Symphony in Blue

by M. J. Duncan

  Gwen nodded. “Yeah. But for now…”

  “I get it.”

  Gwen swallowed around the thickness in her throat and gave him a wan smile. “Thank you.”

  “Anything for you, Gwen.” He leaned his head back on his headrest and sighed. “I just want you to be happy.”

  “I will be,” Gwen whispered, the words so soft that he could not hear, but she could, and she drew strength from the hope those three little words offered. She might not be happy now, but she dared to believe that someday soon she just might manage it.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Saturday morning was heralded in with clear blue skies and blissfully comfortable temperatures in the low nineties—a rare treat for the end of July, and one Gwen decided to take full advantage of after she had finished practicing for the day. So after changing into a pair of shorts and a lightweight tank, pulling her hair back into a french braid and slathering herself in sunscreen because the last thing she needed was to get sunburned, she grabbed her favorite pair of Asics and headed for Runyon Canyon.

  Mallory had left for her weekend trip to Catalina the night before without even a text goodbye—never mind the fact that she hadn’t heard from her at all since lunch on Thursday—and even though Gwen wasn’t lonely, exactly, she was left feeling keenly aware of the fact that she was alone. Had been for a while, if she was truly being honest, because the radio-silence from Mallory was nothing new. And maybe it was because she knew that her relationship with Mallory would be over soon, or because she had been spending so much time with Luke and Dana lately, but whatever the case, she felt it more now.

  Fuller road leading to Runyon Canyon park was predictably crowded—the trail was quite popular because of its location and the fact that dogs were allowed to run the trails off-leash—and Gwen was pleasantly surprised when she found a spot big enough for her SUV that was only a few minutes walk from the park. She slipped in her ear buds as she made her way up the street toward the trailhead, humming the melody of the concerto she had been practicing earlier that morning as she scrolled through her music playlists trying to decide what she was in the mood to listen to. Half the playlists in her library were automatically disqualified because she wanted something upbeat and energetic and her usual piano pop or classical lists just didn’t fit the bill, and she eventually settled on a list Luke had made for her of some of his favorite alternative and pop songs just before she’d left for Maui.

  She strapped the armband to her left bicep as made her way through the stone gate at the entrance to the park, bobbing her head to the bass thumping in her ears as she picked up her pace, sidestepping the people who were on their way back down the trail, letting herself just get lost in the warmth of the sun on her skin and the movement of her body. It wasn’t often that she took the time to get out like this—usually she was so busy with work that the most she could manage was a stolen hour at the yoga studio—and as she made her way along the trail, breathing in the smell of the dust billowing up from under her feet and the dry, almost sweet scent of the brush on either side of the trail that snaked along the edge of the mountain, she realized how much she missed it. Remembered how much she enjoyed just settling into a rhythm and moving forward without having to think about what she was doing or worry about what was next. It was freeing to just be, to walk and breathe and feel the burn of exertion in her legs as she climbed the steep trail, and to enjoy the view of the city below and the Hollywood sign in the distance to her right.

  By the time she reached the bench at the point on the trail called Cloud’s Rest she felt tired and sweaty and better than she had in weeks, energized and rejuvenated from the exertion of the hike, and she smiled as she lifted her arms over her head and leaned to her left then her right, stretching out her sides before lowering into a forward fold to stretch her hamstrings. In the crush of people and cars and life it was too easy to forget how truly beautiful the coastal desert landscape surrounding Los Angeles truly was, and after she finished stretching, she made her way to the edge of the lookout point to soak in the view the elevation provided before she got going again. She bobbed her head and shoulders with the beat of the pop song playing in her ears, mouthing the words to herself as her gaze drifted over the too-dry hillsides and the glut of humanity spread out below in ribbons of asphalt and concrete, a feeling of peace and centeredness settling inside her as she gave herself over to the view and the moment, letting all of her guilt and her worries just drift away.

  She jumped at the feeling of a gentle hand sliding around her elbow, and turned, fists up even though she really didn’t know how to throw a punch, ready to defend herself, and laughed when she saw Dana standing in front of her in a pair of maroon running shorts and a black sports bra, her bronzed skin slick with sweat and a wide smile on her face.

