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Maybe there was some room for improvement in my apartment. It was mine, after all, so I could do what I wanted. I wasn’t going to have anyone else living here with me, cuddling in the bed I could possibly buy. It wouldn’t be Oliver—

Why had I even thought of him?

It was because he was the only man I knew! He was the only guy who had paid me the least bit of attention, but that wasn’t because he was interested in me. He was coming off a terrible relationship and had expressed literally zero romantic feelings or sexual attraction. None.

“I would like to get more furniture,” I said to him the next morning as we got ready to run.

“Good. I’d be interested in second opinions about what I choose, too.”

“I mean, I’ll just buy everything online,” I explained. “I’m not trying to invite myself to go along with you. I was just letting you know that you were right. I should make myself more permanent here, since I’ll be staying.”

“Ok. Sure.” He nodded briefly. “I brought this for you.”

I took the coat that he was holding out, which felt lighter than air and was obviously much, much too small for him. Besides being a foot or so taller than I was, he was also significantly broader across the shoulders, more like me and a half. Or more. “What is this?” I asked.

“It’s ultra-lightweight down and wind-blocking. It belonged to my sister but she doesn’t want it.”

“It looks new. She wouldn’t mind me wearing it?” I took off my heavier coat and put hers on, and it fit really well.

“No, she doesn’t care.” He clicked his watch. “Ready?”

First, I stashed my old coat and then we started running. As usual, we went at my pace and not his, and mine was a lot more plodding. “Does it bother you to go so slowly?” I wondered.

“We’re ten seconds faster per mile than when we first went running together.”

“But your pace is probably a few minutes faster when you run alone,” I pointed out. “You don’t have to come with me.” I had been thinking about that, too. I would be going by myself when he moved, because he certainly wouldn’t be driving across part of the city to join me in the mornings, not when he would have his own nice neighborhood with the pretty park. He could run as fast as he wanted.

“I don’t mind,” Oliver said.

“I also don’t mind being alone.” I would need to get reaccustomed to that. “I’m better off that way, since it’s what I’m used to. I don’t need you to hang around.”

“Right.” We went a few more steps. “Then I guess I’ll see you later.”

Without another word, he took off. He pounded down the block at a pace that was at least double what we had been going, so it was more like a sprint. “Woah,” I said out loud, and I watched to see how long he would keep it up. But he turned at the next corner and by the time I made my slow way there, he had disappeared.

I put in my earbuds, which I hadn’t worn while running in a long time. The mystery of the Manhattan Well Murder was fascinating and should have kept my interest. It didn’t. I paused that and tried to think about furniture, and the work I had to do, and the Thanksgiving dinner for two that I still needed to plan with Gramps.

None of that really distracted me from my tired legs or the cold air slicing into my lungs. I started checking my phone for the time a lot. I had to do that rather than tapping Oliver’s arm to see his watch and this way definitely made the seconds tick by more slowly.

I wondered how far ahead he’d gotten. He must have gone for miles by now, and I didn’t think that I would make it to the end of the block…

I didn’t. I stopped, panting, and then turned back and walked home to the Milaflores Building. It was going to be hard to get used to this.

Chapter 9

“Hello?” I asked into the silence. “Hello? Hello!”

Finally, there was a response. “Who is it?”

“Mom, it’s me. It’s Kat, your daughter,” I said. My voice was as loud as I could get without it turning into a screech. “Mom?”

There was more silence before she finally said, “Hi, Hekate!”

“No, it’s Katherine now. Remember? I changed it.” I hadn’t liked my former name, one that had been mocked by others for my entire life, and no, I didn’t care that the mythological Hekate was an enduring symbol of female power. She was also considered by many to be a witch, although the literary evidence—

That didn’t matter. “Mom?” I repeated. “Can you hear me? Where are you?” I had called her on Thanksgiving and hadn’t gotten an answer, so I’d been trying every day since. This was the first time she’d picked up.

“Kat? Oh, hi,” she said, apparently forgetting that we had already finished with the greeting portion of the call. I heard a few beeps and she must have too, because she asked, “Hello?”