Page 23 of The Now in Forever
An eternity passes. I straighten the books on the table. I finish putting price tags on the Jane Austen dolls. Finally, Ed comes out of the back, skateboard in hand. I want to ask if we’re still meeting tonight, but I don’t want to be insensitive. He heads straight for the door, puts his skateboard down and, right before he steps on it, looks my way, and we lock eyes for the briefest moment. It almost looks like he winks, but it could be the early evening sun shining through the window, catching his eye. Then he steps on the board, skating out of the store and down the sidewalk.
CHAPTER 5
MONDAY, JUNE 24TH
Monday morning, I pop out of bed, put on my running gear, and decide to try the full run from the house to the trail and back. I’m filling the bladder in my backpack when Ed comes into the kitchen, also in running tights.
He points to me. “Great minds. Want to go together?”
We head out the door. I catch the screen on our way out and help it close gingerly so it won’t wake Nathan and Robin. They were up late last night, and they both have to work today. Ed was up late too. I could hear him typing away when I passed the door. Okay, more like pressed my ear against it, but still. I read most of his pages. They’re good. On a line level, he is extremely talented, but I can see some places where the plot is lacking momentum.
We walk to the beach, warming up, and once we hit the sand, we start to run. The air is misty. A dark-blue light bathes everything: the sea, the sand, Ed’s chiseled face, and his messy bed head hair. The sand is thick and shifts under my feet, making my thighs and hamstrings work harder to power forward. My pace is slower than usual.
Ed says, “Doing okay?”
I nod, catching my breath enough to talk. “The Walrus and the Carpenter were right. Fuck this sand.”
Ed laughs. And screams into the wind toward the crashing waves. “Fuck this sand!”
We find a comfortable pace, and my breaths even out. The sun is rising and turning all the deep blue into lollipop swirls of pink and purple.I want to ask him when exactly he’s leaving, and at the same time, I don’t.
“Are you ready to share notes today?” Ed asks, hardly out of breath at all.
“Yep.”
We run a few more minutes. He swings his arms back and forth gracefully, fists loose at his sides, and I can’t help but picture the young man in ripped jeans, skating like a maniac through the side streets of New Haven. Was he a runner back then? “When did you start running?”
Ed smiles. “A couple years ago. I’ve always had a lot of energy to burn. I used to skate—sometimes I still do. But I landed funky on a backside nosegrind. Caught myself right at the bottom of some stairs, sprained my wrist. I was on a deadline too, with the edits for my second book. My editor was very nice about it all, but I could tell she was pissed. So, I started running. I can do it anywhere, and when I find cool trails like this one, it’s not so bad.”
I look out at the deep-purple sky, the smattering of clouds lighting up with a golden glow. “Not bad at all.”
He laughs and pushes the pace a little faster.
After our run, I shower. As I lather up, my chest feels as light as the bubbles. When we’re dressed and ready, we’re going to meet at the kitchen table to go over our notes for each other’s pages. I pick out a chocolate brown tank top that matches the highlights in my hair and some light-blue denim shorts and throw an oversized cardigan on. I slip on my sandals, grab my notebook and laptop, and head to the kitchen.
Robin is bustling around, humming and stirring some eggs on the stove.
“Morning.”
Robin spins around, putting a hand to her heart. “You startled me.”
I set my stuff down at the table. “Why are you so jumpy?” I pour myself some coffee then rummage through the fridge for the oat milk I bought yesterday.
“I’m not jumpy. Why are you so sneaky?” Robin turns back to the skillet. “Are you hungry? There’s plenty of eggs.”
I smile and walk over. “Sure. They look great.” I plant a little kiss on her cheek, and she beams. “Where’s Nathan?”
“Still in bed. He has to get online in like an hour, though, so he’s going to have to wake up now.” Robin gets out three plates and scoops some of the scrambled eggs onto each of them. There’s still some left in the pan. She grabs the toast out of the toaster and plops it on two of the plates then adds some strawberries.
“Wow. Breakfast in bed. Check you out. Girlfriend of the year.”
Robin smiles, but there is something very serious in her eyes. She lowers her voice. “Hattie, I think he’s the one.”
I purse my lips and nod.The one.What does that even mean? The one for right now. The one until you get sick of each other or bored? Until one of you stops returning texts or cheats, or the whole thing just falls apart like a pair of leggings that have been washed one time too many? But Robin, with her giant blue puppy love eyes, doesn’t want to hear any of that. “That’s great.”
Ed walks in, laptop in hand, a worn in pair of jeans hanging off his narrow hips, and a light gray T-shirt withThe Trucksprinted across the middle, little white hearts around the words. It looks so soft, I want to run my hands along it. Robin pauses, looking into my eyes for one last meaningful moment, and then walks past Ed with her plates of lovingly prepared breakfast in hand.
“There’re eggs on the stove if you want some.”
