“Because you keep getting reasons not to.”
“My knee is not a reason.”
“Neither is Evelyn?”
“No.”
“What about me?”
She asked softly. I met her eyes.
“You are the reason I am going.”
Dani stopped folding the towel. True. Too revealing. I picked up the bag.
“Lola invited me because I know dinosaurs,” I added.
“Right.”
“Do not interpret it romantically.”
“Never.”
Her smile returned slowly. The tension did not disappear. It changed shape.
Four days later, Miguel authorized my first return-to-run session: five rounds of two minutes easy and two minutes walking. No Dani. No sponsor camera. No Evelyn at the rail. Tessa knew the route because emergency planning remained sensible, but she was working and did not attend. I chose the high-school track at seven on Saturday morning. The lanes were damp from overnight rain. A groundskeeper unlocked a storage shed near the bleachers and ignored me. That was the entire audience.
The first two intervals felt cautious. The third felt ordinary. During the fifth, my knee remained silent and my breathing stayed controlled. Thirty seconds before the end, I knew I could continue. The knowledge produced the old urge immediately: improve the session, prove the knee, convert permission into maximum capacity. My watch vibrated. I stopped. Not because Dani told me. Not because Miguel could see. Because the agreed session was complete. I walked one full lap, recorded zero localized pain, and left without adding a mile for emotional significance.
On the bus home, I opened the training log.
Completed as written. No audience. No amendment required.
The entry felt small. It also felt entirely mine.
Chapter Fourteen
Dinner with the Reyes Family
Dani
By two on Sunday, June twenty-ninth, Lola had arranged eight plastic dinosaurs across the coffee table for Amy’s visit. The chronology was wrong. I valued my life too much to correct her. Gloria stirred enchilada sauce while I moved the napkins for the third time.
“You’re pacing.”
“I’m helping.”
“Amy likes straight lines.”
“You like Amy.”
“Separate issue.”
Amy was due at five. It was two fourteen. I monitored the front window for neighborhood conditions.
“You told Lola?” I asked.
“I told her the challenge relationship involved acting.”
