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“Yeah. They can all suck it.”
“No.” Stanzi giggled a little. “About running with me. You’re faster. Much longer gait.”
“I’ll wear body armor to slow me down.”
Stanzi shook her head. “Badass.”
Rhett ran back inside the gym and grabbed his twenty-pound vest. As soon as he had it fastened he raised his voice. “Three...two...one... GO!”
The most competitive streaked out ahead. Rhett, Constance and Sunny fell in behind them and everyone else came after. Energy was high but the nervous chatter petered off once they clomped across the street and hit the entrance to the park. The woods were a welcome, cool relief from the hot sun and humid air. Constance practiced good breathing as much as she focused on steady, even strides with good foot strike. As much as Sunny bitched about running, all her spinning had done her good. She was able to keep up for about a quarter of a mile before she fell back and waved them on.
Just as they passed the quarter-mile flag, staked on the side of the trail, Constance reached up and touched the little flower she’d pinned in her hair, just to the left of her ponytail. She’d relied on her father all her life for guidance and strength. Just before she left the graveyard this morning, she decided this might be one time she needed her mother instead, and she’d grabbed one of the flowers from the necklace to carry with her.
“Up around this corner,” Rhett said, his voice conversational and unfettered, despite the heavy vest he wore. “How you feeling?”
Constance smiled. “Good.” She glanced behind her, but Sunny offered a cheerful wave. There was a good chunk of space between her and Rhett and the next set of runners. Farther off, those that were scaling to half miles were already turning around.
Next thing she knew, Constance was at the top of the hill.
“C’mon, Stanzi.” Rhett motioned her to keep up. “You got this.”
Something deep inside her fluttered like a bird, dying to get out. “I’m right behind you.”
Constance grabbed Rhett’s hand and turned in the direction of Zoe and Hobbs and the others, who were just ahead. And then she took off, at top speed, headed back to the gym to jump on that pull-up bar and attack the rest of this workout.
By the time Rhett finished the indoor portion of the workout, he looked for Stanzi and spotted her, hands on her knees, gasping for air. Sunny was next to her, flat on her back. She’d cut all the reps in half and ran just the one mile.
Rhett estimated he had time to run his mile and make it back before Stanzi was ready to go on hers.
The second mile was slower than the first, but thanks to all the running he and Stanzi had done, it wasn’t as difficult as he’d anticipated. By the time he streaked back inside the gym to officially finish, Stanzi was right there, ready to go out. Rhett stripped off the weighted vest and fell in beside her. The loss of extra weight felt so glorious he wanted to cry.
“You don’t have to run this with me,” she gasped, her feet shuffling more than running, or even walking. “I got nothing left. You’re already done.”
“Shut up.” Rhett gave her a gentle shove.
She rewarded him with a weak smile.
By the time they made it to the turnaround spot in the woods the second time, Stanzi actually got her second wind and picked up her pace. Rhett ran beside her in silence all the way back to the gym.
Stanzi streaked into the bay and looked at the timer on the wall. Then she sank to the floor, next to her sister, who was still on her back. Her chest rose and fell in great gasps. Her hands covered her face. Zoe, Hobbs, Duke, Pete and a few others who were finished walked over and gave her high fives. Stanzi just stuck her hand in the air and let them slap her.
Rhett grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back. He sank to a squat. “You did it,” he said. “I’m proud of you.”
Her eyes fluttered open. “Yeah?” she said between gasps. Her mouth turned up at the corners. “Thanks. I’m proud of you, too.”
Rhett didn’t know what to say to that, but it made his chest tight. He left her lying there so he could finish coaching the rest of the group, most of whom were not yet finished. He grabbed his phone and recorded some footage of people who were still working, utter fatigue overcoming their bodies and faces. People came back in from their second runs, drenched in sweat and cheeks on fire. Some sank against the walls and others directly to the floor. Somebody went outside to puke. When he came back inside, Rhett realized it was Callahan. He grinned. Callahan gave a rueful grin, shook his head and stood there gasping, hands on his knees. The music boomed and the ceiling fan whirred, mixing up the humid, natural air. It smelled like sweat and dirt and weak perfume.
By the time it was all over, Rhett called for everyone to gather around for a group photo. Rhett got one of the older kids, who hadn’t done the workout, to take the picture, so that he could be in it, next to Stanzi. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and hers slinked around his waist.
Once the picture was snapped, Stanzi grasped him by the biceps and stared up at him with a new kind of light in her eyes. Her hair had come loose of the barrette and ponytail, causing little flyaways to stick to the dried sweat on her cheeks, and her shirt was drenched in sweat.
He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. “Nice job, My Pretty Pony.”
She kissed him. “Thanks.”
