Page 78 of The Last Five Yards

Reese’s voice drops to something almost quiet enough for the lake to swallow. “I’m not running anymore.”

Maren nods once, the motion slow and deliberate. “I don’t want you to.”

“I know,” Reese whispers. “And I want to stay.”

The words settle over them, warm in the cold air, steady as the sunrise waits just beyond the edge of the water.

Reese shifts beside her, their coats brushing. “Can I tell you a secret?” She asks.

Maren leans in. “Isn’t that kind of our thing?”

Reese lifts her coffee, not quite a gesture, more like she needs her hands to do something. “You know that spreadsheet you use. The one with the colors?”

A smile tugs at Maren’s lips. “What about it?”

“I keep thinking about it. Every time I come here, every time we talked. Every time things felt… Possible.” Reese says slowly. “I never had the file. But I kept the idea of it open. In my head. Like I was trying to actually earn my spot in it.” She pauses for a moment. “In your master file.”

Maren’s chest tightens, almost painfully soft. “Reese.”

Reese’s eyes meet hers, steady, shy around the edges. “I guess what I am trying to say is… I want to be in that master file, for as long as you are willing to keep me there.”

The laugh that leaves Maren is quiet, true, and full. She turns towards her, taking in every detail from the worn beanie to the pink of her cheeks. “You’re here. I’m not letting you go.”

Reese’s smile widens, not loud or flashy.

The moment settles around them, solid and bright as the sunrise.

The sun finally crests onto the edge of the lake, spilling true light across the water. It turns the thin line of forming ice into a ribbon of gold, bright enough that Maren has to blink against it. The cold air softens in the new warmth, just a little.

Reese shifts closer, not for heat, but because it feels natural. Their coats brush again, the kind of small contact neither of them questions anymore. Maren lets her arm hover for a moment, unsure, then slides it gently around Reese’s back, pulling her in.

Reese leans without hesitation, her body fitting against Maren’s side like it has been waiting for that exact place to settle. She keeps her mittened hands wrapped around her cup, but she lets her weight rest fully into the hold.

The lake stretches out calm and endless, its surface shining in a way only early winter allows. The world feels paused, caught in that thin line between cold and light, stillness and daybreak.

Maren exhales slowly, watching her breath drift into the cool air. “I don’t think I have ever felt this before,” she says. “That I could just feel calm, just like this. No breathing or grounding tricks, just calm.”

Reese tilts her head, letting it rest against Maren’s shoulder for a heartbeat. “Maybe Coach Hensley was right; we balance each other.”

They fall quiet again, the kind of quiet that feels shared instead of empty. The sun rises higher, painting their faces with warmth.

Maren lets a soft smile slide across her face as she watches the lake glow.

“Maybe this was all it ever had to be. Two people learning, again and again, how to just stay.”

V

Touch the Wall

Epilogue

29

First Light, Again - Reese

Reese wakes up before the alarm.

For a second she lies still, half expecting the old ache of being up too early for a meet she isn’t ready for, the rush of nerves, the scramble that used to define every morning of her life. But it never comes anymore. Not panic. Not the dread.