Love is the Key

"What? No! Nothing. Nothing at all. This isn't your fault, Dan," Jill said as she worked to regain control of her emotions.

"You seemed better then all of a sudden you started crying again."

She grabbed another tissue, blew her nose, then apologized.

"I don't know. I guess I just had these...these...hopes. High hopes. And now...they're gone. All of them."

There was no way Dan was going to tell her that made no sense to him. Instead he asked if she felt like talking about it.

"What's the use?" Jill replied. "Thank you for being so sweet, but it really is over."

"May I at least ask what it is that's 'over'?" he gently requested.

"My life," she told him before trying to clear her nose again. This time nothing came out except a very loud, embarrassing noise.

"Sorry!" she said, almost laughing.

"Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry about."

Jill finally sat up straight again then sighed. It was loud and long and happened a second time before she spoke.

"I was so sure Cliff was going to propose. And that meant I could finally be a mother, but now..."

Jill wasn't crying, she just quit talking.

"I...I couldn't help but notice you said 'I' rather than 'we'."

"Huh?" Jill asked as she turned his way.

Before Dan could reply, she said, "Aren't I beautiful?" fully aware of how she looked.

Dan saw her bravely trying to smile, and he smiled back.

"You are, Jill. Even now you're very beautiful."

"Pffft!" was all that came out of her mouth.

"It's true," Dan told her. "You're a very pretty woman."

"Pretty...pathetic," she said with self-disdain.

A few seconds later she answered his question.

"I suppose I said 'I' because I never really loved Cliff. Don't get me wrong. He's a nice enough man. He's actually a very decent guy. And had he asked me, I'd have said 'yes' because he was...good enough...and then I..."

She looked at Dan, tried to smile then corrected herself.

"Then...we...could have started a family. But now? It'll never happen."

"You can't know that, Jill," Dan said as supportively as he could.

"You're not the woman who's 43 years old, Dan. That's me, and this was my last chance."

"You don't know that, either," he said just as gently.

"By the time I meet someone else I'll be 44. Add a year to get acquainted then at least six months to get married, and I'm pushing 45. I'd be 46 before the baby was born, and that's only IF I could meet someone right away. And not just anyone, either. Someone...nice."

"Maybe you just need to try looking in different places?" he suggested, knowing the reason why.

"Nice guys don't live under rocks," Jill tried to joke.

Dan laughed at her stab at humor then said, "That's not what I meant."

"I'm open to ideas, so if you have one, by all means," she told him.

He waited until she turned to look at him which took a few seconds. When she finally did he smiled at her in a way that made her understand he meant himself.

"What? What...what are you saying?" she asked, as she sat there just staring at him.

"Sometimes the right person is well, right in front of you, but you look right passed them for what seem like good reasons."

It took her a moment or two to understand what he was driving at, but when she did she said, "Ah, yes. For very good reasons like...being WAY to young."

"Or maybe not," he replied quietly with a warm smile.

"That's...that's...insane!" Jill told him as though she was pleading her case in court.

"Is it?" Dan asked in the same tone of voice.

"Well...of course it is."

Jill waited then said with slightly less confidence, "Right?"

"I can't answer that for you, Jill. Only you know what's important to you. But here's what I know."

Dan quietly told her how he felt from the first time he saw her to the disappointment he felt when he learned she was seeing someone else to the way he hurt for her when Cliff gave her a house key instead of the key to his heart.

Jill felt herself tearing up again, and she blamed it on being emotional because of the whole 'key fiasco'.

Dan tried to keep things lighthearted when he said, "That wasn't quite the reaction I was hoping for."

His voice was so gentle and kind that Jill realized her emotions weren't just from what had happened with Cliff. Dan was a genuinely caring young man, and that came across so clearly it made her feel like crying. Of course, were she not an emotional wreck, crying would be out of the question, but she'd still have felt the sincerity of his words.

"I'm sorry," Jill said as she pulled out yet another tissue. "I'm just having a very hard time thinking clearly right now."

She looked over at Dan, did her best to smile then said, "You're such a nice guy, Dan. And it's no secret that you're also very good looking. But I don't see how I could ever get over the huge difference in our ages."

"That's fair," Dan told her. "But will you at least consider giving me the opportunity to give you some reasons to try and look beyond the age issue?"

