Sleeping Beauty (18 page)

David Grant, huh? She pulled back her hair and put it into a springy ponytail. The curls began to escape from their confines almost immediately. Hes not such a reach for you, Suze. But Charley and me? No way.

There areissueswith David.

What do you mean?

Im not sure I trust him.

She stared at me as if my head had tipped off and I was holding it in the crook of my elbow. The man is Mr. Ethics. Hes well known and respected, famous, even, in the world of neurologists. Whats not to trust?

Hes writing a book.

Thats more awesome still.

It is also why I dont trust him. I sat down on the bed and began to put Vaseline on my heels and the bottom of my feet, anywhere I might develop blisters. Then I pulled on my running socks, which are padded on the bottom. I do not want to show up in his book.

He wouldnt do that. Anyway, whats the big deal? She grabbed my Vaseline and began to work on her own feet. You do sleepwalk and everybody knows it. Its hardly a secret.

It was hard to argue with that.

I know that this wont make sense to you, but Im still touchy about it. I spelunked around in my mind for the words that might help her to understand. It wouldnt be easy, I knew, looking at the disbelieving expression on her face.

Ever since I was a kid, people have enjoyed sleepwalking stories at my expense. It gets old after a while to hear about myself doing ridiculous things and its not easy to respond with I was ridiculous, har, har, har, all the time. I didnt want to be weird.

But ever since Ive known you, youve always laughed about it. She stared suspiciously at me. Or was it laughing on the outside, crying on the inside?

I averted my eyes.

Darla grabbed me by the shoulders and hugged me. Oh, Suze, I didnt know! I never realized. She made me look at her and there were tears in her eyes. But I should have known, shouldnt I?

Now I felt even more vulnerable than ever.

You couldnt have. My goal was to make everyone think that I didnt consider it all that big a deal. I know that even my family doesnt know the true extent of how I felt. I dont think Ive ever thought of myself as normal or whole.

You may have felt that way but you are about as normal as baseball and apple pie.

No, Im as normal as a circus sideshow and you cant convince me otherwise. How many others do you know with six or eight large locks on their doors to keep themselves in, not others out?

Everybody has something that makes them feel different or set apart. Have you thought that you might be taking it more seriously than you should? She quickly added, Not that its not serious, of course, but maybe, a little shift in perspective would help?

She hadnt seen me on my knees, hugging my makeup kit, toothpaste oozing all over my pajamas, in front of David. No, I have a clear-eyed perspective on what this somnambulism thing is all about. Its everyone else who has it mixed up.

I laced up my shoes and stood up. We arent going to settle this today so wed better get going.

Just for the record, I think youre wrong about not being able to trust David. You wont show up in his book without your permission. You know that.

Later, okay?

Its your life, Suze. Im here for you no matter what. Darla gave me a quick hug. Ill grab my bag and meet you in the car.

After shed gone, I stared at myself in the mirror. Clear skin, rosy lips, eyes that seem to smile even when Im not; nothing had changed since the last time I looked at myself.

Shes right, I told my reflection. And you know it.

No time to think more about it now. The object of my turmoil was at this moment waiting at bib pickup and wondering if Id ducked out of the race.

David in sweats and with tousled hair is a beautiful sight to behold. Being a casual girl myself, I liked seeing him ruffled and natural. If anything it made him even more attractive to me and, frankly, Im not quite sure how I feel about that.

Uncertainty is your middle name, I muttered to myself. Get a grip.

I took a deep breath and a step toward the object of my confusion.

His gaze took me in as it leisurely skimmed my face, my cherry-red tank top, black spandex running shorts and the white running shoes that made my feet look as large as icebergs. He took a step toward me and I felt my heart speed up. Terrific. Just being around him was cardio. What would running with David at my side do for my heart rate? Good thing hes a doctor. I might go into cardiac arrest.

You are beautiful today. He kissed me on the lips then held out his hand. Lets pick up your bib and entry packet before it gets too busy.

I did as he said and Darla joined us as we walked to the start area. Runners were intently stretching, their expressions serious. Everyone was getting their game face on for the challenge. A tent selling everything from Gatorade to running shoes had music blaring from a loudspeaker. A carnival atmosphere prevailed.

As we walked, I noticed all the attention David received from the female runners. Some stood a little straighter, others smoothed back stray hair and smiled. David was oblivious to it all.

Soon, however, all attention moved away from David and onto another man racing down the hill toward us, shoelaces flying, baggy nylon shorts flapping around his knees.

Charley, couldnt you have found some decent clothes for today?

He was the exclamation point on Darlas statement that he was not her type. She was standing a few feet away from me, checking to see if her shoes were tied perfectly while good old Charley came at us as though he were being thrust out of a wind tunnel.

Of course, even if hed been modeling the GQ of running attire, he still had the Mohawk. Hed stopped painting his head a couple days ago and his scalp was now covered with a fine peach fuzz of dark hair, but he still had a shortened version of the haircut riding proudly atop his head.

Darla saw him and her eyes widened and, Im almost positive, she cringed.

She moved closer so that no one around could hear.

What on earth is he looking like that for?

Hes okay. There are other people wearing shorts like his. Well, one, maybe, and he was pretty out of shape and may have been coerced into joining this charity run.

Looks arent everything, Darla. And, despite his weird get-up, hes cute.

You dont want me foisting David onto you and yet you are doing the same thing with Charley and me.

Theres potential for you and Charley, thats all. I know his heart and I know yours. They are more closely matched than you think and a lot more in step than just your appearances.

Come and tell me about it when you decide to give David a chance. Darla flipped her blond head as if to say Take that.

What an odd little game we had started here, trying to foist off unlikely men onto each other because we each thought we knew something the other didnt.

