People were everywhere. Huge crowds of them, all dressed in white, ready to do The Cradle Mountain Rainbow Run.
Grace searched the sea of faces in the park. How the heck was she supposed to find Courtney? The participants all morphed into one giant cloud. She studied the throngs with apprehension, knowing that if she had any chance of finding her new friend, she was probably going to have to wade through them.
The problem was, she hated crowds. In fact, she usually did everything she could to avoid them. Because crowds meant touching.
Maybe she’d wait a few minutes. Keep her eyes peeled.
Glancing down, she adjusted her white sweatshirt. It was thick and warm, which was definitely needed in this weather. She’d also bought some white leggings, which, surprisingly, hadn’t been hard to find.
It was her new sneakers that were uncomfortable. In fact, they were already rubbing. Maybe she should have walked around the house in them a bit before today? Too late now.
She’d actually been looking forward to the race. During the previous three days, counseling the rescued women had become just a little easier. A highlight of each day was her morning pit stops at The Grind.
Courtney sat with her every time she popped in, and the woman never failed to make her laugh. She was like a human form of music for the soul.
Grace was just about to grit her teeth and brave the crowd when suddenly, the fine hairs on her arms stood on end. Not only that, but her hands felt clammy, her stomach doing an uneasy flip.
She could almost feel someone watching her.
Turning slowly, she scanned the area.
“Hey!” Courtney’s beaming smile appeared out of nowhere, right beside her.
The air whooshed out of Grace’s lungs. “Hey, yourself. I was just about to look for you.”
“Ha. You would’ve struggled to find me. I only found you because you stayed out of the crowd. Smart. Step in there and poof, you disappear.”
She’d pretend that had been her plan all along. “Glad I could help. You look great. White suits you.”
The usually colorful woman was wearing exactly what Grace and everyone else was wearing. A white sweatshirt and white bottoms. But on Courtney, the ensemble didn’t look simple. Instead, it made the pink stripes in her hair stand out, the green and brown of her eyes look even more radiant and unique.
“A blank canvas, my friend. I plan to finish this race looking like a rainbow of color.”
“Well, I’m excited.” She scanned the starting line, noting half a dozen people stood there holding containers of what had to be the colored powder. When she turned back to Courtney, she noticed a necklace peeking out of her top. “I think you forgot to take your necklace off.”
“Nope. Didn’t forget. I never take it off. It’s a family heirloom.”
“You’re not worried it will get ruined?”
She lifted a shoulder. “It didn’t last year.” She glanced around. “Now, we need to check in.” She tugged Grace toward the registration desk, stopping at the end of the line. “I can’t wait to get muddy.”
Wait. Mud? “Ah…muddy?”
“Oh, I didn’t mention the tunnels?”
“No.” Coffee every day, and getting muddy had never come up.
“My bad. There are tunnels and mud. It’s super fun. The brown goes nicely with the bright powder on your clothes.”
All Grace could do was laugh. What had she signed up for?
As the line grew shorter, they both stepped forward. That’s when Grace felt it again. A tingly, cold feeling creeping over her skin.
What the heck was that?
Scanning the area for a second time, she tried to focus on individual faces. Was she just being silly?
“We’re up.”
Courtney’s hand wrapped around hers, pulling her to the counter and forcing her out of her head. They each got their names ticked off and were given tie-dye buffs.
Courtney immediately put hers on her head like a headband. “When they douse you, use it to cover your nose and eyes. Trust me, you don’t want to forget.”
She hadn’t even thought about her face. “Thanks for the tip.”
“Okay, should we push our way to the front?”
Grace tried not to blanch at the idea, especially when the crowd looked even denser than it had moments ago. Honestly, where had all these people come from? Did they all live in Cradle Mountain? Surely not.
At Courtney’s continued stare, Grace scrambled to come up with a way of saying “hell no” without actually saying those words. Before she could, two tall men stopped beside them. Make that tall, familiar men.
Logan’s hip almost touched hers, his woodsy, masculine scent filling the air. When she looked up, he smiled.
Her cheeks heated. Every day, she felt him warming up to her a little more. Every day, his smiles got a bit wider.
And it wasn’t just Logan changing. Her own heart beat a little faster each time she saw him. Just like it was doing now.
God, she hoped the crowd around them blocked him from hearing.
“Well, look who decided to join the race,” Courtney said, smiling at both Logan and Aidan.
