Page 72 of Running
I step inside, and she sits down on an entryway bench, sliding into her sneakers. I stay standing because this seems like a quick in and out before we’re headed to our next destination.
“How was your day?” I ask. “Did you get to run, read, and rest?”
“Yup.” She smiles at me. “It was great. My run this morning felt amazing, and then I got a massage, read a bit. No complaints.”
She stands up and grabs her bag and some flip-flops. “Ready.”
I nod and we move out of the house. I swing around to the passenger side of the car and open the door for her.
“Why, thank you,” she says, grinning.
As we get on our way, she quickly turns to grilling me. “You gotta tell me where we’re going. I’m bad at surprises.”
“I could have guessed that,” I tease.
“So put me out of my misery?” she jokes back.
“Don’t you know that patience is a virtue, Goldie?”
“C’mon, pleassssse.” She draws out the word. “A hint?”
I relent. “Check the back seat.”
She turns around and spies the picnic basket. “Ooooh, a picnic? That’s so sweet.” She sits back down, peering at me with appreciation. “No one has done anything like that for me before.”
“We have a lot of making up to do,” I say, winking. “Maybe send me a wish list for dates like you did the…other list.”
Crap, I didn’t mean to reference the shared Note she sent this early in the date.
She blushes but follows that with a laugh. “Aye, aye, captain.”
Good, she’s not panicked that I brought it up. Which is perfect because I have something in mind from it too tonight.Twosomethings, more precisely.
We chat the rest of the way about light topics, including baseball, which is my second favorite sport, and music. She explains the superiority of Taylor Swift’s Midnights album at great length, and her passion on the topic makes me keep asking questions.
Soon we’re pulling up at our destination—a large, scenic nature preserve that’s run by the county. It’s one of the County Commissioners that I called for the favor to keep the park open after hours, just for me and “my guest.”
“It needs to stay completely secret,” I told Commissioner Harris. “No photos, no leaks. Is that doable?”
“Consider it done,” she says. “I appreciate your support for my reelection bid last year.”
When we pull in, a park employee is standing by the entryway, which normally would be off-limits after five in the evening.
“Hi, sir,” he says as I emerge from the car after we claim a parking spot. “Welcome.”
“Thank you so much for helping us tonight.”
I run around the car to open Grace’s door. As she steps out, I look back in his direction and smile.
“I’m a huge Waves fan,” he volunteers. “I offered to stay late before they told me it would be you that’s coming. Grateful I did.”
I walk towards him and shake his hand, looking down at his name tag. “Barry is your name? Nice to hear that.” I turn around and brush my hand against Grace’s arm before walking to open the rear passenger door. Picking up the picnic basket, I step back up to them. “We need to keep this private and secret. They mentioned that?”
“Yes, my marching orders were to let you in and stay in the office until you leave. And don’t worry, I’m extremely good at keeping secrets. The last thing I’d want to do is ruin Johnson Samuels’ night.”
I realize, thankfully, that he probably doesn’t even know who Grace is. All he would be able to report anyway is that I was on a date with a blonde.
“Awesome, I’ll grab some gear to give you as a thank you on our way out. If you’d want it?”
