“I think we’re going to start small and leave lots of room for expansion. We’ll all have different areas of focus. Some of us will be part-time and some full-time. Joe said he’d talked to you about us using the property here?”
Tansy nodded. “We talked for a while. I don’t want to disturb the environment with too many changes but I think you could easily create training areas outdoors. He mentioned maybe using some of the old cabins for various classrooms. I’d like to keep some of them for science labs too.”
Having both ventures in the same place was going to make it a fascinating place. When the kettle whistled, he stood and filled the mugs, handed her one and took his seat again.
“Joe reminded me there are more buildings on the sawmill property as well.” She smiled. “I promised Aisling she could have part of the sawmill as her workshop, but we can look and see what shape the others are in. Have you decided if you’ll be full or part time yourself?”
This was it, he thought. Time to make a decision. Time to make a commitment.
Sam angled to look at her. “I want to go full-time. Whenever I think about the new company, something inside me relaxes. When I think about going back to the job, the tension returns.”
Her smile was radiant, and she reached to grip his hand. “That’s when you know it’s right. You’re going to be a fabulous teacher, Sam. When we arrived at the Riveras, I was so lost, so angry, so sad. You told me you had a secret way to deal withbad shit.”
That made him smile, he’d forgotten about that.
She continued. “You started teaching me Tai Chi moves. The breathing, the control, the regulation of it all helped me in more ways than you know.”
He smiled at the memories. “You always wanted more. We added in martial arts. I was learning moves on the internet in order to teach them to you. I was barely a step ahead of you some days.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously? I had no idea. You were always so confident in the moves, in the teaching.”
“One of my foster homes had been with a lady who was a black belt in everything. I was able to spend an entire year with her before she got sick. She taught us everything we wanted to learn. You just learned it more quickly than most.”
Martial arts training had been a great way for a kid to learn control. Outwardly, it was about the moves and the power. Inwardly, it was about finding your center and learning to control your body and mind.
Tansy’s soft words broke into his thoughts. “I assume you’re going to be in charge of physical training?”
He nodded. “At some point in the future, I hope it will be a full-time venture where we can do weeklong group training sessions incorporating all kinds of skills. For now, we’re thinking of offering individual training sessions. Graham can do driving skills, teach basic mechanical fixes for vehicles, and how to look for tampering. I can do basic bodyguard and investigative skills, along with the fitness training.”
“That sounds like enough for you to start with fairly quickly.”
She was probably right, and that both thrilled him and scared the shit out of him.
“I have to talk with my boss at some point. Ask for a year’s leave while we find out if this is viable.”
“With all of you putting your heads together, it will definitely be viable. You, Joe, and Nico have a huge amount of experience and it sounds like Graham has a unique skill set that is valuable. You’ll have to create a business plan and figure out the specifics of classes, training, and costs.”
Sam sat back. “That part is daunting.”
Tansy nodded. “I don’t like that part either.”
“Too bad your friend Cinnia isn’t looking for a job.”
He’d been joking, but Tansy tilted her head and looked past him, brain working. “Well, she’s busy running Döva, and I think Cinnia’s too much of a city girl to want to move up here. But maybe she knows someone who might be interested. Although I suppose a lot of that could be done remotely. Let me chat with her and see what ideas she has.”
Sam stood and held out his hand for her. She stood, and they headed to the stairs together.
Contentment filled him as they walked up. This was so much more of a life than he’d had since joining the FBI. The new job would take up a lot of time, but it would be in one place.
And that place would have Tansy.
Life was looking pretty damned good.
Making Friends
Tansy shot up from a deep sleep when the alarm whooped. Beside her, Sam hauled on jeans and yanked the gun out of the nightstand before she’d even thrown back the covers. He tossed her his t-shirt and woke up his phone where he’d installed the program monitoring the alarms.
“Someone tried to breach the window off the deck facing the lake on the main floor.”