Noah (7 page)

She stared at him for a moment
then
the
crease disappeared with her forced smile
. “
I know
. And you
’ll never know how much I appreciate it
. I’ll see
you
Monday, okay?”

She walked around him and was almost out the door, but he had to ask. “Why never?”

Glancing
back,
she took a moment to answer.
“I
mean, I’ll
just
never be able to thank you enough.”
 
She shrugged before waving at him and walked out the door.
     

Noah
showered at the gym before leaving, thinking about
Veronica
the entire time—twenty-
eight
. She’d never mentioned a husband or boyfriend for that matter. But then their conversations had never gotten that personal. Now that she knew just how old he really was, he got the feeling they never would. In a weird way that bothered him. Maybe he’d just make sure things didn’t change
. After
all,
he
’d
meant
w
h
at
he said. Age
was
just a
n
illusion
.  
      

The very next time
Veronica
went to the gym she made it a point to keep any awkwardness at bay. She had no idea what she’d been thinking when she asked him if he wanted to go for a drink. She’d just been so excited about the weight loss she
hadn’t
been thinking. God
,
she was an idiot.

How young
Noah
really was had been a shock to say the very least, and she was more than happy she had
a
day
away from him
to shake it off.
He seemed content that there had been no weirdness and they
’d
f
a
ll
en
back into their regular routine
.
Veronica
ma
de
sure there was never any more talk of them socializing outside the gym.

Nellie had been separated from Rick for over a month now, and was doing better but she still had her bad days. Rick actually wanted them to try
and
work
things out
. He swore the day Courtney followed him to the hotel had been the only time he’d even considered taking his relationship with the other woman to that level. Because of Courtney’s confrontation,
it never happened
. But Nellie just didn’t know if she could ever trust him again.

The woman was
an
apprentice who’d been working at
the studio where he worked
for months. He said he was mentoring her. Nellie said he’d actually spoke
n
of her when she first started
. She was no longer working at his office and after what
happened,
she wasn’t coming back.

Veronica
did everything she could to try to be there for Nellie. She was still consumed with the guilt of not having been there while this had all unfolded. The guilt she felt was channeled into her workouts. It made her focus
—
push herself even harder.

Six weeks into
it,
she’d now lost almost thirty pounds. Feeling so much better about herself already, she’d even shed her baggy sweatsuits for tighter fitting workout
clothe
s. The first day she’d walked in wearing one of the new outfits, she noticed
Noah
avoiding her eyes at first
,
then later caught him checking her out a few times. She told herself it was nothing more than the newness
and shock
of seeing her out of her sloppy sweat
s
—nothing else.

It was Sunday again
and she sat on her sofa
,
her fingers tapping away on
her laptop
.
She’d begun to look into going back to work. When she
took her leave
her supervisor told her sh
e could take all the time she needed and
a
job
w
ould still be
waiting for her whenever she was ready to come back.
Sh
e said even if it wasn’t the same position
Veronica
had
s
he’d get her in somewhere. She needed to go back—needed to feel normal again. Losing weight was just the first step, but she needed to get back to playing tennis, going out
.
She needed to
get her life back.  
   
    
           

After
tweak
ing her resume, she looked up movie times and called Nellie. Disappointed
that
her call went to voicemail she left a quick message and flipped through the channels on her television—nothing. She tossed the remote on the sofa
and stared at her phone pathetically for a few minutes, hoping Nellie would call. For a second she was tempted to call Derek. He’d actually left a few messages in the past few months asking her how she was and sa
id he
missed her.

Veronica
didn’t miss him and she knew it. She was just feeling lonely. Most of her days were spent
cleaning or
working on the house, and she’d resurrected her hobby of photography. A hobby she
’d
once loved but like everything else in her life, once her mom got sick she’d pushed it aside, forgetting about it altogether.

Even though most of the stuff she did now was digital
,
s
he still held on to her darkroom.
There was
so
mething so
aesthetically pleasing
and therapeutic about spending hours in there, and watching a picture magically appear on the paper. Not to mention the memories she had of spending time
in
t
her
e
developing photos
with her mother
. 
   

