On A Run (8 page)

Hannah waited impatiently for the delivery truck, but the groceries didn’t arrive until late afternoon. She unloaded the bags hurriedly, then jumped in the shower, her cell phone placed carefully on the closed toilet lid so that she could hear it if it should ring. She half expected a call from Daniel saying that he wasn’t coming after all. But when the phone did ring, after she had meticulously finished her makeup and hair, and then her hair again, it was Daniel saying that his plane had landed and that he should arrive shortly after five.

She was waiting for him at his hotel when he arrived. She didn’t care if she looked silly sitting in her car, watching anxiously as each new vehicle passed. To Daniel’s delight, Hannah was the first thing he saw as he pulled his rental car into the lot, causing him to park quite crookedly in the space next to her. He didn’t take the time to back up and straighten it out. Daniel put his car into park, unfastening his seat belt at the same time, and was out the door, nearly forgetting the keys in the ignition.

Hannah got out of her car as soon as she recognized him, not realizing the impression she had just ingrained into Daniel’s memory files. She had chosen a sundress, one she had bought because she had fallen in love with it immediately, not because it was practical or something she figured she would ever wear, and, until now, she rarely had. Daniel thought at that moment he never wanted to see her in anything else.

CHAPTER NINE

As it turned out, Daniel never actually checked into his room. He reached Hannah in three steps and placed a warm kiss on her lips before pulling Hannah in for an embrace. Hannah let the tension leave her body immediately. She sensed how relaxed Daniel was. There seemed to be no nervousness in him, none of the feelings that she had felt all day.

Daniel let go of Hannah and held her in front of him for just a moment. He was grinning ear to ear. “I didn’t think today would ever get here. I have missed you.”

Hannah smiled sh
yly. “It’s only been a few days,” she teased, but it did seem like too long. Hannah shifted her weight, suddenly aware of their intimacy and the public-ness of their surroundings.

Daniel seemed to sense her discomfort. “I am dying to see which one your mountain is. Hannah had been telling him what he would see in Breckenridge. “Why don’t I follow you so we don’t have two cars in town.”
Hannah agreed and they left immediately for her place, where she was ready to make him a summer dinner of kabobs and grilled corn.  She hadn’t cooked for anyone else in a long time. While she stood by the grill watching closely so the vegetables wouldn’t burn she tried to make conversation.

“How was your drive up here?”     

“It was beautiful! I never knew how clear the sky was here, once I got out of Denver. The scenery was incredible. It looked like there was a huge fire at some point in time.”

Hannah thought for a long time. “No, I don’t remember there being a fire.” It could very well be that she had missed hearing about it, though fires were something that even she paid attention to, living where she did in the heart of a forest. Where did you see it?”

“All along the highway on I-70, it seemed like there were huge groves of pine trees that had been burned. Nothing was left but dried skeletons.”

“Oh that.” Hannah’s voice was quiet. “The Colorado Pine Beetle.”

Daniel returned her a confused stare.

“It is some infestation that started a few years ago and has wiped out areas of forest. Did you see the brown looking pines as well? That is what the infestation looks like first, then the trees just die.”
“I guess I saw the dead ones and assumed it was a fire. I didn’t pay attention to any brown.”           

“You’ll see it tomorrow.” Hannah felt her throat tighten. She hated to think about her mountain being eaten alive. “Breckenridge wasn’t hit as hard as the sections along I-70, but it’s beginning to show signs of it.”

They were both quiet, Hannah turned the corn on the grill, glad to focus on something else. Daniel had no idea what the forests had looked like before, so he may not notice the impact. But he seemed to sense Hannah’s emotions.

They stayed up late into the night talking, watching as the sun turned the sky a passing of beautiful colors, and then as each star twinkled its way to life. Daniel and Hannah hardly noticed when the light faded from crimson to black, as a few became thousands of stars, or as the song of the evening birds turned to an orchestra of crickets.

“Wow, is it really almost midnight?” Hannah finally became aware of the passage of time.

“I kept you up late, I am so sorry. It has been an amazing evening. Dinner was wonderful. Thank you…”

“It has been nice to have someone to spend the evening with” interrupted Hannah. And she meant it.

“I guess I better go check into my room then. What time do you tend to get up in the morning?” Daniel did not look like he wanted to go anywhere. It was now or never, thought Hannah.

