Something Found (17 page)

Collin brightened. “I’d love to take you out to one.”

“Too late. I just ate it. Very nice too.”

Collin pulled her into his arms. “I knew you’d come around. You’ve lost that scared look in your eyes. I think I’m in for it now.”

“You better believe you are.”

Emily continued to question Collin about his conversation with Kevin wanting to know every bit of what was said as well as the bits that weren’t said. Collin pulled her close so that her legs were draped over his and was as patient with her as he could be, but eventually he was too tired to go on.

“That’s really it Em. That’s all of it.”

Emily stood up. “Alright. I’ll leave you off ‘til tomorrow. By the way I also volunteered our babysitting services to your sister for next week.”

“Is this another part of my punishment?”

“A very small part of it.”

Chapter 11

Emily was just finishing her coffee the next morning, curling up on the couch with a book, when the phone rang. “Hello?”

“So what should I wear jogging?”

Emily almost dropped her mug. Then she had to fight to keep her voice neutral. If she made a big deal out of this Joni would change her mind. “Just shorts or tracksuit pants and a t-shirt. Something loose and comfortable. And a good pair of running shoes. And wear your hair up in a ponytail.” To Emily these seemed like obvious things but she had a feeling Joni hadn’t intentionally run anywhere since the age of twelve.

“Right. I’ll be over in a few.”

Emily put the book back down. She was beginning to understand that Wednesday’s were no longer her own.

Twenty minutes later she opened the door and found herself fighting back laughter. Emily’s own outfit wasn’t anything special, just an old t-shirt, a pair of sweatpants she’d turned into shorts and her shoes, but Joni had taken it to a different level. She had on what was obviously a pair of Robert’s shorts pinned at the sides to stay up, a t-shirt that was tucked in at the front and half way down to her knees in the back, and a pair of shoes that would probably last for this one run and never be wearable again.

“What?” Joni’s eyes narrowed as Emily fought to control the look on her face. “You said wear something loose.”

“I didn’t mean that loose,” Emily exclaimed. “You want it to actually stay on your body.”

Joni’s face flamed up. “Forget it. This is a stupid idea.”

“No wait.” Emily grabbed her arm, trying to get her to stay. “They’re just that bit too big,” Emily tried to say it as if it were a common problem. “We can fix it. And the shirt . . . .” Her look became troubled.

“I know, but if I untuck the shirt the pants fall down.”

“But if you wear that shirt you’ll probably trip over it.” Emily couldn’t help herself. It just slipped out.

Joni’s eyes narrowed and Emily became nervous. “Oh just let me inside. I look like a fool standing here. What’s Collin got?” Joni pushed her way in and headed up the stairs to the bedroom.

Emily followed behind slowly. The back view of Joni’s outfit was even more ridiculous than the front.

“Stay down there. I don’t need you smirking at me. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Normally Emily would’ve been offended to be ordered out of her own bedroom, but she was too thankful for the reprieve to mind. She hurried back down the stairs and into the front room. Shutting the door behind her she let out the laughter she’d been fighting to hold in. Tears were soon running down her cheeks and she was doubled over almost in pain.

“I can still hear you,” Joni bellowed from upstairs.

That brought Emily to her knees.

“Okay Ms. Fit,” Joni said when she’d finally found something more suitable. “Let’s see how this’s done.”

“It’s really quite simple Joni. You put one foot in front of the other. It’s similar to walking except you do it faster.”

“I see. I praise you once for being sarcastic and you think you’ve mastered it.”

“Exactly.” Emily liked this new comfortableness with Joni. Two weeks ago she’d never have dared to joke with her this way. But two weeks ago she’d felt like the weakest person on earth. She’d needed all the coddling reassurance she could get then. Learning that she had things to offer changed that. She was starting to feel that maybe she could become an integral part of Collin’s family. Maybe she had something to add to the mix.

“Some great trainer you’re going to be.” Joni still looked perplexed and uncomfortable.

Emily’s expression sobered. She didn’t want to scare Joni off before they even started. “Really it’s just about finding a pace you’re comfortable with. Don’t push yourself too hard or you’ll hate it and it’ll be bad for your body. Just push yourself enough so that you can feel your muscles working.”

“Okay, I can feel it. Am I done now?” They had gone about a quarter of a block.

Emily ignored her and they managed to make it down to the bridge and across the river before Joni commented again. “I think I was wrong yesterday.” Her breathing was heavy.

“About what?”

“About saying this wouldn’t kill me.”

“You have to think about it in the right way Joni,” Emily said patiently. “Think about the things that make you mad or think about things you’d like to be better at. Get angry or be positive. Either way it’ll fuel you. And you’ve got to concentrate on your breathing as well. Make sure your breathing evenly or you’ll get a cramp.”

“What happened to just putting one foot in front of the other?” Joni asked snidely.

“Stop talking and focus,” Emily shot back at her.

Joni chose not to comment again but her eyes darkened. Her mouth became a straight line and her face became intense. It wasn’t long before her stride was picking up that bit more. Emily had expected it would. Joni was too tall to remain at Emily’s pace and all she needed was a little pushing to get her going. Minutes passed and she was pulling ahead of Emily. Then she was out in front of her. Emily watched her go happily. She had a feeling that Joni might just come to enjoy running.

“Just remember we still have the run back,” Emily yelled out to her before she was out of earshot.

They walked slowly back over the bridge, sweat dripping down both their faces. They had run for almost twenty minutes and Joni looked tired, but happy. “My legs feel all wobbly.”

“Yeah. It’s like that when you first start, or when you run farther than usual. I should warn you Joni, you’ll be in some pain tomorrow.”

