Entwined - SF5 (9 page)

While the Evans women spoke, Ryan spent a moment taking in her mother-in-law. Even though Catherine had said that she had already played tennis, Ryan mused that she must either have been significantly superior to her opponent, or they both played a very relaxed game.

Catherine looked as though she had done nothing more strenuous than take a slow walk in a shady park. She wore a very pale blue tennis dress, the cut and the fit showing off her slim body to good effect. A bright white cotton sweater was draped loosely around her shoulders, a fashion choice that Ryan recognized as a favorite affectation of her partner as well. Even looking closely, Ryan was unable to decide if the older woman wore make-up on her flawless looking skin. It seemed an absolute anathema to her to consider participating in a sport thus adorned, but Catherine’s skin looked so perfectly smooth–just the slightest bit of a blush on her cheeks--that Ryan thought it might be cosmetically achieved.
Whatever she does–it looks great on her
, she thought.

"Pardon?" she asked absently, seeing two pairs of questioning eyes gazing at her.

"Would you like to have a little lunch with me?" Catherine was directing a hopeful look at her, and Ryan realized that here was yet another Evans woman she was powerless to refuse.

"I’d love to." Ryan shot her a dazzling smile, causing Catherine to reply in kind.

Ryan felt a bit uncomfortable when their server delivered their lunch and tried to arrange most of the plates in front of her. Catherine had ordered a garden salad-no dressing--to go along with the Bloody Mary she was working on. Jamie echoed her mother’s choice of entree, but she at least had some vinaigrette on hers. The cheeseburger, fries, coleslaw and chocolate malted that Ryan had chosen fit–barely–on the remainder of the small table, and she shot her partner a sheepish look as she dug in.

"She’s a growing girl," Jamie said fondly, addressing her mother.

"It’s very refreshing to share a meal with someone who obviously enjoys eating." Catherine beamed a smile at Ryan.

"Oh, I enjoy it enough for a family of four," Ryan smiled back.

They spent the better part of an hour exchanging small talk about their respective weeks, with Jamie again bringing up the issue of buying a larger car. "Why don’t you do that, Dear?" Catherine encouraged. "It seems silly to try to carry things around in your tiny car. I could fill up that little trunk with one trip to Union Square," she laughed.

Ryan observed the casual way the Evans women talked about a decision to spend a substantial amount of money on something that they didn’t really need. "You haven’t really expressed an opinion about this, Honey," Jamie finally said, addressing Ryan.

She shrugged her broad shoulders, indicating that she was a little too busy eating to render her opinion at the moment.

"For what it’s worth, I think you should get that nice little Mercedes SUV," Catherine suggested. "Andrea Whiting has one, and it’s very handy. Then you’d have your little convertible and a nice, big car to carry things."

Oh boy…this is going to be a struggle
, Ryan thought, picturing a stable of cars parked in front of her Noe Valley home.

Jamie excused herself to use the facilities, leaving Ryan to finish her malt.

"You don’t appear to be very comfortable with the idea of Jamie buying another car, Ryan. Is that so?"

Ryan looked up, a little startled that Catherine could read her mood without her having said a word. "I uhh…I guess it just seems like something we don’t need, so it seems pretty frivolous to me."

"Ohh, I thought Jamie indicated that it was difficult to transport things and take your little cousin with you with her car."

"Well, it is," Ryan agreed.

"Isn’t that reason enough, Dear?" she asked, a slightly puzzled look on her face.

"I’ve gone without a car up to this point, Catherine. It’s never really bothered me before, so I guess my perspective is just a little different than Jamie’s."

Catherine gave her a long, appraising glance, holding Ryan’s gaze for a moment. "I like your perspective, Ryan. I hope you’re able to keep it."

It dawned on Ryan that Catherine was referring to the enormous power of money to change people, and she sought to reassure her. "I think I’m pretty well grounded, Catherine. I admit it’s going to be hard for me to adjust to Jamie’s money, but I think we’ll do fine as long as we’re both willing to give a little."

