Intentions - SF9 (7 page)

Marta rolled her eyes at Jamie and complained, "This is the first work I've done in two weeks! I don't get to cook anything but toast!"

"Well, you'll be happy tonight," Catherine promised. "Ryan's family is coming for dinner."

"Wonderful!" she enthused. "How many people, Ryan?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I'll call my father and ask for a head count. Probably 15 or so."

"Ohh, that is a good number. I'll start right now!" she said happily as she hopped up and grabbed her keys. "I'm off to the market," she proclaimed as she headed for the door.

"You've made her happier than you'll ever know," Catherine said as she sat down and picked at remnants of the now cold breakfast.

Ryan stood and scooped the platters away from Catherine as she declared, "I'm making you a decent breakfast, and then we're going to have your first weight training class!"

"We are?" she gulped, looking up at the young woman with wide eyes.

"Yep. No arguments," she said menacingly as she leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Does she always get her way?" Catherine asked Jamie with a smirk.

"Ha!" Ryan scoffed. "I don't think I've won an argument since August 24, 1998!"

After force-feeding Catherine some fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, and a bagel, they all went up to put on workout clothes. Jamie lent Jordan some nylon shorts and a tank top and she had to laugh at her after she put them on. "We wear the same size, but we sure don't wear them the same way," she laughed as she surveyed Jordan's long, lean frame.

Ryan slipped on a black sleeveless unitard with short legs and a low neck that immediately had Jamie salivating. "I've never seen you wear this," she mused as she pulled at the skintight fabric.

"I think I've worn it when I've been with you, but I always wear a T-shirt over it so it just looks like shorts."

"Don't wear the T-shirt today," she begged. "I want to see those muscles rippling."

"Um, Jamie?" Ryan reminded her. "Your mom will be in the gym too. Can you avoid trying to lure me into what we did the last time we worked out in private?"

"I promise I will not ravish you while Mother is there," she said sincerely. "But when I get you alone, all bets are off!"

"I do have to play a match tonight, Honey. You don't want to drain all of the lifeblood from my poor body."

"When do you have to be there?"

"We don't have to practice since we played last night. So I don't have to be there until around 3:30."

"Excellent. I'll have time to drain you and fill you back up again," she said with a gleam in her eye.

"I think I need a nap already," Ryan moaned.

After they were all dressed, Ryan asked, "Where is your weight room? I don't think I've seen it."

"Well, it's not as extensive as the one in Pebble Beach. It's located on the second floor of the pool house. That way you can just hop in the sauna or the spa after you work out."

Jordan interrupted to say, "I don't mean to offend you, but why on earth do you guys want to live in Noe Valley? I'd never move away from home if I had a setup this sweet!"

"Ryan loves Noe Valley, I love Ryan, and that's the bottom line," Jamie said firmly, giving her lover a pat on the cheek.

When they reached the pool house, Jordan started to pepper Catherine with questions about the design. As they drifted away to discuss some detail, Ryan leaned back against the wall and asked, "Do you want to live in Noe only because I do?"

"Umm, I guess so. After all, I had never been there before I met you, and I doubt that I would have ever gone there on my own. I was planning on living down here after I married Jack--so I guess the answer is yes, I want to live in Noe mainly because it's important to you."

Ryan blew out a breath and sighed heavily. "I guess I thought you liked the neighborhood," she said softly, a little pout forming on her lips.

"I do, Sweetheart! I've grown to love it! It really feels like home to me now. But that's not what you asked me. I grew up here, Babe, and I would have been happy to live here for the rest of my life. It's comfortable and familiar, and I must admit that I like the weather better. But this is just a place to me, Ryan. Noe Valley is much more than that to you, and it is tremendously important to me to make sure you have the things that make you feel happy and secure. I can move to Noe Valley and be perfectly content, but you couldn't do the same down here. It's an obvious choice, Baby."

"But I should be able to be as flexible as you are," she murmured, still pouting.

"You are terribly flexible, Sweetness, but this isn't an area that you need to compromise on. I want to live in Noe."

"But the weather really is nicer down here, and we could never have any real outside space. We'll never be able to have a pool or …"

"My parents have all of this stuff, Honey. It's a half-hour trip. No big deal. And since we're going to have to bring the kids down to see Granny and Gramps all the time, I think it will be nice to have a very different environment for them. Lord knows what will happen with my parents, but one of them will probably wind up living here. Hopefully we'll have a relationship with both of them by then."

Ryan gave her a quick look to confirm that such talk might have made Jamie a little sad. Seeing the dimming of the normal sparkle in her eyes, she deftly changed the subject. "I don't think Granny will be the name of choice for your mother. You'll have to come up with something a lot more elegant."

"Good point. We'll have to work on it. Now are we settled on our living situation?"

"I suppose," she said as she nodded briefly. "You know, most people would agree with Jordan. It does look nuts to leave this life to live in my crummy little neighborhood."

Eyes blazing, Jamie said, "Don't you dare talk about our home like that! It amazes me that you could even say that, Ryan! There is nothing crummy about Noe Valley!"

Ryan looked down at her shoes as she admitted with an embarrassed shrug, "I get kind of insecure when I'm down here. I guess I still think about your father telling me that you could never be happy with our lifestyle. And this all is so far from my experience that it boggles my mind a little bit."

"This is just stuff, Honey. Stuff can never replace family. Never!"

"You're right. I'm sorry that I'm a little insecure." She was gazing intently at her shoes, embarrassed to be caught in such a vulnerable moment.

"I get insecure too. Quite often, if my memory serves me well. It's our job to help each other through it."

