“You’ll be here Memorial Day, right?”

“That just seems so far away.”

Oh, fuck, don’t cry.

Bri swallowed the lump in her throat. “Do you need money…for the bus? I sent the rent check already.”

“No… I… Bri…” She was crying. “I have to go.”

“I love you, babe,” Bri whispered, one hand fisted in her hair, her head down almost on her knees. “Please, don’t cr…”

“Hey! Parker! You coming to class or not?” a rough male voice demanded.

“Yes, sir.” Bri jumped to her feet. “I gotta go, babe. Carre?”

But the line was already dead.

“Bri?”

“Sorry. What?” Bri blushed.

“The academy. Everything okay?” Reese tied her pants, shrugged into her gi jacket, and wrapped the gold embroidered black belt around her waist with practiced efficiency.

“Yeah, sure. Fine.”

“Good.”

Reese stepped onto the mat and knelt, as did Bri, and they bowed to one another. Then, as they had done five or six days a week for the year and a half before Bri had left for college, they trained. Then, Reese called a halt, and they once again knelt and bowed.

“Thank you, sensei,” Bri said quietly.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Reese said, “but I talked to Moriyama sensei about you resuming your training with me.”

“Thanks.”

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t keep you on schedule. You can either test for shodan in New York with Moriyama’s class sometime this summer, or you can test here with me.”

“How would that work?”

Reese shrugged. “We don’t need to decide that now. You’ve got enough things to worry about. First priority is getting through the academy with good scores so you can have a shot at picking your field training placement.”

“I know. I’m busting my as…butt in class.”

“Good. See that you keep it up.”

“Yes, ma’am.” When Bri realized that Reese would probably head back to Provincetown any minute, she said almost desperately, “Listen, we could shower here and then maybe go out for a drink. If you have time?”

Reese regarded the young woman intently. Bri’s dark blue eyes were shadowed, and despite her formidable physique, she looked gaunt. “If you don’t mind a little healthy sweat, I don’t. I’m pretty hungry. Let’s skip a shower. Any place near here we can grab a bite?”

“Yeah,” Bri replied eagerly. “There’s a tavern out on 6A about 10 minutes from here.”

“Let’s go then,” Reese said briskly. “And Bri?”

“Yeah?”

“Soda for you in the bar.”

Bri flushed. “Yes, ma’am. Absolutely.”

Nine minutes later they were seated in a booth at the back of a beer joint that was packed with locals and academy trainees. If Reese wasn’t mistaken, at least one young women had eyed Bri with an appreciative glance that was definitely more than friendly.

“Hamburger, fries, and a root beer,” Bri said when a woman approached with a pad and pencil at the ready.

“Make that two,” Reese added. “Along with whatever beer you have on tap.”

“I’m really glad you came up,” Bri said shyly. It was still difficult for her to relate as simply a friend to the woman who had been her teacher first.

“That’s okay. I wanted to see you,” Reese said as she took the mug of beer that the waitress offered. “Find out how you were doing.”

Bri sipped her soda. “The academy’s not that bad. There’s a lot of material to be covered in a short time, but most of it’s just common sense.”

“Good. You can handle yourself. Don’t be afraid to show it.”

Bri nodded, feeling almost happy for the first time since she’d left Carre. “No problem.”

“It’ll be good to have you back in the dojo,” Reese remarked. “Once you’re through the academy, we’ll need to talk about you teaching one of the junior classes.”

“Yeah, I’d like that. Isn’t Tory teaching a class in self-defense now?”

“Yes. But I don’t know how much longer she’ll be teaching.”

“Why?” Bri asked, her expression suddenly serious. “Is there something wrong?”

“Nope.” Reese couldn’t keep from smiling. “She’s pregnant.”

Bri’s hand stopped halfway to her mouth, the hamburger forgotten. Her blue eyes grew so round they looked almost black. “No fucking way,” she said in a reverent whisper.

“It’s true.”

“Wow.”

“Yes,” Reese confided. “That’s exactly how I feel, too.”

“Does my dad know?”

“Yes, I told him right away. We’ve known for a couple of weeks.”

“What did he say?” she asked curiously.

“I think he said something along the lines of what you just did,” Reese replied with a laugh. “He seems fine with it.”

They counted out cash to cover the check and the tip and then wended their way back through the crowd toward the door. Once outside, they walked briskly in companionable silence until they reached Reese’s SUV.

