Page 24 of Shallow Remains

Okay, now we’re talkin’. She liked the class more already.

And when soft music started a moment later, Maddy smiled. It wasn’t Celtic, but still nice and sounded ancient. Soothing. That and the dim lighting were exactly what she needed.

They started off by sitting cross-legged with the backs of their hands balanced on their knees, closed their eyes and did some breathing exercises. Maddy’s anxiety levels had dropped to zero before they did the first pose. Then Lachlan’s face popped into her mind before she could stop it.

The resulting rush of excitement ruined her concentration. She drew another breath and cleared her mind.

Some of the exercises were harder than they looked. Xanthe was clearly advanced, using foam blocks and other stuff to increase the difficulty level. Maddy found just maintaining her balance in some of the poses made the muscles in her legs and butt quiver and burn.

That pretty music kept flowing throughout the class, and before she knew it, they were winding down flat on their backs and doing more breathing exercises while rain pattered on the roof. By the time the teacher turned up the lights a bit, Maddy didn’t want to move. She was happy to stay stretched out here, enjoying the zen vibe and the rare quiet in her brain.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinked in the dim lighting as she took stock. To her surprise, she realized most of the tabs that were perpetually open in her brain were closed.

Wow. There might be something to this whole yoga thing after all.

Beside her, Xanthe rolled her head to the side to look at her. “Well? What did you think?”

She thought about it for a second. “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this relaxed in public before.” And without headphones to drown out everything around her. She’d never thought that would be possible.

“See? Told you.” Xanthe looked at Bronwyn and Willow. “What about you two?”

“Just leave me here,” Bronwyn murmured, eyes still closed, backs of her hands flat on the mat. She looked like she was getting ready to spend the night there. “Maybe drape a blanket over me on the way out. That’d be nice.”

Willow chuckled as she slowly sat up. “Not happening. You have to come home with me to walk Rufus in the pouring rain now.”

Bronwyn wrinkled her nose. “Holy buzz kill.” She sat up with a sigh and glanced around. Smiled at the two other women nearby who were new to class. “Did you like it?”

“More than I thought I would. I’m Carla, by the way.” The blonde smiled at them.

“I’m Bronwyn. I’m here visiting my pal Willow.”

“I’m Xanthe.” She reached out a hand to shake with Carla.

Since Maddy was the only one who hadn’t been introduced yet, she felt obligated to follow Xanthe. “Maddy.”

“Hi,” Carla said. “Are you new here too?”

“Yes. Only been here a few weeks.” She shifted her attention to the other woman, a brunette who hadn’t said anything yet. Maddy recognized a fellow shy soul when she saw one. “What about you?” See, she could fake it and appear normal to strangers.

“Same. I’m Lindsay. Came for a holiday and decided I really like it here. Not ready to go back to the real world yet.”

“I get that.” Maddy didn’t even know what the real world was anymore. Didn’t have a home of her own. But she was taking steps to change that.

“Lindsay and I met standing in line at a café yesterday,” Carla said. “We saw the poster about this class, and I made her come with me.”

“Good for you,” Bronwyn said to them both. “It’s not easy pushing out of your comfort zone and trying to meet people when you move somewhere new.”

No, it really wasn’t. Maddy still felt like an outsider, and she had Blaine, Xanthe and now Willow and Bronwyn.

“Have you met anyone else here yet?” Xanthe asked Carla and Lindsay.

“Not really. But we did see the sheriff yesterday.” Carla’s eyes danced with laughter. “I made sure we introduced ourselves.”

Bronwyn laughed. “I feel you, girl. And bonus, he’s also a nice guy, according to the people who know him best.”

“Yeah, he is,” Willow said with a nod, slanting her friend an amused look.

Maddy nodded, but in her opinion Rafe wasn’t in the same league as Lachlan.