When Jordan and Catherine had finished their tour of the first floor, they all trooped upstairs to hit the iron. Jamie's assessment of the space had been absolutely right on. It was not anywhere near as complete a gym as the gorgeous layout in Pebble Beach, but it had been very well designed to include equipment for working every muscle. In lieu of separate machines for most of the muscle groups, there was a large multi-function set up that contained weights and pulleys that could be configured to perform an almost endless variety of exercises. There was also a treadmill, an elliptical cross trainer for cardiovascular training, and an exercise bike. Against the wall rested a graduated set of hand weights and a set of bar bells.

"Excellent setup, Catherine. You have everything that we could possibly need," Ryan proclaimed. Jordan wanted to work on her back and her abs, mostly to stay loose, so she walked over to the free weights to begin her program. Jamie was going to do her regular workout, but she wanted to watch Ryan start with her mother, so she pulled up a weight bench and sat down to observe. "Okay," Ryan began, "let's start with what you want to get out of a weight training program."

"Umm, I'm not sure," Catherine admitted. "I suppose I want to fight gravity and the clock," she said with a laugh.

Ryan nodded thoughtfully. "Weight training is one of the best ways to attack both of those. But let's talk about your overall fitness first. What do you currently do for exercise?"

"Not much," she conceded. "I walk on the treadmill a couple of times a week, but I'm not very consistent with it. It just bores me to death, so I'm not very motivated."

"I don't blame you," Ryan agreed. "I couldn't use a treadmill either. It's too much like a hamster on a wheel for me."

"Don't forget your tennis, Mom," Jamie piped up.

"Oh, I don't," Catherine allowed, "but to be honest, it's not a tremendous workout."

"Only 'cause you're so much better than your competition," Jamie scoffed. Looking up at Ryan she informed her, "Mom is one of those really accurate baseline players. She has great court savvy, and she gets to every ball that's hit anywhere near her. She's a lot better than her friends, and she barely breaks a sweat-even though her opponent is gasping for air!"

"Oh, it's not that bad, Honey," Catherine scoffed, even though she knew it was.

"Hmm…" Ryan said. "You really should get some aerobic exercise at least three days a week. You could play with a better caliber player at your club…"

"No, I'm not interested in that," Catherine admitted. "I like to play just to be social."

"How about walking in the neighborhood? It's so lovely down here that the walk could be enjoyable. And your pool is long enough to get a good workout if you could tolerate doing laps."

"No, I'm not a swimmer."

"How about a bike?" Jamie suggested. "It's much more interesting for me to ride than walk. I feel like I'm really getting somewhere on my bike."

"Hmm, I haven't ridden a bike since I was at Stanford," Catherine said. "I enjoyed it then, but don't you think I'm a little old for that?"

"Not at all!" Ryan assured her. "Gosh, there were a couple of people in their 70s on the AIDS Ride with us."

"I might like that," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "It could remind me of my youth."

"That's why I do most of the things I do," Ryan grinned.

"Let's go get you a bike while the urge is still fresh," Jamie suggested.

"Really? So soon?" Catherine gasped.

"No time like the present," Ryan reminded her.

"Okay," Catherine said, "as soon as we're through here, we'll go shopping."

"Works for me," Ryan said. "I'd like to start with a few exercises to get you started, but I don't want to overwhelm you. Over time we'll add to these to keep you interested, but first we need to build a base. So I'll show you exercises for your shoulders, chest, arms, back, legs, and abs."

"Okay, let's go," Catherine agreed.

Ryan led her through the most basic of exercises for each of her major muscle groups. Catherine was substantially weaker than Ryan would have guessed, but given that she did no work around the house and didn't stress herself at tennis, that was not too surprising. She could only manage ten or fifteen pounds on most of the exercises, but Ryan assured her that she would progress quickly if she kept at it. Ryan urged her to do each exercise ten times but to do only one set at the beginning--as she got stronger she would increase the sets until she could do three, and then they would start to increase the weight on the machine.

Catherine seemed to like the process, and she agreed that she would work out three days a week and that she would give Ryan weekly calls to report on her progress.

When they were done, Catherine was quite tired and her muscles were already beginning to stiffen up. Ryan wanted to suggest a massage, but since she wasn't sure how Jamie or Catherine would feel about it, she held her tongue.

"Oh, my, I'm going to feel this in the morning," Catherine said as she sat on a bench and watched Jamie work.

Without missing a beat, Jamie suggested, "Let Ryan give you a massage, Mom. You'll feel tons better."

Catherine looked at her a little hesitantly but Ryan assured her, "I'm happy to work on you if you feel comfortable."

"Yes, I think I do. I've…um…never had a massage from someone I know, but I think I'd be fine."

"She's the best, Catherine," Jordan piped up.

"And you know my feelings on the matter," Jamie added.

"Okay, Ryan, work your magic," Catherine gamely replied.

As befitted the home that had everything, there was a massage room right off the main weight room. A professional table was set up, and Ryan noted that the room looked as if it were used frequently. "I have a massage here every week," Catherine offered, "but my masseuse doesn't come until Wednesday."

"That's good to know. Over time we can make Wednesday be your hard training day. I'll just step out while you get undressed," she said. "Call me when you're ready." She walked out of the room and dashed over to Jamie for a good luck kiss. "I'm more nervous than I was when I took my final exam in massage school," she admitted. "It's gonna be weird to see your mom naked."

"Just think of it as a preview of coming attractions," Jamie said as she gave her a playful pinch on the butt.

Jordan piped up, "I'd take that attraction right now-much less in twenty years. Your mom is a hottie, Jamie."

You'd better stick to a little safer game,
Ryan thought to herself.
Jim Evans would shoot you dead if you touched his wife. Speaking of which—
I'm
going to touch his wife! Yikes!