Page 81 of Promise Me Nothing
“Well that was a pretty amazing run for someone just starting to get into it,” she praises, and I can’t help it when my feathers fluff up at her attention. “Do you want to run back together?”
My mind races through all of the things that could go wrong with this run back, but ultimately, I nod.
Because the part of me that can’t seem to get enough of her? He’s been winning since the moment we met.
We take off, running at a steady pace, side-by-side. And I want to laugh at the irony of this situation.
That I’m running on The Strand with Hannah Morrison. Wanting her attention. Smiling at her jokes. Barely able to catch my breath.
Well, that’s probably because of the running, but still. It’s true whether I’m running or not.
“This beach is so gorgeous,” she says, breaking the silence a few minutes later. “I never would have imagined that I’d be here, in a place like this.”
“You miss Phoenix at all?” I ask.
“Not really,” she says, her voice surprisingly steady for someone running at least a half dozen miles today.
“Sounds like a great place to live.”
My sarcasm isn’t lost on her and she laughs, glances my way. “I hated Phoenix. I lived in this beat up little apartment with a childhood friend and her daughter.”
Even if Ihadn’talready known that, the Hermosa gossip trail has already burned strong with information about Lucas’ secret sister.
At minimum, the machine has dug up the information on her parents’ deaths, her background in foster care, her brother’s death, her enrollment at the community college in Phoenix, and the fact that she lived with a girl with a deaf daughter.
I know more information than they do, but no one needs to know that.
Some secrets are better kept secret.
“I loved them,” she continues, “but I’ve always felt like my life has been this one giant attempt at trying to climb out of a hole, and I think Melanie felt the same. It’s probably better that we parted ways so we didn’t start dragging each other down.”
“What was life like there?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from revealing how badly I want to collapse on the ground.
This running shit is no joke.
She sighs, and when I look over, I see a look of frustration on her face.
“Well, I worked as much as I could. Babysitting and waitressing. Tried to get photography gigs. Took classes at the community college. That’s really it.”
“So, you came here to get away from that?”
She pants a few times, takes some deep breaths and glances my way. “I guess. My lease was coming to an end. School was out for the summer.” She pauses. “But mostly, I think I’m here trying to figure things out.”
“Like what?”
Hannah slows slightly, wrapping her arms around her stomach awkwardly as we jog. And then she laughs. Hard. Almost forcefully, belying her discomfort.
“God, if only it were that easy, that I could just give you a list. But honestly, I don’t know yet. But I think being here is a part of the process.”
I don’t like her answer. I don’t like that it sounds vague and indecisive, like she’s a feather in the wind just waiting to be pushed in whatever direction is decided for her.
She doesn’t seem like that girl to me. That woman. I think she sees herself as weak, but the more I start to reveal the little bits and pieces of Hannah that make up her whole, the more I realize she’s made out of something real and twisted and strong.
We stay silent for most of the run back into Hermosa. When my body starts to revolt against the long run and lack of conditioning for this much cardio, I find myself focusing on Hannah’s soft breaths panting next to me.
“You mentioned photography?” I ask, trying to find a way to keep her talking.
She snorts, an adorable little thing that reflects how she feels about this portion of her life. “I hope to be a photographer one day. But I’m still trying to figure everything out, so… it’s been a work in progress.”
