Page 9

Turns out there’s way more information out there than I thought. From what shoes to wear to how to fuel, there’s so much to learn I don’t even know where to start.

Instead of listening to all the conflicting advice, I decide to lace up the old pair of runners I dug out of the back of my closet and head out for a walk. Hauling Levi into the stroller is as good a warm-up as any—my muscles are sore from wrestling him into the straps.

Once he’s in, I make sure he has plenty of snacks and toys attached to his seat. Critical for me to be able to do something like this.

And by something like this, I don’t know what I mean because I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m up early because Levi is up early. He loves to chase those sunrises, the little devil. So when I get out of my apartment and make it to the path near my place, it’s still fairly dark and almost no one is around. A chill pricks the back of my neck and I don’t care for the feeling. It dawns on me that this could possibly be unsafe .

Being alone in the dark gives me a sense of unease but I push it away, walking at a brisk pace to escape the feeling of someone following me. Every time I turn, there’s no one behind me. The more time passes, the more I relax as the sun continues to rise.

That’s when I begin to see other people walking and runners start pushing the pace of the path. I didn’t realize how many of them there would be. In the past ten minutes, I’ve counted fifteen.

“Alright, Leah, let’s try this out,” I mutter to myself. I pick up my feet and start running. One foot in front of the other.

Fine, this isn’t so bad.

I don’t know what I was scared of, this is pretty easy.

Pushing the stroller is adding some resistance, but I don’t mind it. Levi clearly likes it—he’s babbling away, making all his favourite sounds. He’s only quiet when we see other people coming towards us, and if anyone greets him, he chomps his little teeth together, earning him a variety of looks.

The wind picks up, and the stroller pushes against my arms as it catches the breeze.

That makes it harder.

Did the temperature just rise? Why is it so hot all of the sudden?

My legs are feeling heavy.

Holy shit, my lungs are about to burst.

I try to keep my breathing even and my steps light when people pass me, but as soon as they’re out of sight, I heave in gulps of air and my feet pound against the pavement.

Fuck this.

That had to be like ten minutes .

Slowing to a walk so I don’t die, I open my phone.

“Bullshit!” I exclaim. It’s been exactly forty-five seconds.

“Shit,” Levi’s little voice repeats.

Ugh.

I keep going and try to run a few more times, but I never get past a minute of running. Feeling defeated and discouraged, I turn around and head back to my apartment. The clock taunts me. I was, at best, gone for fifteen minutes. And I know it’s physically impossible to run a half marathon in fifteen minutes.

Kicking my shoes off with more force than necessary, I focus my mind on settling back into our morning routine. While Levi eats, I google average times for half marathons.

The average woman runs a half marathon in two hours and eleven minutes. Beginner halves usually take two and a half hours.

Pinching my lips together, I stop myself from swearing again, as I don’t want Levi’s third word to be “fuck.”

I couldn’t even last a minute running. Even if I walk the damn thing, it’ll take me more than four hours. I’ll hold everyone up.

Then again, I’ve waited around at finish lines for Paige to run countless marathons and supported her through many ultras. I know she won’t be upset at having to wait for me to finish, but I don’t want to wreck her celebration weekend. And I do not want to come in last.

Isabel tosses me a bell pepper, nearly hitting me in the head .

“Oops, sorry, Lee!”

“You shouldn’t throw things at people if they aren’t watching,” I tease, taking the pepper and beginning to slice it.

“You were in your own head, I called your name twice,” she shoots back.

“Really? I’m sorry, I must’ve zoned out.” I had been thinking about that morning run. I inwardly snort. I can hardly call it a run. A few feeble attempts at shuffling my feet before giving up. Someone call the Olympics!

I’ve been sore all day. My coworkers kept looking at me funny as I tried to hide my gait from them while limping around the lab. Luckily my job is mostly research, so I can sit on my butt all day, but we’re working on some newer technology that had me out of my seat more than usual.

By the time I had to teach, I was dreading those two hours standing in my classroom. It was the first time I’ve ever considered cancelling a lecture.

“You okay?” she asks. When I glance over, she’s staring at me with concern. Her long blond hair is clipped in a pile on top of her head, her blue eyes wide and sincere. Damn, the genetics in this family.

“I’m fine.”

“Is it Julien?”

I almost spit out the bite of fajita I was taste testing.

“What?”

