Brenna rose the next morning with every intention of getting right to work on wallpapering. Half an hour after breakfast, she realized she had been wandering around the house restlessly, unable to put her mind to the task. Finally she realized what she needed was a good run. She thought about running on her road, but running on gravel was irritating, it made that scritch-scratch sound and feeling under your feet. She didn’t really want to go back to the beach after the drowning. After a couple more circles around the house, she remembered she had moved here for the ocean. Avoiding it made about as much sense as avoiding the road after a traffic accident. Sure, you didn’t want to run right back out there, but you had to drive sooner or later. It wouldn’t be any fun for awhile, but she intended to keep running and she preferred sand to gravel or asphalt.
Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the small sandy lot where she and Molly had been three days before. Today it was overcast and cooler, and she zipped up her windbreaker before she started out.
When she reached the open beach, she looked north and south and decided north was a better idea this time. Stretching one last time, she tightened her ponytail and turned right at the water’s edge, the lapping waves just missing her running shoes. The sea air wasn’t as refreshing as usual. She wondered how long it would take for her to feel ‘normal’ again. Then she grimaced. She hadn’t felt ‘normal’ for quite awhile.
Brenna was just thinking about turning around and heading back when she noticed a man and a dog jogging toward her. Uncomfortable with a stranger running behind her, she chose to keep going forward and turn after they had passed. City girl instincts died hard.
As they drew closer, it was easy to identify the dog as a black Lab. It took a few more minutes to recognize the man as Adam, the EMT she had practically insulted the other day.
Oh, great, just what I need.
She slowed her pace when she noticed they had and put on a polite smile, trying to slow her breathing and brushing back her loose strands of hair.
“Brenna, is it?”
“That’s right. Adam, I want to apologize for my attitude the other day...”
He cut her off. “No, that’s fine. Everyone reacts differently to tragedy. That was an awful day.” Looking out over the water, he ruffled his dog’s fur absently.
“How is Jared’s family doing?” she asked.
“Oh, you know...as good as can be expected. Sometimes angry, sometimes grief stricken...at least they’re not blaming Matthew. It’s really bad when that happens. Jared knew not to go in the water without a grownup as well as Matthew did. It’s a little harder convincing Matthew of that, but they’re trying.” He took a deep breath and wiped his forehead.
“Well, if there’s anything I can do...”
He finally smiled at her. “Thanks, I think they’ve got the help they need. Their church is doing dinners for awhile. Some people are filling in for Leah and Harry’s shifts for at least this week.”
“What does Leah do?”
“She a teacher in town.”
“Can’t help her there, I guess.”
He looked at her quizzically.
She smiled wryly. “Used to be a nurse.”
“Oh, yeah? Why ‘used to’?”
It was Brenna’s turn to look out over the water and she made an arc in the sand with her shoe. “Just got tired of it.” She changed the subject. “You have a nice dog there.” He had been nosing Brenna’s hand since approaching her and now she scratched behind his ears. If a dog could smile, he was.
“His name is Max and he’s my best buddy. My brother has a kennel and breeds and raises Labs and Retrievers. Max here is three now and is behaving himself better. For a while I thought he was going to be an overgrown puppy forever."
"I always had big dogs growing up. I had a few mutts and a lab. But since I've been on my own, I've been too busy with college and work to take care of one," Brenna said wistfully. "Of course, I do have the cats and they think they rule the roost...but it's not quite the same."
"So, Helena's cats found their way home, huh?" Adam laughed. "She doted on those animals...one time, I remember, she had a dozen. Martin was tripping over them all the time and after a while, Helena caught on to the fact that he'd started giving them away. He got rid of at least four, but after Helena found out, he didn't try that again."
"Well, I've got three and Helena seems to think they've all come home so I guess the family's complete." She looked thoughtfully at Max. "I don't know. A dog would be nice. I'm just not used to so much responsibility in my own home! I'm beginning to get the feeling I've lived the last decade in a bubble. Work and sleep, work and sleep." She looked up and cleared her throat. "Well, I guess I better get back. I have some wallpapering to do."
"Mind if we run with you? We're headed in that direction anyway."
"Sure, that's fine." Brenna turned south, running against the breeze. Hmm, 'headed in that direction anyway' was definitely not a pick-up line. Oh, well, she didn't want to date anyway, right? Right. However, she still found herself aware of his presence, of his strong legs running smoothly and his measured breathing. She was more than glad to reach her starting point.
Brenna slowed her pace. "Okay, this is where I get off. I'll see you around."
Adam nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you later."
The unspoken question in both their minds was 'when?' as Brenna walked to her Blazer and Adam called Max in from the surf.
Adam watched her disappear into the trees. A nurse. Sounded like a burned-out nurse. Well then, the last thing she needed was damaged goods. He'd been through too much heartache himself this year. Too bad for him she was so damn pretty.