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Once they were gone, Rhett withdrew his arm and led her to a tall, round table in the corner by the window. It seated only two, with old-fashioned high stools. “Arm wrestle for the stool facing out?”
Constance stroked her chin. “Take it. I don’t have the same need to have my back to the wall that you do, and I wouldn’t stand a chance at arm wrestling you. But I will fight you for who gets the coffee.” She nodded toward the coffee station: a row of cups, carafes and stirring sticks. You could pour while you waited, then pay when your number was called.
They did Rock, Paper, Scissors and Rhett won.
Constance got the coffee—black for Rhett and a splash of milk for herself—then climbed on her stool and stared out at the Sunday crowd. Some were churchgoers, headed out to shop or eat after service. Others were dressed in fitness clothes and aimed for the gym on the corner. A few wore sweatpants and even pajamas, headed into the grocery store at the other end of the strip mall.
“Sorry about that.” Rhett set their paper ticket on the table. It read 135.
“You’re not sorry. You’re enjoying your win.” Constance’s pounding pulse was slowly coming down. Seeing Josh felt so much different than it had last time she was having trouble sorting through it. Last time, his classically handsome, slightly arrogant face had filled her with longing, and the sight of Jenna had made her feel sick. She’d gone home, eaten an entire bag of tater tots, then climbed into bed and binge-watchedPsychfor the rest of the day.
This time, seeing Josh almost made her feel foolish. That’s who she gave up running for? That’s who she’d wanted to be?
“No, I mean I’m sorry about pretending we were together,” Rhett said. “When I put my arm around your waist. I couldn’t help it.”
Constance’s body grew warm thinking about it. “Nothing to be sorry about.”
“I wasn’t trying to be possessive. I just wanted him to stop looking at you like that. And to shut up.” Rhett pulled the ticket toward him and started to roll it up into a cylinder.
Constance laughed. “It’s not like he had anything to look at.” She held up the hem of her oversize T-shirt and stuck her legs out straight to display her sweaty, long pants.
“He saw you with your shirt off.”
She wrapped her arms around her chest. “Are you sure?”
Rhett nodded. “Positive.”
Constance waved a hand. “I don’t care.” Part of her was actually glad.I don’t know you anymore.Take that, Joshua Stoneford. You reallydon’tknow me anymore.
Rhett smiled. “That was kind of freaky, huh?” He tilted his head toward the door Josh had exited. “That we bumped into them.”
“I was just thinking that.” After suffering her first public run and growing cold while talking to Josh, the coffee filled her insides like a warm hug. “But I’m so glad it happened. I can’t even imagine being with him now. He clearly only wanted to be with one version of me. When that side of me struggled, the fit runner who had it all together, Josh bailed. Went out and found himself a new Connie.”
“One thirty-five!”
Rhett unrolled his ticket and stood up. “Know what you want?”
Constance eyed the pastry case. To her surprise, none of the sugary fare sounded appetizing anymore. The aromas coming from the savory section were like heaven, though. “The bacon, egg and spinach bites.” She nodded to the flourless muffins that came in a set of three.
Rhett smiled. “You read my mind.”
They got the same thing, though Rhett got two orders for himself. Constance refreshed their coffees while he got the muffins, and once they’d dug into their food he said, “So what made the fit runner Constance struggle? You said your dad was sick?”
“He had a long, hard battle with cancer.” She glanced up, but Rhett didn’t flinch. “Josh didn’t exactly understand how I coped with that. In fact, he hated how I coped with that.”
Rhett stuffed an entire muffin in his mouth and still managed to chew without any spilling out. “Which is how?”
Constance nibbled at her second muffin. The eggs were creamy and the bacon salty and crisp. The spinach offered just enough vegetal tang to bring it all together. “I kind of shut down. While Dad was sick, I was consumed with taking care of him. Sunny helped as best she could but she’s so busy with the rescue—plus, she’s the younger daughter so doesn’t have as many duties. People might say that’s bullshit, but it’s not. As the eldest, his care was more on me than her, just as it was all our lives. When Daddy died, I didn’t cry.” Constance sipped at her coffee. “Josh really hated that I didn’t cry. Told me I was holding it all in. I said, ‘What do you expect? I was raised by a Vietnam veteran. I was never allowed to cry.’ Except I did cry. Every time I overate, or ate like crap—” she nodded at the pastry case “—I was crying. Whenever I missed a run because I was just too worn out or sad or getting too slow on the trail, I was crying. Josh told me I was just being lazy. Told me running would make me feel better if I just got off my ass and went. When he started running with that woman, Jenna, he said it was because who I was turning into wasn’t what he signed up for. He didn’t know me anymore.”
All of Rhett’s body movements froze. A second later, he swallowed what he’d been chewing. He chased it with a long drink of coffee. “So that’s how you found out he was cheating on you? You found him running with her?”
“Oh, I don’t know if he was cheating on me or not.” Constance shrugged. “He said he wasn’t, but it didn’t make any difference. Still doesn’t. When I found him running with her, I could literally see what it was that he loved most about me. And it wasn’t enough.”
Rhett nodded thoughtfully.
“I broke it off,” Constance admitted. “Everyone, including Sunny, thinks Josh dumped me. I just said we broke up and everyone figured he dumped me for that woman.” She shrugged. “I never corrected them.”
“Why not?”
