“Not in the Triathlon, just in some individual events,” he said. “But I haven’t set any triathlon records. I hold a couple of running records, but I didn’t win the full race. I’m going to before I retire, though.”
“What would that be?”
“The best Ironman time is eight hours, three minutes, fifty-six seconds,” he said. “Someone’s going to break eight hours.”
She gasped at the thought. “Maybe it will be in Tahoe!”
“It won’t be there,” he said with a chuckle. “Not at five thousand feet. But we’ll get there.”
“Is that your ultimate goal?” she asked.
He could see he had her complete interest. “That’s a short-term goal.”
“Why? It sounds so monumental!”
“Oh, it is,” he said. “But I can’t take that one and retire. And I can’t do this forever. At some point my joints or back or something is going to get hurt, slow me down. I’ll probably always race, but not as a full-time job, not as a way to earn a living. I’m transitioning. I’ve done some public speaking and I’ve set up a nonprofit foundation with a partner.”
“Your trainer?”
“No,” he said, and then he laughed. “Gretchen has her own business and our goals don’t exactly match. No, there’s a guy I kind of grew up with. Jimmy. He’s the brains of this operation. We come from similar beginnings and we’re both driven by similar ideas.”
“He’s an athlete?” she asked.
“Not even a little bit. Oh, I think Jimmy walks toward the coffeepot at a good clip and he has a powerful focus but he’s a legal weasel. We did time in a couple of foster homes together as teenagers. Then we landed at the same college for a while. He’s brilliant. I’m a jock.”
He could tell she was trying to take it in, still not sure what he was getting at. That was okay. There was plenty of time. He put his hand over hers. “Lin Su, this is a good thing you’re doing for Charlie. I think I know kids pretty well—he’s ready for a little independence. Ready for a challenge. If you let go a little bit, he’ll thrive. Don’t be scared—we’ll keep a close eye on him, make sure he doesn’t get in over his head. By Christmas you’ll see a big change. Give him a good ninety days and everything will be better—not just his asthma but also his frame of mind. His confidence will get a good shot in the arm, too.”
“Do you know anyone more confident than Charlie?” she asked with a laugh.
“Around us, yeah, he’s solid. We don’t know how he is around other people, especially kids his own age. It’s a constant uphill battle for a fourteen-year-old boy, trust me.”
He gave her hand a squeeze, reluctant to let go. Her hand was small in his, warm and soft. She turned her hand over and held his for a moment.
“Thank you for doing this,” she said. “Thank you for everything you’ve done. You’ve been very kind to me and Charlie.”
“It’s a privilege,” he said. It’s a privilege? Where the hell had that come from? He wanted to say something much warmer, much more intimate than that. He wanted to say something sexy.
She pulled her hand away from his. “Should I send Charlie over this afternoon, then?”
“Sure. I mean, give him time to unwind after school. I’ll stay here today instead of coming next door for the afternoon report. Charlie won’t want to discuss this in front of everyone. We’ll do it one-on-one.”
“You do have good instincts about kids, don’t you?”
“I’m interested in kids and athletic programs. In some cases it can save their lives. You know?”
“Like in Charlie’s case?”
“That would be a good example. It can also get them out of trouble, build self-esteem, help them sleep at night and have something to look forward to in life.”
She stood from the table. “I hope all of that works for Charlie. I’ll catch up with you after you’ve had a chance to talk.”
He let her out, softly closed the door behind her. And leaned his forehead against the door.
Crap.
She was controlling, manipulative and secretive. She was fiercely determined to have her way, and beneath that beautiful face and little body, she was powerful. There was an iron will in there. Almost unnaturally strong. She obviously had identity issues that she’d unwittingly passed on to her son and he’d put his money on some serious abandonment problems, as well. She had calm hands, a gentle step, was sweet spoken when it suited her and had a sharp tongue when it didn’t. He hadn’t even witnessed this crazy Asian temper Charlie referred to, yet he had no trouble picturing it. There was a Zen-like serenity about her, unless she was pissed off, then look out. Don’t turn your back. She was a very complicated woman. Untangling her would take a lifetime.