Aidan lifted a shoulder. “Gotta give the town a show, don’t we?”
Courtney put her hands on her hips. “Not if I beat you, buddy. Then it’ll be me giving the show. I can see the headline now—Quirky Coffee Shop Owner Faster Than the Fastest Men Alive.”
Grace studied the woman’s five-foot-seven frame. “I’m afraid I won’t be running with you, then.” Especially not with the way she planned to lag behind everyone.
Courtney leaned in and whispered into her ear. “I’m not really that fast, but these Usain Bolt wannabes need to be taken down a peg.”
Jason scoffed as he approached. “These guys wish they were that fast. Me, on the other hand…”
When Courtney didn’t offer a sassy retort, Grace glanced at her friend to see the woman looking…nervous? Or maybe shy? She wasn’t sure.
Aidan hit Jason in the shoulder. “I’m faster than you on my slowest day.”
As the guys began to bicker over who was faster, Logan nudged her shoulder. “You look nice.”
She tried to calm her fluttering heart. “Thanks. You didn’t tell me you were doing the run.” Grace, herself, had mentioned her participation a couple times. Even telling him about having to go shopping because she had nothing white to wear.
Logan lifted a shoulder. “It was a last-minute decision.”
“So you just happened to have white outfits laying around the place?” Not that she was complaining. White looked good on him. It made his already tanned skin look even darker.
“Gotta be prepared for The Cradle Mountain Rainbow Run if you live in Cradle Mountain.”
Grace grinned. “Just in case you wake up feeling the need to win a race?” Because, let’s be honest, no one else would hold a candle to these guys.
“Nah, wouldn’t be very fair of me to go hard. We’ll probably hang around the back of the crowd with Blake and his daughter.” Logan nodded off to their side.
Looking over, Grace saw Blake standing with a young girl who looked to be around four or five. Her brown hair was in two perfect pigtails, a white bow on each side. She was looking up at her dad like she idolized him.
Cute.
At that moment, Blake glanced over and nodded toward the guys.
“Guess we’ll go join him. We’ll see you during the race.”
He tapped her hip lightly with his own before walking across the lawn.
When she looked back at Courtney, it was to find the woman’s gaze glued to the men as they moved away. But not to all of them. It seemed her line of sight was following Jason.
“Are you okay?”
The other woman jumped, head spinning back toward Grace. “Me? Yeah, I’m good. Great. Fantastic.”
Grace only just held back a giggle. “Are you sure? Because you went quiet for a bit there.”
“Argh! It’s so noticeable, isn’t it? I just…can’t be myself around him. I turn into a nervous wreck.” Shaking her head, Courtney pulled out her phone. “Anyway, let’s not let my ridiculous reaction to a crazy-sexy man derail our fun. Pre-race pics are just as important as post-race ones.”
Pulling Grace close, Courtney snapped about a dozen pictures. She’d just tucked her phone back into her pocket when a loud horn sounded.
“Ah no. The race is about to start and we’re all the way at the back!”
When Courtney grabbed Grace’s arm, she tensed, already anticipating being tugged through the masses. “Actually, is it okay if we hang here? I’d prefer to be away from the crowd. Or if you want to go ahead, I’m completely fine going it alone.” She didn’t want to hold her friend back.
Courtney raised her brows. “Oh. Of course! No problem. I only start at the front because I like to get in the race pics. They usually splash them all over the Cradle Mountain paper. But someone else can have the glory this year. And don’t be silly, no one’s racing by themselves.”
Grace breathed a sigh of relief. Not only because Courtney had agreed so readily, but also because no questions had been asked.
When a second horn sounded, everyone started moving.
The second Grace and Courtney jogged over the starting line, they were completely doused in colored powder from all directions. Grace only just got her buff over her eyes and nose in time.
When she looked down, she grinned. Blue, orange, and green powder were splattered all over her formerly white clothes. And not just her clothes. Her arms, legs, neck…
Courtney laughed beside her. “Feeling better already.”
Grace laughed along with her friend. She felt like a living canvas. It was awesome.
She jogged the race with minimal talking. Minimal for her, that was. Courtney never stopped. Even when they got down on their stomachs and crawled through short tunnels, getting soaked in mud, the woman continued to ramble.
Grace learned a lot about her during the run. About her life in Cradle Mountain. The chaos of running a coffee shop. She also spoke in depth about her regular customers.
