ME: Hey, are you ready to eat my dust?
LIAM: Who’s this?
My heart sinks when I see his text hit my screen. I know we exchanged numbers, but maybe he didn’t save mine? I’m not sure, but I feel like a complete idiot.
LIAM: I’m joking, Whitney.
A smile breaks across my face as relief rolls through my body. I’ve never done this before. I’m forty years old, and I have no clue how to navigate through whatever this is between Liam and I. Other than Tony and Steve, I don’t have any other male friends. I’m not sure if I should act like one of the guys or be sweet.
LIAM: Whitney?
ME: Sorry, I’m here.
LIAM: Are you ready? I’ll meet you out front in 5 mins.
It’s been five days since my last run, and my legs are finally feeling well enough to start back up. I never intended to make Liam my running partner, but he looked so hopeful when he made the suggestion that I didn’t want to let him down. Lacing up my new shoes, I grab my light jacket and head out. The kids are still asleep and probably won’t be up until I wake them. Got to love the weekends.
As soon as I step outside, the brisk air takes my breath away, and I know that I won’t be doing this much longer. Running is not a favorite of mine and running in the cold is even a least favorite. Maybe I can join another gym? I don’t care if I have to drive to the next town over as long as I don’t have to run there.
“Hey,” I hear Liam call as he runs up to me. “Ready?”
I swing my arm across my chest, stretching. “Yeah,” I tell him.
He quirks an eyebrow at me. “Are you running on your hands?”
“What? Why would you ask me that?”
“Because you’re stretching out your arms when you should be stretching out your legs. The proper stretching will help with shin splits. Bend over at your waist like this.” Easily, he brings his arms up over his head, leans over and bends himself in half, touching the toes of his shoes. “Your hamstrings are essential in running.” His voice is strained as he continues to do a little bounce against his legs.
“Yeah, I haven’t been that limber in about twenty years. There’s no way my body is folding like that. My muscles will stretch as I run. I’ll be fine. Come on.” I leave him there, bent over and unable to argue. I make my way to the wooded trails that outline the complex and listen to his footsteps, telling me that he’s following me.
“You’re stubborn, aren’t you?”
“I’m an independent woman. It’s not about being stubborn. It’s about knowing what I can and can’t accomplish.”
“Tell that to your body when you’ve pulled a hammy.” He darts ahead of me, leaving me smiling.
I need you to say it. I want to hear the words. Come on, you can do it. There’s only three. Three. Small. Words.”
His voice irritates me. My eyes are squeezed tight, jaw clenched, I can feel the dirt being embedded under my nails as I scratch at the ground and his voice still irritates me. “Argh!” I scream out as he rubs the back of my thigh.
“Come on, Whitney,” he coaxes, kneading his fingers into my flesh. “You can do it, Ms. Independent.”
Whipping my head up off the ground, I bring my body up to rest on my elbows, and I glare at him. The smug bastard is smiling. “You like this, don’t you? You’d like for me to say that you were right and I was wrong, right?”
“I don’t need that many words, just three.” He lowers my leg to the ground. When he gets up on his feet, he offers me a hand, which I gladly take. The ground is cold, my leg hurts, and I want to go home. “Throw your arm over my shoulder and put your weight on me. We’ll walk back,” he tells me as he hoists me off the ground.
“I can walk. Thank you, though.” He lets go of my hand, dropping the subject of him helping me home.
The walk back isn’t too bad. I know my leg will be sore for a while, but it could have been worse. The limp that I have going on is minor, but I know I won’t be wearing heels any time soon. “What happened to your husband?” Liam’s question is out of the blue and makes me stumble a bit. Instinctively, his arm shoots out, wrapping around my waist, stabilizing me. “I mean, you wear the rings, but I’ve never seen him.”
I push away from him, righting myself. “We’re separated,” I say, my tone flat. I continue on, praying my leg makes it back.
He jogs a bit to catch up. “Can I ask what happened?”
My eyebrows crease as I bite my inner cheek. How do I answer this question? Everyone in my family thinks I’m in the wrong when I’ve told them my reasonings. Why would Liam be any different?
“I guess life maybe? I don’t know.” I pull on my ponytail, tightening it as I continue to walk. “Maybe it was a young love that ran its course?” I shake my head because I don’t believe that. “I was tired of thinking that time would fix the issues we were having.” I stop my rambling. “I don’t want to sound like an ungrateful witch, but it was just how I was feeling. I would be in the room, and it was like he would look right through me. What’s the saying? Doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome? I guess I was tired of feeling crazy, so I tried a different method. I told him we needed a change, and I left.” I laugh to myself remembering the night. “Actually, I guess you can say he left, but I moved out.”
The side of his mouth draws up as he gives me a small smile. “It’s not wrong to want to be valued, Whitney. We all deserve it, and we shouldn’t expect anything less from our spouses.”
“Yes, but what if your happiness makes the rest of your family unhappy?” I sigh, not sure if I even know that answer.
“You can’t make everyone happy, Whitney. But I think that’s the problem with a lot of people. They rarely hold onto the importance of their own self-worth and value. Especially when you bring husbands or wives and kids into the mix. Especially mothers. As soon as you hold your child in your arms, you become number two on the list of priorities to yourself. But it’s your husband’s job to make you remember that you are still important and valued. We tend to forget about that. Besides, life’s too short, and there’s going to come a time when it’s over, and you never want to question if you were really valued in your life.”
“I agree with you. Too bad most of my friends and family don’t agree with you. Their first reaction is to ask why I would breakup my family.”
“Marriage is a two-way street.”
“Yes, well, I think my marriage has been in neutral for a while. You can’t stay in park on a street when you should be moving.” I glance at Liam, and he seems deep in thought. “What about you? What happened to you and Priscilla?”
His jaw clenches and I know that I’ve hit a sore spot. Since the fly-in, I haven’t seen her around campus, which is strange since we aren’t a large campus. “Well, that’s a story for another time. I’m not quite ready to talk about it.”
I don’t push him to answer. I don’t have the need to know yet. I enjoy his company with or without conversation. Besides, I have a feeling that when he is ready, Liam will tell me what happened between him and his wife.