When the fight started, it went quick. Dani almost missed the first movement, the other woman being aggressive and more willing to take changes. She raised a foot to kick, but it was feigned. When Dani went to dodge the woman’s other leg snapped out into a side kick that connected with Dani’s midriff, taking the wind out of her, though she’d been half expecting it and turned with the blow. She was slow, though, being out of shape after too many weeks at home, with very little activity. Dani could feel the point of the heel rake her stomach. Her shirt gave a little tug and a small part of Dani’s mind registered that she’d probably torn it, which pissed her off to no end, as the shirt had been brand new, and rather comfortable at that.
The woman landed on one leg as Dani fell. As she went down, Dani twisted to stay on the carpeting, knowing there were shards enough there anyway to make the landing painful. Her hand braced against the floor, finding slivers instantly as she swept her leg under her assailant’s. She contacted just behind the knee and knew she’d gotten lucky. The pain in her left hand had driven her up faster than she’d have thought possible. The woman fell backward, and Dani tried to follow with a stomp from her other foot, but her opponent was fast. By the time Dani’s boot landed it was on carpet; her foe had twisted away and flown to her feet.
They stood there for a moment, re-assessing each other. Without a word, the woman rose in the air and aimed another kick, but Dani stepped into it, letting the woman’s foot go past her. She anticipated the next kick and reached out to block it, but the woman used an elbow instead. She held it out as she descended, using the momentum of her fall to increase the amount of force in the blow. Dani took that hit full-on, having prepared for a different defense.
Dani’s shoulder took the brunt of the attack and she groaned as she hit her knees. She saw the fist rising for the final blow and hurled herself upright, catching the woman about the waist and dragging her down, Dani sitting on the woman’s legs as they fell.
The woman in black grunted as she landed. Dani’s weight prevented her from a softer landing or being able to roll with the force of it. Dani grabbed the woman’s shirt, lifted her neck into an arch and pulled back her fist, ready to finish it with a crashing blow to the woman’s temple.
“DANI!” her father screamed from the doorway. “GET OFF YOUR MOTHER THIS INSTANT!”
Dani’s blow was already in motion. She couldn’t have stopped it. She did, however, manage to alter the arc of the blow and punched the floor with a great deal of strength.
Had it not been for the thick carpet, she would have broken every finger in her hand. As it was, she howled and shook her hand. There’d been more glass hidden in the thick carpet. Of course, there had been. Three knuckles were bleeding.
“Dani?” the woman said from under her.
Dani reeled back in horror, forgetting her fingers, forgetting everything.
No. No no no no no no no.
This couldn’t be happening.
The woman—her mother—screamed in delight and sat up under her, wrapping her tightly in her arms and laughing and crying all at once. “DANI!” she sobbed. “Oh shit, I’ve missed you!”
Edwin cleared his throat from his place at the door. “Dani,” Edwin said. “Er... this is your mother.”
Dani forgot the pain in her hand. She also forgot her name, the last twenty years, and everyone she’d ever met. “Ma.... Momma?” It was an old word. One she hadn’t used in a long, long time. She looked at Edwin, too poleaxed to move. She looked to Luke, who stood behind him, and then to the woman who’d wrapped her arms around her in a hug that was suddenly too stifling. “Momma?”
The word sounded wrong on her tongue. Why was she still saying it? Why was everyone looking at her like that? Why was this woman who had FREAKING ABANDONED HER still holding her like this was the reunion of the century?
She raised her head, looking for help from the one person she could count on to put things into perspective, but Luke was staring from her to the other woman, his mouth gaping open in the most unattractive, unhelpful way in the world.
Dani shoved at the woman who, with a cry, grabbed her again, holding her close in an embrace that had a lot more muscle in it than she’d expected. And a hint of krav maga.
Luke’s mother walked through the door, pushing past the forming crowd to stand right in front of her, one hand on her hip as she looked Dani up and down. She finally nodded in a great deal of satisfaction, especially after taking in the state of the rest of the room. “This is the mother of the bride?” she asked Luke. “I like her.”
“BRIDE?” Dani’s mother shrieked, and broke free of her hug. She was still trapped under Dani’s legs, but her mother’s face glowed with happiness.
Luke’s mother leaned forward and offered her hand, so dainty she might have been meeting the Queen of England for the first time. “Hello, I’m Elaina. I’m the mother of the groom. How do you do? It’s a pleasure meeting you.”
Which was, of course, the moment the police ran in.
“WAIT, WAIT.” LUKE HELD up his hands. William had dealt with the police. That had turned out to be the easiest part. William owned the police. Rather, they did his bidding and were the backup he’d referred to. Luke wasn’t close enough to hear everything, but a quiet word with one of the men in a police captain’s uniform and the captain suddenly became attentive and ready to follow William’s every command. And to see that everyone else followed those commands as well.
A circle of police stood watch on the lawn while they tried to track down the missing daughter of one Mrs. Pinal. Luke shook his head as he moved past half a dozen men talking excitedly into their radios. Whatever they were doing certainly looked like it was efficient enough, but something was bothering him, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on just what. He wandered back into the house to see what was going on in there.
The group had split up, and who knew what sort of story William had given the local authorities that kept them out of the building and out on the lawn while the house was explored from top to bottom. Not that there was much that had gone untouched. Dani’s mother had already done quite a thorough examination of things, leaving only the bathrooms, which were summarily dispatched by William himself. Edwin kept a half pace behind, maintaining a hangdog expression that quite clearly said he wanted out of this rodeo, but wasn’t liking the idea of trying to dismount from the bull.
Luke shook his head, only just refraining from saying you needed to surround yourself with clowns to accomplish that feat, because it seemed a little too apropos. Shaking his head, he returned to the living room and found himself caught in the middle of a conversation between mothers, which didn’t bode well for either him or Dani from the look of things. A retreat to the kitchen where Marcus was applying hydrogen peroxide to Dani’s scratched fingers seemed almost better by comparison once you got past all the swearing. Mostly from Marcus.
“For heaven’s sake, sit STILL. You’re worse than a cat. How do you expect me to get the splinter out?”