Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(62)

It hindered their chances.

Twenty-Six

Linnette was waiting for her sister at the high-school track. Gloria had finally convinced her to try running, which she claimed kept her in good shape and allowed her to pass the police department’s regular fitness tests.

Gloria was supposed to join her when her shift ended. Together they’d do a lazy mile, she’d said. Then, in a few weeks, after Linnette had built up her endurance, they’d run farther. Gloria had made it sound like fun and as a physician’s assistant, Linnette often advised patients on the health benefits of exercise. The least she could do was practice what she preached. Besides, seeing her fit and firm would be a nice surprise for Cal when he returned.

Gloria was only a few minutes behind her; she pulled into the lot and parked next to Linnette.

“Hey, you look great,” Gloria said as she stepped out of her car.

Linnette did a full turn so her sister could get a complete view of her jogging suit. “I should. This running outfit cost me over a hundred bucks.”

Gloria rolled her eyes. “You don’t need designer clothes to run—an old pair of jeans and a T-shirt would’ve worked fine.”

“Not for me. I figure that if I’m going to sweat, I want to look as good as I can while I’m doing it.”

Shaking her head, Gloria led the way. It was late enough that the school had finished with the track, which was now open to the public. Several other runners circled it; a few more walked.

“Chad asked me to send his greetings,” Linnette said, watching for her sister’s reaction. Gloria didn’t give any indication that she cared. “Hey, that’s quite the poker face,” she teased.

“What?”

“I mentioned Chad’s name and you didn’t even raise an eyebrow. When are you going to admit you’re as interested in him as he is in you?”

“Do you want to run or not?” Gloria asked, ignoring the question.

“Run, of course.” She was looking forward to some brisk exercise and, in the process, spending time with her sister. All they seemed to do when they got together was go out for meals, which defeated her goal of getting into shape. Gloria was the one who’d suggested they start running and Linnette had happily agreed.

Gloria demonstrated a few warm-up exercises.

Linnette carefully followed her instructions. “Hey, this is great. I feel better already.”

“We aren’t running yet.”

Linnette jumped up and down a few times, showing her sister that she had plenty of energy in reserve. “Lead on and don’t hold back on my account,” she said, gesturing dramatically at the track.

“We’ll start off nice and easy,” Gloria told her. “I wouldn’t want to kill my sister, the health care professional.”

“It’s nice to have a sister, isn’t it?” Linnette murmured, basking in the glow of first finding a friend and then learning that friend was also her sister.

“I agree—a sister is a good thing,” Gloria said with a smile.

They took off down the track, and to Linnette’s surprise it wasn’t bad. She could breathe almost normally. But by the end of the first lap, her breathing had grown heavier and her speed had decreased. “How many laps in a mile again?”

“Four.”

Gloria had to be kidding. Each time around felt that far. “That was a joke, right?”

“You’re already a quarter there.” Gloria cast her a knowing look.

This wasn’t welcome news. Her lungs ached, and her legs didn’t want to cooperate. She felt suddenly depressed to realize she still had three laps to go before she was finished. Besides, in addition to her aches and pains, she noticed that perspiration was running freely down her face. “Maybe you were right about starting off slow and easy,” Linnette managed, although it stung her pride to suggest she wasn’t up to the challenge.

“We’re practically walking now,” Gloria said. “Why don’t we talk—that’ll distract you.”

“What do you want to talk about? Chad?” Linnette asked.

Once again, Gloria ignored the mention of his name. “What do you hear from Cal?”

“Not much. I talked to him this weekend. He was in a honky-tonk bar, if the background music was any indication.” Linnette frowned at the memory. She might not know much about mustangs, but even as a greenhorn she was bright enough to recognize that there weren’t a lot of wild horses hanging around in bars. Rethinking the conversation, she recalled a number of other things that had bothered her. “While we were talking, Cal began to stutter again. That tells me he’s tense or nervous about something.”

“Maybe he just needs to get back to the speech therapist.”

“Maybe.” Still, Linnette didn’t think that was the problem. There was something on his mind he wasn’t telling her. They hardly talked anymore. When he phoned, it felt more like the fulfilling of an obligation than any desire to talk to her. A recent article in the Cedar Cove Chronicle stated that local veterinarian Vicki Newman had joined Cal. She remembered their meeting at the ranch earlier and the odd sensation that had come over her when she saw Cal talking to Vicki. She’d felt threatened, and she couldn’t figure out exactly why. Vicki was so…ordinary. Linnette hated to say it, but the veterinarian, with her sharp facial features, lank hair and mannish build, was downright unattractive. She seemed nice enough, Linnette supposed. But Cal hadn’t told her Vicki was going to Wyoming, too, and that worried her.