Family Ties

“You keep going if you want,” he panted. “I’m done.”

“Nah. My head’s clear enough.” I glanced at my watch. “Sunrise in about twenty minutes. You wanna stay and watch? Should be kinda peaceful.”

“You and Birdy both have this Zen thing going on. You fit each other.”

He walked in a circle with his hands on his hips. “I gotta start doing regular PT again.”

I nodded. My breathing was already returning to normal.

He headed for a water fountain and drank.

“Not too much,” I said. “You’ll make yourself sick.”

“Oh, that’s right.

We walked for about fifteen minutes to cool off and decided to watch the sun come up after all. The La Jolla skyline wasn’t the most picturesque in the world, but any sunrise was enjoyable as far as I was concerned.

“That was nice,” Danny said as we walked back to the house.

“I like the colors. I was the kid with the Crayola 128-pack. You know?”

“Yeah, I dig,” he said with a laugh.

We passed Rich and Terry on the way out for their own run. Rich seemed annoyed that we’d beaten him to it.

because it was Thursday. Or because the sky was blue. Or simply because.

I hadn’t figured him out yet, obviously.

Danny chuckled as they jogged past. “Wanna bet he’s up at zero dark thirty tomorrow?”

“Just to go running before we do?”

“Yep. Rich doesn’t like losing.”

“He takes it to a new level. Harry’s a bit like that, but he’s more rational about it. James and I are pretty mellow most of the time. Laurence was the ultimate in laid-back.

“What about Christy?”

“Birdy? She’s somewhere in the middle. She’s always been small, so she was never into contact sports. Not like us guys. But she’s pretty competitive all the same. Anything that doesn’t take size or strength. She’s a better dancer than the rest of us put together, including Harry. A darn good gymnast and diver, too. And she has a beautiful singing voice.”

I nodded and we fell silent.

“Thanks for the heads-up yesterday,” I said as we neared the house.

“No problem. I like you, especially since Birdy’s a lot happier now.

Laurence’s death really hit her hard. It hit us all, but he was her favorite.

Mom and Dad’s too, if you get right down to it. Hell, we all loved him. He was the best of us.”

“Only the good die young.”

“You got that right.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, Birdy’s a lot happier than I’ve seen her in years. Sabrina thinks so too.