“Show off,” Nick muttered, but Gina could hear the pride in his voice.
Tears pricked Gina’s eyes as she watched her friend power through the final hundred yards.
After everything that had happened, after the trauma at Bearwater and the decision to drop down from the hundred-mile race, Brooke was here. She was finishing. She was smiling.
“Come on, Brooke!” Gina shouted, her voice carrying across the crowd.
Brooke never broke stride as she approached the timing mats.
“Fifty-two miles!” the announcer called out as Brooke crossed the line. “Brooke Davies from Irma, Wyoming!”
Gina rushed forward to catch her friend in a hug, not caring that Brooke was drenched in sweat and covered in trail dust.
“You did it,” Gina said, squeezing tight. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I can’t believe I actually finished,” Brooke laughed, accepting the finisher’s medal from a volunteer. “For a while there, before I made it to the Antler Creek aid station, I thought I was going to have another DNF. But you all were there, cheering me on, and I knew I couldn’t quit.”
“You were amazing,” Nick said, joining their group hug. “You pushed through.”
“Yeah, well, surviving a blizzard and a homicidal maniac puts a fifty-two-mile run into perspective,” Brooke said. “Turns out, regular old muscle fatigue and altitude aren’t that scary anymore.”
Joe approached with his camera, still snapping photos. “How do you feel about next year? Any thoughts on attempting the full hundred again?”
That spark was back in Brooke’s eyes—the one Gina had thought Bearwater might have extinguished. “Next year, the Moose Range Run 100 is mine,” she declared. “This was just practice.”
“You sure about that?” Gina asked. “It’s okay to be satisfied with what you accomplished today.”
“Are you kidding?” Brooke gestured toward the mountains surrounding them. “After what we went through, I know I can handle whatever this race throws at me. The cold, the altitude, the mental game—I’ve been tested by worse. And this time, I’m not going to let the training plan drive me nuts. I’ll pace myself properly.”
Gina exchanged a glance with Nick. He’d been worried, too, that the trauma might have broken something in Brooke’s competitive spirit. Instead, it seemed to have strengthened her resolve.
“Well, I’ll be here to crew for you again,” Gina said. “Just maybe pick a training schedule that doesn’t involve abandoned mining towns.”
“Deal,” Brooke laughed. “Though I have to admit, outside of Bearwater is some of the best hill training around. Even if it didn’t go as planned.”
They spent another hour at the finish line, getting Brooke a proper meal while cheering for other runners as they completed their races. The atmosphere was celebratory and infectious, filled with the kind of camaraderie that Gina had always loved about the running community.
As the cut-off time approached, the crowds began to thin. Brooke was still smiling, even though her legs were stiff and moving wasn’t easy. They had a couple of rooms in a nearby hotel and decided it was time to head to those.
“Wanna lean on me?” Joe asked Brooke as she hobbled to her feet.
“Don’t mind if I do. I’m fighting off cramps.”
“You were amazing,” Joe said as they walked ahead of Nick and Gina. “I knew you could do it.”
“She’s going to be fine,” Nick said, reading Gina’s thoughts.
“I know. Better than fine, actually. I think what happened made her stronger.”
“What about you?” Nick asked, stopping to face her. “Any second thoughts about us?”
“None,” Gina said firmly. “You were exactly what I needed, even when I was too scared to admit it.”
“Even though I came with no guarantees?”
“Especially because of that.” Gina moved closer to him. “You showed me that real security doesn’t come from someone’s job title or bank account. It comes from knowing they’ll show up when it matters.”
“True.”
