“Please don’t look at me as inspiration on how to handle depression. God, I’ve been a mess.”

“But you’re doing something about it now. Remember?”

Veronica stared at her not sure if now was a good time to tell her she wasn’t going back to the gym but she didn’t have to. Her friend knew her too well. Immediately she lifted an eyebrow. “You’re going back tomorrow, Veronica.”

“I can’t,” she whispered, knowing she sounded like such a wimp.

“You have to,” Nellie said then dropped the guilt bomb. “It would be one less thing I’d have to worry about, honey. You have no idea how worried I’ve been about you. I promise you as soon as I can, I’ll join you again.”

Suddenly Veronica felt like the most pathetic crybaby in the world. Nellie had to deal with her marriage falling apart. Had been dealing with it all on her own and all Veronica had to do and for her own good was workout. Nothing bad could come of it except maybe some achy muscles but she’d get started on shedding those forty plus pounds she’d packed on and maybe start feeling like a human being again.

“You don’t have to join me, Nellie. I know how much you hate working out and we both know you do not need to lose weight.” Veronica wouldn’t say it because she didn’t want to make her feel worse, but Nellie had always dropped weight when she was stressing. Nellie had already been surprised tonight to find out she’d lost weight. Veronica knew why now and something told her Nellie’s weight would surely plummet further after this. “I’ll go back and promise I’ll try my hardest to lose weight as fast as I can. I need to snap out of this already, because now it’s my turn to be there for you.”

They talked some more before Veronica went home and took a much needed shower and had a glass of wine that despite her eventful evening, helped her sleep like a baby.

~*~

Admittedly, Noah had been surprised to see that not only had Veronica returned alone the next day, but that two weeks later she was still as committed to her workouts.

She even got on the scale at the end of the first week and confessed she’d weighed herself that first day and told him what her real weight had been. She also explained why Nellie hadn’t come back, but most importantly, he saw a renewed energy in her now. She asked him to work her out as hard as he could. Then she’d turned blood red when he smirked while telling her he’d never had a female put so much pressure on him. That had finally gotten a smile out of her—a really sweet smile at that.

At the end of week two when it came time to weigh in, she was nervous. She’d lost five pounds the first week and she’d been ecstatic. “Ready?” he asked. He already saw the difference in her face. Her cheekbones were becoming more defined and her sweatpants were looking even looser than when he’d first laid eyes on her.

She took a deep breath before stepping up on the scale. Her head fell back, and stayed in that position, obviously not wanting to see what her weight was. Noah moved the weights on the scale, adjusting them until the bar was balanced.

Veronica still didn’t look down. “How much?” she asked.

Even after two weeks, he still hadn’t gotten used to her husky voice. He’d only heard voices like that in the movies and on television. It was all kinds of sexy and at times, he struggled to stay focused when she spoke to him. They’d started talking a little more now—becoming more comfortable around each other.

When he saw how much she’d lost he smiled. “How much do you think?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m gonna be so mad if it’s zero. I’ve heard that could happen.”

“Six pounds, baby!”

Her face jerked back down and her jaw dropped then turned to him, her eyes wide open. She threw her arms around his neck, catching him completely off guard. Before he could react or even get a chance to get an arm around her she pulled her arms back. “I’m sorry.” Her hands flew to her mouth, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

“Don’t be.” He smiled, a little irked with himself that he didn’t think fast enough. He would’ve loved to have felt what was under all those loose sweatshirts she always wore.

“I can’t believe it! Eleven pounds in two weeks. I thought for sure I’d lose less this week than the first.”

“Why? You worked just as hard if not harder.”

“I know. I know. But I was still scared I wouldn’t.”

Her bright smile made him smile even bigger, too. “You’re doing it, Veronica. I’m gonna go ahead and admit something. That first night you were here I was a little nervous you weren’t coming back.”

She bit her bottom lip and he hated how something that small could distract him. “I almost didn’t,” she admitted sheepishly. “In fact,” her smile suddenly dissolved, “if Nellie hadn’t had that asthma attack I might not have. She’s the one that pushed me to and I couldn’t say no.”

Noah felt guilty about being thankful for Nellie’s attack. Not only was he a full time trainer now, training a few other boxers besides Veronica, who paid real well for his services, he was really beginning to enjoy his training sessions with her. She actually listened when he talked about the work he’d done on his bike and his plans to try to make it as a light-heavyweight boxer, once he recovered from his shoulder injury. Most girls’ eyes glazed over after a few minutes of either subject, but Veronica listened intently—even asked a lot of questions.