Every so often, she caught the other woman glancing around. Like she was looking for someone. Grace had a feeling she knew exactly who that someone was.
For the first time, Grace glanced over her own shoulder to look for Logan. She spotted him immediately, walking not too far behind with his friends. Blake’s daughter was now on his back.
When Logan’s gaze caught hers, he winked, and she stumbled, almost falling on her face.
Classy, Grace.
Not only had she been distracted by Courtney’s chatter throughout most of the race, she’d also been trying—and failing—to take her mind off the rubbing of her shoes on her heels. At first the pain had been mild, but with every passing minute, it became more intense.
She should have known to wear Band-Aids with new shoes. Rookie mistake.
It was at about the halfway point—and a fifth dousing in powder—that the pain got so unbearable, she was grimacing with each step. It actually felt like razor blades were slashing across the backs of her feet.
Holy hell. Who knew blisters could be so dang painful?
Grace finally tugged on Courtney’s arm, pulling them both to a stop. Grace was panting, exhaustion and pain weighing on her. “I’m so sorry, but I think I might need to stop.”
Courtney frowned, her breathing not rushed at all. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just have these blisters.” That are sending blazing trails of fire into my feet.
Courtney shot a glance down, her expression sympathetic. “Of course we can stop. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Oh, no. You don’t need to stop. I want you to finish. I might just have a quick rest and see if I can take a shortcut to the finish without shoes on.” Or just pass out on the side and not move for a good couple of hours.
A shadow fell over them. Logan and Jason. Courtney almost jumped out of her skin when she spotted the latter.
“Hey. You guys okay?” Logan asked.
“Grace has blisters. She wants me to leave her behind.” Courtney shook her head, keeping her gaze on Grace’s feet. “No way am I gonna do that.”
Logan frowned, him and Jason studying her feet in much the same way as Courtney. “I’ll stay with you, Grace.”
She opened her mouth to object, not wanting anyone to cut their race short for her, but then Jason turned to Courtney. “And I’ll take over as your running partner.”
Courtney’s eyes widened. “Uh…I mean, sure…okay.” She looked at Grace. “Or I can stay with you. If you prefer.”
After witnessing her friend’s reactions to Jason? “No. You guys go ahead. I’m okay.”
When they continued, Logan gently wrapped his fingers around her elbow before helping her to the side, his touch just as electric as it always was.
They dropped to the grass, and Grace was about to reach for one of her shoes when Logan beat her to it, untying her laces and slipping the shoe off. He was so careful, so gentle, that she swallowed hard to keep from sighing.
Logan growled softly as he studied her sock. It was stained red. “Why didn’t you stop earlier?”
Because she hadn’t wanted to be a party-pooper. “I didn’t want to be a hassle.”
Slowly, he peeled off her sock. There was immediate relief when nothing was rubbing against her skin. As he studied her foot, his frown deepened, but he remained quiet.
Switching to the other foot, he did the same.
Grace glanced at the field behind them. “I can just cut through and finish it barefoot.” She had no idea if there was a way to “cut through”, but if there was, she’d find it.
Logan shook his head. “There’s no shortcut. There’s still five more miles, and some parts of the race are gravel.”
Hm. The gravel didn’t sound fun. “I guess I’ll just put my shoes back on.” Even though the very thought had her cringing.
Logan met her gaze. “Or…you could jump on my back. We could finish the run together.”
Her mouth dropped open. Finish the race on his back? All five miles? “Won’t that be annoying for you? Not to mention tiring. And heavy.”
He shook his head. “Won’t be any of those things.”
She nibbled her bottom lip, wanting to say yes but not sure how she’d react to being wrapped around the man like a pretzel. Could she do it without freaking out? She didn’t seem to react in fear to his touch anymore.
As the seconds ticked by, Logan sat and waited patiently for her decision, never rushing her.
“Okay.” Her response was quiet.
He gave a quick nod. “Great.”
Tucking her socks into her shoes, he tied the laces together before throwing them over his shoulder. When they stood, he turned his back to her and crouched down.
She only hesitated for a second or two. Then, slowly, she climbed onto his ridiculously hard, muscled back. Her heart started to pound in her chest. And she knew he’d be able to feel it.
“All good, darling?”
And just like that, the nerves ceased. A calmness that she hadn’t felt in years settled over her system. Maybe it wasn’t just Courtney who was music to the soul.
