Physical Therapy by Z. A. Maxfield Read Free Book Online Page A

imagine finding love again.
    I concentrated on the items in my basket so he wouldn"t catch the sadness I was feeling if he looked my way.
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    Z. A. Maxfield
    Mark interrupted my thoughts. “What"s that?” he asked, when I put a jar of Nutella down next to marshmallow fluff on the conveyor.
    “Chocolate hazelnut spread,” I told him. “It makes the best fluffernutter sandwiches.” I realized then that my Midwestern upbringing was showing, even though I"d learned in San Francisco to replace the peanut butter with Nutella.
    “Well…it"s more like a s"mores sandwich.”
    “No way.” Mark looked at me.
    I nodded. “Yeah. It"s kind of a guilty pleasure. I have good things too.” I felt like I ought to defend my choice to buy the sweet treats and the potato bread to put it on by showing that I also had fruit, hummus, whole-wheat pita, and olives. “It makes a great midnight snack.” I could feel Ken"s eyes on me, but when I looked up, he looked away.
    “I"m going to tell my mom to get some,” Mark said. His basket was full of things I assumed he was taking to practice, energy drinks, granola bars, oranges.
    “Looks like you"re the snackmeister for the team today, huh?”
    “Mmhmm,” Ken said. “Mark never remembers to tell us until we"re on our way there.”
    “Where is practice?” I asked. I hadn"t seen a soccer field yet in my wanderings.
    “It"s up about six blocks past Day-Use. It"s real easy to miss it,” Ken told me.
    “Because it"s small. The elementary school is right next to the middle school, and behind it is the playing field.” Ken pulled out his wallet and paid the cashier.
    “And the whole thing backs up to the high school.” Mark grimaced. “It"s like we go to the same school all our lives.”
    “If you want, you can come with us if you think you"d have trouble finding the place.”
    “Yes, that would be good. I"m on foot anyway. I walked to Izzie"s from the motel. I was just wandering around before I go back.”
    We left the small store and walked down the street to where Ken had an SUV
    parked. We deposited our groceries in the back. The air was cool and crisp. It was still light out and would be for a while, but not as late as it would have been in River Falls. I missed the twilight from the upper Midwest, but since I"d traded it for some pretty spectacular sunsets here in California I didn"t feel too cheated.
    This close to the coast, though, it seemed a blanket of fog was likely to roll in to obscure the view about half the time. I didn"t mind. I liked the way it felt on my skin and the eeriness and allure of a fog-shrouded coastal community spoke to something a little dark in my personality. The day"s rain had turned out a perfectly beautiful, crisp early evening, with high, fat clouds that moved quickly inland. Maybe we were due for more rain. It felt like it.
    I was looking around when I realized that Ken was holding the passenger door open for me. Mark had gotten into the back without a word.
    “I"m sorry,” I told him. “I was looking…”
    Physical Therapy
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    He shrugged and closed the door. When he made his way around, he opened the backseat first and deposited his crutches, then opened the front door, bracing himself on the side of the car as he slid in. He noticed me watching him.
    “I"m a motor moron,” he said, almost pleasantly, “but you"re perfectly safe. I assure you I wouldn"t drive if I weren"t capable of doing so, and certainly not with my brother in the car.”
    “I wasn"t—”
    “It"s a perfectly valid question. The mechanics of walking still elude me. I"m relearning a lot of things. But I still have the ability to drive and rather good reaction time.”
    “That must be a relief,” I said.
    He shot me a dark look but said nothing.
    “Look,” I said. “I don"t want to put my foot in it every time I say anything. Maybe we should just—”
    He sighed. In the mirror on my side of the car, I could see his brother looking out the window as though he