Tabitha gave a little hop and landed on Hobbs’s back, knees around his waist and hands on his shoulders. His body was warm and smelled like sheets drying in the breeze on the line outside. He trotted in a circle, making the crowd laugh.
“Great job, guys,” Rhett said as Tabitha slid to the ground. “Your second option is as follows. Hobbs is going to step one foot between Tabitha’s. He’s going to take her by the wrist and slide her onto his shoulders, his free arm behind one of her legs.”
Hobbs turned to her and said, “That sound alright?”
“Sure.” Tabitha felt herself flush a little.
Hobbs dipped, grasped her wrist, slid her around his shoulders and stood, hooking his arm around her thigh. His other hand gripped her forearm. As before, he walked around, easily moving her weight and going at a steady trot. People cheered, which quickly dissolved into laughter and pointing.
Tabitha wondered if her butt crack was showing, or something equally embarrassing to get the crowd going so hard, but then her gaze connected with Trinity. The little pittie trotted after Hobbs, matching his steps with her own. She rose to her haunches and pointed her nose, like she was demanding,Put my person down!
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Rhett said, gesturing to Trinity, “Canine Warriors in action.”
The crowd cheered and clapped. Pete removed his baseball cap and took a bow. Hobbs gently slid Tabitha to the ground and steadied her to her feet. “She’s okay, I promise,” he said to Trinity, without touching her.
“At ease, Trinity,” Tabitha said. “I’m okay.”
The pittie settled back on all paws and waited.
The clapping and cheering grew even louder.
“Good girl. Come.” Tabitha led her back to her spot in the shade, next to Humphrey. She smiled and stroked the dog’s ears, slipped a treat from her pack and gave it to her. Trinity quickly reverted to relaxed mode. “Stay,” Tabitha commanded, then headed back over to Hobbs. “She’ll stay with Humphrey now,” Tabitha promised.
“She’s welcome to work out with us.” Hobbs smiled in the dog’s direction. He turned back to Tabitha. “Did that feel okay?” It seemed like he might be studying her face, but it was impossible to tell with the sunglasses. “The carry?”
Tabitha ignored the little flutters that were building in her stomach, remembering the way Hobbs had gently set her down and then what appeared to be genuine concern for how she felt. “Yeah, it was fine. But we need to practice me carrying you.”
“You can split the carries any way you want,” Rhett was saying. “I realize some of you may be paired off with a big person and a little person. If one person does all the carrying, that’s okay, though I encourage everyone to at least try. We’re not going to differentiate between a conscious and an unconscious carry today, so don’t even ask,” Rhett added. “If your partner is unconscious, stop working out and call 9-1-1.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
“Alright.” Rhett clapped his massive hands together. “Let’s make this happen!”
Hobbs and Tabitha moved back to their equipment and faced each other. “How about I do all the carrying?” Hobbs tilted his head, like he was sizing her up.
“I can do more double unders,” Tabitha offered. “I can jump rope all day.”
“Alright.” Hobbs stuck out his fist. “Looks like we might make a good pair.”
Tabitha bumped his knuckles with hers. From the corner of her eye, she caught Delaney sneaking glances as she warmed up with Duke. On her other side was Trinity, lolling in the shade with Humphrey.I have two protectors, Tabitha thought, which erased some of the darkness that had been building since this morning.
After Rhett shouted,“Three, two one, go!”everyone got down to business and Tabitha’s mind was emptied of worry over Auntie El being disappointed in her, worry over whether or not she would let Hobbs down during this workout, worry that he might’ve noticed that ever since the Fourth of July he kind of made her knees weak—despite the fact that he flirted with every woman he saw and he was probably too old for her anyway—worry over the past, worry over the world being so big and so small all at the same time, worry over worrying. Between the heat, the music—Rhett had Daddy Yankee’s “Con Calma” booming from a set of speakers in the grass—and the sweat, Tabitha didn’t have time to worry. They worked methodically through their partner tosses, the heaviness of the men’s ball, which Tabitha had insisted they use because she saw Delaney with the twenty pounder, making her stumble only a few times. Every stumble Hobbs would smile beneath his shades and say, “That’s okay, Tabby, get a grip. Keep going.”
When they got to the dumbbell snatches, Hobbs knocked out ten at the speed of light, sweat barely glistening on his brow while Tabitha struggled to drop under for the catch. “Keep the dumbbell close to your body,” Hobbs said. “The more you swing out, the heavier it’s going to feel. Good. That’s better.”
Once they made it to the sit-ups, Tabitha regretted her macho decision to use the men’s med ball, but she gutted it out, her abs screaming, her torso struggling as she bent to meet her knees. Hobbs would smile, and she’d keep going, determined to make him sweat, at least a little.
“Let’s go one-to-one on the burpees,” Hobbs suggested, once Tabitha had struggled through her final sit-up and threw the ball, slick with her sweat, sideways in the dirt. He dropped down, pushed up, jumped to his feet and finished his first burpee in a flash.
Tabitha went next, landing in a patch of dirt and grass. She struggled up much slower, her lungs and heart screaming from the work and the heat. After completing the rep she swiped some dirt from her chin, a blade of grass stuck in her saliva and sweat. Hobbs did another burpee, then stripped his shirt over his head and laid it down in front of Tabitha. This tiny, and mostly useless, strip of protection from the ground gave her energy a boost, and she dropped quickly. The shirt was damp with Hobbs’s sweat and still had that fresh-from-the-clothesline smell. She jumped up and avoided stepping on it, clapping overhead with renewed vigor.
They went back and forth like that unbroken, Tabitha pushing through the pain solely on the gesture of that shirt. It was like having a gentleman drape his cape over the proverbial puddle.
When they were done with burpees, Hobbs left his shirt in the dirt and grabbed his rope. His double unders turned out to be flawless, despite the fact that he probably didn’t play much double Dutch when he was growing up. He kept his legs and arms straight and moved easily through the agreed-upon split, which was fifty for Hobbs and a hundred for Tabitha. When it was her turn for the rope she dug deep and hoped for an unbroken set, but her shoulders were too sore from the burpees and snatches and she felt the burn at fifty. She tripped and stood there, a dirty, puddly mess, trying to catch her breath.
“Let me get twenty-five while you rest,” Hobbs offered.
Tabitha went to protest, but saw that Duke and Delaney were already almost done with the partner carries, Delaney slung across Duke’s shoulders as he easily jogged down the field toward the turnaround marker. By the time she tore her eyes away, Hobbs was done and waiting on her to finish the last twenty-five doubles. Tabitha drew a deep breath and knocked them out without tripping.