Brock hunched his shoulders as if he had no idea what this was all about and followed Chance out of the room.
Chance walked all the way down the hall to the foyer where he hoped his and Brock’s voices would be unheard in the kitchen or the library. He kept his voice low, just in case.
Looking Brock in the eyes, he hissed, “What the hell is up with you? Making these snide remarks whenever Petra is mentioned? If you have something to say, say it to my face!”
Brock took a deep breath and let it out as if the effort to explain something to his little brother that he should be smart enough to already know was a huge burden. “She was a one-night stand and you’re already introducing her to the family as though she were someone you’re thinking of marrying one day.”
“Listen, and listen well,” Chance said. “I realize you have never treated a one-night stand as anything but what it was to you, but I’m not like you. Petra and I don’t believe how we met should have any effect on what we have now. I respect her. I believe she’s my equal in every way. Are we clear on that? Because even though you’re my brother and I love you, if you ever make her feel as if she isn’t good enough, I swear I’ll knock your teeth down your throat and enjoy it!”
Brock laughed, but Chance suspected it was bravado on his brother’s part. “I’m just trying to save you some heartache,” Brock said. “She’ll hurt you in the end.”
Chance shook his head. He felt sorry for Brock. Maybe that was why he could never connect with one woman. He was afraid of getting hurt.
“I’m not afraid of getting hurt. I’ve been hurt before and survived. I’m also not afraid of taking a risk on love. Haven’t you noticed how cold and unfeeling this world is without it? Or do you equate love with sex, and think all the sex you have is good enough?”
Brock frowned. “You’re not the only one who’s been in love,” he stated coldly, eyes narrowed.
Chance was stunned. “You never mentioned it.”
“She was a one-night stand,” Brock said. “Someone I used to work with. Afterward she never spoke to me again.”
Chance nodded, finally understanding his big brother. “So that’s why you think what Petra and I have is going to fail.”
“It’s been my experience,” Brock said, seeming to take no pleasure in the statement.
Chance impulsively hugged his brother. “I’m sorry you got hurt. But please, don’t treat Petra badly because you think she might hurt me. She might also be my perfect match.”
Brock shrugged out of his embrace. He was never one to show emotions or be demonstrative. “Okay,” he said gruffly. “Fact is, I like Petra.”
“I knew you did when you met her,” Chance said confidently.
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you,” Brock joked.
“And I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you,” Chance returned.
Chapter 9
“Dinner’s ready, you two,” James called, walking toward Chance and Brock in the foyer. He looked from one son to the other. “Everything all right?”
Chance smiled at his father. “Yes, Dad, Brock and I just had to get something straight between us. No worries.”
His father’s brows rose in confusion. Taking his gaze off Chance, he turned to Brock.
Brock cleared his throat. “Yeah, Dad, it’s nothing for you to worry about. We’re cool.”
His father still didn’t look convinced to Chance, but turned on his heels anyway and led them to the kitchen where the family had their informal meals. Their father tended to stay out of squabbles between his children, allowing them to figure it out for themselves unless things got too complicated, in which case he’d step in and try to help resolve the issue.
In the kitchen, Chance’s eyes immediately sought out Petra, who was looking quite in her element, smiling at something his mother was saying. When she heard him and his father and brother enter the room, her eyes zeroed in on him and she smiled, which went straight to his heart. Alia came over and hugged him. “I like her!” she whispered in his ear. “I hope you can keep up with her. She’s a fireball!”
And his father went straight over to Petra, whom his mother was still, it seemed to him, keeping close to her side, greedy woman. He and Alia strode over to them, too. Brock, he noticed, had sat down at the table, which was laden with what looked like a feast, and was already putting salad on his plate.
“Petra,” his mother said, “this is Chance’s father, James. James, this is Dr. Petra Gaines, zoologist, anthropologist, soon-to-be reality show star and our chief salad maker.”
Petra laughed delightedly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Youngblood,” she said, eyes lowering from a tinge of embarrassment. He knew that look all too well.
His father was beaming. He was like his mother and Alia, a hugger, and he gave her a friendly bear hug.
Petra was still laughing when his dad released her and said, “I’m happy to meet you, Petra.” Then his father looked at his mother and back at Petra. “You remind me of another beautiful lady I know.”
Chance didn’t know if his father was referring to the fact that Petra and his mother were both petite women, or if he was comparing their lust for life. Petra’s adventurous spirit did remind him of his mother’s.
“All right!” Brock called from the dinner table, “Shall we get this show on the road? My stomach’s beginning to think my throat’s been cut.”
Their mother gave him a withering glance, and Brock visibly gulped and cried, “Just kidding, Mom!”
Everyone else laughed and joined him at the table. After a short prayer of thanks by James, they enjoyed a meal of grilled steaks, garden salad, stir-fried green beans, dinner rolls and fresh peach upside-down cake with whipped cream.
The family caught up on each other’s lives as they always did at these meals. Chance was happy that his parents were focusing on Alia tonight more than on him. She was gearing up for a one-woman show at an art gallery in Manhattan soon.
