Page 15 of One Last Run

Pete had a strange reluctance to tell her about the app sale. It felt kind of tech bro-y in a way that she didn’t want to associate with. Way too akin to owning a Cybertruck or growing interested in day trading. Not the vibe she was going for. It felt even weirder to tell Danica that she was running a nonprofit, like she was only doing it for the bragging rights. She preferred to keep most of her life private, even from most of her friends, but especially from Danica. “Um, this and that. You know.”

Danica blinked. “I really don’t know. Hence why I’m asking.”

“Just traveling. You know me, can’t stay in one place long,” Pete lied, uncomfortable with either looking like she had a savior complex or looking like she’d never faced a responsibility in her life. Better to just let Danica assume the worst, she supposed.

“Why were you in Croatia?” Danica asked.

“Just for fun,” Pete lied again. She had spent time in Croatia, visiting two institutions for orphans and vulnerable children run by the kindest Croatian couple she’d ever met. Her goal was to find a way to bridge the funding gaps for the older teens, ensuring they had the resources they needed to live independently.

Danica shook her head. “I don’t know how you do it, never staying anywhere for long.” Her tone wasn’t judgmental per se, but more like she was self-consciously curious.

“Some of us would crumble under the weight of med school, I’m afraid,” Pete deflected. An accidental touch of legs in the water sent a jolt through her, reminding her of the mortifying intensity of what felt like a high school crush on Danica. Something had shifted between them. She could feel it in the way their eyes met before they both quickly averted their gazes.

“I nearly did,” Danica said, shifting in her seat.

“You? I don’t believe it. I bet you graduated top of your class.” Pete smiled, watching Danica roll her eyes.

“I was third. Nobody likes a show-off,” Danica said with a small stifled smile.

“Of course. And you’ve been a doctor ever since? Is that how med school works?” Pete asked.

“I wish. After med school, I did a three-year pediatric residency in Philadelphia, then a three-year neonatology fellowship back in Colorado.”

“So, of the last fifteen years, you’ve spent ten of them still in school or training?” Pete asked, horrified at the thought.

Danica nodded. “Something like that, yeah.”

Pete cursed under her breath, grimacing. “I can’t imagine anything worse.”

Danica’s laughter erupted, a burst of pure amusement. “Thank you. It’s only my life’s work.”

“Are you happy?” Pete asked, her stomach flipped in anticipation of Danica’s answer. She had begun to realize that yes, she wanted Danica to say yes, that she was happy, but she also didn’t want that happiness to be so consuming that it left no room for… other options. She couldn’t bring herself to hope that there’d be room for her.

Danica stared at her for a long moment. “With... my career?”

Pete angled her head, the warm water rising around her shoulders as she stretched her legs out across the bench seat. “With your life.”

“Who asks someone a question like that?” Danica released an exasperated sigh.

“It’s an easy question if you’re really happy,” Pete said, trying to keep her voice calm.

“Of course I’m happy. I love my job, I love Denver, and I love… my life,” Danica said, stumbling over the last phrase.

Pete watched Danica’s shoulders tense with each word. She’d spent enough time decoding Danica back in college to know when Danica was lying, because her shoulders always rose closer to her ears as her entire body tensed, like the lie made her physically unable to relax. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, I believe you,” Pete said, biting her lower lip and looking away before Danica could make out her disappointment.

“I don’t need you to believe me,” Danica said. “I don’t care what you think at all.” Pete knew that Danica’s knee-jerk defensiveness was a sign that she’d been getting closer to letting Danica lower those walls she kept so heavily guarded. The water sloshed as Danica climbed out of the hot tub, grabbing a towel without pausing as she walked back inside, dripping water all over the patio.

Pete stared at the puddles, lights reflecting in the spilled water like the night sky. Her frustrated sigh became fog in thenight air in front of her. Pushing Danica too far hadn’t been her intention, but she craved to know what Danica was like now. If they had a present, or maybe even a future, instead of just a past.

CHAPTER 7

DANICA

At this moment,Danica was really regretting being such a good friend. Why in the world had she agreed to take snowboarding lessons with Maggie? Last night over pizza, Maggie confessed she was nervous to take the lessons she’d signed up for, and now here was Danica, on a bunny hill, feeling like she might die at any moment.

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