Page 160 of Running
“I told you she doesn’t like secrets,” Rawley says under his breath. In return, he gets a purposeful elbow from Connor.
Johnson grins at me. “Don’t worry, Goldie. All is well. You’ll find out soon enough.”
Before he lets me start peppering him with additional questions, he turns the key and gets us on the road.
The guys successfully deflect my questions and keep me laughing for much of the drive, so when we pull up to Johnson’s house, I’m still clueless about what’s happening.
Once the car is parked, I reach for the handle to get out.
“Not so fast.” Johnson pulls out a black scrap of fabric. “I’m going to need you to put on this blindfold.”
“What?”
“Grace, it’s okay.” Johnson’s voice carries a promise of safety. “I’m just going to tie it on.”
Five minutes later, I’m walking around the house, Johnson’s arm wrapped around my back to guide my way, three sets of footsteps audible behind me as my brothers follow.
As we reach the back, I hear a new sound. Emma’s giggle.
“She’s here,” she whispers loudly.
Once I’m in the position he wants, he holds me in place. “You ready?”
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be ready for, but yes.”
I feel his hand come behind my head andswish, the blindfold is off.
What I’m looking at….
It takes me a solid five seconds to register what I’m seeing.
What?
He did this?
Wrapping around the regulation size football field in his backyard is now—I can’t believe it—a full size 400 meter track, with eight lanes, made of state of the art composite.
He put a track around the regulation football field in his backyard, just for me.
“Do you like it?” His voice sounds a little nervous, so I snap out of my shock.
“Oh my god, Johnson,” I turn and throw myself in his arms. “It’s incredible.”
He holds me tight in his arms while Emma’s little voice shouts, “Yay! She likes it!”
Johnson lets me go and I shift towards where Pam, Lainie, and the kids are smiling at me. The kids’ two Labrador puppies are running around near them, with Grover tagging along as well.
“Hi guys, missed you!”
“We missed you too, sweetie,” Pam says.
Now that Lainie’s divorce is final, their “vacation” at Johnson’s house has become permanent.
I turn back to Johnson. “I can’t believe you did this. How did you pull it off?”
“As soon as I knew you were going to be gone for two weeks, I got to work. Remember that new gardening crew?”
“Oh yeah, the ones who came in April?”