“I’m ready,” she assured everyone. “All of the paintings are finished, and psychologically, the fear of discovery that I’m a talentless hack has subsided. So I’m looking forward to the public’s reaction to my work, positive or negative.”
“How can it be negative?” her mother asked reasonably. “You’re a wonderful painter, baby. Just wonderful!”
“I’d love to see your work,” Petra said, smiling at Alia.
“You already have,” Debra said proudly. “Practically all of the paintings on the walls of this house are by our Alia.”
There was a huge painting of Lady Day, Billie Holiday, with a white gardenia in her hair on the wall directly in front of where they sat at the dinner table. Petra looked at the painting with an awestruck expression on her lovely face.
“You painted that?” she asked Alia. “It’s beautiful!”
He was surprised by his sister’s reaction to his mother’s and Petra’s praise. She began silently weeping. Petra, sitting beside her, offered her first the cloth napkin from her lap. And then her shoulder for his sister to cry on.
“It’s just stress,” Alia told them, her voice muffled behind the napkin. “I’m all right.”
“Sure you are, baby,” James said comfortingly. “But it’s a proud day for us. Your grandmother would be so happy to see you following in your mother’s and her footsteps.”
It was a very emotionally satisfying evening for Chance, seeing his family and Petra bonding.
* * *
In July, Petra got a phone call from Meghan telling her she and Leo Wolfe were engaged.
Petra was in her new apartment in Harlem, having recently awakened. The one-bedroom apartment in a walk-up building near 125th Street was in great shape and had plenty of room for her needs. She liked the details in it, like a coffered ceiling in the bedroom and wainscoting in the living room. There was also an original fireplace i
n the dining area. Plus, the kitchen had recently been updated and had sufficient cabinetry for storage, counter space and new appliances.
“Meghan, when did this happen?” she cried, hoping she didn’t sound as shocked as she was. Her baby sister was going to marry Jake’s twin brother.
Calm down, girl, she told herself, and listen to Meghan.
“He asked me on our trip to San Francisco,” Meghan told her, sounding breathlessly, deliriously happy. As a big sister, that sound was both music to Petra’s ears and a reason to cringe. She was happy Meghan was ecstatic. On the other hand, she was losing another sister to a man. The bond they had would change somehow. Subtly, but it would still change, because the devotion they had for one another would now have to be shared.
So she got straight to the point. “Then he’s as good a man as you suspected him to be?”
“Oh, yes.” Meghan sighed. “He’s the best man I’ve ever known. I love him so much.”
“Then that’s all I need to know,” Petra said. “When’s the wedding? In a year? Two?”
Meghan laughed. “I’m not going to wait that long. Mina’s having her baby in August, so Leo and I are planning to be married in October to give her a chance to recover.”
“That’s only three months away! What’s the rush? Are you pregnant?”
Meghan laughed again. “Listen, now that we’re engaged, Leo says we can be open and honest with our families.”
Then Meghan went on to tell her that Leo was sterile, and on top of that had lived with what he thought was a congenital heart defect. In spite of his challenges he’d proved to be strong and loyal and capable of deep love and affection. The two of them, Meghan told her, after going through the fire of a tempestuous relationship, had forged an unbreakable bond. After Meghan was finished, Petra let out a long sigh. “You both deserve your happiness. I don’t know what to say, Meghan. You two are a perfect match.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Meghan said, her tone rife with emotion.
“How is Mom taking it?” Petra asked cautiously. Their mother, Virginia, who was known to try to control their lives, could be a loud opponent if she didn’t agree with the direction their lives were going. On the other hand, she could be their biggest cheerleader when she thought they were headed in the right direction.
“She loves him,” Meghan told her. Then she filled Petra in on the plans for the wedding, including the date and the venue.
“I’ll be there,” Petra promised.
“Are you bringing Chance?” Meghan asked expectantly.
“I’m pretty sure I can persuade him to be my plus one,” Petra said confidently.
“Oh, it’s like that, huh?” Meghan teased.
“Let’s just say he has restored my faith in men,” Petra said.
“Hallelujah!” was her baby sister’s reaction.
Petra laughed. “Yes, praise God. Only He could have worked a miracle like that in my life.”
* * *
Two weeks later, Petra, with Chance along for support, flew to Kinshasa to tape an introduction which would run during the opening credits. They had finally agreed upon Primates of the Congo for the show’s title. While they were in the Congo, they would also tape a few vignettes to be used in promos for the show.
She had phoned Paul ahead of time, and he and Noella were excited that he was to be given the opportunity to be a part of the show. Chance had also told her Paul would be a cast member of the second season, if the show was picked up for an additional season, which they were all hoping would be the case.
They would start shooting before daylight. The director, Zakes Moreno, wanted to be able to catch the sunrise as they motored to the jungle in a convoy that numbered eight Range Rovers filled with crew and camera equipment. Petra and Paul were asked to simply do what they did every day, and Zakes and his crew would film them.
Petra dressed once more in her jungle togs of khaki slacks, safari jacket, perspiration-wicking shirt, and comfortable hiking boots. Her floppy khaki hat was on her head, hair tucked underneath.
