“She’s the one who doesn’t listen,” Axel said.
Rhiannon came into view on my right. The neon pink sports bra popped against her deep brown skin. All her box braids were wound in place at the back of her head. “Well, did you remind her what the next step is?”
“No,” he and I said in unison.
I said, “If I don’t figure this out on my own, I gotta do this class all over again.”
Passing a self-defense course was a requirement to stay at the ranch. Why? Because, in Rhiannon’s words,We’re not just here to heal our wounds. We’re here to learn how to keep from getting any more.
Which I appreciated. Most domestic violence shelters just gave women a place to go while they figured things out themselves. Rhiannon’s Ranch was different. It revolved around breaking the cycles that brought us here in the first place.
But I was tired of this damn self-defense course. I must have known something about self-defense, or I would’ve died the day I’d left my husband.
Rhiannon frowned down at me. “But you passed everything else?”
“I wouldn’t say with flying colors,” Axel said, “but yeah. This is her last hold.”
“I’ll make you a deal then.” Rhiannon perched her hands on her hips. “If I show you how to get out of this, then next time, it’s the only hold you’ve gotta complete. Sound fair?”
“Very.” I wiggled my feet some more. “What am I forgetting?”
“Your hips.” She pointed to them. “Lift them upward into his groin, and you’ll have leverage with your feet.”
Damn it. The hips.
I rammed them forward, fast and hard. Axel grunted. Quickly, I slid my arms upward. He released my wrists. The jarring motion gave me enough time to shove a foot into his hip. I slid backward atop the mat. With enough distance between us, I kicked my feet like windmill blades.
He raised his arms at his sides.
Rhiannon laughed and extended a hand.
I took it, using her support to steady me on my feet. The gym door slammed behind one of the other women, leaving just the three of us. The air had cooled without everyone’s body heat filling the space. My words echoed off the high ceilings as if through speakers at a concert. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.” Smiling, Rhiannon gave my shoulder a squeeze. “That was all you.”
The lack of a completion certificate proved otherwise. “So, next class, I just have to do that hold, and I’m done?”
“Then you’re done.”
“I can’t wait.” I grabbed my water bottle off the floor and spun off the lid. “When is it?”
“It’s tough to say with the holidays coming up, but probably early next year.”
“Ugh.”
“You’ll be in here for five minutes, and then you can go on your merry way.” She glanced at her watch. “Which reminds me. Sebastian’s here working on one of my horse’s hooves. He said he’d be finishing up right around now though, if you want to meet him at your cabin to get Honey her shot.”
To my cabin, I went.
As annoyedas I’d been that I failed my self-defense class, I couldn’t stay that way for long. Not once I was in my car, driving up the snow-dusted hill to my rent-free abode at the edge of the gravel road. From the gym, it took fifteen minutes of driving past white doused conifer trees and cabins to make it to mine. My little lemon didn’t love the fluffy white that fell from the clouds, forming a blanket on the gravel, but I couldn’t complain about this view. So long as I was careful to pump my brakes, I always made it home in one piece.
A green pickup truck was parked half in the snow-covered grass and half in my one-car driveway. The guy sitting in the driver’s seat was one of the few men with unrestricted access to the ranch.
I pulled in beside him, offering a smile and wave as I shifted the car into park. Did I get a smile and wave in response? No. Just a curt nod as Sebastian stepped from the driver’s seat.
With my purse over my shoulder, I joined him in the driveway. “Sorry I’m late. Rhiannon had me down at the gym. Still taking that damn self-defense course.”
“I only pulled in a minute before you.” I didn’t get a good look at him as he dug around on the floorboards. “Did you pass yet?”