"Are you willing to give in on this issue?" she asked, quirking a grin.

"I suppose I will," Ryan admitted. "I start out with such resolve, but she starts working on me, and before I know it I find my head nodding up and down. I still don’t know how she does it," she said rather helplessly.

"She’s her father’s daughter," Catherine said fondly. "I don’t think Jim’s lost five arguments in his whole life. He just wears you down."

Ryan smiled, thinking that wasn’t exactly the tactic her partner used, but that Jamie’s was equally effective.

After a long afternoon nap, Ryan woke feeling refreshed and happy. Her cramps were gone, she had enjoyed a nice sleep, they'd had a pleasant lunch with Catherine, and they were having company for dinner-which always meant something special on the menu.

"You awake, Love?" Jamie’s soft voice tickled the sensitive skin on Ryan’s neck, and she giggled a little in response. "Ooh, you’re not only awake, you must feel better, too."

"I feel fine," Ryan admitted. "If I can knock my cramps out right at first, they’re never a problem."

"I’m glad." Jamie snuggled up a little tighter and placed a few soft kisses on Ryan’s neck. "When do we have to get ready for dinner?"

"Same time as usual," Ryan said. "We’ll probably eat around six."

"Should I wear a dress?" Jamie asked, unsure of the level of formality required to dine with the parish priest.

"This is just Father Pender," Ryan reminded her. "He’s like a member of the family."

"You sure?"

Ryan hopped up and slipped back into her navy blue poplin slacks, adding the blue and white checked polo she had worn to play golf. "I’m done," she grinned.

"You’re incorrigible." Jamie smiled at her partner and wrapped her in a hug. "And that’s just how I like you."

By nine p.m. they were snuggled together in bed, trying to make up for the late night of the previous evening. Jamie was gently rubbing the small of Ryan’s back, making sure that no residual tension remained. "Father Pender looked a little surprised when you introduced me as your spouse," Jamie said.

Ryan chuckled a little, recalling the startled look they had received from the priest. "I thought it was kinda funny," she agreed. "I’m sure he knows I’m firmly committed to the lesbian lifestyle–jeez, he knows every bit of gossip in San Francisco!"

"Did you ever tell him that you were a lesbian?"

"Yeah…he was actually the first person I told. I knew he would keep my confidence, so I talked to him right after the whole thing with Sara. He was less than helpful," she scoffed.

"Tell me what happened, Honey."

"He wasn’t obnoxious or anything," Ryan said quickly. "He just wasn’t helpful. I wanted advice on how to get on with my life–as a lesbian–but he wanted to get me to go to this Catholic group called Courage."

"Courage?"

"Yes, Courage," Ryan muttered, shaking her head at the memory. "It’s a support group to help gay people have the courage to resist their urge to be sexual."

Jamie’s hand stilled and she lay down close to her partner, asking in a soft voice, "Did you want to try not to be gay?"

Ryan’s dark head shook, her hair trailing across her pillow. "Not in the least," she said confidently. "I’ll admit that I felt pretty shitty about myself, but I never considered trying to be someone I wasn’t. I thanked Father Pender and threw the phone number away in the trash can outside of the rectory."

"Did he ever talk to you about it again?"

"Nope. As I said, I’m sure he knows that I’ve um…dated…a lot of women, though. Maybe that’s why he was surprised that I’ve settled down."

"Oh, you’re settled all right," Jamie giggled, wrapping her arms tightly around her partner.

"That’s just how I like it." Ryan snuggled even closer against Jamie’s warm body, secure in her love and her unwavering support.

As they flew across the Bay Bridge on Monday morning, Jamie commented, "There sure isn’t much traffic this morning."

Glancing at her, Ryan commented, "It’s 5:45, Love, most people aren’t stupid enough to be out at this hour."