  “Hey,” Gwen said, shaking her head as she tugged her headphones from her ears. “You surprised me.”

  “I thought you were going to hit me.” Dana ran a hand through her hair and then set her hands on her hips, drawing Gwen’s attention to her ridiculous abs. “Do you even know how to throw a punch?”

  “Not at all,” Gwen admitted with a wry grin as she forced her eyes higher, knowing by the way Dana was smirking at her that her ogling had not gone unnoticed. “What are you doing up here?” she asked, hoping a change of subject would keep Dana from calling her out on it.

  “Smooth,” Dana teased, her right cheek scrunching against the lens of her sunglasses as she winked at Gwen. “And I’m testing a new blade for my brother.”

  “Oh…” Gwen looked down at Dana’s legs and realized that she was, in fact, wearing a very high-tech looking prosthetic. “That looks pretty fancy.”

  Dana threw her head back and laughed. “You’ll have to tell Derek that whenever he gets his ass up here.”

  “Your brother?”

  “Yeah.” Dana nodded. “He’s somewhere back there”—she hiked a thumb over her shoulder—“but he was going so slow that I ditched him.” She shrugged at the look of surprise Gwen gave her. “I can’t test the off-road running blade if I don’t actually run.”

  “I can’t believe you ran that hill,” Gwen muttered, much to Dana’s amusement. She waved a hand at Dana’s leg. “What makes it an off-road blade?”

  Dana lifted her left leg and bent it so that the metal curve was resting against her right knee. She pointed at what Gwen would call the foot of the blade even though there wasn’t anything resembling a foot on the prosthetic, though there was a half-inch thick section of extremely textured rubber where the blade made contact with the ground. “Honestly, not that much. It’s got a little more give than a regular road or track blade to kind of work as a shock absorber for the more uneven ground, but what he really wanted to try out was this new texture pattern for grip that he coated with a polymer he’s been playing with in the lab to see if it provides better traction on loose terrain.”

  “Oh,” Gwen murmured. “Did it work?”

  “So far.” Dana nodded. “Though the real test will be going downhill with it.”

  “Jesus fuck, you’re fast for a cripple!” a man who looked almost exactly like Dana gasped as he cleared the summit and stumbled into the clearing. He winced when he saw Gwen standing by his sister. “Oh. Hi. Um…sorry about that.”

  Dana laughed. “Gwen, this eloquent asshole is my brother Derek. Derek, this is Gwen.”

  Gwen smiled and waved. “Hello.”

  He offered a tired wave as he made his way to the bench near the edge of the overlook, muttering something that Gwen couldn’t quite make out under his breath.

  Dana clearly could, however, judging by the sly smirk that tugged at her lips, and she called after him in a taunting, sing-song voice, “Now that we’re done warming up, we’ll take the next section at speed to really push ourselves, okay?”

  Derek flipped her off over his shoulder as he dropped onto the bench with a groan.

  “You’re mean,” Gwen chuckled.

  “Yeah, well…
” Dana shrugged, looking quite pleased with herself. “He totally deserves it for something he did when we were kids, I’m sure.”

  “Probably,” Derek agreed. He laid down on his back on the bench and added, “I’m just gonna die here, now, so if you could tell my wife and daughter that I love them…”

  “You say that like Kerri wasn’t the one who told me to kick your ass on this run,” Dana laughed and tilted her head away from her brother. “I didn’t know you hiked,” she said conversationally as they moved out of Derek’s earshot.

  “I used to go every weekend when I was studying in Germany,” Gwen shared with a shrug, “but it’s not often that I get to do it now.”

  “Germany? Wow. For music, I’m guessing?”

  Gwen nodded. “Yeah, after I finished my master’s, I applied and earned a position in the cello masterclass at the Kronberg Academy.”

  “Goddamn. How many degrees do you have?”

  Gwen smiled and shrugged. “A few.”

  “Sounds like it.” Dana smirked. “I loved Germany when I visited for meets, but our coaches didn’t really let us go out that much because we had to be ready to compete. How long were you there?”

