Chapter 15

The following Monday, Carter woke up at five a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep. He considered waking Lucy as well, but she was currently wrapped up in the blankets, cocooned in warmth. She was fast asleep, and he didn’t have the heart to wake her. Besides, he’d be back within an hour.

He dressed in his running clothes and headed out. The town was still, fog rolling in from the water, and it was so quiet that the only sounds were Carter’s exhalations and the sound of his tennis shoes against the pavement.

He had two weeks until he had to go to Seattle for his appointment with his orthopedic surgeon. Lately, he’d dreamt of the appointment, and one night he’d tossed and turned until Lucy had had to wake him up. The dreams always ended with him being told that he was officially retired for good, and it only increased the ball of anxiety building in his gut.

Was that why he was so obsessed with Lucy? Because she distracted him from what could very well happen? It made sense, but then ag