And he didn’t care. He wanted her.
* * *
Lin Su entered the house quietly. Mikhail was sitting on the deck alone, his feet propped up on the deck rail on this sunny afternoon. She checked on Winnie, sleeping restfully, then went into the guest bath, closing the door softly behind her. She looked in the mirror. Her cheeks had a slight rosy blush. She reached up and pulled the stick from her bun, letting her hair fall down her back. She pulled it over one shoulder and combed it with her fingers.
He was so tender with her, she thought. Gentle and kind and sweet. But there was no mistaking the firmness in his resolve—he would not weaken under duress. Never. Instinctively she knew this was a man who wouldn’t change his mind. When he first moved into that house she thought he was just another rich guy, self-indulgent and pompous. Over time she began to think of him as prudent and steady, someone who knew his mind, was mature and comfortable in his skin. Solid.
She splashed cold water on her face. She would be very careful around him, cautious that she didn’t betray the slightest desire. If she could rein in her feelings, control her actions, perhaps they could be friends. She didn’t dare even entertain a single romantic notion; it could be her undoing. She made up her mind a long, long time ago—it would take every breath of energy and resourcefulness she had to be a mother first, then a nurse, then a friend. She would never again be a lover.
But, oh, it was hard. He was magnificent.
* * *
When Charlie got home from school, home to Winnie’s, Troy was not yet home and Grace was still at the shop. Lin Su took him aside. “Spend a little time with Winnie, tell her about your day and I’ll listen in. Then I’d like you to go next door and see Blake. He has some very good ideas about an exercise program that can help you build strength and stamina so it will be less likely you’ll have an asthma attack if you exert yourself.”
“Huh?” Charlie said. “You mean work out?”
“Well, a monitored program, but yes—work out.”
“He wants to do this?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, he does. I asked him for help. He’s a professional athlete and trainer.”
“You asked him?” Charlie asked, awestruck.
She made a face. No one thought her capable of letting down her guard long enough to share control of her son. It irritated her that people found her thus. So she lied. “I asked Scott Grant about it and he’s pretty convinced, as am I, that much of your asthma is exercise induced. Scott confirmed what I already suspected—your asthma is not severe. But you can’t control it without building up endurance.” There, she thought. That should show her in slightly better light to her son. “Of course, if you get an upper respiratory infection or have a severe allergic reaction...” She just couldn’t seem to stop herself. Warnings seemed to come more naturally than encouragement.
“I told you!” Charlie said, ecstatic.
“Now look, never be without the inhaler and do not skip meds—this is an experiment! We all expect it to be a successful experiment, but remember, that’s up to you. Several gold medalists live with asthma and, believe me, they can’t
afford to take chances and neither can you.”
He was grinning like a fool. “You almost made it,” he said. “Almost made it through the whole lecture without getting your Mama on.”
Lin Su sighed wearily. She wondered if she’d survive his teenage years. The onset of testosterone was seriously impacting his sweetness.
Charlie went to where Winnie was sitting in her favorite chair. He plopped down on the sofa and said his day was fine and he was going next door right away to talk to Blake about a workout program to help control his asthma. And out the door he went with Winnie’s blessing.
Two hours later he was back, his eyes sparkly and his cheeks rosy. If Lin Su hadn’t been aware of the circumstances and Charlie’s excitement over this new project, she’d have taken his temperature. Troy and Grace were home and Lin Su was in the kitchen, making a salad to go with their dinner, and he called to her. “Mom, come and see what we figured out today.”
She could feel her smile reach way down inside her and it lifted her heart. Lately he had become more protective of her, especially when they had some crisis like the break-in, but he was less likely to include her in the rest of his life. They all gathered around the dining table and passed around a booklet that explained the effectiveness of different aerobic exercise and a notebook that Blake had created for him to monitor his activity, times, pulse, whether he had to use the inhaler.