This morning, looking around her just before she and the others piled into the Range Rover they were to ride in, she saw most of the crew were outfitted similarly. They had obviously taken her advice about jungle apparel that she’d related to Zakes after she’d heard they were coming here.
Chance stood next to her and Paul, looking alert and interested in everything around him. “This is amazing,” he said, head tilted back to look up at the purple sky. The sun was just peeking over the horizon.
Zakes yelled, “Everybody load up! Got my shots. I want to be in the jungle when the sun rises.”
“Break a leg,” Chance joked, squeezing Petra’s shoulder reassuringly. She was sure he would have kissed her for luck if they weren’t being discreet in front of the crew. He was not riding in her Range Rover. It was only her in the passenger seat, Paul, who was driving as he usually did, and Zakes with a lone cameraman in the back seat.
“Thanks, I think,” Petra joked.
They climbed into the Range Rover, and soon the convoy was following Paul as he drove. She and Paul kept up an easy conversation all the way to the reserve, trying to ignore the fact that they weren’t alone in the vehicle.
Once there, she and Paul began their trek into the jungle.
The sun had risen by then, and Zakes seemed happy that his cameramen were getting wonderful footage of the surrounding sights of the game reserve as the convoy entered it, as well as the vast forest when they disembarked and began following the damp, verdant trail that led into the jungle.
The crew was quiet, as Petra had asked them to be while they walked, but the jungle was not. Around them the voices of birds, primates and other animals could be heard as jungle creatures awakened to another day. A five-foot-long green garden snake slithered in their path, and several of the crew screamed in fright. “It’s harmless. It’s just doing what it does. It’s more frightened of you,” Petra told them.
“I doubt that!” one of the men said shamelessly.
They walked on, encountering insects, chittering birds and monkeys leaping from branch to branch in trees above their heads. Petra felt relaxed, and although she was alert and watched her step, she felt sheer joy at being in the jungle again.
She and Paul led the way with Chance and Zakes behind them, Zakes telling the cameramen what he wanted captured on film. Two hours into their trek, Petra spotted chimpanzee dung, so she knew they were near a nest. She took her binoculars from her bag and after motioning for the others to stand still, she surveyed the area. Sure enough, she saw several chimpanzees in the branches of a tree about fifty yards away. “This is close enough,” she whispered to Zakes. “Your cameramen can zoom in on them, right?”
“Yes, of course,” Zakes whispered back, smiling. She could tell he was thrilled by the prospect of filming the chimpanzees in their natural habitat.
Zakes began directing his cameramen to film from all sides of the tree the chimpanzees were perched in. After only a few minutes, he gave them the “cut” signal, and they all began their trek back to the reserve.
After they returned to the Range Rovers, there was a sort of celebration. Cans of beer were passed around and everyone toasted to a successful shoot.
Petra playfully clicked cans with Chance and smiled up at him. “Still think what I do is going to be a hit with the American audience?”
He grinned at her. “If we can capture what I felt walking through the jungle—the fear, the feeling of awe at witnessing nature firsthand—I think we’ll have a hit on our hands.”
Petra shook her head at his enthusiasm. She was beginning to believe everything he said. Was it just wishful thinking because she truly wanted the show to be a success? Not for her as much as for Paul and the people of the Congo and, especially, for the chimpanzees? Or was she falling in love with this complicated, caring and
wholly too appealing man? She felt it might be love. And that scared her.
Zakes, who had been looking at footage on a digital recorder, laughed suddenly. He walked over to Petra and showed her the footage one of his cameramen had taken of a young male chimpanzee prancing upright on a branch as though he were a tightrope walker.
She immediately recognized Joey, the youngster who belonged to Francesca. She burst out laughing. “That’s Joey,” she said. “He’s growing so fast!”
Of course, everyone had to look at the footage. They were so enthralled by it that Joey on his tightrope became the opening of the show.
* * *
After returning to New York, Petra went home alone one weekend in late August to see Mina and her newborn daughter, Journey. She went to Cherokee, North Carolina after spending the night in Raleigh with her parents, and when she got to the lodge where Mina and Jake lived in one of the cabins dotting the property, she was pleased to see her grandfather, Benjamin Beck, whom they all called Grandpa Beck, there. And if Grandpa Beck was there, her step-grandmother, Mabel was somewhere nearby. The couple was inseparable. They were usually off seeing the country in their high-end Winnebago.
Grandpa Beck was the first person she saw when she pulled up to the lodge and got out of the rental car. He was up on a ladder polishing the big double doors of the lodge that were hand-carved to look like a totem pole.
Her first thought was to admonish him for being on a ladder at over eighty years old, but she quickly quelled that foolish thought. She would have been admonished herself for saying such an outrageous thing to her still spry grandfather. Benjamin Beck didn’t suffer fools gladly.
So she walked up to him on the ladder and quietly, so as not to startle him, said, “Good morning, Mr. Beck. How are you?” She’d tried to disguise her voice.
Her grandfather, a trim, wiry man with dark brown skin and solid white, naturally wavy hair that fell to the middle of his back, and which he wore in a ponytail tied back with a strip of leather, stopped polishing the door and peered down at her.
Love in New York ; Cherish My Heart Page 25