She managed to stay busy all week until Sunday rolled around. It was the one day she couldn’t look forward to her workouts. Some Sundays she’d taken to walking in the park with her camera handy
.
T
hen she
’s
c
o
me home and spen
d
hours in her darkroom developing whatever masterpiece she’d captured, but today it was pouring. It was one of the worst storms th
ey’d had in a while
. From the looks of it there’d be plenty more.

The day
was finally over and
Veronica
went to bed looking forward to her workout the next day. Something she hated to admit she’d come to look forward
to
a little too much. But it was because of the excitement of all the weight she was losing—
that’s all it
was.

The next day she double-checked her watch when she arrived at the gym because
Noah
wasn’t there yet. Had she really been
so
anxious that she arrived before him? He was always there first. She’d just begun to
stretch
out when Jack came over to inform her
Noah
wouldn’t be coming in. “You may wanna call in for the rest of the week before coming because I don’t know how long he’
ll
be out.”

Feeling
more than
a little concerned she asked, “Is he okay? Did something happen?”

“He’s fine,” Jack said, scratching his head. “It’s his roof that’s not so good. Seems this storm is really
giving it
a beating and he’s been busy packing things up and getting things covered up. He may have to stay here for a few weeks until they can get the roof fixed. But first he’s gotta get his things out of there.
”

“
He’s staying h
ere? At the gym?”

“Yeah, well he practically lives here as it is.” Jack smiled. “We
’ve
gotta fridge back there and he already showers here. I got
a
blow up mattress he can borrow. He’ll be fine. It’s only for a few weeks. Anyway this week is up in the air. I’m not sure when he’ll be in. Does he have your number? I can have him call you and let you know, so you don’t waste a trip.”

All this time there’d been no reason to give
Noah
her number, though she had written it down on her application when she signed on past her first free week.
Obviously,
he hadn’t jotted it down or anything or he would’ve called her today to let her know. It had been pouring since Saturday night. She shuddered to think of what
t
his weekend must’ve been
like for him
.

She gave Jack her number
but
decided
that
since she was already there she may as well work out. Even though she pushed as hard as she did when
Noah
was there, it just wasn’t the same. There was this strange void and she walked out feeling less enthused about it than she normally did.

The next day it poured all day again and she was sure he wouldn’t be in again. She didn’t recognize the number when she saw it on
her phone
’s
screen
but her phone rang so little lately she knew it had to be him. She picked up her phone
,
feeling a
small
flutter in her belly.

“Hello?”

“
Veronica
?” The flutter
turned into
an all out s
o
mersault. His voice was so deep and resonating she had to gulp before responding.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Hey, this is
Noah
. Sorry about yesterday
,
I was so busy I completely forgot to call any of my trainees. “

“That’s okay. You had
good
reason. How’s your roof?”

“Not good. I won’t make it in again tonight to the gym
. Maybe not for the next couple of days, except to sleep. But I’ll be out of there first thing in the morning. It’s a bitch trying to get this roof patched up
,
especially in the rain.”

Picturing
Noah
all alone on
an
air mattress in that big cold gym filled her with guilt. She’d thought about the two extra bedrooms in her house ever since Jack had mentioned it, but she had no idea if
Noah
would
think it
too weird. Was it even an appropriate suggestion
,
especially given how her heart hadn’t st
opped
thumping since she answered
his call?
How would she handle knowing he’d be sleeping just a couple of doors away from her?

“So you’re staying at the gym?”

“Yeah, I slept there last night.
It’s not too bad except for the no heater thing. I’ll just take extra blankets tonight.”

That tugged at her heart even more. A few
times,
he’d mentioned foster parents, but unlike when he talked about working on his Ninja and about boxing where his eyes lit up, she sensed that was a subject she shouldn’t ask too much about. So she never did. What he did say about it was always very vague, almost as if it had slipped
out
accidentally
and he usually moved on to another subject quickly. She could only imagine what his living situation must be if a storm had done it in.

With the words at her
lips,
Noah
spoke again. “Listen I gotta go, but I’ll call you again tomorrow and let you know if I’m gonna make it.”

“
Noah
?”