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"No. But maybe it makes us even?"
"Maybe." She walks out the door without a glance back.
Reality sinks in. There's no way I'm going to survive running through the woods for three hours. This gym is as good as hers.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Clover
When I step into the kitchen at seven in the morning on a Saturday, I assume I'm going to have the place to myself. Instead, Dani is standing next to the stove ladling batter onto a skillet. Honey, with bits of dried clay on her left cheek, is looking out the kitchen window with binoculars. Daisy is at the kitchen table, head bent over her tablet, and Noah is standing next to the coffeepot, his curly hair a wild mess.
"What is everyone doing up?" I ask.
"Can't sleep late anymore." Dani ladles more batter onto the sizzling pan and smiles at me over her shoulder. "Figured I'd make breakfast for the kiddies since I don't have to work today.
Daisy doesn't even lift her head from her tablet, but Noah grins my way. "I've got a real contender of a building downtown. I'm meeting with the realtor in an hour. Sounds like the owner is eager to sell and to close quickly."
He sets a mug of coffee in front of Daisy. She doesn't look at him, but she reaches out a hand and grabs the mug. He steps back like he's afraid of losing a limb and she gives him a narrow-eyed smirk as she sips. Theirs is a friendship that doesn't require words, and a pang of jealousy sparks in me like a fuse connected to a bomb. I tamp it down. I don't have time for friendships that go deeper than surface level.
"What are you looking for, Honey?" I ask.
"Found 'em." Grant walks into the kitchen from the direction of the farm office carrying a set of binoculars that look bigenough to spy on martians still living on Mars. He presses a kiss to Dani's cheek and pats her ass as he walks by.
He hands the giant binoculars to Honey, and she passes the smaller pair to him. "That's better," she says softly. "I can see him so clearly."
"Who are you spying on?" I ask.
"Bigfoot," Grant says. Honey passes Grant the big binoculars, and he steps into her spot at the window. "Is he meditating?"
"That's what it looks like to me," Honey says. "He's been sitting on that stump without moving for at least fifteen minutes. I thought he was watching us, but…"
"You can definitely tell with these binoculars that his eyes are closed," Grant says. "It's still odd that he's chosen a spot so close to your property for his daily meditation."
"Maybe he likes to be sung to by farm animals." I grab a mug from a cabinet and fill it with coffee. Then I add soy milk and honey to sweeten it up. "Though I can't say I love Bigfoot spending time in an area where I like to run in the mornings."
"I'm surprised he hasn't retreated farther into the mountains with the increase in tourists hiking the trails and looking for him," Grant says.
"We should get a picture of him," I say. "Sell it to a tabloid for a million dollars."
I lean back against the counter and face the room as I sip my coffee. Daisy's no longer focused on her tablet, but is looking at me, a frown on her face like she has any right to judge.
"Already thought about it," Dani says. "But I don't love the idea of sending more rampaging tourists after Bigfoot when he seems so peaceful."
"Maybe he's hanging out closer to the farm because the tourists are less likely to hike near private property," Goldy says as she steps into the kitchen from the living room in stockinged feet. She's wearing the same clothes she left the house inyesterday, when she went to dinner with her boyfriend Henry. I can't remember the last time she actually spent the night here.
"Makes sense," Honey says. "I feel bad for him. He probably just wants to be left alone."
I grab a banana from the bunch on the island and munch on it while I contemplate what our Bigfoot, as I've come to think of him, might want. What is a Bigfoot's life goal?
"Are you about ready to go?" I ask Grant when I fail to fathom Bigfoot's inner life. "I want to be back in time for my Pilates class at eleven."
"I'm ready," Grant says. "You said you've been increasing your distance every day this week?"
I nod, my ponytail bouncing and swishing against the places on my back not covered by my sports bra. I love the feeling. "I have. I increased to three miles a day from two for the past three days."
"On the trails?"
I look at my coffee mug. "The last time I tried a trail run on my own, I got lost. I've been sticking to the roads to build my endurance for now."
