Page 11 of Falls From Grace
Savannah shook her head with a look of disbelief.
“I couldn’t chase you if I didn’t know you were here,” she pointed out. “And it’s not creepy, it’s perfectly safe. I always run through here. It’s peaceful.”
“Not today, it’s not,” Brynn disagreed. “Bears, wolves, mountain lions.” She gestured around her in the now quiet woods. “Psychopaths running through the trees.”
“My apologies for scaring you with my routine, everyday jog,” Savannah said drily. “Shall I leave you to it?”
“No!” Brynn said quickly, taking a step towards her, fully preparing to run after her, if that’s what it took. “I’m actually totally lost,” she admitted. Savannah’s lip quirked.
“No, you’re not,” she told her. “This path is a circle. You’d get back to the house either way. I mean, one way would take you about an hour, but you’d still get home.” She shrugged. “Also, we’re about three-hundred feet from the house.”
“No.” Brynn refused to believe it.
“Yes.” Savannah cocked her head for her to follow, and Brynn quickly complied. Together they trudged down the path, which suddenly felt quite picturesque and lovely, now that she had company. “Were you going anywhere in particular?”
“Just wanted to explore,” Brynn told her. “At least, I thought I did. But it turns out the woods are not for me.”
Savannah examined her.
“You’re missing out,” she said. “They’re beautiful. You just need a better guide, that’s all. You know… I can take you out on a real walk, if you want.”
Brynn looked sideways at her. Savannah’s cheeks were still pink, wisps of blonde escaping from her ponytail. She looked fresh as a daisy and ridiculously pretty. Exertion suited her.
“That’s super kind of you. You don’t have to, though.” Brynn thought she was letting her off the hook, but Savannah actually looked disappointed. “I mean, you know, you’re busy and I’m just a hanger-on here. I don’t want to put you out,” she rushed to add.
“You wouldn’t be putting me out. I prefer being in the woods, honestly. It’d give me an excuse to escape the house for a while,” she said with a small shrug. “Evade my responsibilities.”
“Oh, this is a playing hooky situation?” Brynn raised her eyebrows. “Then I’m in.” She was rewarded with a small, pleased smile.
“Look,” Savannah nudged her with her elbow. “The house you lost.” Ahead of them the path was opening up to a view of the lawn and the immense, towering, gray-stone house. Brynn raised her eyes to the sky.
“In all fairness, though, it’s a very small house,” she said defensively, and Savannah laughed out loud.
To her vague alarm, Brynn very much liked making this woman laugh. She seemed a little lighter today, compared with their other interactions. Perhaps clearing the writer’s block was the reason. At any rate, her laugh was ridiculously lovely. Brynn wondered if maybe, in some weird world, they could almost be friends. Then: Brahms’ Lullaby. Again. She fought the urge to roll her eyes.
“Okay, yeah, I’m coming,” Savannah said to the caller and hung up. Her phone manner was lacking, to say the least.
“Coke habit?” Brynn asked casually.
“What?”
“Your dealer? Always calling, you’re always rushing off.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“I mean, you wouldn’t be the first famous musician in the history of the world.” Brynn shrugged.
Savannah gave her a solid glare.
“You really are… kind of offensive?” She didn’t sound sure how to take her.
“Am I?” Brynn got a kick out of annoying her too, it turned out.
They were nearing the house now and, to her surprise, she realized she was actually quite disappointed to be losing Savannah to her mysterious life while Brynn headed back to her day alone. Off to their suite to stare at the pages of Gray’s Anatomy and think about her faltering, sputtering life. Savannah, though, seemed to have other ideas. As they reached the solid stone entranceway, she whirled around to face Brynn, hands on her hips.
“You really think you have me all worked out, don’t you?” she said, her tone sharp. “Famous, rich, spoiled, fancy-free…profligate.”
“I don’t even know what that last word means,” Brynn said evenly.
