Family Ties

I wasn’t ugly, and I knew I had a decent body, but something about Danny made me feel plain. His personality was the exact opposite, though, and I felt totally relaxed around him.

He climbed under the covers on the couch, and I did the same on my cot.

He yawned and checked his watch.

“You set an alarm?” he asked.

“No. My stupid body will probably wake me up at five thirty. Eastern, of course.”

“Try not to wake me when it does,” he said with a laugh. His watch beeped as he set an alarm for himself.

Both of us were tired, so we didn’t chit-chat much. The night was cool, but a couple of blankets were more than enough to keep me warm. The cot would take some getting used to, though. Still, it was clean and dry, as promised.

Sure enough, I woke up disgustingly early. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but I gave up after an hour or so. I opened my suitcase by feel and found my running clothes. I moved as quietly as I could, but the cot creaked when I sat down to tie my shoes.

“You too?” Danny said.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No. Been awake about an hour, trying to go back to sleep.” His watch beeped as he pressed buttons.

“I’m going for a run,” I said.

“Wait up. I’ll go with you.”

“Um… you don’t have to. I won’t get lost or anything. Two blocks down, hit the beach, turn right. I saw a park when we were driving in last night.

Simple.”

“No, it isn’t that,” he said. He started digging through his suitcase until he found a pair of shorts. “I need the exercise. I don’t burn through calories like Mom and Rich and Birdy. I’m about to eat a ton today, so I’d better do something to keep the weight off.” He found a T-shirt. “How far do you run?”

“Depends.” I began stretching.

“On what?”

“What I’ve got going on in my head. Yesterday I was thinking about what I wanted to say to your dad.”

“So, how far’d you run?”

“Twelve, thirteen miles.”

“Say what?”

“Normal is probably eight or nine.”

“How ’bout we do a half-normal day? Maybe a third-normal?”

“For you,” I said magnanimously, “anything.”

He laughed and tied his shoes. Then he began stretching too. We slipped

out the screen door when he was ready.

Danny was a good running companion. He was taller than me and had longer legs, but he wasn’t used to running, so he was happy to go at my pace.

His watch beeped after half an hour.

“Three miles and change,” I said. “You wanna go for another three?”

“You’re a bad influence,” he puffed, but kept going.

The park had a decent running path that paralleled the beach. I could see exercise bars and a playground in the predawn light. The ocean hiss-boomed on the other side of the dunes.

“You surf?” Danny asked.

“Uh-uh. You do, though. Right?”

“Yeah. Grew up on the waves. When we lived in Hawaii.”

“How about Christy?”

“She learned in Hawaii too. The second time Dad was there. I was in college.”

“She any good?”

“Birdy’s good at anything she does. She’s fearless.”

I nodded and we fell silent. Danny managed to make it to an hour before he slowed to a walk.

“You keep going if you want,” he panted. “I’m done.”

“Nah. My head’s clear enough.” I glanced at my watch. “Sunrise in about twenty minutes. You wanna stay and watch? Should be kinda peaceful.”

“You and Birdy both have this Zen thing going on. You fit each other.”

He walked in a circle with his hands on his hips. “I gotta start doing regular PT again.”

I nodded. My breathing was already returning to normal.

He headed for a water fountain and drank.

“Not too much,” I said. “You’ll make yourself sick.”

“Oh, that’s right. Thanks.”

We walked for about fifteen minutes to cool off and decided to watch the sun come up after all. The La Jolla skyline wasn’t the most picturesque in the world, but any sunrise was enjoyable as far as I was concerned.

“That was nice,” Danny said as we walked back to the house.

“I like the colors. I was the kid with the Crayola 128-pack. You know?”

“Yeah, I dig,” he said with a laugh.

We passed Rich and Terry on the way out for their own run. Rich seemed annoyed that we’d beaten him to it. Then again, maybe he was annoyed

because it was Thursday. Or because the sky was blue. Or simply because.

I hadn’t figured him out yet, obviously.

Danny chuckled as they jogged past. “Wanna bet he’s up at zero dark thirty tomorrow?”

“Just to go running before we do?”

“Yep. Rich doesn’t like losing.”

“Who does?”

“He takes it to a new level. Harry’s a bit like that, but he’s more rational about it. James and I are pretty mellow most of the time. Laurence was the ultimate in laid-back. Nothing bothered that guy.”

“What about Christy?”

“Birdy? She’s somewhere in the middle. She’s always been small, so she was never into contact sports. Not like us guys. But she’s pretty competitive all the same. Anything that doesn’t take size or strength. She’s a better dancer than the rest of us put together, including Harry. A darn good gymnast and diver, too. And she has a beautiful singing voice.”

I nodded and we fell silent.

“Thanks for the heads-up yesterday,” I said as we neared the house. “I really appreciate you helping me fit in.”