“He’s going to monitor the first week, starting tomorrow. Then when he goes to Tahoe to race, Troy can. Troy, will you?” Charlie asked.
So much for him not wanting to do this in front of everyone, Lin Su thought. She couldn’t imagine him more excited if she’d gotten him a puppy!
“Be happy to,” Troy said.
“I will help. I am coach!” Mikhail insisted.
“I think Charlie is supposed to use some discretion,” Grace said. “You have a reputation for being the most difficult and demanding coach on the circuit.”
“Pah! You are baby! Princess!”
“You are brute,” Grace said, a slight Russian accent involved.
“This is going to be great,” Charlie said.
I must find an appropriate way to thank him, Lin Su thought. Blake was a true hero, over and over. This was the kind of man she hoped her son would become.
She didn’t realize she was massaging Winnie’s hand, holding it lovingly, gazing at Charlie with glowing eyes. It got her attention when Winnie looked at her. “You’re very smart to start this,” Winnie said. “You’re a good mother.” Then Winnie lifted her arm and put it around Lin Su’s shoulders, pulling her in for a hug.
“Ah, Winnie, I have so few shining moments as a mother.”
“Obviously you have enough,” she said.
* * *
Seth Sileski gassed up the police SUV at least once a day, sometimes twice. It was a good opportunity to spend five or ten minutes talking to his dad, if Norm could pry himself away from other more exciting things, like explaining to Al how to better tune an engine or educating Eric on the best way to change out brake pads. Self-serve gas pumps were not allowed in Oregon so Seth had to wait for an available attendant even though he grew up pumping gas in this station. He was hoping for a moment with Norm. He hadn’t talked to his dad alone since his mom’s birthday dinner.
It was his lucky day. Norm came shuffling out of the garage, wiping his hands on a rag that he then stuffed in his back pocket.
“Morning, Dad,” Seth said.
“Son,” he returned. Seth already had the tank cover open so Norm went straight for the gas nozzle. “How’s crime today?”
“It’s an easy day so far. I wanted to congratulate you—your present to Mom was a big hit. Cruise, huh?”
“I thought I could make the sacrifice. A lot of the fishermen have history with Alaska. Sounds like I might be able to stand it. I sure ain’t going to some island with all topless hula dancers.”
“They’re topless?” Seth asked.
“Ain’t they?” Norm asked in return.
“I don’t think so, Dad.”
“Then what’s the point?” Norm asked.
That was his dad. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, it was a classy thing you did. Mom’s been dying to go on a cruise.”
“Aw, she deserves to get some of the things she’s been praying for. After the way she took care of me when I nearly died of the gallbladder.”
Seth suppressed his laugh. He had not come even close to being in serious condition, but Norm was still getting a lot of mileage out of his one and only gallbladder attack. “She must be very excited.”
“She’s spending money like crazy, buying all kinds of clothes. I don’t mind, of course. Gwen’s never been a spendthrift. But she’s buying stuff for me to wear and I don’t know that that’s going to work. I like my clothes just fine. Don’t need anything new. I’ll pretty much just stand at the rail for ten days.”
“Now that surprised me,” Seth admitted. “You could’ve gone for four days or even a week, but you took on the whole ten days.” He whistled. “That’s quite a plunge,” he said. “No pun intended.”
Norm shrugged. “I hope she don’t have any high ideas of dance parties and shuffleboard. Could be bears, though. And there’s a glacier. You don’t even have to get off the boat.”
“I hear the food is good.”
“Food’s good right here,” he said.
“I’m sure you’ll have a great time,” Seth said.
“I’m sure I’ll throw myself overboard after the second day,” Norm said.
“That’s it,” Seth said. “Attitude is everything.”
Nine
Charlie wanted to begin his training program immediately. “Blake says I have to be patient because we’re going to start slow, but if I get started right away it’ll be no time at all and I’ll be able to run a mile. Ride five miles,” he told his mother.
