Page 70 of No Kind of Hero
Half of him wanted to laugh. The other half knew that would be extremely unwise. “I’m going there.”
“Where’s Gracie?”
“With me. Of course with me.”
“OK. I’m hanging up.”
He had a feeling this was going to be a very strange fight.
It didn’t take long. He ran more slowly back along the lakefront. It was getting a little chilly out here now that the sun was setting. The sky had apparently decided to light it up tonight, because it was a blaze of pink, orange, and scarlet, the colors reflected in the lake until it almost hurt you to look at, it was so beautiful.
And he was a mess. Because somebody was coming down the sidewalk toward the water, there on his left. A slim figure in a full-skirted dress and high-heeled sandals, and she wasrunning.
He ran too, and when they met, he said, “You’re crazy. What are you trying to do, sprain your ankle?”
She made some sort of noise, something like an indignant “Hah!” Like that was the worst thing she’d ever heard, when all he was doing was being concerned for her safety, which was what a man wassupposedto do. “Yes,” she said, turning on one of those heels and marching up the sidewalk toward the Resort as if he’d damn well better come with her.
He wasn’t stupid. Well, he was. Sometimes. But he came with her.
“I ran to talk to you,” she said, “and I’m sorry I couldn’t change my shoes, becauseIdidn’t run away and go home. And why didn’t I do that? Because I didn’t have acar.Because the man who took me to the party left without me. Left me standing there holding the bag. Because he didn’t trust me and didn’t have faith in me to choose him and stand up for him. And what did I do? DidIgive up onhim?Did I say, “Win some, lose some, so maybe I’ll just go back to the party and kiss up to a woman I can’t stand and see if I can arm-wrestle her for this multimillionaire who’s actuallyniceto me?”
She’d been walking faster and faster, practically jogging, and he was having to take some pretty good strides to keep up with her. Just as well, since she had to be cold in that dress. “No,” he said, “clearly you didn’t. You borrowed your mom’s car and drove to find him. Not the millionaire. The other guy. You’re strange that way.”
“See, and you’re wrong again. I got a ride with the millionaire, and he says he’s scared of you, so you can quit pretending that you lost back there and decide that next time, you could stay and fight. You could stay withme.You could let me stand up for you, and you could stand up for me. That’s the idea, isn’t it?”
“How was I supposed to know you would?”
This time, she stopped. Stopped and stared at him, and her hands were rising from her sides just like before. Rising, and then falling to her thighs again. Only now, she didn’t look sad. “Excuse me? How could you think I wouldn’t, when it’s everything I’ve done ever since I got here? When it’s everything I’m trying to do, which you’ve said yougot?”
He tried to find a way he wasn’t wrong here. Unfortunately, he couldn’t come up with one. “I was going to lose my temper,” he said. “I don’t do that. I had to get out.”
“Which meant I had to stay,” she said. “And lose my temper. And news flash—the world didn’t end. At least, maybe it did according to my mother, since I’m pretty sure I failed the Lady Test, but I’m still standing here, alive to tell the tale.”
“Right.” He sighed. “Right. I can tell I’m going to get shamed here. Tell me about it.”
“I would.” She’d started walking again, but at least she wasn’t trying to break the Sandal Speed Record anymore. “But I can’t remember. I had this red thing.”
“Ah. The red mist. Yeah.”
“You get that?”
“Baby,” he said, and somehow, he was smiling. Despite everything that had happened, and despite the fact that he knew he was going to end up groveling tonight. “Everybody gets that. First time, though?”
“Yes.I thought I was having a stroke.”
Now, he laughed. “I can see that. Yep. So let’s hear it. What you can remember.”
She ran a hand through her silvery hair, which was downright messy by this time, what with all the running and everything. She didn’t look like a unicorn anymore, or if she did, it was a badass unicorn, a unicorn who’d been kicked out of the herd for conduct unbecoming. “I think it was something to the effect that Dakota is twice the woman Melody could ever hope to be, and I may have thrown in that her brother was a hero. I think I also said ‘Screw reputation,’ and if I didn’t call Melody a bitch, I sure came close. My mom didn’t like that at all. I’m pretty sure I yelled. And then I walked out, and that Brett Hunter gave me a ride to your place and told me I was right. Which was nice to hear, sinceyousure didn’t stick around to tell me so.”
“All right. I’m doing it. You listening?”
“All I’mdoingis listening. All Icame forwas listening.”
“You sure?” He was smiling, and he shouldn’t be. “I’d say you came to tell me I shouldn’t have run out on you, especially right after I told you that I was so strong that I’d stay as long as you needed me. Right after you told me that you knew I’d never run. And what did I do? I didn’t stay, and I ran.”
“Because you didn’t trust me. You didn’t believe in me. You thought I’d pick my parents, that I’d pick MelodyFarnsworth.Have I mentioned that I can’t stand Melody Farnsworth?”
“Can I help it if I didn’t know that?”
