“Mum, that’s not even a word. And while I might be a bit out of shape at the moment, the race isn’t for a few weeks yet, which gives me plenty of time to train.” Hannah eyed her water bottle. “In fact, I was just about to go for a jog when you rang.”
Janice let out a laugh. “Now that I’d love to see.”
“And on that note, I’m going.” Hannah had heard enough insults on the matter already and she refused to listen to any more.
“But what about Aunty Dorothy?”
“Not my problem.”
“We’ll be over in–”
“Bye, Mum.” Hannah ended the call with a sense of satisfaction.
CHAPTER11
With her water bottle in hand and phone tucked into her pocket to monitor her progress, Hannah had a spring in her step as she set off down the street. Chest out and face forward, she smiled proudly as she jogged past the neighbouring terraces. She, and everyone else, had clearly underestimated her capabilities. “If only you could see me now,” Hannah said, thinking of her growing list of naysayers.
Approaching the end of the row, Hannah winced as she felt a sharp stitch in her ribs and wondering if she’d spoken too soon, she put a hand on her hip determined to run through the pain.It’s only your body adjusting, Hannah told herself and as she turned left onto the main road, she refused to let her confidence dwindle; a position that became increasingly difficult, as did her breathing. Struggling to get air into her lungs, Hannah questioned if a sponsored run was for her after all. She’d only been running for a few minutes and already she flagged. Cars raced by and Hannah slowed to a walk, feeling stupid for ever thinking it was.
She felt hot and bothered both physically and emotionally, and wiping the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead, Hannah considered her options. She either humiliated herself in front of Liv, Mel, and a bunch of strangers by trying and failing to complete the event. Or suffered the embarrassment of Beth, Archie, and Carl telling her they told her so. Thanks to her lack of a filter even Hannah’s own mother would have an opinion that she wouldn’t be able to help but share. Naturally, it would be less than flattering. All of which left Hannah in a no-win situation.
Realising she should probably turn around and go home, Hannah couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead, she kept walking. Having a permanently clean house to ramble around in, as her mum put it, continued to be less than fun. As did admiring her treasures.
Hannah missed the noise, the running around here there and everywhere, and even the mess that came with twin teenagers. She wanted to hear her children’s jokes, their laughter, and listen to their chatter over dinner. Beth and Archie had been the centre of Hannah’s world from the day they were born and despite having looked forward to some well-earned me time, Hannah was lost without them. Reaching a side junction, she stepped off the kerb.
“Watch out!”
Hannah heard a high-pitched screech and before she knew what was happening, she was screaming out as something crashed into her. Losing the grip on her water bottle, it flew out of her hand and into the air, and her feet whipped from beneath her. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Hannah fell to one side. She yelped in pain as she hit the ground hard.
“Jesus Christ! Are you okay?”
Suddenly a man was upon Hannah and while she tried to right herself, he tried to stop her.
“Stay still,” he said. “Something might be broken.”
Ignoring his advice, Hannah didn’t even look at the man. She simply shrugged him off and hauled herself up into a seating position. Grimacing, she rubbed her ankle, knowing both it and her backside were going to be black and blue thanks to the force with which she’d gone down.
At last, Hannah glanced around at her surroundings. A road bike lay on its side with its wheels spinning and her eyes went from that to the crowd that had begun to form. Hannah felt a mix of confusion and embarrassment. Turning her attention on the man, she took in his bright red cycle helmet. “You hit me?”
“There was nothing I could do. You stepped into the road.”
“How fast were you going?”
Crouched at Hannah’s side, the man didn’t appear to notice his grazed legs and forearms. He seemed more concerned for Hannah than he did for himself.
A look that Hannah couldn’t discern flickered across the man’s face, as she took in his perfect lips and square jawline. Hannah had obviously died and gone to Heaven. In the living world, the Greek god of cyclists would have just ridden off and left her there on the pavement.
“Never mind that, are you okay?”
His question took Hannah by surprise. She knew she hadn’t banged her head and therefore hadn’t suffered a concussion, but she couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked her that. After the loneliness of the previous few days and having been a source of ridicule amongst her family, Hannah suddenly felt overwhelmed by his kindness. Tears sprung in her eyes. “No,” she said. “I’m not.” Her lips began to quiver. “I’m a joke. To everyone. I have no life outside of being a mum. All I do is cook and clean and my day job is crap.”
Without even a glimpse of a mobile phone camera, Hannah watched the onlookers begin to disperse. Evidently, her domestic life was as boring to them as it was to everyone she knew.
“I’m supposed to be taking part in a sponsored charity race that I don’t really want to do, and now I’ve been run over by a blooming bike. To make matters worse, you’re being all nice instead of telling me off for not looking where I was going.”
As Hannah began to ugly cry, the man didn’t seem to know how to respond. Hannah would’ve put money on him wishing he was anywhere but there.
“Which means you’re probably late for some important appointment. Because everybody but me has places to go and people to see. I’m just the person in the background doing all the dirty work. Except I can’t even do that now because Beth and Archie are in the South of France with their father, my oh-so fantastic ex-husband.”