“Look, I know… well I don’t want…hotels in town are probably pretty loud this time of year. They tend to be really busy. I have an extra room here if you would rather. Of course, I don’t know if you can cancel your reservation….”

“Are you sure?” Daniel’s voice was so quiet and so full of respect that Hannah wanted to kiss him.

“If it isn’t too… awkward,” Hannah replied.

“It would be wonderful. It is so quiet here. So peaceful.”

Daniel kissed Hannah then. No different than before. His kiss was tender and full of caring and without demands.

“Well, let me grab my stuff out of my car and you can show me to my room.”

Despite the late night, Hannah still woke at her usual time, as the sky was turning to a light pink as it does just before dawn. As quickly and quietly as she could, she got around, being sure not to disturb the sleeping man in the next room. For a brief moment, she thought about peeking in at him, awed by the fact that he was there. Part of her didn’t want to leave his side, afraid that she would come back and find that none of it had been real. Part of her desperately wanted to get away for a while in order to assimilate all that she had experienced in the past few hours and days.

Expertly bending to pick up her shoes from the dark closet and quietly opening her drawer where her clothes were folded in their place, she pulled out her running shorts, socks, and a sports bra and was ready in an instant. Sneaking to the kitchen, Hannah scrounged in a drawer for a slip of paper to write a note on. She gave up after a few minutes and grabbed a paper towel instead, contemplating what to write. It had been a long time since she had left a note telling anyone where she was. She finally wrote simply, “On a run. Coffee is ready, help yourself! Be back soon. Hannah”

Hannah thought about those words. ‘On a run’:  as in a run of good fortune? She felt like this was true, so much different from ‘on the run’, which is what she had been for the past ten years. Shaking these thoughts from her head, she left the note on the kitchen table in the first place she hoped Daniel would see if he got up. She slipped out the door, which she closed behind her with barely a click. And with that she was gone, shoe lace check, down the stairs, across the path and up the mountain.

Hannah’s pace was fast this morning, as if the constant beating of her feet on the ground below her would calm her senses, which felt so wildly out of place. When running, Hannah often thought of scenes from her novels, other times she looked around from side to side while winding herself up the steep mountain path, taking in the familiar but ever enchanting scenery. Today though, she just ran, up and up, concentrating on her breathing and each step and the pumping of her arms to match her beating heart. She ran hard until she came to a spot much farther than her usual turning point. There she found a rock and sat down on it, heart pounding, breath coming in short bursts. She used to run like this after her parents’ deaths. She ran to block out the wave of emotions which threatened daily to overcome her. Today, the emotions weren’t the devastating ones of the past, but they were overwhelming none the less. As she sat, though, her breathing came easier, her heart slowed and she felt a calm within her, a peace, and a joy that she hadn’t felt in many, many years. Hannah felt the early sun warm on her face; she listened to the birds calling and flitting in the trees, an occasional squirrel announcing its territory. She breathed in the familiar sights and sounds of her mountain and felt secure, right within her own world. And a new feeling began to solidify, one of excitement of what that world could hold for her. As she felt it build, she rose from her rock seat and began her descent, back down the mountain. Hannah’s footsteps were sure, lightly landing side to side while traversing the steep and root covered terrain. Her run, though longer than usual, took less time, spurred by the emotions of a youthful heart filled with the possibility of love. Hannah laughed out loud with the exhilaration of the moment and sprinted the last few paces of the path.  She slowed to a light jog to cool down before arriving back at the steps that took her up to her home and to Daniel.

He was sitting on her porch in a pair of gym shorts and a tightly fitted tee shirt. She practically tripped when she saw him, but he didn’t see it. He was gazing up high into the tree tops.

“Hi” Hannah managed, not out of breath because of her run.

“Hey! Thanks for the coffee!”

Hannah zipped inside to grab herself a mug full, and headed back to the porch. She curled herself into her Adirondack chair and sipped, smiling over the lip of her cup at Daniel, who was still mesmerized by the landscape.

“This is amazing! No wonder you never want to leave.”

Hannah looked down for a moment. She hadn’t told him that she didn’t go many places; that she stayed close to home. She hadn’t told him it was because she couldn’t because, well, she just couldn’t most of the time.

