Page 60 of Class Act

“Scoot your hand higher on the handle,” Ruby said. I adjusted my hold because if anyone knew something about chucking axes, it was going to be her. “Perfect. Now pretend a bear is coming to attack your mom.”

“Kill the bear, Hailey,” Lizzie called.

“Kill the bear . . . kill the bear . . .” Aryn called.

I faced forward again and took a deep breath. I’d not spent much time with an ax in my hand, not being an outdoorsperson or dependent on wood to heat my home, but I did know enough to be slightly wary about flinging a sharpened blade through the air. I didn’t think I had any aggression that needed purging, like Meredith, or anything to prove, like Ruby. But I also had no plans to be the loser this evening. The Whittaker family had introduced me to my competitive side, so I tightened my grip, counted to three, and stepped forward with my arm raised to hurl the ax toward that big red dot. I launched it with all my might and watched in fascination as it went end over end and then dropped to the floor a few inches from the target.

Huh. Maybe Ruby had a point about my muscles. I wasn’t a very big person and none of my exercise routine was about building bulk. My face was a little red as I turned back to my friends who had stopped cheering and were moving their mouths trying to find the right words to say. Lizzie came through with “Hey, no big deal,” before they all joined in, Meredith sucking her lips in to keep from cracking up.

“So, going to be adding weights to my routine,” I said. “Because the bear is now mauling my mother.”

That loosened them up, and we all laughed as I retrieved the ax from its sad place on the floor. I hung it on the wall, per our safety instructions, before joining my friends. Handing off the ax was a no-no. And yet, we didn’t wear safety helmets, gloves, or goggles. Whatever.

Lizzie was up next, and she hustled to grab the ax from its hook. She took her place on the line, scrunched up her shoulders, lifted her arm, and then let out a bloodcurdling yell as she chucked that sucker with all her might. Her scream shocked us all into silence as we watched her nail a bullseye. She spun back toward us, curls bouncing and eyes dancing, and did a funny little bow before going to retrieve her ax.

Only, she couldn’t get it out. She tugged and yanked, braced a foot against the wall, and finally gave up. She was giggling when she turned back to us. “Ruby?”

Ruby happily trotted into the area and pulled the ax out with a grunt. “Nice throw, Liz,” she complimented. “I guess since I’m in possession, I’ll take my turn now.”

None of us argued, and Ruby took her place at the starting line while Lizzie came back to join us.

“It’s bear attack time,” Aryn teased.

“Take this bear!” Ruby called.

She wiggled her shoulders and did some strange thing where she licked two fingers and held them up to test the air or something. After letting her fingers sense whatever it was they were after, she smoothed back her long pony tail, stretched her calf muscles, and gripped the ax with two hands.

“If there really was a bear charging,” Meredith called, “you’d already be a goner.”

“Right now I’m staring down the bear and warning him that he’s about to meet his maker,” Ruby shot back.

We all snickered before Aryn replied, “He thinks you look tasty.”

At this Ruby looked over her shoulder with a smirk. “That’s what all the guys say.”

Then, almost without warning after her huge build up, she spun forward and flung the ax. It rotated beautifully before somehow clipping the top of the target and boomeranging back toward Ruby. Five screeches filled the air followed by calls of “duck,” “dive,” “watch out,” and “holy cow.” Ruby managed to jump out of the way as the ax passed her and landed two feet away from where the other four of us had huddled up and closed our eyes. Against an ax. At least no one had shoved someone else to the front.

“You can open your eyes now,” Ruby said in an amused tone. “The danger has passed.” We opened our eyes to find Ruby holding the ax and standing in front of us. “I expected better from you guys. Now I’m not sure you’d actually have my back in an attack situation.”

We blinked at each other, and then I cracked a smile. “It’s better to know now than to be disappointed in a real-life scenario.”

“Speak for yourselves,” Meredith said. “My eyes never closed.”

“Yeah, but you did turn your back,” Ruby replied.

“Well, this is interesting,” Lizzie said. Her sly and scheming tone had us all looking her way. “Look who walked into lane four.”

Our eyes all shot to two lanes down to find Ford testing out an ax. There were two other men with him, all of them dressed in suits and ties. They must have been some of the international businessmen he’d told me about during our phone calls this week. Phone calls that had made my heart fill with hope and excitement.

While their outfits stood out here, Ford looked oddly at home with an ax in his hand. It was like lumberjack met billionaire, and my breath caught momentarily. Memories of his warm lips pressed against mine, my palms against his skin, flashed through my mind, and I licked my dry lips.

“Is it just me or does it look like he carries an ax to his board meetings?” Meredith asked.

“Interesting,” Aryn said. “I wouldn’t have pegged him as an ax thrower. I’d have described him as suave. The kind of guy who gets manicures and keeps his neck shaved.”

“His image is deceiving,” I mumbled in a tone that made their eyes swoop my way. At their looks I held up my hands, palms out. “I don’t mean anything by that. Only, I . . . there’s more to him than meets the eye.”

Ruby squeaked when it became clear I wasn’t going to finish that thought. “This is getting juicy. Please, tell us about Ford Whittaker’s secret side.”

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