"As I said, my thinking is seriously impaired right now, but it seems to me the only way to do that is to go out with you, but because I'm 43 and you're..."

Dan knew she was going to ask his age so he told her.

"I'll be 30 in a few months," he said, knowing that wasn't going to sit well.

He wasn't expecting a positive reaction, but the one he got still surprised him.

"I don't even know how to respond to that," Jill said as nicely as she could with a shake of her head.

Dan knew Jill was a runner, and although he wasn't, he'd been good enough at it to always ace his PT tests while on active duty. That meant running two miles in 12 minutes or less, and he'd done that for the last time just before deploying to Afghanistan. He hadn't run once the entire time he was 'down range', Army-speak for being deployed, and had only jogged a few times since coming home.

"How about we go running together?" he suggested without giving it any more thought.

"You run?" she asked, her facial expression changing completely.

"I used to. I'm still in pretty good shape, but I haven't actually ran in, well, quite awhile, but I'd love to get back into it."

Jill could still hold a 7-minute pace for a 5k race and around 7:15 a mile for a 10k. She didn't mind running a little slower if it meant having a partner, but she didn't want to have to either slow down to 8-minute miles or, heaven forbid—walk.

As she thought about it, Dan added, "It wouldn't be a date, and it would give us a chance to get to know one another."

Jill had been looking at him, and as he talked, she kept looking. When he finished, she barely even blinked. Dan was starting to feel uncomfortable when she finally spoke.

"You're actually serious, aren't you?" she said, the surprise in her voice obvious.

"I am," Dan replied without a smile of any kind.

"So...if I agree to this, what's next? A date? And then what?" Jill asked. There was no hint of sarcasm or anything negative. It was clearly just what she was thinking.

"Well, how about this? It's just two people running together. For now. If you can ever see me as something more than a running buddy, we can figure out the 'what next' thing together. If not, you can continue trying to find your Mr. Right, and I maybe I can get back to running a 6-minute mile."

Jill blinked twice then said, "You run 6-minute miles?"

"No. Not anymore. I used to, and that's why I said 'get back to'."

"Wow. That's very impressive. At least to me."

"In all fairness, I never ran more than two miles at that pace. I have run five miles a few times before, but not that fast. I'd run three or four a few times before my physical fitness test test then do the two-mile run as fast as I could."

"I have to train all the time to stay anywhere near a seven-minute-per-mile pace," Jill told him. "If I took a year off, I'm not sure I'd even be able to run. But you sound like you're a kind of natural runner."

"I don't know about that, but I definitely never trained to see how good a runner I was."

Dan didn't tell her he didn't even like running. He hadn't really even thought any of this through. He'd just heard someone mention that Jill was an avid runner, so it was the only thing he could come up with that might let him spend some time with her, so he'd said it.

"I hate natural runners," Jill said, a smile appearing at the corners of her mouth again.

"So is that a 'yes'?" Dan asked hopefully as he smiled, too.

Jill didn't answer right away. She turned her visor down and found a mirror and looked at herself.

"Lord have mercy!" she said before flipping it shut then turning back toward Dan.

"So...this is what you want to get to know better?" she asked as she blinked like a stereotypical beauty queen while she used one hand to sort of push her hair up.

It was enough to change the mood entirely and cause Dan to laugh.

"To answer your question," he said, "yes."

"You're a brave man, Dan Summers," she said almost playfully.

"Uh-huh. And?"

"And...what?"

"And...did you just agree to let me run with you?"

Jill sighed loudly again then told him it did.

"But you should know I'm on the road at 4:30 most mornings."

Dan was a morning person, but not that much of one. Even Army OCS hadn't been that brutal.

"Sure. Oh-four-thirty is fine," he told her in Army parlance. "Where's the rendezvous point?"

Jill actually laughed then said, "So I guess you can take the soldier out of the Army, you just can't..."

"Take the Army out of the soldier?" Dan joked, finishing her thought.

Jill laughed again then told him where she started her runs, and Dan said he'd meet her there whenever she would be running again.

"Well, that would be tomorrow if I can get home and get some sleep," she replied as she searched his dashboard for the digital clock which was read 10:32.

"Back to the station house?" Dan asked.

"Yes. I guess so," she said as she looked around as though Cliff might have spotted them.

