Chapter 2

Her legs felt good pounding along the path around the reservoir. It hadn’t taken as long as she’d thought to get back into a regular running routine. In fact, she was so accustomed to her almost-daily three miles that she could allow her mind to wander as her legs ate up the distance.

It had been an unsettled couple of months. She and Nate had decided to end it for good with his move to Boston and it had taken almost a month of steady apologizing to get Lily and Doug back on her side. They could now admit, after few cocktails, that Nate had to bear some of the blame for the breakup. It helped that Andy had walked away from Runway and Miranda and had finally gotten her dream job as a journalist. The three friends met at least weekly for dinner and Doug and Lily both seemed to enjoy her occasional attempts to cook. Their friendship had kept her grounded in the upheaval after her return from Paris.

The new job was going great. She’d begun in the bullpen writing obits and fluff pieces for the lifestyles section, but it was no longer unusual to read an article by “Andy Sachs, Staff Writer” in the Mirror’s City Section. She still got a kick out of reading her byline and her mom was still pasting each one in a scrapbook. But having her articles published was becoming commonplace enough that it was no longer cause for an excited phone call to Cincinnati.

As she swung by the tennis courts a second time she became aware of barking in the distance. Idly she began to outline an article on the problems and benefits of dog ownership in the city; the stress-relieving effect of pets on frazzled New Yorkers. Maybe do some research on the special places and facilities maintained for man’s best friend. Paws Parks and doggie day care and day spas for pampered pooches. As she blocked the article, she realized the barking was growing closer and that it appeared to be from a large breed dog. She’d only gone a couple of hundred yards further when she saw a huge hairy beast bounding gleefully toward her with three almost-familiar forms trailing far behind and obviously in hot pursuit.

Holy shit, is that Patricia?

Andy slowed her steps and grabbed hold of the monster St. Bernard before Patricia bowled her over. Wet, doggie kisses of the best kind followed close behind. Andy grabbed the huge head and enthusiastically scratched behind both ears as Patricia grinned ecstatically. By the time Andy’s breathing had slowed a bit and the dog was ready to settle down, her pursuers arrived on the scene.

Andy was right; they were familiar. Miranda’s twin demons, Cassidy and Caroline and their long-suffering nanny Cara arrived out of breath to regain custody of their errant pet. Both twins were dressed in warm-ups and were carrying lacrosse sticks while Cara was loaded down with their gear bags and her own purse. Patricia’s leash dangled from one hand. Caroline seemed to catch her breath first and opened the conversation.

“Thank you for catching…wait…You’re…you’re Andréa, right? The one who left Mom in Paris? Cara, this is Andréa Sachs; she used to be Mom’s assistant.”

Andy grinned at the youngster. “Caroline, I may be a deserter, but Cara and I still know each other. How’ve you been?”

The nanny clipped the leash back on Patricia with a friendly smile for her captor. “I’m fine. Girls, don’t you think you should thank Ms. Sachs for catching Patricia?”

“Thank you for catching Patricia, even if you are a deserter, Ms. Sachs,” the twin grinned back. By now Cassidy had recovered enough to join in.

“So what were you doing running? Do you run all the time? Mom said you’re some kind of reporter now. Do you get to see murders and stuff?”

“Call me Andy, and yes, I run nearly every day.  Yes, I’m a staff reporter for the Mirror. No, I don’t work the crime beat so I don’t go to the murders and stuff.”

“That’s too bad. Will you ever get to see the murders and stuff?”

“I don’t know. I suppose some time I’ll work the crime desk so I will. Right now I’m writing general interest pieces.”

Caroline was staring hard at Andy and suddenly elbowed her twin sharply. Cassidy looked at her and then followed Caro’s nod toward Andy’s sweatshirt.

“Northwestern Women’s Lacrosse? Did you play lacrosse in college? Were you any good?”

Andy’s mock glare and hands clapped on hips didn’t fool the twins for a minute. “Were we any good? I dunno – is winning the NCAA Division I national championship for two years running any good?”

“You played on the national championship lacrosse team?” the twins’ eyes bugged out in unison.

