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fourteen
“Aweek’s gone by, and nothing’s happened.” Sunny hopped off her bike and stripped the seat of her gel cover. She had a small patch of sweat in the shape of a vee down her neck. “You know why? Because Janice clearly didn’t want those dogs. Not only that, what’s she going to say? ‘Hi, Officer. The neighbor stole my dogs. They were abused dogs, dehydrated and living in their own filth, but she stole them.’”
“You’re getting too cocky.” Constance crossed her arms over the handlebars of her bike and laid her head there to catch her breath. She knew her seat, sans gel cover, was covered in sweat. But she’d finally taken Sunny’s spin class, so could officially check it off her list. “Janice is pissed. Trust me. We just don’t know what she’s going to do yet.”
“I don’t care,” Sunny said, her face twisting into a grimace. “You didn’t see them, Cici. They were nearly dead. The Maltese is doing much better but the beagle is still with Dr. Winters. He’s going to make it, but he’ll probably never be adoptable.” Sunny waved at a few of the women as they left the class. “Good work, ladies!”
The women dabbed their faces with the brightly colored towels. “Thanks, Sunny! Great class! As usual!”
Constance didn’t dab. She mopped her face with the hem of her shirt. “I’m more concerned about Petey, to be honest. He could get taken in for assault.”
“You should’ve seen him.” Sunny did some kind of made-up karate moves. “Who knew?”
“Petey’s taken martial arts for years.” Constance shook her head. “Like, since we were kids. I swear, Sunny, you have tunnel vision most of the time.” Constance dropped her T-shirt down. It was no use. The sweat was going to keep coming for a while.
Sunny’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute.” She reached out and lifted Constance’s shirt.
“What’re you doing?” Constance smacked her hand down. “People will see.”
Sunny cocked her head to the side and smirked. “See what? Have you looked at yourself lately? You look awesome. Different. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s working.” She went for another peek.
Constance smacked her hand down again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t had time to go preening myself in the mirror. Like some of us.” Which was a total lie. Constance had actually done a double take in the mirror after stepping out of the shower last night. Nothing dramatic had happened to her body in such a short time, but something had stopped her. Something that, as Sunny had said, she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Whatever it was, she knew it had something to do with Semper Fit. With the way she anticipated the next workout as soon as she finished the last. The way she dreamed about the barbell, the cold steel in her hands, the chalk on her legs, the squeeze of all her muscles as she snatched weight over her head. For the first time in a long time she felt...strong. In control. Able to face down whatever came her way. Maybe that feeling, prickling and glowing beneath her skin, was shining out, making her look different, even if she didn’t really look different.
Sunny took a sip from her pink water bottle, grinning slyly at the same time. “That Semper Fit is sure working for you, huh?” She reached out and tucked some of Constance’s hair behind her ear. “I notice your hair is growing, too. It’s almost a bob now.” She shrugged. “A really shitty bob that needs to be stacked and layered by a professional, but better than that hack job you had going for so long.”
Constance ran her hands down the back of her hair. “Stacked and layered? Sounds like cake.”
“And you like cake.” Sunny winked. They moved toward the exit and now stood in the foyer in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. “Have you done any running yet at the gym?”
Constance zipped up her coat, noting her sister’s clever segue from gym talk to Josh talk. “Not yet.”
“And what’re you going to do when running’s on the menu?”
Constance had thought about that more than once. In fact, she’d been surprised that Rhett hadn’t programmed running after she’d rejected the beep test, as fond as he was of making her do things he thought she didn’t want to do. “I’ll tackle that road when I get there.”
The cocky humor that often defined her baby sister melted away beneath the bright sunlight flooding the tall windows.
“What?” Constance hated when that happened. Hated when Sunny lost her shine.
Sunny stepped in a little closer. “It’s just that...you loved running so much. It was such a big part of who you were, as long as I can remember. One of my first memories is of you making me run up and down that big, grassy hill out back of the house. The one with the enormous dandelion patch, always full of bees. I can still see it. The green grass. The yellow flowers. The zillions of bees that I was scared of, but you weren’t. Your pale legs in those awful plaid shorts.” Sunny paused to chuckle but there was little humor in her voice.
“What’re you saying, Sunny?” Constance’s voice went soft. Her throat tightened.
“I’m saying—” Sunny drew a deep breath and bulldozed ahead, like she always did “—that running’s been a part of who you are since I’ve known you. Josh was only part of who you were for a few years. Don’t let him take that away from you.”
Constance was quiet awhile, blinking in the sunlight and ready to blame it for her watery eyes. But then she sniffed deeply and cleared her throat. “C’mon. Let’s go. I got stuff to do.”
Sunny parted her lips, like she might say more, but then offered a weak smile. “Okay.” She pushed open the front door.
Constance was glad to hit the cool air and leave spin class behind her. Now that she’d tried it, she could honestly say she hated it, and would never, ever go again. She’d felt trapped, like her legs were spinning but her body wasn’t really going anywhere. Nothing like the escape she once felt while running.
“I’ve got paperwork to do.” Sunny stopped at the curb before they crossed to their vehicles. “You have clients?”
“Yep. Just a few. Let me know when the beagle comes home. I’ll work on him.”
“Thanks.” She leaned in for a hug. “When you going back to the gym?”
“Tonight actually. At seven. I’ve never been in the evening.”
