Page 49 of The Romantic Agenda

Joy can feel Malcolm’s eyes on her. She makes a show of whistling while looking around the room. He’s on his own for this one. She said she’d try and she’ll go on the damn walk. But if he doesn’t want them to go, he’ll have to be the one to say so.

Malcolm reluctantly checks his watch. “Will you be back in twenty minutes?”

Joy mutters, “It’ll be a miracle if my body lasts that long.”

“We’ll be quick. I promise.Ah, this is going to be so fun.”

And that’s how Joy ends up walking on a dirt road to get to a thicket to get to a trail in her most cherished Air Force 1s.

Once they reach the start, Summer begins limbering up, as she puts it, stretching her arms and legs. Meanwhile Joy is trying to decide if she should too. She ends up settling for reclining against a tree in the shade. Limber by association is probably a thing.

“Ready?” Summer asks, swinging her arms back and forth in wide arcs.

“My non-sporty body and I are good to go. Nice and prepped to have a cramp attack midway through.”

“It shouldn’t be too bad. See?” Summer points to a green star in the top corner of the large wooden map. “Green means super easy.”

“How thoughtful.”

Each trail has markers to ensure travelers don’t get lost on their way to the destination. The path Summer chose appears to involve going uphill, something immediately upsetting to Joy and her muscles.

They depart on the winding trail, Summer setting their pace to something a lot faster than Joy’s expecting. She watches a spot in the bush like a hawk as they pass it. “Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“It was like a rattling sound.”

“There aren’t any rattlesnakes here.”

“Who saidanythingabout snakes?”

Summer giggles. “There might be snakes but not dangerous ones.”

“I really hate the woods.”

“I know—uhh, I mean, how come?” she says, pairing it with a timid smile.

“Too many things that can eat you, kill you, or bury your body somewhere it will never be found. Don’t even get me started on the bugs.”

“Bugs are pretty unavoidable. Danger is danger no matter where you are, but we’re not in it.”

“There could be bears.”

“There’s definitely bears but they don’t care about us. Not unless we go mess with them. They probably know lots of people come through here, so they steer clear.”

“Are you trying to make me feel better?”

“Is it working?”

Joy can pretend with the best of them, compartmentalizing so well all in the name of functioning normally. Because inside, she’s still reeling from her talk with Malcolm. All those feelings are swirling within her, manifesting the perfect storm, just waiting to be unleashed. But not yet.

She chooses to grin and keep their small bubble of friendly conversation going. “Little bit. Okay, so you made a point about animals and bugs. You seem to be an authority on ghosts, so what about serial killers and witches?”

“Oh, if you think that’s what that noise was, it probably is a bear, then. Witches wait until night,” she says. “Um, do you like horror movies?”

Joy holds back a sigh. She gets the feeling Summer knows she does. Malcolm must have talked to her about last night, resulting in the idea for Summer to pretend like she doesn’t know Joy at all. This is going to get old, fast.

“Maybe.”