After reading my emails, I decide to go for a run. I dress quickly, grab my IPod, and leave a note. I have about an hour before dark so I stick close to home. I crank up my favorite playlist and hit the trails around my house. There are lots of people out this afternoon. As I turn around the last corner, I run straight into someone and fall on the ground.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” I recognize the voice; it’s Brent. “Oh shit, Raven. Are you hurt?”
I roll over and stand up. I have a small cut on my leg, but otherwise I’m okay. “Hey, Brent, don’t worry about it. I’m fine; I should have been paying better attention.”
“Your leg is bleeding. Let me take a look.” He leans down, but I stop him.
“It’s nothing, I promise. Hey, I didn’t know you’re a runner.” I try to change the subject so he’ll stop asking about my leg.
He laughs, “I’m not a seasoned runner, but I like to get out once in a while to get some exercise. The weather today is great so I decided to run. I was just about to start my cool down.”
“Well, I’m almost finished too. I’m going to jog walk the rest of the way.”
“Care if I join you?”
“Not at all. Let’s go.”
We jog at a steady, slow pace so we can cool down. I compliment his work on our project and he asks me more about the details of our research. Since I will present all my notes on Tuesday night, I go ahead and tell him where I found the materials and how it relates to the work. Then our conversation turns more casual.
We get to the entrance where I started so I say good-bye and head home.
When I get back to my driveway, Declan is sitting on the front porch waiting for me. I jog up to him and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Hey there, how long have you been here?”
“Just about fifteen minutes. Abbi told me you went for a run so I waited out here.” I smile at him as we head in and make our way to the kitchen.
“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR LEG?” Declan screams. I’d forgotten all about it. I look down and my calf has a nasty bruise and dried blood.
“Calm down. I ran into someone and fell. It was my fault because I took a corner too fast and I wasn’t paying attention. Thank goodness it was someone I knew.”
“It looks like it hurt. Who’d you run into?”
“Brent from school.”
His face goes hard. I can see the muscle in his jaw ticking. He’s not happy at all. “The same Brent that wants you?”
I roll my eyes at him and sigh. “You’re ridiculous! Brent is not interested in me like that. I think he may have even hooked up with Mari recently. You need to calm down.”
He stares at me for a minute and then relaxes his body. He smiles at me. “You’re wrong about him, but I trust you and I know you have to work together. But if he makes the wrong move, I’ll beat his ass. Come here clumsy, I have a surprise for you.”
“I love surprises.”
“I want to take you three to pick out a Christmas tree tonight.”
“Really?!! That sounds great! Let me shower and change real quick. Are the girls ready?”
“Ella will be here in about thirty minutes. When I called her, she was stopping by Target to get some lights and stuff.”
“I’ll hurry. You could join me in the bathroom and talk to me if you want to?”
“I want to, but I can’t. Abbi wants me to help her move some furniture out of the way because she wants the tree by the front window.”
“K, I’ll be out shortly.” I kiss him and run to my room.
*****
Even though my plan was to get to sleep early, Declan and I didn’t crawl into bed until midnight. We bought a beautiful tree and set it up. Ella insisted we go ahead and put the lights on and then we ended up doing the decorations too. The girls had a few boxes of ornaments in the attic, but Ella bought more. Abbi didn’t want a traditional star or other topper so she bought holiday stems and garland and made them into a spray. She also created a bow with ribbons cascading down. When we were finished, we sat around the Christmas tree enjoying our work while the Christmas lights illuminated the room.