“Call me,” Reese said, clapping Bri on the shoulder. “Come down whenever you can, and we’ll work out. Okay?”

“Thanks, I will.”

Reese studied Bri’s face, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening inside her. All she could see were hints of her pain. The memory of the shadows in the younger woman’s eyes haunted her all the way home.

CHAPTER TEN

With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Bri watched the taillights of Reese’s Blazer disappear into the night. Suddenly at loose ends, she shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket and looked around the deserted parking lot. The options were few. She could go back inside the gym and work out until she felt tired enough to sleep, or she could head back down the road to the tavern and at least be in the company of other people. That might take her mind off the empty feeling that stole through her body. Not wanting to think about that, she strode quickly to her cycle, swung one long leg over the low-slung tank, and fit her key to the ignition. Ignoring the helmet strapped to the rear, she kick started the engine, slammed into gear, and tore off into the dark.

A few minutes later, she settled on a stool at one end of the still-crowded bar and ordered another club soda. She wasn’t thinking about much of anything at all, just aimlessly turning the glass on the bar, wondering what Carre was doing, when a soft female voice spoke very close to her ear.

“You’re back awfully soon.”

Bri swiveled on the seat and met the eyes of one of her academy classmates, a softly beautiful dark-haired young woman about her own age. They’d nodded to one another in class, but never had a conversation.

“There’s not much to do around here on the weekend,” Bri said noncommittally.

“You’ve got that right. Do you mind if I keep you company for a while?”

“No,” Bri replied, oddly uncomfortable, and uncertain why. Maybe it was just that she wasn’t used to casual conversations with strangers.

“I’m Allie Weber,” the faintly Southern-accented voice informed her as a well-formed hand reached out.

“Bri Parker.” The handshake was firm, the skin smooth and warm.

“Uh-huh. I know,” Allie replied. “Where are you from?”

“I’m a local. Provincetown. You?”

“South Carolina. Bet you can’t tell, though.”

“Uh,” Bri said, grinning. “A little.

“My mom got a job at Woods Hole Marine Biological laboratory near Falmouth when I was a junior in high school. So I’m sorta local, too.”

They both laughed. After a moment, Bri said, “Can I get you a drink or something?”

“I’m okay with this one,” the brunette replied as she lifted her bottle of beer. “So what do you think of the academy so far?”

“It’s about like I expected.” In truth, Bri didn’t pay much attention to her classmates. Her entire focus was on the material and what she needed to do to meet the hours requirements for graduation. Because many of the cadets had come from previous jobs and diverse educational backgrounds, the training program was very flexible and allowed the trainees a great deal of independence in arranging their schedules. Bri had mapped out a course of study that would get her through in the shortest possible time.

“The guys don’t seem to give you much trouble,” her companion observed wryly.

“Are they bothering you?” Bri regarded her companion seriously and was surprised to notice how dark her eyes were, almost liquid. Then she realized she was staring and quickly studied her glass of soda.

“Not really.” But the young woman’s tone was not convincing.

“But someone said something to you?”

“Not exactly. Just the usual offhand remarks about women not being strong enough to handle a physical confrontation. That kind of crap.”

“Hand to hand combat isn’t about how big you are,” Bri said intently. “Or how strong. It’s about how you use the resources that you have.”

“I heard that you’re some kind of martial arts master.”

“Hardly.” Bri laughed to hide her embarrassment. Luckily it was too dark for Allie to see her blush. “I’ve had some training, but I have a lot more to learn.”

The young woman casually put her hand on Bri’s wrist below the cuff of her jacket, then leaned closer to talk. “I saw you in the physical training section the other day. You knocked that big blond guy, Jacobs, on his ass like he was a feather.”

“That’s because the idiot rushed me. With that kind of move, they have so much forward momentum that if you simply sidestep and redirect, they’ll go right over. It’s totally a matter of using your own center of gravity against theirs.”

“So, do you think you could work out with me sometime? Like a training partner, maybe?”

Bri glanced down at the fingers lightly curled around her forearm and was suddenly uncertain. She didn’t have many friends; she never had. Just Carre and a few of the kids who hung out at Reese’s dojo. Most of the friends they’d made in Manhattan were Carre’s classmates from art school. She’d never wanted anyone else’s company. Carre was enough. The pang of loneliness that shot through her made her breath catch, and she looked away.