“Yesterday’s Google Doc war, while entertaining, didn’t end your way.” How is she so damn perceptive?

“It’s fine.” It most certainly is not fine. My blood boils just thinking about the freaking giant and his stupid muscular legs, which could probably run as fast as a damn cheetah without him getting winded.

“Mm-hmm, fine. You may want to tell your face that.” She smirks, gesturing to my face, which has heated, and not from the steam of the chicken sizzling in the pan.

“Resting bitch face. I can’t help it,” I say with a shrug, hoping my attempt at nonchalance is believable. Because it most certainly is not fine.

She laughs and, thankfully, drops the subject. We continue to work side by side. My concentration keeps slipping back to Levi, who’s cheerfully playing with Q and Penny, Adam and Paige’s giant Newfoundlander dogs, in the living room.

Isabel called me earlier to tell me about an impromptu family dinner night at my sister’s house. Right after I picked Levi up from daycare, I grabbed a few ingredients at the store and came over, picking Maggie and Isabel up on the way. Maggie took my car to grab a few more things since Paige and Adam aren’t home yet. Isabel let us right in—I’m not sure if they know she has a key to their house.

I love their house. It’s not something I’d ever choose for myself as I prefer being in the city. But coming out here is such a beautiful escape. The big wall of windows opens up the space, and I can see out into the bay.

Sometimes we even get to see whales. And I know Levi loves being able to run around in the backyard with Adam’s family.

Ninety-five percent happy for my sister .

Isabel is about to ask me something when the door flies open and Paige and Adam come stumbling in, tangled up in each other. Adam is holding Paige up, her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands running through his hair as they kiss so passionately I have to look away.

They don’t seem to hear as Isabel snorts, locked in their embrace. But what they can’t ignore is the toddler that comes barrelling into Adam’s legs.

“Ahhh!” Their eyes fly open as Paige shrieks and Adam drops her. She manages to catch herself from falling on her ass.

Her hand flies to her chest and both Isabel and I burst out laughing from the kitchen. Since it’s an open-concept house, we can see the door from the island where we’re working.

Adam recovers first, scooping Levi up and zooming him like an airplane around the living room.

“What the hell?” Paige says, still holding her chest as she walks over to us.

“Family dinner!” Isabel says cheerfully.

Paige’s grimace is one for the books. “You couldn’t text us?”

“What fun would that be?” I say. I’ve got Isabel’s back on this one.

My sister shakes her head. “Not as much fun as I would have had if you guys weren’t here,” she mumbles.

“Gross, that’s my brother.” Isabel squeezes her eyes shut, trying to block out the image.

“Agreed,” I say with a laugh.

“Right, like you don’t love it when I give you nitty-gritty details. ”

“About the sex in general, not specifically about you! Besides, who else am I supposed to live vicariously through?”

Paige gestures to Isabel. “How about someone not related by blood?”

Isabel is already shaking her head, her mouth full of food. “Uh-uh,” she says around her mouthful. “I’ve sworn off men.”

“That’s because the men you interact with work at your law firm and lawyers are duds,” Paige insists.

“Duds?” comes a deep voice from behind her. She winces.

“Hey, didn’t see you there, Tom,” she says, turning around and hugging her future father-in-law. Thomas, Adam’s dad, is a lawyer. Paige is the only one who gets away with calling him Tom. I don’t think even Maggie calls him Tom.

“Just the single ones,” Paige recovers. He buys it because Thomas is putty in Paige’s hands. When Paige came into Adam’s life, his relationship with his father was strained. Only my sister could single-handedly fix the rift between them.

“Hello, Leah, nice to see you,” he greets me, giving Isabel a peck on the cheek.

“Hey, Thomas.”

“Where’s my grandson?” he asks. He looks around for Levi before I gesture outside, where Adam has taken him and the dogs. Thomas jogs out to join them. I count my lucky stars he interrupted the sex conversation.

Zero. I have zero lucky stars .

“Well, fear not,” Paige says, not missing a beat. “I work with a whole hockey team you could start dating. I can attest that hockey players”—she gestures to Adam suggestively—“are the best lovers.”

Both Isabel and I groan at the same time.

Hockey players are way too primordial cavemen, “me alpha male,” for my liking. The last few guys I dated, including Ian, were lanky science boys. I wouldn’t even know where to start with a hockey player.