  “It was a two-year program.”

  “And what got you out on the trails?”

  “A girl,” Gwen admitted with a small smile. “My first girlfriend, actually. Her name was Karo, and she was an avid hiker so she used to drag me along with her.”

  “Ah, yes, the things we’ll do for the girl we’re into,” Dana chuckled dryly.

  Gwen laughed. “Exactly. But, having been born and raised in Manhattan, I was surprised to find that I actually really liked it, so it wasn’t a hardship at all. I even kept up with it for a while after she graduated from the program and moved on to the Vienna Philharmonic, but once I got back to LA I just kind of stopped getting out so much. What about you? What got you into hiking?”

  “My parents used to take us up to Yosemite every August when we were kids.”

  “Why August?”

  “That was the one month a year my swim club didn’t train, so after the last meet of the long course season we’d pack up my mom’s Suburban and head to Yosemite for two weeks to just camp and hike and fish and do all that kind of stuff.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “It was.” Dana smiled and ran a hand through her hair, her chest lifting and falling with a deep breath as she stared at Gwen. “I’m glad I ran into you today.”

  “Me too,” Gwen admitted shyly. She licked her lips and added, “But it’s not like we won’t be seeing each other later at the pool hall we’re meeting you guys at.”

  “Yeah, but this is just…different.” She sighed, her expression soft around the edges in a way that suggested that “different” wasn’t at all bad. “Anyway, I should probably go peel my pathetic excuse of a brother off that bench and make sure he gets down the hill without killing himself. Kerri will actually kill me if he dies.”

  Gwen chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I should probably start heading back too. I need to finish setting everything up for Storm to come home tomorrow, and I have a massage appointment at four.”

  “You’re getting a massage? Lucky. I can’t remember the last time I had a good massage.” Dana held up a finger. “No. Wait. I can. It was before I retired, so almost two years. God,” she groaned, “I can’t believe it’s been that long. That was, like, my favorite part of my recovery routine.”

  “Well, I can give you the number of my girl if you’d like. She can even come to you, if you want, so you don’t even have to leave your house for it.”

  “Yeah, text me that number when you get a chance.” Dana ran a hand through her hair and smiled. “It was a really nice surprise seeing you out here today.”

  The gentleness in Dana’s expression and the warmth of her tone made Gwen’s stomach flutter, and she cleared her throat softly, trying to loosen the tightness that had suddenly settled there. “It was,” she murmured. “So…see you at eight?”

  “I’ll be there,” Dana promised.

  Gwen smiled. “Good.”

  Dana hummed and nodded, her smile so soft and earnest that it actually stole the breath from Gwen’s lungs. “Very good.” She reached out and gave Gwen’s wrist a gentle squeeze. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

  Gwen’s pulse tripped over itself at the feeling of Dana’s thumb lightly skimming over her inner wrist. “Yeah,” she rasped. “I’ll…um, see you in a little bit.”

  Dana bit her lip as she let go of Gwen’s wrist, a flash of regret flickering across her face as she and looked over at her brother. “Derek. Time to move your ass so we can get outta here.”

  “Nah, I’m good. You can talk to the pretty girl some more,” he said, waving at her to just stay where she was.

  Gwen looked down at her shoes as a light blush crept over her cheeks at the compliment.

  “At least he’s not as bad as Regan,” Dana pointed out under her breath, making Gwen chuckle. She clapped her hands three times in quick succession. “Get a move on, Ryan! I promised your wife I’d return you in one piece, and I’ve got shit to do this afternoon.”

  “Do you?” Gwen asked.

  Dana shook her head. “Well, I mean, I need to take a nap so I don’t fall asleep on you later, but that’s pretty much the only thing on my schedule until tonight. I certainly don’t have anything cool like a massage to look forward to.”

  “Would you want to meet somewhere for dinner before we’re supposed to be at the pool hall?” Gwen asked.

  Dana smiled shyly. “I’d really like that, yeah.”

