-hoo!”
Regina giggles. “Welcome to Smithville.”