"Good point," Jamie chuckled. "I guess I’m even stupider than you are since I run with you voluntarily."

"Nah," Ryan disagreed. "You’re just crazy about me, and you can’t stand to let me out of your sight for two hours."

"You’re right on the money, as usual, Sport," Jamie agreed wholeheartedly.

"Morning, girls." Jordan Ericsson tossed her long blonde hair and leveled a cool gaze at Jamie. They were standing in front of the Recreational Sports Facility, stretching lightly before the morning run. Ryan was bent over, getting the kinks out of her back, but she managed to grunt out a hello.

"Wanna stretch it out a little today, Ryan?" Jordan’s tone was casual, almost bored, but Jamie could detect a note of challenge that she assumed would not go unanswered by her mate.

"I suppose I could take the clamps off," she agreed, matching Jordan’s tone exactly. "You don’t mind if we take off for a little bit, do you, Honey?"

Oh boy, I’m not gonna see either of them for the next hour.
"No, that’s fine. I’ll be waiting for you in my usual place," Jamie said, knowing that little tests like these were the types of challenges that Ryan thrived on.

Before Coach Placer even gave them the signal, Jordan flashed a taunting smile at Ryan and called, "Normal route–twice!" Before Ryan could even blink, the laughing woman took off, leaving a muttering Ryan in her wake.

Grumbling the whole while, she bent to place a kiss on Jamie’s cheek and unnecessarily advised, "You might want to go at your own pace, Love."

Jamie gave her a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-to-even-say-that look and nodded somberly. "Right. I’d hate to kick your butt in front of your teammates."

Oblivious to the joke, her blue eyes locked on Jordan’s departing form, Ryan muttered, "Good. See ya."

She took off after her new teammate, grumbling audibly, while Jamie smiled at the pair, thinking,
Of all of things she needs in the world, the very last one is another person in her life to bring out her competitive side!

Jamie finished her single lap of the normal route with the more moderate members of the team, then spent a few minutes lying on the grass and stretching. She was just about finished when Jordan came loping up, looking far cooler than she should have after a ten-mile run. Barely breathing hard, she approached Jamie and flopped down on the ground next to her. "Ryan must have stopped for coffee," she commented blithely.

"Uh-huh," Jamie murmured, deciding it best to remain neutral in what she assumed would become a chronic contest.

A few seconds later, Ryan came barreling over to them--face flushed–chest heaving. "Holy shit!" she cried, dropping like a rock to land next to Jamie. "Why are you wasting your time in school when you could be with the Olympic track team, training for Sydney!"

Jordan gave her a very confident smile, getting to her feet to stretch her hamstrings. "Oh, I will be in Sydney," she advised, "but I’ll be on the volleyball team." With that, she stood and gave Ryan a wink, adding a little wave as she jogged back to the facility to shower.

Ryan didn’t say another word, focusing on her post-run stretching. After a little while she extended her legs and bent from the waist, asking Jamie, "Sit on my back, will you?"

"That’s an innovative change," she quipped, trying to wrest a smile from her partner. "You normally like me coming at you from the other direction."

"Uh-huh," Ryan murmured, obviously still mulling over her defeat. Jamie dutifully sat on her back, helping her reach the very deep stretch that she liked to get out of her hamstrings. "Maybe I wasn’t warmed up enough," she said, more to herself than Jamie.

"Does it really matter if Jordan is faster than you are, Honey?" Jamie wasn’t trying to be insensitive, but she thought it best to have a little perspective. Ryan and Jordan were not competing for spots on the track team–they were teammates in a sport that didn’t require blinding speed, so the entire issue seemed rather silly to Jamie.

Ryan obviously did not see the issue in the same light, however. She focused her ice blue eyes on her partner and said slowly, "She is NOT faster than I am. Ten miles is a little long for me, to tell you the truth. Let me get that little greyhound on the track, and I’d kick her ass so bad she couldn’t sit for a week." Ryan’s eyes were nearly burning in their intensity, and Jamie immediately decided that this was not the time to try to inject a dose of reality.

