Chapter Twenty Eight

Lucy couldn’t even see where she was going for the first several minutes, instead she was blindly thrashing through brush and trees until she found a small animal path that was slightly wider and significantly clearer. She was able to pick up speed once the way was clear, and in the back of her mind, couldn’t help dimly thinking that a couple of months ago, there was absolutely no way she would be running, no matter what sent her down the path.

And now, she was running – sprinting – flying through the woods as though she were a girl much smaller and stronger than she truly was.

After a few minutes, though, her breathing ragged and her calves screaming, she slowed down, then came to a stop, heaving in gulps of air as she began to walk slowly further down the trail, still determined to put some distance between herself and…

Whoever that was that was back on the porch.

Sullivan.

Sullivan Jackson, otherwise known as the twin imposter.

Thank god he was a nice guy, she thought dumbly, still trying to catch her breath. Jesus, she didn’t even really know who she’d gone away with – this could have all ended up so badly, with her murdered and mangled body in the bottom of a ravine somewhere.

Okay, probably not, but still, it gave her a chill just to think about it.

She listened to the woods for a long moment, but no longer heard him calling her name, and heard no sounds that he had followed her into the woods.

Good. She needed some space, to say the least.

She kept walking forwards, finally stumbling into a small clearing, then, looking right, she saw a break in the tree line and had a clear view of the Pacific, angrily crashing onto the rocks of the shore, turning the water frothy and white.

And matching her mood, she thought, looking at the grey sky and ashen sea below.

What the hell just happened?

So, Spencer was her trainer. Check.

And he didn’t ‘consort’ with clients. Check.

But she assumed he’d made an exception for her. Stupid check.

Except that instead, he had sent his more socially awkward twin to keep her company and coach her along and…

Oh god.

Her face flushed – she had confided to Spencer, or Sullivan as it turned out, about her food struggles, and he’d helped her make good choices; she’d talked about her reason for gaining weight, he knew of her family strains…

So, basically, total mortification – instead of thinking she was confiding in her trainer who already know all her worst traits, she had told a total stranger even more than that.

Check, check, check.

Awesome, she thought sarcastically.

She realized with a flash that she had her cell phone in her pocket. Yanking it out, she held it up.

No bars.

Shit.

She continued to walk further down the trail, periodically lifting the phone to look for any sort of signal, any chance of making a call. It wasn’t until she followed a curve that led towards the beach that she finally saw some signs of life from her connectivity.

Her first thought was to call Brandt immediately, demand a rescue, and to never speak of this again.

But she knew that wasn’t the right phone call to make.

She knew exactly who she had to call.

She dialed then waited impatiently, her eyes on the horizon of the sea, until the call connected.

“Hello?” Spencer’s voice sounded assured and friendly as he picked up the gym line.

“How could you?” Lucy finally managed to choke out after several seconds.

“Hello? Lucy? Is that you?” he asked, his tone softening. “Lucy?”

“How could you?” she repeated, willing herself not to cry. “You have a brother? A twin? That I’ve been spending time with, unbeknownst to me?”

“Luce,” Spencer said placatingly. “We wanted to tell you sooner, but… anyway, you know now. Sullivan is a great guy and…”

“Shut up!” Lucy shot back hotly. “Stop!”

“What?”

“What?” Lucy barked. “What?! I’m so… what? Repellent to you that you had to send in your more socially awkward, geeky twin brother to help me? To spend time with pathetic little me? God forbid you dirty your hands with the less than perfect clients – just foist them off on your brother.”

“Hey!” Spencer said, his own tone hardening. “That’s not fair, and you know it. Stop it. Now.”

“But…”

“You aren’t repellent, Lucy, Jesus,” Spencer said, sounding frustrated. “I really liked you, like, not liked, but I’ve been burned in the past by hanging out with clients after gym time is done. It got me fired from a previous job, before I opened my own place, so I take it seriously. But I really like you, and I knew you needed some help and some confidence, and God, just someone to hang out with.”

“So you sent in the farm team?” Lucy sniffled.

“Sully isn’t the farm team. He’s just different from me – and I thought you two would hit it off. And oh, by the way, you did. You are all he’s talked about lately. You needed some help and a friend, and he needed to get out more, so… there you go. Do I regret not telling you sooner? Yes. Do I regret putting you guys together at the same time and place? No.”