Charley loped up to us like a happy puppy, his shoelaces still dangling. Sorry Im late. I got a call to pick up some abandoned Lab crosses. By the time I got them to the shelter, I didnt have time to go home and pick up my running clothes. He looked down at his billowing shorts. Do these look too stupid?

Darla opened her mouth to speak but I silenced her with a glare.

You could be wearing aluminum foil and duct tape and Id say you looked great if you just rescued a litter.

He smiled so sweetly that I hoped Darla had seen that irresistible expression.

Thanks, I knew you guys would understand.

I glanced at Darla and was glad to see she looked discomfited. Good. Maybe shed realized shed jumped to judgment too soon with Charley.

Still, as we were readying for the sounding shot that would start the race, Darla made sure both David and I stood between her and Charley.

With only seconds before the start, David leaned toward me and kissed me on the cheek. For good luck, he said softly.

As it turned out, I didnt need all that much luck. It was Charley who did.

He hung back a second when we started moving, coming around us from the back and insinuating himself next to Darla, where he jogged happily alongside her. It took her a few minutes to realize who it was close on her heels and when she did, she gave a figurative revving of her internal engine and sped up, leaving Charley, literally, in her dust.

He might have been a match for her if hed been running daily as she had but as it was, all he got for his efforts was a stitch in his side, a red face and the opportunity to eat a lot more peoples dust as well.

We didnt see Charley again until wed collected chunks of bread, bananas, oranges and bottled water from tables in the finishers area and settled on the grass to rehash the race.

He was barefoot and limping as he moved toward us. I saw a huge water blister on one side of his foot but he was smiling widely as if hed come in first instead of nearly dead last. He flung himself onto the ground next to us and said, What a great race!

Darla, who was in the act of pretending shed never seen him before, stared at him. Why? You must have come in 249th in a field of 250!

Yeah, I know. But the greatest thing happened. I walked beside an older gentleman who was just doing this for the fun of it, like me. I told him about the shelter and he asked about my hair so I also told him about my parrot gig. He thought it was the funniest thing hes ever heard. Turns out, hes a former schoolteacher himself who has come into some money. Charley lowered his voice. Significant money. And hes coming over next week to see our facility. If he likes it, he may consider giving us a sizable donation.

Charley flattened out on the grass. I had no idea that a 10K would be such a great place to network.

Darla was looking at him again, I noticed, but with new respect in her eyes.

C harley is full of surprises, isnt he? Darla and I shared the mirror in the ladies room of a coffee shop while the guys purchased lattes.

You just noticed?

Hes just so different that its hard to get past his look.

And now you have? What changed?

That man he met, the teacher he introduced us to before we left the race area? The way he and Charley talked, so passionately and professionally, about the importance of humane treatment of animals and about teaching it in schools like Charleys been doing? It made me look at him in a different light, thats all.

Does that mean you might be interested in him after all?

She turned around to face me, ignoring the other women moving in and out of the room. Suze, am I judgmental?

Is this the time or place for this conversation? I asked. Cant it wait?

She ignored me. Ive been avoiding a really nice man just because I made up my mind about him without even knowing him. She checked her makeup again and sighed. But I still think that someone with my tastes and experiences might not mesh very well with his likes and dislikes. Dont get any ideas that Im serious about him. He is making me think, however.

Isnt compromise what its all about? Two people who come into a relationship with a My way or the highway attitude wont make it, but if they can meet in the middle they have a chance.

Meet in the middle? Darla looked doubtful, trying to imagine what a middle ground with Charley might be.

He grows normal hair and promises to dress nicely in public, you quit being so uptight about his crazy impulses. He promises to quit bringing rodents and reptiles into your house or the shelter and finds a foster home that will take them directly and you quit nagging him about three hundred pounds of dog food in the garage, stuff like that.

What about you and David?

What about us? Thats different.

How?

More complicated, thats all.

Darla pressed her lips together but the look on her face told me that this was a conversation Id be having again later.

David and Charley were waiting on the patio, visiting comfortably, as if theyd known each other for years. David could converse with anyone and Charley has never met a stranger, so it seemed perfectly natural that they would bond even though they were a neurologist and a man who enjoyed imitating a parrot.

When Charley saw Darla, he jumped up so quickly, he knocked over his chair and created a loud clatter. Darla, who hates a scene, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

I could see Darla trying to get her mind around the idea of give-and-take with Charley. If he wanted her in his life, he was definitely going to have to give up being a klutz in public.

Auntie Suze! Come see what we did!

Thats another request that sends cold chills down my spine, especially from the Terror Twins. Fortunately, this time it was not a disaster in the making.

Darla, who has natural and creative mothering skills, was helping them to set up a lemonade stand in the front yard.

What are you doing, taking a swipe at commerce or the entire U.S. economy with this?

They want candy. I told them if they wanted it, theyd have to buy it themselves.

Good plan. The twins and processed sugar are a highly combustible mix. I try to keep them far apart.

So then they wanted to know how to make money and, voilà she swept her hands open a lemonade stand.

Whos buying the lemonade?

You, of course, Im teaching them about earning money, not about net, gross and bottom-line expenses. That will be your job.

I sank into one of the two lawn chairs set up behind the card table/lemonade stand. Do you think my sister is ever coming home with that baby or has she found it so quiet and relaxing in South America that shes decided to stay permanently?

It does seem like it is taking a long time.

Eons. I took her hand. And I dont know what I would have done without you these past weeks.

Its not been that difficult. The boys dont wake up at night and Ive only caught you sleepwalking a time or two.

But you probably saved me from burning down the house, I said grimly. Id done a bit of sleep cooking last week. I was rolling out sugar cookies when Darla discovered me. Fortunately I hadnt turned on the oven.

Dont worry about it. I enjoy staying here. Besides, its given me plenty of time to look for housing. Ive liked not having to rush into anything.