She turned with a typical Joni snort. “You tell me that now?” But there was a smile on her face. “It was like you said. I was thinking about the things that make me mad at first, the things Robert does that annoy me, or even the kids, angels that they are. That got me going at first. But then I started to get another feeling. I felt free. It was great to be out on my own, away from everyone and everything and running.”

“That’s when you really started going fast wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. Only I couldn’t keep it up for long.”

“That’s because you need to work on your breathing. I’m not great at it either when I run fast. You really need to make sure you’re breathing evenly or you start gasping and it just doesn’t work.”

“I’m glad I came with you.”

Emily was hesitant to ask the question that had been on her mind since Joni had called but she couldn’t resist. “Why did you? I really was shocked when you called this morning.”

Joni shrugged her shoulders and threw her arms up in the air like a kid. “Oh petty jealousy. I didn’t like it when Robert commented on how fit you are. I can’t remember the last time he gave me a comment like that.”

“But Joni you’re in great shape. You’ve had two kids after all.”

“But I don’t want to be in great shape considering I’ve had kids. I want to be in great shape period. I’m not ready to just let myself go.”

Emily chuckled. “Yeah. I can tell.”

Collin was surprised when he got the call to meet Joni and Emily in the pub after work. They sounded like schoolgirls the way they were chattering and he got the impression they’d already had a couple. Emily sounded slightly nervous asking him to join them but Collin intended to prove to her that he could have a drink or two without getting out of control. He was determined to show her that she wouldn’t have to keep worrying about him.

“So what’re we drinking?” Collin asked, spotting them easily in the quiet bar.

“Bud and Bulmers,” Joni answered without hesitation. She had no qualms about her brother buying her a drink.

“And how many of them have you ladies had already?”

“Only two,” Emily said defensively.

“Maybe three,” Joni added.

Collin smiled. He knew his wife well enough to know he wouldn’t be able to drink much anyway. There was a good chance he might be carrying her home. “Then I’ll be back with number three . . . . or four.”

When Collin rejoined them with a Guinness of his own Emily couldn’t help eyeing it warily. But she made a conscious effort to trust him and enjoy the day she was having. She wanted to hear about his day at work but first she wanted to share her own good news. “So, it’s all decided.”

“What’s that?” Collin asked confused.

“I went in to see Orla today. I’ll be working Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from ten to five.”

Collin nodded, impressed. “Wonderful! My own working woman. Maybe I’ll quit altogether and you can support me.”

“Don’t be mean,” Emily pouted. The fact that he was supporting her still got under her skin sometimes.

“Em, I didn’t mean it that way.” He leaned over to kiss her. “I didn’t mean it that way at all.”

After three Bulmers Emily let herself be easily placated. “Well maybe I’ll take you out to dinner sometime though.”

“That would be great.”

“Would you two stop the lovey-dovey crap. It’s disgusting. And what about my news?” Joni cut in impatiently.

Collin turned to his sister. “Don’t tell me you got a job too.”

“No,” Joni gave him a mockingly annoyed look. “I went running.”

Collin did a repeat performance of Emily that morning, almost dropping the glass in his hand. “You did what?!”

“I went running,” Joni repeated smugly. “And I even liked it.”

Collin looked wildly at Emily. “That’s it. Back to your own country. It’s one thing to go messing with my head, but leave my poor sister out of it.” Then, looking back at Joni, “Are you okay?”

“Shut up Collin,” she said flatly, but her lips were still turned up in a smile.

“I wonder what I’ll come home to find out tomorrow. Maybe you’ll both take up sky diving or something.”

Joni turned to Emily, suddenly excited. “That’s a great idea for next Wednesday. I could make the call and-.”

“Forget it,” Emily cut her off quickly. “Moving to a different country is enough of an experience for me right now. If you want to go jumping out of planes you’ll have to find someone else.”

“Spoilsport,” Joni sulked.

Collin sat back in his chair and enjoyed watching his wife and sister banter.

“So, what about your news,” Emily asked before he could get too relaxed. “How was your day with Kevin?”

“I never thought I’d ever say this but Kevin and I actually had a grand day together. I stayed in the office and he stayed out of it,” Collin smiled noting the look of disapproval on both their faces. “But we did go out for a nice lunch. You could even call it a business lunch. We discussed what new merchandise we might want to buy and how much we can afford to spend on it. I put together some graphs on what’s selling the most and we had a whole conversation without fighting. Well up until the end.”

“What happened then?” Emily’s lips turned down expecting the worse.

“We fought over who’d pay the bill. But since I’ve been the bigger langer lately I won out.”

“Good for you,” Joni congratulated him as if it were something to be proud of.

“Thank you,” Collin swelled his chest up and plastered on a bright smile.

“Imagine the two of you getting along for a whole day.”

“I know.” Collin’s expression mellowed. “He said some things the other day that made me think. Joni, did you ever think we were exclusive?”

“What d’you mean?”

“With Kevin and Paul. Well Kevin more so, but Paul too.”

“I never meant to be.”

“Me neither, but Kevin says it seems that way to them. That we’ve always had this great bond and left them out.”

“You two can be that way,” Emily said softly, not sure how much her input was wanted.

“Really?’ Joni seemed genuinely surprised.

“Yeah. I picked up on it right away. I was more nervous about losing Collin to you than another woman.”

“That’s just ridiculous,” Joni said more heatedly.

“Look I don’t want to fight about it. But you two do have this kind of relationship that puts others on the peripheries.”

Joni didn’t continue to argue but her expression wasn’t happy.

“I’m sorry. Look I didn’t mean to ruin the mood. Let’s just talk about something else.”