"I’m sure that you’re right, Honey. I’ve seen how fast you are at the shorter distances…"

"I’m plenty fast at the longer distances, too," Ryan decreed sharply. "I just have to spend a little time working on my stamina."

Jamie pasted on a smile, thinking to herself,
Great. Just great. It’s bad enough she has to compete with her brothers and all of her cousins. Now she has to beat Jordan, too! It’s gonna be a loooong summer
.

On Tuesday morning, Jamie negotiated a plan that she hoped would satisfy both of their morning needs. "I’d like to go with you to work out in the gym this morning, Babe, but I really need my wake-up routine. Can you keep yourself occupied until nine?"

Ryan mulled over the request, finally agreeing to an accommodation. "I think I’ll go over to the track. If I’m gonna be in top shape, I need to work on my speed. I’ll meet you in the weight room at 9:30. That okay?"

"It’s great, Honey." She took her latté and her newspaper and headed for the backyard, musing,
Did they change the rules of volleyball since I last watched it? I was certain that you didn’t have to sprint from one end of the court to the other before you were allowed to hit the ball! Thanks, Jordan, thanks a lot!

The day was cool and brisk, so Jamie decided to sit on the steps of the Recreational Sports Facility to wait for her partner. As expected, a very soggy looking Ryan came bounding up, right on time. "You don’t look like you’re going
to
a workout," Jamie smiled in greeting, rising to place a small kiss on Ryan’s flushed cheek.

"I’m good to go," she proclaimed happily. "I got some good work in this morning, working on my form. I discovered that I’ve been clenching my fists a little, and a flaw like that can really slow ya down."

She looked completely serious, and Jamie didn’t have the heart to tell her that her hand position could not possibly have accounted for her second place showing against Jordan the day before.
Jordan just plain dusted her–by a lot!
Instead, she offered an encouraging smile, grasping Ryan’s hand as she did so. "You’re dangerously fast, Buffy. And I should know." As they walked through the quiet halls of the RSF, Jamie continually bumped her partner with her hip, turning it into a little game that quickly got out of hand. By the time they reached the door of the weight room, Jamie was shrieking and laughing hysterically. She flew into the room and grasped the horizontal bar with both hands, bracing her body against the other half of the double door which had luckily been bolted shut.

Ryan yanked on the door with all of her might, managing to pull it forward a few inches. "You know I’ll get in there eventually, Jamie," she bellowed, "and when I do…" She left the threat uncompleted, trying to let Jamie’s imagination conjure up what the punishment would be.

"You’ll never break me," the smaller woman yelled through the heavy steel door. "I can hold you off for hours."

Ryan laughed evilly, deciding to let go of the door handle completely for a few moments, knowing that her partner would tire quickly. She shoved her face against the small, oblong window, smashing her normally attractive features into a gruesome-looking mask. Her laugh rang out again, and she thanked the gods that every office they had passed was empty.

"You don’t scare me, Buffy," Jamie called out. "Hit me with your best shot!"

"Winner gives the loser a massage," Ryan proposed.

"Deal!" called out the smaller woman.

"Limber up your fingers, Babe, you’re gonna need ‘em!" Ryan braced her foot on the locked portion of the door and grabbed the handle with both hands. She depressed the lever to unlock the latch, then yanked with every bit of her considerable strength….only to have the door move less than an inch. Time and again she yanked, letting out a frustrated groan as she did so. On her last try she barked out a loud growl, and slid to the floor in defeat when the door again failed to budge.

"Give up?" called a very amused voice.

"Yes," she muttered, slumped against the locked half of the door.

Jamie opened the door tentatively, expecting her partner to leap at her, looking for vengeance. Instead, she was still sitting on the floor, looking totally defeated. "Maybe I’m just too old for this," she mumbled when Jamie squatted down next to her.

