in Hampton Mews?” Chase asked.
“Fine. For now, everyone is in Maryland.” Good gracious, now he wanted to have small talk.
“Your brother? Pierce?”
“Married.” Now where did that smugness in her tone come from? They’d only discussed marriage once. It had been in the final words before they went their separate ways. Four years later, she had done a good job pushing her feelings six feet under and sealing them with a thick layer of indifference. The effort took hard work, discipline and focus. The three reasons he’d used for calling it quits.
Chase pushed open a set of double doors with a bright EXIT sign overhead. She stepped through, then stopped short. Laura looked up at him for an explanation.
“Figured we could delay the trip to my office for a few minutes,” Chase explained.
She nodded, still not sure why they were outside the building. Outdoors, she could regroup. Laura raised her face, enjoying the sting of the brisk coolness even in Georgia. Autumn with its crisp temperatures, golden leaves and themes of harvest appealed to her sense of family. Her mother had said that it was a time for gathering those close to you. As the long winter came, you use the longer time indoors to bond. But with four children and no father, maybe that story was to keep them from fighting and arguing.
“Never could understand why you loved the cold weather so much.” Chase looked at her, bearing a wide smile. Without lingering, he continued leading the way from the building across the road to the enclosed stadium.
Traffic on campus during the midmorning hours didn’t differ too much from morning rush hour. Mostly compact cars zipped past, screeching to a halt at the four-way stop signs that dotted the campus roads, then racing off with tires squealing. Students on bikes made up the other major group, while clusters of young men and women hurried along the sidewalks and footpaths.
Campus life energized Laura with its similarity to a small city. There was lots to do and see. As a student, she’d thought of pursuing a teaching career, maybe even becoming a professor. These dreams she’d shared with Chase. Out in the real world, she hadn’t had time to think about what she really wanted to do. Maybe seeing her big brother, Pierce, settle down with his family made her realize that she was letting time slip away.
Chase recited facts about the University of Atlanta, dates of key political figures who had been students and the institution’s rankings in various athletic divisions.
In other words, her feet rested on hallowed grounds. In her small way, she hoped to participate in making an athlete’s dream come through. She’d tried to do the same with Chase in much different circumstances and with negative results.
Many evenings, after Chase had practiced, they’d talked about their future while sitting in the bleachers. Those were the days when they were giddy with their love for each other, turning up their noses to life’s realities. Back then, nothing seemed to be an obstacle. At least where Chase was concerned. She’d listened to his aspirations, bursting with confidence to be the world’s best sprinter. Then she hadn’t been in his life for his only Olympic experience. She could only imagine how his dreams and expectations skyrocketed.
From the sidelines, she witnessed his popularity soar. Even though they had gone their separate ways, she couldn’t eliminate him completely. Endorsements paved the rapid path to his superstardom. He popped up in various advertisements featuring sports drinks, underwear, designer suits and even a mobile phone where he was calling his sweetheart to propose on camera. That ad she could do without seeing.
“What brings you here?” Chase asked.
“I might ask the same of you,” Laura replied.
“Last I knew, you’d thought about following in your brother’s footsteps to be a doctor.”
Laura shrugged. It was one of many career options that fizzled. Sounded good until she took a look at the curriculum.
“Not to say that I’m not glad for the career switch. Gives us a chance to visit some unfinished business.”
Laura shrugged again. His tentative offer taunted her, trying to lead her down a path that she didn’t want to go. Guess he wasn’t going to act as if they didn’t have a past. Good for him. Didn’t change much with her, though.
“After I tore a tendon in the world games and couldn’t heal enough to make the last Olympic trials, I had to make a decision. The window was sliding shut on me,” he stated with a matter-of-factness.
A slight change in his voice alerted her. She detected bitterness, maybe even remorse. His pain must hit him deeply for him to display those emotions with her.
“Don’t count yourself out of the race,” she advised, fighting the natural urge to put her arm around him.
“Always the optimist, right? May not have appreciated it, but it’s nice to hear. I didn’t count myself out. My body quit on me.” He sucked in his breath and exhaled with a heavy sigh. “A decision had to be made. I quit.”
“You retired.”
Chase shrugged off her correction. A class jogged around the field, his gaze followed their progress.
“Are you in a lot of pain?” Silly question, but she didn’t want him to open the subject and now close the shutters around it.
“Somewhat. Guess I’m turning into my grandfather who could tell when rain was coming because his knees ached. Actually, I was dead on with my prediction last Wednesday when we had that thunderstorm.” He grinned, adding a teasing wink.
They had emerged on to the track field.
“Wow!” Laura exclaimed.
The stadium had groups of various athletes probably divided into their class sessions. For Laura, many hours waiting for Chase were spent seeing the good and bad with the male athletic egos, aggressive coaches and the many girlfriends. Unfortunately, many of those relationships didn’t survive. Multi-tasking wasn’t a priority.
Chase had focused on what was important. She’d helped him, until he no longer wanted her help. She had to accept the sacrifice to walk away.
A coed class noisily jogged past them. Some of the sweat suits had the lacrosse team logo printed down the leg. Two stragglers brought up the rear, earning them a very vocal reprimand from the coach. Yep, she had witnessed those heated discussions with Chase and his coach. She wondered if he’d felt pressure to retire, rather than lose his ranking.
A flock of birds in arrow shaped formation noisily flew past them. Laura looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes in the process. She followed them until they disappeared from view.
“What?” she asked, flustered to catch him staring at her.
“Nothing.” He shoved his hands in his pocket and kicked at the gravel. “Getting used to seeing you.”
Laura led the way to the bleachers. Chase sat beside her. Her pulse jogged a few beats faster. Thankfully, he left several inches of space between them. Otherwise she’d have to slide away from him for sanity’s sake. Regardless of what her mind logically concluded, her heart had a tendency to be weak. There was no need to test that with any casual contact of body parts. She touted her emotional strength, but she wasn’t that strong.
“Don’t
