"So," she whispered, leaning closer. "Did you get some 'thank you' nookie?" Her sullenness evaporated and the sparkle came back in her eyes.
"Excuse me? I handed her the large platter to rinse. I wish people in this family would learn to put on their turn signals when they changed subject lanes.
"Oh, come on. This morning, after Paul tossed Greg out. A little gratitude smooching?"
"What?"
She took a salad plate from me and slumped, like she couldn't believe I was so dense. "You know, 'girl is in peril, guy rescues girl, girl is wowed by his masculine prowess, and offers herself up in gratitude for services rendered.'"
"No." I did my best to copy Aunt Vi's huffiness and dumped a fistful of silverware into Juliet's side of the sink for her to rinse.
"Right. You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" She reached over and flicked a small handful of soap subs at me, missing completely.
"Yes, I do."
"Ha. Guys love that. Makes them feel powerful, protecting the little woman."
"So why do you practice all this self-defense stuff?" Far better to dwell on her obvious incongruity.
"I'm no fool, sister dear. Besides, Eric's not my bodyguard. He has other body privileges that confirm his masculinity." She chuckled smugly.
"I'm glad you've been so thoughtful."
"Come on. A sexy guy like Paul, with those big, broad, muscular shoulders, and an adorable little ass, lands a right hook to Greg's jaw and sends him sprawling, and you don't turn into a puddle at his feet?" She sighed dramatically and slid a sideways glance at me. "You are made of ice, girl."
"And you are just plain -"
"What do you need ice for?" Aunt Vi interrupted. "Is your bruise still bothering you, Thea?" Neither Juliet nor I had heard her walk in and we jumped simultaneously.
"No… nothing," we said together. I hoped I didn't look as guilty as Juliet.
Aunt Vi gave us both a narrow-eyed suspicious look and put two more wine goblets on the counter for us to wash. We were silent for the rest of the time it took to clean up.
I did my best to ignore Juliet's remarks about Valerie stalking Eric, but the way she nailed my reaction to Paul was insightful. Was my longing for him really only sexual attraction spurred by high emotion and danger? If so, anything between us was temporary and I needn't worry about my emotions flaring up the next time I saw him. I was back in control, and that's what I needed right now, control.
"Okay," she said, putting away the last dish. "Let's go."
"Go where?"
"You promised to help me practice for my Tae Kwon Do belt test. Remember?"
Disappointed she hadn't forgotten, I asked, "Why can't Eric help you?"
"He won't do it anymore."
"Why not?"
"He said it isn't right for a woman to practice beating up her boyfriend."
"He has a point." I gathered up the wet dish towels to take to the laundry room.
"He seems to think so."
"Are you sure you want to do this so soon after dinner?"
"Don't worry, it won't be that strenuous. Besides, you could use the practice." She eyed my bruised jaw. "You didn't remember a thing about the self-defense I taught you."
"You never taught me any self-defense."
"You obviously weren't paying attention, which is why you should help me tonight. Let's go up to the barn and practice in the aisle-way. Then we won't have to move furniture."
Juliet hollered to Eric where we'd be. I grabbed my jacket. The sun was going down and the temperature was dipping into the upper thirties. Juliet never seemed to need a coat.
The huge barn door slid easily in its track when I pushed it. I entered the dark aisle and flipped on the lights. The horses, still munching their hay, regarded us with momentary curiosity before going back to their evening meal. I love the sound of horses eating. There is a quiet, comforting rhythm to their chewing that lulls me into a sense that all is right with the world. I relaxed against Blackie's stall door, and clucked my tongue. He raised his head and stretched toward me until his nose touched the door's bars. I reached through and scratched his forehead. When he lowered his head for another mouthful of hay I left him alone and watched my sister warm up.
Juliet began by practicing her forms, a specific series of blocks, kicks, and punches that have a graceful, dance-like quality to them. Eric joined us and stood quietly next to me. I glanced at him. He was absorbed in watching Juliet, clearly proud of her ability – or admiring her shapeliness.
The parts she wanted me to help her with were the self defense moves-specific "attacks" from the front and behind that she would counter with a combination of defenses. Fortunately for me, Juliet was more cognizant of pulling her punches this evening than she had been the last time I helped her practice.
At this point Aunt Vi and Uncle Henry joined Eric and audience participation became rather boisterous. Between the cheering and hollering, I "attacked" Juliet and she "defended" herself. I got into the spirit of the thing as well, feigning attacks and trying to catch her unawares.
After we'd executed every move and counter-move several times over, Juliet decided I should learn some of the defense moves, since I had a demonstrable need for them. She grabbed Eric's arm and dragged him to the center of the barn aisle, declaring him the assistant. His look of alarm prompted a laugh from all of us, even Uncle Henry.
"Please?" She batted her eyelashes at him and ran the tip of one finger slowly down his cheek in a deliberately provocative move. "We can do it in really slow motion."
The double entendre elicited hoots from us all. Eric blushed and laughed, and when he agreed, we cheered.
"Okay, Eric, do this. No, no, to me, so Thea can see." He took hold of her shirt. "Okay, I'm going to do this." She grabbed his wrist with one hand and brought her other hand up in a movement that would have hyper-extended his elbow. He released her and leapt back with a shocked expression. "Good. Right! Don't let me hurt you. Jump out of range so when I kick -" and she did, "I – whoops. Sorry."
"It's okay." He grimaced, and passed a hand over his ribs.
"Now Thea, you try."
My first couple of attempts drew shrieks of laughter from our audience when Eric jumped nimbly away from me before I could begin the defensive move Juliet coached me through. At last he and I got the hang of it and pulled off an entire sequence of movements in acceptable form. Cheers went up from our audience, and even Blackie seemed to approve, giving us a half whinny and a toss of his dark head. Aunt Vi, standing in front of his stall, covered her ears.
"Okay now," Juliet said. "Let's finish off by seeing what you could have done to Greg this morning."
Although Juliet substituted for me, apprehension played havoc with my gut as I instructed Eric where to place his hands and what to do. Juliet deftly evaded him and delivered a couple of well-placed "punches." With a sigh of relief, I clapped and hollered with the others as the demonstration ended.
Then it was my turn. Eric was to be Greg, again. Juliet stood next to me so I could copy her moves. Several things happened simultaneously. As Eric put his hands where Greg's had been, I stared to shake. A loud rushing sound in my ears nearly obliterated all other noise, and everyone's movements took on a bizarre, distant, slow-motion quality. Beyond the roaring in my ears I made out Blackie's frantic whinnying and the crash of his hoof striking his stall door. As all attention turned away from me and in his direction I saw a hand close around Eric's forearm to remove his hand from my face. Normal perception returned with a suddenness that made me stagger.
A hand on my shoulder steadied me, and I heard Paul's voice. "I think her bruise is bothering her."
At that moment, Paul's presence surprised me enough that I didn't notice what I realized later – no one had witnessed my panic but Paul.
And Blackie.
"Oops, sorry!" Eric said, and dropped his other arm. Blackie was immediately quiet. "Are you all right?"