Dan started the car, but before he put it in gear, Jill reached over and touched his arm, so he looked over at her and waited.

"Would it be okay if I drove your car?" she asked with a little wince on her face.

"Sure. Come on around," he told her as he got out.

Before he did, he said, "But please give me a chance to come open your door this time, okay?"

"Oh. Okay," she told him as she let go of the door handle.

Jill thanked him then assured him she could get back in by herself.

"I have no doubt," Dan told her from just a foot or so away as they went by each other.

Jill had never driven an electric car, but the thought of owning one had appealed to her for quite some time.

Dan warned her about the difference in torque and starting power, and Jill was very careful when depressing the accelerator.

"Oh, my!" she said when it still took off a lot faster than she'd expected.

Dan chuckled and Jill surprised him by playfully slapping at him and saying, "Don't laugh at me!"

But she was almost back to her normal self and Jill laughed, too. She did better when she pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the road, and by the time they got back to 'the cake' she had a pretty good handle on things.

"How'd I do?" she asked excitedly when she put it in park.

"Fantastic," Dan told her.

"Really?"

"Yes. Really."

"It's SO quiet!"

"It is, and anytime I'm passing a someone on a bicycle—or a runner—I'm always very concerned about them not hearing the car approach. The only noise is from the tires on the road, so..."

"Oh, sure. That makes sense," Jill said when she realized how true that was. "Gosh, I need to keep this in mind when I'm out running, huh?"

"With me?" Dan teased, hoping it wasn't pushing things too far.

"Ha! Yes. Right!" Jill replied, a happy smile back on her face.

They sat there for a couple of seconds in literal silence before Dan told her he'd come around and get her door.

"I can open my own door, you know," she said, but in a very sweet way.

"I do know. But I don't ever want you to have to," he told her before getting out and going around.

Dan helped her stand up, and this time, they were even closer together.

"Dan?" she said. "Thank you for...well, for...being there for me tonight."

"I'm just glad I could be," he told her.

"I had such a different picture of how this night would turn out, you know?"

"Now I do," Dan replied quietly. "And I'm very sorry you had to go through this."

"Thank you, but I think it's better I found out now. Besides, I really did have mixed emotions about..."

"Marrying Cliff?"

Jill shuddered then said, "I find it hard to believe I ever even considered that."

"I really am sad that you had to deal with this, but I'd be lying if I didn't say there's a part of me that isn't quite as sad," Dan told her.

"Both of those parts are very sweet," Jill informed him.

"Is your car nearby?" Dan asked.

"Yes. It's just over there," she said, pointing behind them.

"Oh, right. In a reserved parking area. Duh!"

Jill laughed then told him that was proof she was a 'high, mucky-muck'.

"Or something like that," she added with a laugh.

"I'll walk you over there," Dan offered.

"Okay," Jill answered very quietly.

She punched her key fob and lights flashed and Dan heard the doors unlock. He opens the driver's side for her, and Jill thanked him again.

"Drive safe," he told her.

Jill started to get in then out of nowhere she reached out and hugged him.

"You have no idea how nice it was to have someone to talk to tonight, so thank you for that, Dan."

It wasn't a long hug, but it wasn't one of those fake hugs, either. Dan briefly hugged her back and told her again how glad he was to be able to help.

"So I guess I'll see you in a few hours," Jill said once she pulled away.

"I'l be there," Dan promised as she got in.

"Goodnight, Dan. And thank you again."

"You're very welcome, Jill," he said with a smile before closing her door.

He waited for her to drive off, and they both smiled and waved once she got backed out and put the car in drive.

As Dan walked back over to the Tesla that was still silently running, he realized he really liked this beautiful, older woman, and he vowed to do everything in his power to try and convince her he wasn't just a kid with a crush.

"Even though I kinda do have a serious crush on you," he said out loud to himself as he put the car in gear to head home.

When his alarm went off at the ungodly hour of 3:45am, Dan lay there thinking that he hadn't felt this tired since he was in Afghanistan. But because he was very aware of the reason he was up at that time of day, he threw the covers off and got out of bed.

A cup of coffee, and the all-important 'trip to the bathroom' behind him, he was on his way at 4:15 and at 4:25 he pulled up to see a woman in a white, reflective sports bra stretching.