Lin Su could work as much as she wanted to and if she needed time off, all she had to do was make arrangements with the other members of Winnie’s household to make sure she had all her meals and wasn’t trying to get around the house without supervision. So, if Charlie was going to be working out with Blake, Lin Su was going to be right next door, taking care of Winnie. It was all she could do not to beg Charlie to let her observe.
Of course, on Saturday Grace was at the flower shop all day. Troy and Mikhail took the opportunity to go somewhere. It was just Winnie and Lin Su when Charlie went next door at three, a prearranged time. Blake had his own training schedule to keep, mostly in the morning. While Charlie was next door, Lin Su was busier than usual doing chores that were rarely done on weekend afternoons—laundry, cleaning, linen changes, running the vacuum. Winnie sat in the living room, a book in her lap. Then she wanted to go to the deck since the sun was shining brightly. Then she wanted to be back inside.
By four o’clock Winnie started asking questions. “What’s taking him so long? He’s not supposed to do too much the first day! Lin Su, go next door and see what’s keeping him.”
“Uh-uh, no way. If they need me for anything they know where I am.”
“Oh, don’t be so tough! You’ve cleaned the kitchen five times!”
“A kitchen can never be too clean,” Lin Su said.
That first workout, which was supposed to be moderate and easy, lasted a long time. Charlie didn’t show up at Winnie’s until almost five. He was flushed and sweaty, not at all what she expected. She thought he would be bored and disappointed!
“You should see all the stuff he has,” Charlie said excitedly. He now had two books plus his notebook. He sat down in the living room with Winnie, and Lin Su joined them there. “He has heart monitors, breathing equipment, scales, speedometers, you name it. He can run a lung capacity check that’s almost as sophisticated as the hospital’s. It’s
amazing!”
“Tell us about it,” Lin Su said.
“It was awesome. We started with some resting readings but I was too hyper so I had to lie on the massage table and...”
“He gave you a massage?” Lin Su nearly shouted.
“No, the table moves and vibrates and massages. Jeez, easy does it, Mom. So then when I was calmer, he did some resting readings. Then I took a hit of the nebulizer and he had me walking, then at an incline, checking vitals all the time. I thought I was ready to quit until he pushed me a little bit.” Charlie laughed and his face was bright. “I didn’t think I’d get to run—I got to run! Well...jog. My vitals were good. Then I had a rest and got on the elliptical for a while, till I started to sweat pretty good. Then he gave me a fruit drink and some power bar thing—tasted like shit... Oops, sorry, Winnie. But it did. Then I got on the bike. Just for a little while. Then he has this lifting operation—cables, pulleys and free weights. That wasn’t so much endurance—he was just checking my strength. Then I jogged a little—real slow. Just fast enough I couldn’t walk, just getting my heart rate up to an aerobic level for a little while. Then he stopped me, took my blood pressure, did some more readings. He listened to my lungs. He’s a physiologist and trainer—he has a stethoscope. My heart rate and breathing recovered in just ten minutes—I didn’t need another hit of the inhaler.”
“You were gone such a long time,” Lin Su said.
“It took a long time to do all that. We won’t have to do it all forever, just in the beginning. He does that for himself, you know—checks his heart rate, his breathing, his recovery time, his strength. Big muscles don’t swim very well but no muscle won’t get a bike up a hill. He’s always looking for exactly the right balance—a strong and lean one-fifty with good endurance. Timing is everything in a triathlon, did you know that? He can’t start out too fast or he won’t end in the money. He rations his strength and endurance perfectly—that’s what wins the race.”
“My word,” Lin Su said. “You got quite an education in one afternoon.”
“I have to read these two books,” Charlie said, holding them up. One was about anatomy and physiology and the training of athletes and the other was about asthma and training. “He has other ones—diet, weight training, body building, one called Speed. He said we’ll get to that someday. But the best thing? The absolute best thing? He said when I’m in a little better shape, he’s going to teach me to swim.”