She turned, seeking out the familiar voice. She scanned the area until her gaze locked with the deep blue eyes that she’d found herself drowning in a few nights ago. “Tanner,” she said, completely taken aback and totally mortified at her current appearance. She’d pulled on her well-worn workout clothes and tied her unwashed hair into a messy ponytail. On her way out the door, she’d grabbed her Dodgers baseball hat and pulled her hair through the back loop. It was a complete one-eighty from the put together woman he’d met at the bar. “What are you doing here?” The words were out before she could think better of them. Of course, she wasn’t in charge of the trail. It was open to everyone.
“I’m here to run,” he said with an easy grin. “What about you?”
“You’re a runner?” April wasn’t sure why she found that to be so unusual. A lot of people liked to run for exercise.
“Since middle school track team. You?”
“More recently.” She’d started running marathons for fun during her first year in college, but it wasn’t until after Casey died that she turned to running as an escape from herself, and the intrusive thoughts that never let her have even five minutes of peace. Running helped. The movement was soothing, and the exhaustion would usually tire her mind just long enough to give her a short reprieve. In a lot of ways, running had saved her life. Then she came to work with Violet, and running turned into an outlet for her anger and frustration at Ned, and Violet’ssituation.“I sent you a message last night.” She hadn’t meant for that last part to sound quite as accusatory as it came out, but Tanner seemed to take it in stride.
“I saw. I was going to respond in a few hours. I wasn’t sure if you were an early bird like me.”
“I’m not,” she admitted sheepishly. “I must’ve hit the snooze like a dozen times this morning.”
Tanner’s smile grew wider, and the deep blue of his eyes practically sparkled in the morning sunlight. His dark hair was a little unkempt, like he’d just jumped out of bed and ran his hand through it. She was still busy ogling the way the sleeves of his t-shirt hugged his well-defined biceps, and how his jogging shorts left little to the imagination when he said, “should we run together?”
April’s gaze shot up to meet his. “Together?” She instantly groaned inwardly at the way she’d parroted him. Wasn’t she the one who’d told Zara that she wasn’t interested in this guy in that way?
Tanner shrugged. “We don’t have to. I usually run alone with headphones, so if you’d prefer to -”
“No,” April suddenly said, a little louder and stronger than she’d meant to. This could actually be her perfect way in. Whatever his motives were for turning Casey away seven years ago, maybe he was a different person now. Maybe he had kids, and adding one more wouldn’t be such a big deal. The thought of Violet having siblings warmed April’s heart. She would be so excited to have other kids to play with. It was one of the many things Ned had stolen from her childhood. “We can run together,” she offered, hoping Zara was right about this guy.
April really wanted to believe Tanner was one of the good guys. She just had no idea if she was walking right into some sort of elaborate trap set up by Ned. But even if April was settingherself up for a major disappointment, she owed it to Violet to at least try to get to know her biological father.
“Great, let’s do this,” Tanner said, taking the first steps to lead the way. April fell into stride with him, but he let her set the pace. Not wanting him to think she was weak or untrained, she pushed herself in a way she hadn’t done in years, and it felt incredible. Her legs ate up the distance, her muscles working hard even as her gaze often lingered on the attractive tall man, with lean muscles in all the right places, and piercing deep blue eyes that reminded her of the Pacific Ocean on a beautiful summer day.
Tanner seemed nice. Genuine. But April knew better than anyone that people weren’t always who they claimed to be. Just look at Ned. On the outside, he seemed like the perfect husband, a great stepdad, and a successful businessman. Yet after spending just one full day with the man, April knew he was none of those things. Just a ruthless tycoon who had no qualms about using and abusing a six-year-old girl for his own research purposes.
April had no idea what to say to Tanner, or how to start a conversation with him. There was so much she wanted to ask, but she was terrified of saying too much or scaring him away. Still, the further they ran side by side, the more comfortable the silence between them grew. Tanner glanced at her every few minutes and offered her an easy smile, but he wasn’t putting her on the spot. Wasn’t expecting her to entertain him. And oddly enough, having him running beside her felt… good.
She smiled, genuinely smiled back at him. They’d both put in their headphones by now, alleviating whatever pressure was left for one of them to start a conversation. Most people ran to upbeat pop or hip-hop music, but April found it too distracting. Instead, she preferred symphonies or scores frommovie soundtracks. They were the perfect backdrop to the hour or so she dedicated to herself every day.
Before she knew it, they had made a complete circle and were back at the beginning of the trail. “That was fun,” Tanner said, pulling out his headphones. “Thanks for running with me.”
April shrugged, like it was no big deal. Like her niece’s life wasn’t depending on whatever happened between them. “It was nice. Thanks for not forcing conversation.”
“I’m not much of a talker while I run,” he admitted. “What did you listen to?”
“The Avatar soundtrack.”
Tanner’s smile grew. “I love that movie.”
“What about you?” April asked, not missing the palpable attraction between them. It had been there all along, but now that they were standing still, facing each other, it was much harder to ignore or deny.
“True crime podcast,” Tanner said.
April couldn’t help lifting her eyebrows in surprise. “You don’t get enough crime as a homicide detective?”
It was Tanner’s turn to shrug. “I think of it like continuing education. I scrutinize what was done. Think about what I would’ve done differently. It keeps my mind sharp. Hopefully.” He added that last part with a bit of a smile, and April couldn’t help the small giggle that came out of her.
“Hopefully,” she mimicked. “How often do you run?”
“Every day if I can,” he said. “I missed the last couple days, but I need to get back to it. Helps ground me when life gets crazy.”
She nodded, knowing all too well how that went. “Me, too. I stopped running for a while after my sister died, but other than that…” Her voice faded as soon as she let that bit of information slip. She hadn’t meant to tell him about Casey, but they’d justspent an hour running side by side, and he hadn’t once made her feel awkward or uncomfortable. If anything, she was feeling more relaxed after this five-mile run with Tanner, than she had in a long time.
“My condolences,” he said. “Can I ask what happened?”
April shuffled her feet. Talking about Casey always brought up feelings she was never really prepared to handle, and she had a long day ahead of her. “Car accident,” she said softly. “Three years ago.”