"Good morning!" Jill said much too cheerfully.

"It is definitely morning," a still-tired Dan Summers replied.

Jill laughed then told him it took some getting used to.

"Because I do the morning show, it's really the only time I can run, at least when it's warm outside."

It was the middle of August and Wichita got very warm.

"Are you going to stretch?" Jill asked him when Dan didn't reply.

"Um, no, I'm good," he told her. He'd never done much stretching before any physical exercise, and in spite of the dire warnings he'd gotten over the years, he'd never pulled a muscle or strained a tendon, so he knew he was as ready to go as he'd ever be.

"Okay. Suit yourself," Jill said with a laugh as she looked at her watch under the lamppost.

"This running trail is lighted the entire way, and I normally turn around at the two-mile mark. Is that okay?"

"Four miles, huh?" Dan said as he made a face.

Jill only laughed then asked if he was ready.

"I feel like I'm facing a firing squad, but sure. Let's do this."

"We'll start out slow and pick up the pace," Jill said as they took off at about an 8-minute pace.

"I can handle this," Dan told her, but at the half-mile point, Jill told him it was time to get moving.

At the mile mark, Dan's lungs were burning. A half-mile later, his side was hurting. Too proud to say anything, he soldiered on until the turnaround point.

"Okay. I...I have to slow this down a little," he said, gasping for air.

"No problem," Jill replied without doing the same.

"Hey? Where you going?" Dan called out.

"Back to where we started. Where else?" Jill called back, a smile on her pretty face, her long, blonde ponytail barely bouncing with each graceful step she took.

"Right. Okay!" Dan yelled back as she took off at an even faster clip while he slowed to about 8:30 a mile to relieve the burning sensation in his chest.

Jill wasn't even breathing hard when he limped in several minutes behind her.

"Thank you! This was great!" she called out as she offered him a high five.

Dan managed to smack her palm then bent down and tried to breathe.

"You did really good," Jill told him as he sucked in air as deeply as he could.

He hadn't run like that in so long that he started coughing involuntarily.

"You okay?" Jill asked, pretty sure she knew what was going on.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Dan told her as he stood back up and coughed again. "Or I will be once somebody shoots me."

Jill laughed and told him again he'd done great—for someone his age.

"Oh, now that hurt!" Dan told her as his relatively young body recovered.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist," Jill said even more playfully. "You know I was just kidding, right?"

Feeling better, Dan looked right at her, smiled then said, "So does that mean you don't see me as too young anymore?"

He said it just as playfully as Jill said what she'd said, but his comment caused her smile to disappear.

"Did you want to try this again tomorrow?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"Um, well, sure. I mean, if I can get myself out of bed."

"What? Don't they have wake-up calls at the Assisted Living Facility?" Jill asked, trying not to smile.

"Ha-ha. Very funny!" Dan said trying to sound offended.

Jill laughed, and when she did, Dan was truly amazed at just how beautiful she was. Even at 'oh-dark-thirty' in the morning.

She could tell he wasn't just looking at her, and when she realized he'd been staring, she looked away.

"I really should get going. I need to shower and go in and help Kara get ready. She's very competent, but she still needs help with the computer system sometimes, and there's nothing worse than not being able to change a map on live TV."

"No, that would be very embarrassing," Dan agreed, feeling like an ass for making her uncomfortable.

"It was nice having someone to run with," she told him when Dan walked her over to her car.

"I didn't do much running WITH you, but okay," he replied with a laugh.

"It's obvious you can run. You just haven't stayed with it. In another week or two, I'll be the one asking you to slow down for me!" Jill told him with another happy laugh.

Dan desperately wanted to say, "So does that mean we'll still be running together two weeks from now?" but didn't.

"I'm glad you let me do it," he said instead.

He feigned being sore already then said, "At least I think I am."

Jill smiled then laughed again before confirming same time/same place again.

"Yes. Definitely," he told her. "If the nurse remembers to wake me up, that is."

"Bye, Dan!" she said with another small laugh and a shake of her head.

He waved to her again then said to himself, "She has NO idea how beautiful she really is," as she drove away.

Dan knew he'd be sore the next morning, he just didn't think he'd be so sore he could barely walk. He'd done something similar before in the gym by doing so much the first day because it felt easy that he could barely move his arms the next day.