wanted to do. But she couldn’t bring herself to actually do it. At this point it’d been over two weeks since they’d spoken about the incident at the cliff, and disturbing the normalcy they’d recultivated wasn’t a palatable option—especially when she didn’t know what Marc was thinking. He might have decided that pursuing someone with so much baggage wasn’t worth it.
“It’s just my relationship with Simon. I’m not sure if I’ve shot myself in the foot.”
“I can so relate to that.” Eva pulled a few protein bars from her backpack and tossed one to Angela. “Marc basically told me he wanted to date, and I couldn’t give him a good reason not to.”
“I’ve seen how you look at him. You obviously want to.” Months ago Angela’s tone might have seemed caustic, unfeeling. But Eva’s sister-in-law was changing—or maybe it was Eva’s perception of her that had shifted.
“You’re right. I do. But I’m scared. Seems like you feel the same way about Simon.” Angela didn’t contradict her. Eva unwrapped her bar and took a bite. “Both of us have these amazing guys who want us despite all the pain we carry. Why do we push them away?”
Angela polished off her own bar and stuck the foil in her pocket. “Lots of reasons. I just don’t know if any of them are right.”
A breeze rustled the wrapper in Eva’s hands before she finished eating and stuffed it away.
They started running again, both breathing steadily and focusing on the course ahead.
“Speaking of pushing people away . . . I know I’ve done that to you in the past, Eva. I’m really sorry about that.”
Eva couldn’t help the way her jaw dropped, but she shut it quickly so as not to get a mouthful of bugs as they jogged down the course. “Um, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I let my jealousy of you get in the way of our relationship.”
Angela, jealous of her? “What do you mean?”
The leaves of the trees above stirred, as if leaning in to listen.
Her sister-in-law turned her head to acknowledge Eva. “I’ve always wished I had the freedom you do. I love my kids, but sometimes I wonder . . . how would life be if I could do what I wanted, without the pressure of others depending on me?”
Eva might have that freedom, but she didn’t know what in the world to do with it. “And all this time I’ve wondered what life would have been like if Brent hadn’t gotten so caught up in growing his business and having his adventures. He thought we had all the time in the world to start a family . . . and then we didn’t.”
Wait.
Was she actually . . . upset? With Brent?
No. They’d had a wonderful marriage, and he’d been a wonderful husband. Her Prince Charming, really.
Emotions spun through Eva, confusing her heart, bruising her mind. The only thing left to do was physically work out the pain. To run. Hard.
“Eva, hold on!”
But she couldn’t slow down. Had to elude—
The upper half of Eva’s body went flying, then snapped back toward the ground. At the same time, her elbow slammed into dirt and twigs, and her neck cracked to the side.
“Eva!” Angela crouched next to her. “Are you okay?”
It took a moment for her to feel the pain in her arm and hip, but when she did, a groan eked out. “I think so. What happened?” Now she knew why cartoon characters always had those stars whirling around their heads after a fall. The world tilted for a moment before it righted.
“You tripped over a large root sticking out of the ground.”
“That wasn’t too smart of me. I was a bit distracted, I guess.”
“That’s an understatement. Are you okay?”
“Physically? Yeah, I think so.” Some blood welled from a scrape on her elbow. That would require a bandage but wasn’t too bad. “Emotionally? Not sure on that front.”
Then she stood—and yelled. Sinking back down, she clutched her right ankle.
Angela squatted again. “You’re not okay.”
“I must have twisted my ankle.” This could not be happening—not a month before the biggest race, the biggest quest, of her life. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Because she had to be.
“Let me take a look. It might be broken.”
“Do you know how to tell?”
Angela rolled up Eva’s pant leg, her touch surprisingly gentle. The ankle was already starting to swell. “I was premed in college. That was a long time ago, but I took a sports medicine class as an elective. I’d intended to work