by KG MacGregor
“What time do you have to go to that wedding?”
0
“Six o’clock. You’ll be back in Cambria by then. Did you talk
to your dad?”
“Yeah.” She sighed and laid her head on Leo’s shoulder. “He
said Marjorie has called Mom at least a dozen times since I left.
Apparently Mike told her he thought I was cheating on him with
somebody here.”
“That’s absurd. Nothing happened between us until you got
here three nights ago.”
“I don’t know, Leo. I think he’s right.” She sat up and turned,
her brow creased with serious concern. “I let myself fall in love
with you while I was engaged to somebody else. That’s not
supposed to happen.”
“People can’t help their feelings. What matters is that you
controlled your actions.”
“Did I? I blew off Mike’s parents so I could be with you at
Thanksgiving. And that last time in your studio, I was playing
with fire and I knew it.”
“Do you wish you had stopped yourself?”
“No, but I wish I’d had the guts to call it what it was. I would
have ended things with Mike sooner. Instead I strung him along
until I was sure and I’m not very proud of that.” She held out her
hand, which was now devoid of the diamond ring. “His ring’s in
my dresser drawer. I have to figure out how I’m going to get it
back to him.”
“Can’t you ask your mother to give it to his mother?”
“My mother! Talk about a disaster,” Claudia said, sighing
heavily. “Breaking up with Mike is going to kill her. Marjorie
Pettigrew will turn her into a pariah. I’ll have to take my own
medicine on this one and march right up to her front door.”
She already knew Claudia’s reservations about coming to live
with her, but she had to offer the safety net one last time. “If it
gets too tough for you down there, you can turn around and come
back. I know you want to get your own place and you can do that
whenever you’re ready”—she held up both hands—“I promise
not to pressure you about staying here. But there’s no reason to
be down in Cambria if you don’t feel comfortable there.”
“I have to stay there until things are smoothed out, Leo. If I
go back and tell them I’ve decided to move to Monterey and be
a lesbian, I could end up like Joyce with my family turning their
backs on me.”
“What are you going to tell them?”
“I don’t know, but it’ll be a whole lot easier to leave if I have
a job here.”
Leo couldn’t help but be disappointed that their feelings for
one another weren’t enough to bring Claudia back to Monterey.
On the other hand, Claudia hadn’t been willing to move to
Taiwan for Mike either. She had a fierce, genuine need to stand
on her own two feet and Leo wouldn’t make the mistake Mike
had by suggesting she give that up. This was the opportunity to
show her support. “My offer stands, but so does the offer to help
in any other way I can. I won’t put pressure on you, but anything
that means I’ll see more of you is a good thing.”
“And that’s why I’m going to talk to the principal at Melrose as
soon as they get back from the holiday. He said he could probably
keep me busy on the substitute list through the rest of the year,
and that might be enough if I could get my old apartment back.
It was pretty cheap.”
Leo bit her tongue to keep from saying it would definitely
be enough if Claudia lived with her. “So all you want from me is
patience?”
Claudia fell into her lap and hugged her fiercely. “All I want
from you is everything. I wish all of this drama was behind us,
but I can’t undo the last two years in just a few days. One of these
days—whatever it takes—I want us to be able to sit down with
my family or yours and feel like everyone in the room loves us
and wants us to be happy.”
Once again, she relished Claudia’s reference to their love, and
she tightened her grip as Claudia moved to get up. “Don’t go.”
“I’d do anything to stay, but I can’t. I have to go face the
music.” She sat up and looked at her watch. “And you have a
wedding in three hours.”
Though she dreaded their separation, Leo felt only traces of
the angst that had eaten her up after the last time Claudia left.
They had spent the past three days talking tentatively of how
surprised and happy their friends would be, how they would
handle things in public, and how they would make the most of
Sundays, their only full day together. Making those plans gave
their relationship a serious and permanent feel. Best of all, they
had sealed it with lovemaking as tender as it was thrilling. Leo
was convinced she had found her one true soul mate.
They headed back downstairs hand in hand. “Just remember
what I told you,” she said. “If it doesn’t feel right turn around and
come back. I’ll keep the bed warm.”
Claudia threw her arms around her neck. “I love you.”
Finally hearing the words she wanted, she folded Claudia
into a bone-crushing kiss.
Chapter 25
Present Day
“Oh, my God,” Eva murmured. “Mom, you’re gorgeous.”
