she asked, dropping into a lunge to stretch.
Simon moved through his own prerun stretches. He knew exactly what she meant. The city that never slept lay about them in uneasy slumber.
“It’s like the proverbial sleeping giant, isn’t it?” he said.
“Exactly. Listen, I know you’re anxious to get there, but remember it’s six miles. Let’s pace it. I believe she’s going to be fine, Simon. At least she’s at the hospital and in good hands.”
“You lead and I’ll be right there with you.”
Tawny headed east through the darkness toward New Jersey and Simon followed. At the corner, where a flower shop stood in silent bloom, she turned north. Simon reminded himself to match her stride. They ran in companionable silence for several blocks, only passing a few cars and the occasional pedestrian.
He needed this, to run, to push himself. Inside he was a mess. So he wasn’t close to his parents. In many ways their relationship bordered on hostile. But he didn’t want anything to happen to his mother. She wasn’t exactly a nurturer, but he hadn’t exactly tried to reach out to them either. At least, not in a long time. He’d summarily ignored their occasional overtures in the past couple of years.
Running through the dark, silent streets, he gave voice to the emotions racking his soul. Tawny would understand.
“I shouldn’t feel this resentment. This situation should absolve it. I should let it go, Tawny, but I can’t. Dammit, I can’t let it go. It’s always been the two of them, with me on the outside looking in. They had each other and I had my resentment. It was my companion during my childhood and while I was a teenager. All these years I’ve nurtured it, embraced it, and I can’t abandon it now. But the really crazy part is, I love her so desperately....” He trailed off, conflicted, close to weeping.
“Of course you do. She’s your mother. And you can resent the hell out of both of them, but it doesn’t mean you don’t love them. It’s our job to be screwed up by our parents. They screwed us up. We’ll screw our kids up. It’s one of those unwritten laws of nature. But it doesn’t mean they don’t love you and it doesn’t mean you don’t love them.”
Her words soothed his troubled soul as the night’s oppressive heat absorbed the rhythmic pounding of their feet. Simon ignored the biting sting of a blister on his left heel. Doc Martens weren’t optimal running footwear. Amazing how just talking to her made him feel better.
“How’d you get to be so smart?” he asked.
Her answer was lost when a spotlight fixed on them and a voice rang out.
“Stop. Police.”
Tawny stumbled and Simon caught her arm, steadying her. They stopped and stood on the sidewalk, sides heaving, waiting.
Blinded by the light, they only heard the slam of a car door and approaching footsteps. “What seems to be the hurry? Kind of odd to be running in the middle of the night dressed all in black? You running from something or someone in particular?”
Piss if he needed some cop with a bad attitude. Didn’t this guy have anything better to do? “Don’t you have anything—”
Tawny stepped on his foot and cut him off. “Morning, Officer.” Her Southern drawl rolled out, thick and sweet as molasses. “We’re on our way to City North Hospital. Simon’s mother’s had a heart attack. I don’t have a car and no cabs are out, so we’ve run all the way.” Tawny smiled at the officer, who remained a faceless silhouette against the blinding light. “I know it looks odd, but Simon didn’t have any running clothes at my apartment, which is why he’s running in all black.”
“Where are you from?”
Jesus, it was an ungodly hour, hotter than hell, they were in the middle of a blackout and this guy—this cop—was flirting with her. Give him a break.
“Savannah, originally.”
“Ah, a Georgia peach.”
Tawny laughed, that warm, husky laugh that crawled over his skin and turned him inside out. “And you sound like a New York boy.”
“Born and raised. Hey, whaddaya say I give the two of you a ride to the hospital?”
Earlier she’d accused Simon of being macho, and really he never had been. But now he had the overwhelming urge to tell this guy to take his ride and shove it up...
“That’d be lovely. We’d really appreciate getting to the hospital as quickly as possible. Wouldn’t we, Simon?” She stepped on his foot again.
“Uh, yeah. The sooner the better.”
“I’m