Page 10 of A Class of Her Own

I looked to Aryn, slightly uncomfortable with the emotion between them. “Plus, as you said earlier, I have that killer instinct.”

“How was your race?” Aryn asked Ford after giving me an eye roll.

My mind wandered as the rest of them discussed how Ford had done in his age division. I took in the activity around the park where the race had ended. Families were gathering to congratulate each other under the bare branches of century-old trees. The sounds of cheering and happy chatter was always a little bittersweet to me. I appreciated families and was very grateful for my two sisters, but it had never been as warm and solid as these moments showed. There was so much hugging. So much.

I shivered a little as my body began to cool in the November chill, my wet clothes stealing heat away from me. Motion from the side of my eye had me glancing to my right only to find Hazel waving one arm and coming my way like a terrier after a rat. Even though my legs felt like rubber bands, my initial reaction was to run away. However, right as I made a move to turn, I noticed a very familiar man walking alongside her. He was tall to her short, dark clothing to her bright outfit, and quiet patience to her bubbly exuberance. Amusement skated through me when I noticed that she had her hand wrapped around his wrist, tugging him along forcibly. I knew that Brooks could break the hold if he wanted to, which somehow made the whole thing funnier. I had no idea how Hazel and Brooks were at the Turkey Trot together, but I found myself delighted by the development.

Hazel’s blue hair matched the clear, freezing cold sky, as well as the leggings she was wearing. Her bright pink running shoes must have had poor traction, because she suddenly slipped, which had Brooks reaching out to steady her even though she had an iron grip on his wrist already. The expression on his face could be found in the dictionary under ‘grin and bear it.’ He had on his typical jeans and flannel shirt, with an army green military-style jacket over it and work boots with plenty of tread. He definitely wasn’t here for workout time.

I waved my hand behind me to signal to my friends, and said quietly, “We’re about to have company.”

Their chatter died down as they looked toward the mismatched couple making their way to us.

“Who are they?” Hillary asked.

I only had a split second to glance back at my friends and whisper, “Brooks VanOrman and Hazel.”

A very,veryinterested silence fell from behind me, and I could feel the weight of their curiosity as Hazel came to a skipping stop firmly inside my personal space bubble. They’d heard of Hazel, seeing as we’d been neighbors for a long time. They’d also heard about Brooks, and I didn’t need to ask to know which one they were focusing on.

“Well, Meredith Atwood, what a pleasant surprise to see you here on this lovely winter morning,” Hazel crooned, releasing Brooks and clutching at my hands. “Don’t you look refreshed after your run.”

I looked at Brooks over her head in time to see a flash of something in his eyes, letting me know that we both understood exactly how un-fresh I was in that moment. Ugh. Rule number one, never let your enemies see you looking less than perfect.

“It’s so nice of you to get Brooks out of his cave and into the fresh air,” I replied sweetly, releasing Hazel’s hands to wipe my wet hair back out of my face.

“Who do we have here?” Aryn asked as she eased around to stand next to me.

Her voice was bright and cheery, and I could imagine her eyes running up and down Brooks as she soaked up the first chance any of my friends had had to see him in person after months of me complaining about him. I wondered what she thought and if he lived up to my descriptions of him. I could also imagine Brooks taking her in, thinking that a tall, beautiful, friendly woman like her would be preferable to a shrew like me. Well, joke was on him, because I wasn’t a shrew to everyone. Mostly.

“Hailey, come meet Mer’s friends,” Aryn added with a wave at Hailey.

Hailey’s dimples flashed, deeply, as she came to stand on my other side. I felt Ford move up closer behind us and the two kids hovered somewhere nearby too. This was just great.

“I’m Hazel.” My elderly neighbor dove right in. “I’ve been feeding Meredith this week. She’s really had a hard time.”

Aryn already knew the story, but Hailey looked at me. I knew her mind was whirling. “Meredith? Having a hard time?” Followed up quickly by “Meredith accepted home-cooked food from a neighbor?”

In my defense, unless I’ve been in a person’s home and know for a fact that they keep things tidy and wash their hands correctly, I’m not touching their food. I’d rather starve than try something that might have sticky hand germs in it. It’s a quirk of mine, but I have it on good authority that there are other people who feel this way too.

When Hazel realized that she’d caught my friend off guard, she hurried to fill the surprised silence with more words. “Oh, maybe you aren’t aware, but Meredith’s father is an elderly, helpless widower, and she’s had to spend some time with him this week, on account of all the snow we’ve gotten.”

Hazel nodded as she spoke, a sympathetic expression on her wrinkled face. If she didn’t see the irony of the fact that she herself was an elderly widow, I wasn’t about to point it out to her.

“Is Forest sick?” Hailey asked, referring to my dad. Because while, yes, my dad was a widower and, yes, I helped him out all the time, my friends knew he wasn’t helpless. He was simply distracted. “You didn’t mention it.”

“I offered to take him some dinner yesterday,” Aryn added. “I had all that extra stroganoff left over.”

“Forest is off beef,” I muttered.

“Are you his Grandma?” Hillary piped in, pointing between Brooks and Hazel, which had the satisfying effect of shutting everyone up.

I watched while Brooks and Hazel looked at each other and then at my group and then back at each other. It was clear that Hazel wanted to claim him and that Brooks was trying to avoid offending her.

“They’re just really, really good friends,” I said to Hillary with a smile. “Like me and Hailey and Aryn. They go everywhere together.”

Brooks cleared his throat and gave me a look as Hazel reached out and attempted to weave her arm through his. This was the most gratifying moment of my entire battle with Mr. VanOrman. I bit my lower lip to keep from smiling too broadly.

“What brings you two besties out this morning?” I asked, managing to tamp down on a chuckle.

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