"Oooh, Honey, why do you say that?" Jamie immediately felt bad about her little game, realizing too late that Ryan needed a little ego boost this morning.

"I’m not as fast as I thought, I’m not as strong as I thought…" She trailed off weakly, looking more discouraged than Jamie had ever seen her.

"You’re as strong as three women," Jamie assured her, leaning in for a kiss.

Ryan replied with a bitter laugh, grumbling, "I think I’m just fooling myself. I can’t even beat one. Any one," she muttered, recalling Jordan’s trouncing of the day before.

"Honey, you can beat three…believe me." She ruffled Ryan’s hair as she stood and yanked the door open, revealing Jordan and a freshman teammate named Heather who were both trying, and failing, to look innocent. "I had a little help," Jamie revealed hesitantly, hoping Ryan wasn’t angry with her.

Very amused blue eyes twinkled up at her, a pleased grin replacing her frown. "Three, huh?" She barked out a little chuckle as she got to her feet. "Not bad," Jamie heard her mutter under her breath. "Not bad at all."

The foursome worked out together for about half an hour. Technically, "together" wasn’t the correct word, but they were in the same space for that amount of time. Heather was the first to fall by the wayside, mumbling a quiet "See ya" as she made her escape.

Jamie held out a good while longer, matching the jocks exercise for exercise. She was quite proud of herself, even though she was pumping half of the weight of the other two. But when they dropped to the floor to start banging out one-armed pushups, she allowed her good sense to take over and pulled out a mat to start stretching.

"Box jumps?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Umm…sure," Jordan said, "I’ve got a little juice left in my tank. I was here for quite a while before you two showed up," she said, revealing a tiny chink in her self-confidence as she shot a surreptitious glance at Ryan’s pumped thighs.

Jamie wasn’t familiar with the term "box jumps," but she got the idea when Ryan pulled out three sizes of sturdy wooden boxes and placed them a couple of feet apart. Jordan followed suit, placing her boxes well away from Ryan’s to avoid their running into each other. "Wanna make a game of it?" Ryan asked casually.

"If you must," Jordan said with a much more studied aloofness. "Whatever gets your juices flowing."

Ryan refrained from making the graphic joke she would have made before Jamie, or BJ, as she privately referred to the time prior to their pairing. She was happy to save her naughty sense of humor for her partner, but she did have to police herself a bit. She had been teasing and playing with other women for six years and it had become second nature to her, but she didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea–especially anyone as fabulous looking as Jordan. That kind of temptation she just did not need.

"Follow the leader." Ryan called the challenge, waiting for Jordan to complain. When she did not, Ryan started on the smallest step. She jumped onto the step and back to the floor, her feet close together, arms flexed slightly at the elbow. Several repeats of this motion led her to the next box, and she ran off an even dozen crisp repetitions. Jordan was keeping up with her, but Jamie could see the signs of fatigue on the thinner woman’s face. Her mouth was slightly open, and her chest was moving quicker than Ryan’s.
Who wouldn’t want to trade places with me?
Jamie smirked to herself.
I get to watch two fantastic looking women work out, and nobody notices when I stare at their bouncing breasts!

Ryan picked up the pace, going to the tallest of the boxes and launching into a blistering set of reps. Jamie stared at the pair, amazed that they were both able to continue with the grueling test of stamina. Jordan’s alabaster skin was now a deep pink, beads of sweat flying off her face as she leapt in concert with Ryan.

For her part, Ryan still looked pretty good, given how long they had been jumping. Her face was darker than normal, and she also perspired freely, but she wasn’t gasping for air like Jordan was.

"Shit!" Jordan gasped, withdrawing from the competition. Both hands flew to her waist, massaging what looked to be a painful stitch in her side.

"You okay?" Jamie asked, approaching her gently and placing a hand on her bent back.

"Fine. Fine." Her voice was muffled and strained, and she seemed more annoyed than in pain. "Just have to work this cramp out."