That was an understatement. From head to toe, Claudia
Pettigrew was a vision of middle-aged elegance. Her once-
dark hair, now dramatically short, had gone silver and her face
was faintly lined, but to Leo she was every bit as striking as she
had been in her youth. Small pearls adorned her ears and neck,
daintily accentuating a simple, black strapless gown with a slit to
mid-thigh. Claudia’s hazel eyes darted briefly in her direction but
settled once again on her daughter. Nothing in her glance had
suggested she was surprised by Leo’s presence.
“No one’s going to notice me once they get a look at you,
honey. You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”
The pride in both faces triggered a groundswell of emotion
in Leo. Theirs was a beautiful bond, mother and daughter as
best friends. She shook with excitement as Claudia walked past,
somehow managing to steady her hands in time to capture their
embrace in a candid photo with her handheld Nikon.
After a long emotional embrace they parted, and Claudia
turned to Leo and smiled. “It’s so wonderful to see you again,
Leo.”
Hearing the unmistakable tremor in Claudia’s voice, a
sheepish nod was all Leo could muster. It hadn’t even occurred
to her that Claudia would also be nervous about seeing her.
“You two know each other?”
“We sure do.”
When Claudia spread her arms in welcome, Leo walked into
a hug and returned it with force. “You look amazing.”
“So do you.”
“Wait a minute. Time-out.” Eva gently pulled their shoulders
apart. “Mom, you didn’t say a word about knowing Leo when I
told you Maria had arranged for her to fill in.”
Claudia stepped
away and flashed a tentative smile. “Leo and
I go back a long way.”
“Is she”—Eva faced Leo—“Oh, my God. You’re the one
from Monterey.”
The one from Monterey? It was clear Eva knew something
about their past, but Leo doubted seriously that Claudia would
have shared all the details. “That’s right. I knew your mom back
when she was teaching.”
“That was before I was even born.”
“Which makes it a whole lifetime ago,” Claudia said softly.
“And we haven’t seen each other in a very long time.”
Leo studied her expression to no avail. There was something
wistful about her tone, but it was impossible to discern if it was
more than simple nostalgia for their youth.
Eva saved them from the awkward silence. “Something tells
me there’s a lot more to this story, and I can’t wait to hear it.”
Claudia nudged her daughter out to the terrace. “You’re the
story today, lady. Let’s get you married so the rest of us can have
a life again.”
Despite her anxiety, Leo was giddy with joy as she returned
to her tripod, thrilled just to be in Claudia’s presence after all
these years. She desperately wanted a chance to talk privately,
but that would have to come later, if at all. Now was the time for
her best work.
She framed the corner of the terrace against the sunset,
mentally ticking off the mother-daughter shots she wanted.
“Why don’t we start with the corsage?”
Eva and Claudia took their positions against the balcony rail,
where Eva fumbled with her mother’s lavender orchid. As they
clowned around and giggled, Leo snapped one candid photo
after another. Those, she predicted, would be among the best in
the collection.
“I have only a couple of formal poses in mind,” she said,
trying her best to sound aloof and professional. “But I’d like to
shoot them from two or three different angles.”
“I know all about that,” Claudia said. “Got to have those
shadows just right.”
A poignant ache filled Leo as her mind filtered through
memories of Claudia in her studio. “I’m sure the camera will love
you both.”
Touching her subjects to pose them precisely was usually a
mindless exercise, but not so with Claudia. The sensations were
amplified—the warmth and texture of her skin, and the delicate
scent of her perfume. She was relaxed and pliable, just the way
she had been at her photo sessions more than two decades ago.
“Eva, do you have any idea how lucky you were to snag Leo
for this?”
“Of course I do. That’s exactly what I told Grandmother.”
Leo snorted from her position atop a ladder. “Your mother-
in-law didn’t care for my gown.”
Claudia laughed. “That’s okay. She didn’t care for mine
either.”
“She probably wanted you in a veil, Mom.”
“I’d say she wanted me in Europe. You do realize you’re my
last link to the Pettigrews, don’t you? As soon as you take Todd’s
name, I’m going back to being a Galloway.”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course she is!” a man’s voice boomed from the doorway.
Leo turned to see a tuxedoed gentleman who was without
doubt Claudia’s father, Raymond Galloway. Like her, he was
slightly built, with bright hazel eyes and silver hair. A pediatrician,
she recalled, probably retired by now. And if his deep tan was any
indication, he enjoyed the outdoors.
“Grandpa!” Eva walked past her to embrace him. “You look
so handsome.”
“And you’re the loveliest creature I’ve ever seen.” As they
hugged, he looked over her shoulder at his daughter. “Just like
your mother on her wedding day.”
