Page 8 of Theirs to Treasure

“Thank you all for coming tonight.” The instructor’s pleasant voice carried easily to the back of the room. Sam remembered her name was Julia and he liked her when he signed up.

“Since all of you are new to Fateful Yoga, we’ll make this an evaluation session. I’ll go through some stretches and poses, then we’ll determine which class level is right for you,” she smiled.

Sam easily kept up with the stretches but found that when they moved into some of the basic poses, he began to ache and burn. When Julia came over and said that his form was great, but asked how he was holding up, he was candid in his feedback.

“I would have been very surprised if you didn’t feel a burning sensation. I hope that upon release, your body will feel more relaxed than when you started the pose,” she said.

Sam watched in appreciation as she moved up toward a pretty African American woman he hadn’t noticed before. She wasn’t wearing the standard yoga gear. She had leggings on, but her T-shirt was at least four sizes too large, and came down almost to her knees.

When Julia went over to her, Sam noticed that she was doing some of the poses in a modified version. However, she was executing these modified poses perfectly, an indication she had been doing yoga for some time, but with some restrictions in her flexibility that didn’t allow her to do the poses to their full extent.

Sam couldn’t really see anything but her cute little feet and a mass of curly black hair pinned to the top of her head. Suddenly she laughed at something Julia said and his gut clenched. Julia moved on to another woman and directed the class to do something called Child’s Pose. She explained what it was and had the woman she was talking to demonstrate.

“Basically, you get on all fours, then put your head down on the floor like this. Now, slide your arms forward, and rest your bottom down on your feet.”

When Sam peeked up at the others in the class to see if he was on-track, he saw that the black haired beauty’s shirt had hiked up, exposing a gorgeous heart-shaped butt. Sam fell in love with yoga at that very moment and decided what class he needed to take—whatever class she was going to be taking.

As he slipped his yoga mat into his truck, he tried to ignore the way his muscles felt like overcooked spaghetti. It was as if he had just done a ten-mile hike with a fifty-pound rucksack. Crazy. He’d bluffed his way through with Julia, so she didn’t realize how much the yoga had kicked his ass. He signed up for the intermediary class, the same class that Josie Decker had signed up for.

He wasn’t sure why he bothered. God knew he was a mess, but there was something refreshingly normal about feeling interested in a woman. Now if he could only bring himself to do something as normal as try to get close to her. He’d have to do a hell of a lot more physical therapy if he wanted to keep up in the class. But hell, his doctors had been pushing for him to do that anyway.

Sam grinned all the way home.

* * *

Even though Sam had managed to position himself behind Josie at the next class, he wasn’t grinning. The intermediary class had him sweating like a shaggy dog in August. If not for the fact that he’d made it through basic training, he wouldn’t have believed it possible he could endure the positions that Julia was currently demonstrating. It wasn’t the positions so much as holding them. His muscles strained harder than he had ever imagined.

Then there was the added problem that Josie’s T-shirt kept riding up. This scenic view had a very pronounced effect on his body, which he tried to hide as he moved into each position. God, he loved a full-figured woman. Josie’s body was perfect. He had to figure out a way to talk to this woman, without coming on like a ravening idiot. Towering over her with drool on his face after yoga class didn’t seem like the best way to win her over. This was going to take a little bit of finesse, and that was something he’d lost in the last couple of years.

But then Julia called him and Josie to the front desk after class.

“I have two additional forms I forgot to have each of you fill out. I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” Julia apologized.

“It’s not a problem,” Josie piped up, obviously trying to make Julia feel better.

“Yeah, Julia, I could use a rest before trying to crawl out to my truck,” Sam said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

“Thanks, Josie. Thanks, Sam. I really appreciate your support.” Julia quickly took back the filled out forms. The shy smile Josie gave him as she made her way out of the studio made him happy. It was good to see he still knew how to use humor. But the sad part was, it wasn’t all that funny, because he almost did need to crawl back to his truck.

Granted, he might not be at his best. Afghanistan and his injury, and the funk he’d been in since coming home had turned him into a surly asshole. The only people who put up with him were Betty, Butch, Chance, Leif, and Joshua. But, before all of that, he’d been accomplished with the ladies. Sam smiled as he remembered the times he and Chance had spent dating half of the women of Southern California. Working as volunteer firefighters was a surefire way to attract women.

It was odd to consider how long he’d been celibate. In his twenties, six weeks would have been unheard of for either him or Chance. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Chance dating for the last six months, which was pretty damn odd. Chance without a woman just wasn’t right. Sam shook his head. He really didn’t care. This was about him and Josie. He needed a plan.

He started the truck and headed home. For the first time in a long time, Sam was really looking forward to the days ahead.

Chapter 5

Josie was so excited, she felt like she was going to come out of her skin. She raced around the shop. Everything in order, precisely where it should be. She didn’t touch anything, because she didn’t want to make her one employee nervous, but when she looked up at the older woman, her eyes twinkled. When Josie finally couldn’t help herself, she moved the two cakes in the front of the case a little to the right and the older woman laughed. Josie laughed with her.

“Josie, everything is perfect. This place has never looked better. I loved coming here when the Matushkas ran the place, but this is in a class of its own,” Elise assured her.

Josie looked over the space. The colors were spring green and blue, and they complimented all the stainless steel and chrome fixtures. She turned the sign over to “Open.” It was six o’clock in the morning, the time people wanted their coffee and pastries, and she hoped to be the place to provide that. If they wanted a full breakfast, then she wouldn’t be taking away customers from the diner. If they just wanted their coffee, then she wouldn’t be taking away customers from the coffee shop. But for pastries, nobody could beat her, she just knew it. Josie was gratified that, as she unlocked the door, two older men waited to come in.

“Well, young lady, we’ve been waiting for you to open. We’ve missed Matushka’s scones,” said the man with the beard. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

“Speak for yourself, Harvey. I missed his bear claws. What do you have to offer us?” Josie smiled at the second man as she made her way behind the counter.

“Actually, for the first few weeks, we’re setting out samples so you can decide what you want. There are scones, muffins, croissants, bagels, donuts, and cinnamon rolls to sample in the morning. In the afternoon, we’ll have cookies, cake, and cupcake samples available.”