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“Hey, how was your day?” I asked.
“Shouldn’t that be my question?” she teased.
I lifted her feet and sat on the far side of the couch, then put her feet back down on my thighs, calling it a victory when she didn’t pull away. Goldie slunk out from behind the couch and came up on the cushion to snuggle on my other side, staring at me out of her one good eye.
“My day was fine. I did lots of boring lawyer stuff. But there’s one thing you might be interested in though,” I continued. “I filed a complaint with the Police Ethics Board and the City Ombudsman’s Office about your cop friend.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I had a friend who’s a private investigator do a little digging and learned that the cop you punched has had multiple complaints about excessive force while on duty and has received several complaints about drunk and disorderly behavior while off-duty. He’s been trespassed out of several nightclubs in town for harassing women.”
“Why am I not surprised?” she asked.
“I also filed a request for the charges to be dropped due to self-defense. We’ll see what the DA’s office does with that though.”
Katy gave me a grateful look. “Oh my God Andrew, thank you so much. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for everything you’re doing for me.”
“That’s what friends are for,” I said softly.
Our eyes met and held, and the air between us seemed to suddenly warm. I was tempted to lean over and kiss her, so tempted, but I needed to play the long game with Katy. If I moved too fast I’d scare her off. So instead I leaned back against the cushion and said, “Now tell me what you did today.”
“Well, let’s see. I slept in way later than I ever do, then I just read and relaxed for the most part,” she said. “Your mom texted to ask if I could come help her with some stuff tomorrow and I said yes. One of your neighbors, Myra, stopped by to introduce herself and tell me what a good neighbor you are. Oh, and I slipped a few treats to Goldie in a blatant attempt to win her affection.”
“Did it work?” I laughed.
“Not yet, but I’m determined to keep trying.”
We chatted easily as we worked together to make dinner, then read books on our tablets side by side on the couch until bedtime. I’d lived alone for a long time, then with Goldie for the last year, so it should have felt weird to have Katy in my space. But it wasn’t weird. It felt right. I wanted to spend more time with her, both because I enjoyed her company and because I selfishly hoped that she would start to see me the way I saw her – as the future.
“I don’t have to go into the office tomorrow until ten,” I said as we got off the couch to head to our respective bedrooms. “I was planning to go for a run in the morning. Do you want to come?”
I could see her debate the invitation.
“It won’t bother your hand, will it?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” she answered. “But I’m sure I run a lot slower than you.”
“I don’t care.”
“I need to stretch before I run, otherwise I stiffen up after,” she said.
“Same.”
I watched her carefully, her desire to go with me at odds with whatever it was that made her want to keep her distance.
“How far are you planning to run?” she finally asked.
“I usually do a three mile loop, but we can go farther if you want.”
Her mouth moved from side to side as she made up her mind. “Sounds good. What time are we leaving?”
“Eight thirty.”
We were both up at eight fifteen having a cup of coffee before we set out on our run. It was a chilly morning and there was quite a bit of snow on the ground so we’d both dressed accordingly. Like me, Katy was wearing trail running shoes so she’d have some traction, a hat, long performance tights and a long sleeve shirt with a running jacket over it. Katy also wore a vest over her jacket. She had a running glove on one hand and had pulled a giant stretchy mitten over the hand with a splint. She looked adorable, like an ad for an outdoor activity magazine.
We did a few minutes of stretching in front of the house then set off at an easy pace. When I saw Katy pushing herself to run faster I held back a bit until we settled into a pace that was doable for both of us. To be honest, her pace wasn’t that much slower than I usually ran anyway. She was in incredible shape.
“How’d you start running?” I asked as we made our way through the quiet streets.
