Page 2 of One Last Run

A wave of nausea accompanied by a hot flash washed over Danica.

“Air conditioning,” Danica said, dropping Kiera’s phone into the cup holder before cranking the temperature dial on her side. She leaned forward to one of the vents, letting the cool air blast her heated cheeks. The car sickness sweats were the worst. That’s why she was flushed. Car sickness. It had nothing to do with the fact that seeing Pete had thrown her out of sorts.

“Jeez, you okay?” Kiera said, adjusting the vents on her side of the car toward Danica.

Danica nodded. “I’m taking even more Dramamine on the way back. Or maybe I’ll just never go back. Maybe I live in Telluride now.”

“Seriously. I can pull over if you’re going to throw up.”

“I’ll be fine,” Danica said, leaning on the cool window as the air conditioning made her hair tickle her cheek. “Just hot.”

“Are you pregnant?”

Danica groaned. “No, of course not.”

“Aren’t you a little young to be going throughthe change?” Kiera teased.

“You shut your mouth,” Danica said with mock-affront. They were both 37, which meant perimenopause wasn’t totally out of the question, but wow, she wasnotlooking forward to that chapter.

Pete fucking Pancott. The last time she’d seen Pete was on the night of their college graduation, when they’d had a screaming match on the quad, drunk and crying and upset. It hadn’t been Danica’s best moment, and it played over in her mind on nights that she couldn’t sleep. Pete hadn’t shown up to Kiera or Maggie’s weddings, but no one seemed to be holding her absence against her. Apparently, Izzy had flown to Croatia last year to see her, but Danica hadn’t asked for details.

She’d known Pete would be on this trip. She’d prepared for it. She’d even assured her therapist that she’d be perfectly fine seeing Pete again. She took a deep breath, tamping down her discomfort. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, suddenly unable to get comfortable.

It had been fifteen years since she and Pete had ended their casual… whatever it was, on the night of graduation. Sometimes it had just been a hookup or a long make out, while avoiding any talk of feelings or the future. Danica had moved on. She’d had a serious relationship, even been engaged. She had a meaningful career, dinner at her parent’s house every month or two, and a relatively stable life, broken engagement notwithstanding. She was happy.

Pete had clearly moved on, too. She hadn’t reached out even once. She’d always been aimless, uncertain about the future, unable to commit, and had dreams of traveling the world instead of finding a career or settling down. Maybe she’d finally grown up. People were usually idiots at 22, and then reality helpedthem become real, contributing members of society. Had the same happened to Pete?

The week would befine,Danica assured herself again. She was only feeling uncomfortable because she didn’t know what to expect when it came to Pete, and she liked knowing the plan. That was all. They’d ski during the day, drink good wine and eat good food in the evenings, and generally relax. And she needed that, a relaxing vacation away from the hospital and her life.

Kiera pulled into a parking area and the car slid ever-so-slightly on the snow-packed ground. Danica’s stomach lurched right along with it, sending a new wave of nausea through her.

“This is it,” Kiera said, coming to a full stop as she pointed to a monstrosity of a building, the gabled metal roof glowing in the late afternoon sun. Massive windows and spacious balconies, many with hot tubs, punctuated the wood and stone facade.

“How many condos are in this place?” Danica asked.

“Oh, this is all Aunt Jade’s,” Kiera said casually, waving her hand toward the entire building. Danica’s eyes widened in shock and Kiera laughed. “No, I’m joking. I think there’s four. The condo at the end is hers.”

Danica shook her head, opening the door to take a few breaths of cold air. January was a frigid time to be in the mountains, and the cold stung Danica’s cheeks as she sent a quick reply text to her colleague, replying to a question about a patient she’d been closely working with before the trip. Text sent, she shuffled to grab her suitcase out of the back of the SUV.

“Careful, it’s icy as hell,” Kiera said, holding onto the side of the car as her sneakers slipped. She regained her footing and laughed. “We should have changed into our snow boots just for the ten-foot walk.”

Danica stepped carefully, her own white dad-mowing-the-lawn sneakers staying firmly put as she shifted her weight.“Maybe you shouldn’t have worn soccer shoes,” she pointed to Kiera’s low-profile Adidas.

“It’s called fashion, Dani. Look it up,” Kiera said, dramatically pushing her sunglasses up her nose.

Danica grinned, happy to be out of the car and breathing the fresh mountain air. She expected pine, but all she smelled was... the muskiness of dirty ice and the smoke from wood-burning fireplaces. A slight breeze slipped under the collar of her coat and she shivered, hurrying after Kiera.

“You made it!” Maggie announced. Danica saw that Maggie, Izzy, and Pete were all standing just outside of a tall wooden door that must have sacrificed at least three trees in its origin. Well, Maggie and Izzy were standing outside of the door. Pete was standing on the edge of a planter of tiny evergreens, her arms high in greeting as if she were about to leap into the sky. Ah, still as weird as ever.

“We made it!” Kiera called back, taking quick, small steps up to the condo door to give the three women hugs.

“Damn, Wendell, you okay? You look white as a ghost,” Pete said, and Danica paused in horror.

The first post-breakup run-in with an ex is something every woman has envisioned. Preferably while wearing a Princess Di Revenge Dress. Lacking a suitable reason to wear such an outfit during a road trip, Danica opted for something casual yet stylish, her brown hair styled perfectly, and her lips subtly glossed.

In all of her daydreams of running into Pete again, she’d never imagined the first words she’d hear would be that she resembled the spirit of a dead person.

Danica paused suddenly in her surprise about the ghost comment, and her feet slipped on ice as she stopped. The suitcase fell, abandoning her at a very crucial moment, and she wildly flailed her arms in a vaudeville-style dance, the kindusually accompanied by tap shoes and frantic arm and leg movements.

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