Page 79 of Run To You
“We’d love to join you.”
Kiera smiles and heads back towards the locker room.
I head back inside and finish the stretch circuit. At the end the kids thank me, and a few even say they’ll see me next week. I pack up, collect the stray resistance bands, and stand by the dizzying orange-and-blue mural Eden and her classmates painted on the suite’s wall in their sophomoreyear as part of Holcroft’s attempt to get kids mingling. After a few minutes I shut off the lights and leave. I’m permanently tired these days, but in a satisfying way.
That night Eden and I eat leftovers on the balcony. We watch the city pass by with the click of skateboards, the heavy pause of garbage trucks and the distant thump of music from somewhere in the next block. We don’t talk much, there’s no need.
It’s not just me who is loving working. Eden’s painting again, feverishly, which means waking up to the scent of turpentine and the constant pattern of paint footprints on the linoleum. She’s tearing through her commissions and I’m so proud.
Just after midnight, I wake to find her sitting on the edge of the bed, sketching silently by moonlight.
“You okay?” I mumble.
She nods, turning the page of her notebook. “Can’t sleep. My brain is refusing to shut up.”
I sit up, slide my arm around her, and rest my chin on her shoulder. She smells like oil paint and shampoo, and I want this version of my life sealed forever.
“Tell me something you’re thinking about.”
She glances at me, like, are you sure? But then she speaks in a slow, sleep-thick voice. “I used to think I’d never get back to where I was. With you. I never thought I’d be able to do what I’m doing with my art either. But—” She breaks off, then smiles at her own awkwardness.
“But?” I press.
Her hand closes softly on mine. “I am. I have you back, and I’m making art…for money. But now all I can think about is my gran. I…Sloane, I think I want to go to England while she’s getting treatment.”
Her eyes are like saucers, and I can feel the anxiety radiating off her. My heart pumps faster and harder at the thought of her leaving, but I can’t stop her. I don’t want to, not really. She’d be devastated if anything happened to her gran and she wasn’t there. She’d never forgive herself, and I can’t be the reason she makes a decision she’d certainly regret.
I close my eyes. I remember the first time I met her, the way I’d felt safe and terrified at once. I remember losing her. I remember finding her again, at exactly the right time.
“If that’s what you need to do, baby, then do it. I’m not going anywhere, Eden. I’ll be right here when you get back.”
“You’d be okay with me skipping town?”
I laugh. “You’re not exactly skipping town, Eden. You’re being a wonderful granddaughter and supporting your family. If I could come with you I would, but school starts next week, and—”
“Sloane, I know you have to stay here. I want you to, because you’ve earned this.”
“I can still come over for your gallery opening. Will you be back before then?”
“I don’t know. It depends on how Gran’s doing.”
“Have you told your gran you want to go home with her?”
Eden’s grandparents are due to fly home in two days.
“No, and I know she’s going to tell me not to be so daft, which is why I don’t plan on telling her. I’ve too much to organize before leaving, so I couldn’t catch a flight in two days anyway. As long as I arrive before her first chemo treatment I’ll be happy.”
She lets out a shaky breath, and something in her posture softens, like a knot unraveling. “I’ll call every day,”she promises. “I don’t want you to think I’m running away.”
I pull her closer. “I don’t. I understand, really, I do.”
“Pia’s going to lose her shit.” She laughs.
I roll my eyes playfully. “Pia will be fine, and I’m sure she’s going to be far too preoccupied with Meena and Todd.”
“Are you really okay with this?” she asks in a whisper.
Swallowing back my anxiety, I take a calming breath. “Does it scare me you’re leaving after we’ve just gotten back together? Yes. But that’s my issue, Eden, and I will talk to Dr. Chen about it. We’re not kids anymore, and life happens.”
