Anything You Can Do(30)
He hung up the phone and stared at the beer can still clutched in his other hand. Would two sips be enough to impair his running? He poured the remainder down the kitchen sink then checked his wheat germ to see if it was frozen. Maybe a couple of spoonsful of the health food would compensate for any ill effects the beer might have on his running.
He was still angry at Bailey, but the prospect of racing with her again blunted the edges of his ire. The adrenaline was already pumping.
*~*~*
The band played Bailey's favorite music, oldies from the sixties and seventies with a few of the more mellow tunes from the eighties. Under different circumstances, she would have really enjoyed the evening.
Lounging on a blanket spread under a tree, Paula and Gordon sipped wine from paper cups, giggling about how awful it was. Bailey was tempted to ask for some—a lot, in fact, and forget the blasted run. Somehow the idea of racing Austin no longer appealed to her.
Nor, it would seem, did he have much interest in it.
He sat cross-legged, straight-backed, on a front corner of the blanket, apparently absorbed in the music. Anyone observing the group would have doubtless thought Paula and Gordon were lovers and she and Austin were recently divorced—from each other.
She supposed Paula's actions constituted more of this stupid competition she'd mentioned, that Paula was trying to make Austin jealous. Dumb. Why didn't they just come out with it, be honest and open, instead of playing asinine games?
The band broke into a rendition of "Summer Breeze," a favorite of Bailey's. She relaxed against the rough bark of the tree trunk, feeling the light breeze on her sweat-damp face as the kid playing lead guitar sang about it. There was no jasmine in the air to blow through her mind, but she could smell honeysuckle mixed with the marijuana smoke.
Very softly she began to sing along. Even before she turned and saw Austin watching her, she could feel the heat of his gaze. Embarrassed at being caught singing badly, she refused to let him see her discomfort. One eyebrow raised haughtily, she returned his solemn stare.
"Blink, damn it," Paula suddenly ordered, waving a hand between the two faces. "Why don't you two go run and tear your knee cartilages or fall on your faces or something? It's a little more socially acceptable than a staring contest."
Austin's expression lightened at that prospect, but Bailey still couldn't engender any enthusiasm. If she'd been by herself, the idea of a run in the approaching twilight would have been soothing, but Austin's presence changed everything. She wanted to go home and lock the door behind her, hide from this awkwardly painful situation with Austin and Paula.
Instead, as her heart squeezed inside, she laced her shoes tighter, tied them in a double knot, and stood up, stiffly erect. "Ready," she announced.
They walked some distance from the concert. "Where to?" Austin asked.
Bailey shrugged. "Up to you. I don't think we ought to run around the park and disturb these happy folks, so why don't we circle through the neighborhood in that direction and come back to Gordon's house? It's only a few blocks from here."
The first few steps were almost agony. Bailey's legs seemed heavy and strange, but by the time they left the park, habit or something had taken over. The legs belonged to her again, obeyed her commands, carried her along.
One by one the stars popped out of the dusk, and a full moon turned from pale yellow to bright gold. The moonbeams reached down toward earth, and Bailey exulted in the sensation that she could run right up one directly to the moon.
Austin touched her shoulder and pointed. "Let's grab one and sprint up it," he said, as though reading her mind.
"I'll race you to the moon," she responded.
"You would!" he agreed, and the way he said it made her feel as if one of the beams had lodged its brightness and energy inside her chest. One corner of her mind warned her to reject the feeling, but she allowed it to remain, to mingle with all the other good feelings engendered by running.
She ran easily now, conserving her energy for later, and Austin stayed beside her. She had half expected him to try to keep at least a few paces ahead of her. He wouldn't have challenged her to another race if he hadn't been practicing, hadn't been sure of winning.
However, the real race began when they made the last turn and the tall hedge around Gordon's yard loomed in the distance. Bailey wasn't sure if she started increasing her speed first and he followed or vice versa or if they started at the same time. At any rate, they ran the last couple of blocks in full sprint.