  “Since the place is in WeHo, would you want to just come on out to my place around a quarter till six or so and we can figure out what sounds good? It’s Saturday, so there’s probably going to be a wait wherever we go…”

  “I can absolutely do that.” Dana nodded.

  “God, you two are cute,” Derek muttered as he shuffled toward them, scrubbing his hands over his cheeks and up through his hair. He rubbed his right hand on his shirt and then held it out to Gwen. “I’m sorry, but in my complete exhaustion, I forgot your name…”

  “Gwen.” Gwen shook his hand as Dana glared daggers at him. “Gwen Harrison.”

  “Pleased to meet you.” He let go of her hand and grinned. “Thank you for distracting my sister for a few minutes so I could rest.”

  “It wasn’t a problem at all,” Gwen assured him with a laugh. She tilted her head toward the trail and added, “I’ll let you guys go first so you don’t run me over.”

  “You’re walking?” Derek whined. He looked at Dana plaintively. “Can I walk with her?”

  “No.” Dana gave him a shove toward the trail. “If either of us were walking with her, it’d be me because she’s my friend and not yours, but I’m finishing this run and you’re going to do it too.”

  “Satan.”

  “Not the first time I’ve been called that,” Dana assured him with a laugh as he began obediently plodding toward the narrow strip of dirt that lead down the mountain. She looked over at Gwen and smiled. “I’ll see you later.”

  Gwen gave her a small wave. “Yeah. I’ll see you in a bit.”

  Dana nodded and, with one last lingering smile that made Gwen’s heart beat just that little bit faster, spun around to take off after her brother.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  “Again, I’m sorry I was late,” Beth Miller, Gwen’s masseuse, apologized as she finished folding up her portable massage table.

  “It was a sig-alert. It’s not like there’s anything you can do about that,” Gwen reassured her with a smile. Of course, the forty-five minutes she had planned on having between her massage and Dana’s arrival were now whittled down to just under thirty, which meant that she was going to have to hustle to be ready by the time Dana was supposed to arrive.

  Normally she’d hate being so rushed, but she felt too good to honestly care about it now. The last hour on Beth’s table had been pure bliss as the tension
and stress she had been carrying around with her for the last month were pushed from her muscles, leaving her body feeling as relaxed and rejuvenated as her mind had been after her hike. It had been far too long since she had taken a day to just take care of herself, and as she opened the front door for Beth, she made a mental note to make sure she did this more often.

  Beth nodded as she angled her portable massage table through the doorway and smiled. “See you in a month?”

  “Or sooner,” Gwen replied with a little laugh as she rolled her head in a small circle. “I can’t remember the last time I felt this good.”

  “You were incredibly tense,” Beth agreed. “I’m glad I could help.”

  “Oh, you definitely did,” Gwen assured her. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” Beth tipped her head in a small nod, and then smiled as she turned to leave.

  Gwen’s phone rang just as she was closing the front door behind Beth, and she hurried into the living room where she had left it sitting on the coffee table. She tightened the belt on her robe as she leaned over to pick it up, her forehead wrinkling in surprise when she saw Luke’s name on the screen. “Hey. Is everything okay?”

  “Huh? Yeah. Why?”

  “No reason.” Gwen shook her head. “I just wasn’t expecting to hear from you.”

  “Oh, yeah. Well, I was just calling to see if you wanted to ride with us to the pool hall later.”

  “I would, but Dana’s coming over soon and we’re going to go out to dinner, so I have a feeling we’ll probably just head over to the place from there. I might need a ride home, though, depending. I mean, if Dana drives, she might prefer you guys bring me home since she’s all the way down in Marina del Rey and it’d be easier for her to just take the 405 home than swing back through here.”

  “Okay. No problem. I didn’t realize you guys were planning on going out beforehand.”

  “We weren’t, honestly,” Gwen admitted as she made her way down the hall to her bedroom. She still needed to figure out what she was going to wear for the night. “But we ran into each other at Cloud’s Rest in Runyon Canyon earlier this afternoon and we got talking and it just kinda happened. I dunno. Do you think it’s too much?” she asked as she massaged her forehead. “Everything’s just so easy when I’m around her that I kind of asked without really thinking about it.”