“Sure did…for the first year anyway. They won again last spring and it looks like they’ll do it again this year. That good enough for you? And why are you two carrying lacrosse sticks? I didn’t think you were into sports.”

Cassidy looked impressed despite an obvious attempt not to. “We like sports. It’s just that Mom doesn’t really approve; she wants us to concentrate on the piano. She’s afraid we’ll get hurt. But we had a lacrosse unit in physical education this fall and we really liked it. We want to go out for the junior team this spring.”

“Both of you?”

They nodded. Caroline looked glum. “But we really suck. There’s no way we can make the team like we are. So we borrowed some sticks from school and came here to try and learn how to carry the ball and stuff.”

“It’s called cradling and if you don’t know that much then you’re right; you probably won’t make the team. Are you doing any extra running? You’ve got to be able to run three to four miles in every lacrosse game you play. Being in shape is crucial.”

Caroline looked bleakly at her sister. “We’re toast, Cass. We might as well give up now.” Cassidy nodded.

“Don’t just give up. You’ll never get anywhere with that attitude. At least try out. You can start running now, by spring you’ll be in shape. And as for skills, well, show me what you’ve got. Maybe I can give you some pointers.”

Caroline perked right up at that. “You mean it? You’ll help us?”

“If you’re serious about playing on the team, then a private coach would be the best thing for you. But yes, I’m willing to watch you for a while now and give you some help.”

Andy and the twins moved off the running path into an open meadow of Central Park. Cara took Patricia and set up base camp on a nearby bench to watch. Caroline hadn’t been fooling; the twins’ skills were terrible. But it might not be a completely futile endeavor. They moved easily and had good eye-hand coordination. Andy showed them how to cradle and a couple of elementary stick skills and then showed them some drills they could do at home to practice.

“If you’re really serious you’ll need to practice at least an hour a day, just like you would the piano. But you’re not completely hopeless. You’re both well-coordinated and with some instruction in the basics and practice there’s no reason you can’t make the team. But you need to start soon. Find a private coach and start working on your skills. And you’ll need to get your Mom to agree before you do anything else. That’s essential.”

“She won’t be happy about it.”

“Maybe not, but the two of you will just have to convince her. She loves you guys and she wants what’s best for you. If you convince her that this is something that’s important to you and will benefit you later in life then she’ll agree.”

“How will it benefit us later in life?” Cassidy was confused.

“Well, playing varsity sports always looks good on a college application and you can learn some really valuable life lessons playing team sports. Like cooperation and working in a group structure and stuff like that. Not to mention that if you keep playing in college you’ll play against teams from all over the country and meet people; make connections. Network and stuff. She’ll understand that. Convince her to go along with your idea then get yourselves a coach and pay attention to your coach. You’ll make the team.”

“If she’s got questions can we have her call you?” asked Caroline.

“I’m probably the last person your Mom would call, kiddo. Remember, I’m not the most popular person in her world. But if you think it will help then yes, I’ll talk to her about it.”

“Great! We’ll talk to her tonight at dinner. She’s making a special effort to get home early to eat with us. I know we can convince her!” bubbled Cassidy.

Caroline was more pragmatic. “What about equipment and stuff? She’ll want to know all about what we’ll need before she’ll agree to anything.”

“Tell her that your coach will help you with equipment. The Manhattan Lacrosse Club is listed online. Have her contact them to find you a coach. They’ll have all the information you’ll need.”

“Girls, we need to get headed home soon,” interjected their nanny.

“Manhattan Lacrosse Club. Got it.” The twins began gathering up their bags as Cara stood and got Patricia under control. When they were ready to depart they turned back to where Andy was stretching. “Thanks, Andy. For catching Patricia and for the lacrosse help. We’ll practice every night. We promise.”

“My pleasure, ladies. Work hard for your coach and you’ll do just fine. It was nice to see you all again. Take it easy!” And with that she started back to the jogging trail to finish her run. Amazed at the normalcy of her meeting with the twins, she wondered if she might have been wrong about them being the spawn of Satan after all.