Claudia had always spoken fondly of her father, and it was
easy to see why. He was as warm as Marjorie Pettigrew had been
prickly, and Leo liked him instantly. It wasn’t just the familial bond
he so obviously shared with his daughter and granddaughter, but
his unpretentious manner, which seemed almost out of place in
this setting.
Several minutes passed while the three of them chatted
animatedly, as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks. Mindful
of their shortened schedule, Leo cleared her throat and gestured
toward the terrace. Her routine set, she quickly added two
portraits of Eva with her grandfather to the album. “How about
just one more with all of you?” she asked, gesturing for Claudia
to stand beside her father.
Eva looped her arm through his as they clustered for the final
photo. “Isn’t this where you tell me you have a car waiting out
back in case I’ve changed my mind?”
He chuckled and leaned around to wink at Claudia. “I made
your mother an offer like that and she asked me for the keys. I
thought your grandmother was going to faint.”
Fighting back a sudden wave of nausea, Leo zoomed in to
capture their laughing faces. Even after all these years, thoughts
of Claudia’s wedding still caused her heart to pine, especially
hearing now that she had almost changed her mind. How
different their lives would have been if she had.
Chapter 26
January 1987
Leo checked her watch for what felt like the zillionth time
and craned her neck for any sign of the familiar white sports car.
Her heart had been caught in her throat since Friday night, when
Claudia had called to say she wasn’t coming but wanted to meet
at noon on Sunday here at Nepenthe. She wouldn’t say why she
had changed her mind, only that they needed to talk in person.
In the first week after Claudia left, they had chatted cheerfully
on the phone several times. Then last Monday something in her
voice had changed. She was anxious, and Leo could only guess
she had finally told her family of her desire to move to Monterey,
and met the predicted resistance. Leo had spent every day since
preparing a list of arguments to persuade her to make the leap.
A life together would certainly have bumps at first, but love was
the strongest force on earth. She had plenty to give, and from
everything Claudia had said about her father, he would come
through as well even if it took some time. She also had compiled
a list of concessions—they could back up and take things slowly
if Claudia had doubts, they could keep their relationship secret,
or they could see each other long-distance until their future was
secure—whatever it took.
It was twenty after twelve when Claudia turned into the
parking lot at Nepenthe, and Leo jumped immediately from
her car to meet her as she pulled into a space. Even through the
closed window she could see an unmistakable look of anguish,
and when she sprang from the car Leo enveloped her in a fierce
embrace. Her heart nearly burst at the sound of a muffled sob.
“Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”
“Leo, I’m pregnant.”
The words hit her chest like a sled
gehammer, and her attempt
to pull back so she could see Claudia’s face was met with a strong
grip and a deeper burrow into her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry,” Claudia whispered. “That time at his house…I
just wasn’t prepared.”
Leo stroked her hair as a sickening jealousy roiled inside, her
mind’s eye recalling the image of Claudia’s diaphragm among
her toiletries. The last thing she wanted was a vivid description
of how this had happened. She needed to turn it from a crisis to
a solution that meant they would still be together. “This doesn’t
have to change anything about the plans we’ve made, sweetheart.
I promise it will be okay.”
Claudia finally pulled away and heaved a sigh. “I told Mike
yesterday. He wants to get married right away. He says he loves
me.”“But you don’t love him.” Leo was determined not to let
Claudia put Mike’s feelings first. “You want this baby, right?”
“Of course!” she answered emphatically. “I couldn’t do
something like that. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“Right, but it doesn’t mean Mike gets to call the shots. This is
your life, Claudia. You get to make these choices all by yourself.”
She looked up as a sedan took the space next to the Z and four
people got out. “Let’s go where we can talk.”
She waited as Claudia retrieved a black cashmere blazer,
which she wore over faded blue jeans and a gold turtleneck. It
was her usual elegant look, but dashed this time by swollen eyes
and splotchy red cheeks. She gripped Claudia’s hand and they
followed the stone path toward the restaurant. After a few yards,
they took the fork along the cliff to an overlook, where they
stood side by side at a rock wall gazing at but not really seeing
the ocean.
Leo put her arm around Claudia’s shoulder and tipped her
head close in hopes that passersby would get the message this
was a private conversation. It seemed to work, as people who
started down the path to the overlook turned back before getting
too close. “I’ll help you with everything, Claudia. Come live with
me.”“I can’t raise a child without a father. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“Please don’t buy into that. What matters is that we love each