Lucy swallowed thickly. “But… it was a lie. You get why this is horrifying for me, right?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Because,” she said, her voice laced with frustration. “Because I thought I was crushing on you, not him. Thinking we were being so flirty and fun with each other, when, god, I was just like another client. You had to know I liked you, but instead, it was him. I liked him, and I didn’t even know who he was. And you knew all along I thought it was you. You knew that I had a crush on. Jesus, this is so humiliating.”

“I don’t think that, Lucy, I swear. Don’t be humiliated,” he said, his tone pleading. “I… I don’t think you and I have chemistry, true. But I think that you and Sully… you have chemistry. He’s been so happy since he met you, and you… you seem like you are happier, more confident too. Take this, run with it – forget me being part of the equation. This is about Sully now, not me.”

“I don’t know if I can,” she whispered, more to herself than him.

“Try,” he said quietly. “Please? Try? And Lucy, don’t think for a minute I think any less of you, or don’t care about you. I really, truly do. And not just because I want you to be a client. I want you to be a friend.”

“Friends don’t lie to each other like this,” she said sullenly, all the fire going out of her.

“I know,” he said. “And I’m sorry. But instead of focusing on that, how about making something good come out of it?”

“What?”

“You… making my brother happy. And him doing the same for you. Please?”

**

It took a helluva lot longer to walk back to the cabin than it did fleeing it, Lucy mused as she slogged back through the trees, wishing she had a bottle of water with her.

And maybe that compass she mentioned earlier, she mused, wondering how far away she must be now.

She was walking briskly, but not hitting the same speed before, when she was running at a dead sprint. This pace gave her time to compose herself, and to think about what to say to… to Sullivan when they came face to face.

It was true, she had cried a few tears after she’d hung up the phone with Spencer. Tears of frustration and humiliation and anger, and yes, embarrassment.

But after she had cried, she had miraculously felt better, more steady.

A couple of years ago, this would have left her fetal and rocking in the woods somewhere, like that silly high school character in the Twilight series after she got dumped.

Now, it just got her back straighter and her jaw set.

Progress, she mused, even as she came closer and closer to the cabin.

She saw him before he spotted her. He was standing on the steps of the porch, his eyes scanning back and forth, back and forth through the tree line, obviously looking for her. She had heard him shout her name occasionally, but hadn’t felt overly inclined to answer.

Now, she took a deep breath and stepped into the clearing by the cabin, knowing he would spot her in seconds.

God, they really did look uncannily alike, she thought unconsciously. And yet, now that she knew, she believed she could spot the differences in their demeanor, could tell them apart if they were side by side.

She wasn’t sure how, but she knew.

Sullivan’s eyes scanned her direction, and she saw him visibly slump in relief that she was there. The next moment he was vaulting off the stairs towards her, and she involuntarily backed up a step.

She couldn’t seem to resolve in her mind that he wasn’t a stranger – even though he was.

He approached her at a trot, and then skidded to a halt in front of her, his eyes sweeping up and down to see if she was injured. She stiffened when he stepped forward and enveloped her in a warm hug. “Thank god you’re all right,” he said into her hair, sounding deeply grateful, his arms warm and tight around her. “I’ve been going out of my mind with worry. Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

She didn’t return the hug, and he realized it a moment later, stepping back and clearing his throat uncomfortably.  “I’m not hurt,” she said, lifting her chin and channeling a queen of another age, one who made her subjects cower under her gaze. “I apologize for worrying you, but obviously, it was rather a shock and I needed some space.”

And to chew out your brother on the phone, she added silently.

“Of course,” he said quickly. “Do you… can I… what should…”

She watched him search for the right thing to say, and instead, decided to put him out of his misery, so to speak. “I don’t want to discuss… anything… right now. I’d like some time to think things through, and I’d like to do that at home. I’d like to leave,” she added for clarification. “I know it’s an inconvenience, since we just got here, but…”

“No, of course,” he said, interrupting her. “Of course. I can be ready in a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” she said, sweeping past him and heading for the cabin door to gather her things. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

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