“I can see why y
ou like it here,” Daniel continued, not seeming to notice that Hannah had stiffened suddenly. “It is beautiful! I thought the sky was blue in Northern California, but here…. You seem so much closer to it here. If I lived here I would have a hard time getting out to go to work every day.”

“I’m lucky. You are sitting in my office.” Hannah smiled and looked around. She really was blessed. “I get up every morning, take a run, come back, grab some coffee and my laptop and I have this to inspire me all day long.”

“Don’t you ever get lonely though?”

The question caught Hannah off guard. It wasn’t something she ever contemplated. She loved her peace and her solitude.

“I mean, it just seems to me like staying here all day long, no one around. I don’t have a bunch of friends, but I have such a big family that they are always around. I guess you get used to that kind of commotion after a while.”

Hannah felt a small shudder inside. Commotion was not something she figured she could get used to. “Well, anyway, I am not alone here. I have Sheila, my agent, who sends me about four emails a day, and I have people that I correspond with online, and I have all my characters who keep me company all day.”

“But they aren’t real.” His tone wasn’t mean, but it hurt just the same.

“To
some people they are!” Hannah retorted, more strongly than she meant to. Then, more softly, “I write about characters that mean something to my readers.” She thought about her novel she had picked up in California and read from. “Ok, not all my novels have deep meaning, but I like to think that, someday, somebody is going to hear one of my stories and it is really going to make a difference for them. Either they will think that they aren’t the only one out there that feels a certain way or it will allow them to escape for a while from whatever pain or hurt they are in.”

“I’d like to read one of your stories.” There was a definite sincerity to his voice.

“You wouldn’t get them.” Hannah was still feeling somewhat defensive.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re a guy.”

“What, guys don’t need escape once in a while?” The smile he added to the comment melted Hannah’s disposition and she began to giggle.

“Fine, I will pick one of my sappiest romance novels and you can share it with your book club. Get back to me on how that one goes.”
“Deal! Now, can I pay my tab at this resort by making you breakfast?”

Hannah had prepared her cupboards in case she needed to make him anything. The truth was, she didn’t generally eat breakfast. Normally she grabbed her coffee and a powerbar or a smoothie or something else she could take with her to the porch to nibble on while she worked. In truth, most her meals were this way; a bowl of soup for lunch, some cereal for dinner. She didn’t remember the last time she had cooked. “You want to make ME breakfast?”

“Sure, your choice – pancakes, eggs, waffles, French toast, crepes. You name it I can make it. Or if you prefer, I can make some of each and invite you in to your own buffet.”

“Surprise me! But not too much, I really don’t need much.”

“Great. You can have some time out here to work, and I will let you know when it is ready.”

It was a nice gesture on his part. She really hadn’t worked in almost a week, it seemed, and was beginning to feel a little panicky. But somehow she couldn’t bring herself to focus on the words in front of her. Her mind was in the kitchen, listening to the sounds of the pots and pans being rattled around, the water from the sink turning on at times, and a quiet whistling from the amazing man who was in there.

They spent the day wandering around the little town Hannah barely spent time in. Somehow, though, with Daniel at her side she didn’t mind the people and even enjoyed looking in some of the shops she never would have ducked in to. Daniel found the tourist shop lined street enchanting.

“It’s like Disneyland’s Main Street” he commented, and it was in that light th
at Hannah began to see it. Mostly they just walked and talked and spent time together.

Hannah made dinner again for Daniel back at the house and afterward they snuggled on the glider that she had on the front porch, never tiring of watching the sun fade behind the tree line, the reddening sky or the stars popping out a few at a time. The crickets and the evening birds, along with the trickle of a stream nearby, was their background music. Hannah was proud of where she lived, and proud to share it with Daniel.

“It is incredible… I will give you that,” he murmured. “Now it is your turn to see where I live. Next weekend you come visit me.”

Hannah suddenly realized that this is what it would mean to have a relationship with him: weekends back and forth between the two parts of the country. It wasn’t the cost of the airfare that concerned her. Certainly, if there was anything good about the current economy it was that she could fly to see him for nearly the price of a date to the movies. She could get used to him coming to see her every weekend. But to have to fly to go see him, to deal with the trip to
Denver and the chaos of D.I.A….? The panic must have shown in her eyes.