by KG MacGregor
“No, of course not.” But that didn’t mean she had been
right.
“Then don’t look back.” Leo drew her again to her chest.
“Those years are gone for us, but it doesn’t mean we have to give
up whatever’s ahead. That’s what I was trying to say before, but it
came out all wrong. I was trying to tell you that I never left you
then and I won’t leave you now. We’ll just have to start over and
see if what we had is still there.”
“It is.” As far as Claudia was concerned, they didn’t have to
begin anew. Her feelings for Leo were as alive as ever. “We’re
going to get it right this time.”
No one else had a claim on her, especially after today. She
was free to follow her heart’s desire, without the myriad pressures
and demands that had held her captive since the day she had
discovered she was pregnant. Though she had a whole life back
in Cambria—a house, a job and a loving father nearby—there
was nothing she wouldn’t trade for even a glimmer of what she
had shared with Leo.
Leo sighed dramatically and stepped back to grip Claudia’s
shoulders. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I have to go. I have
to leave or I’ll never make it back here by nine o’clock.”
“You’re insane. It’s a quarter to one.”
“I can’t help it. I was taking all the reception photos with a
new camera and it quit on me, so I need to go back home for my
Mark III.”
“But you had another camera.”
“That was for stills. I’m supposed to shoot candids at the
wedding breakfast.”
“Then I’m riding with you. I can keep you awake.” She started
toward the bedroom but Leo caught her arm.
“Believe me, Claudia. I’m way too excited right now to sleep.
Besides, you’re the one who needs to get some rest. I saw how
everyone was pulling on you tonight. Tomorrow’s going to be
more of the same.”
As much as she hated to admit it Leo was right. Eva was
depending on her to smooth the ridges between the McCords
and the Pettigrews, and she couldn’t do that if she was exhausted.
“Will you have some time to talk after the breakfast?”
“I’ll have years.”
Chapter 28
February 2001
A line of private prop planes parked in front of San Luis
Obispo’s general aviation hangar flashed by Claudia’s window
as the charter jet braked sharply. By her watch, which she had
kept on Pacific Time, it was seventy-four hours since her journey
to Kuala Lumpur began on Thursday afternoon. She had spent
most of the time in quiet solitude in the executive cabin, stepping
out of the plane only a few times during the dozen or so refueling
stops.
The wail of the engines slowed as the jet swung into place
in front of the Pettigrew Construction hangar. Next to the bay a
uniformed chauffeur held an umbrella for Marjorie Pettigrew as
she waited beside her new black Bentley.
“Ma’am.” The copilot who had flown the last leg from
Vancouver interrupted her thoughts as he opened the door and
lowered the folding staircase.
“Thank you, Jeff.” She stood and stretched before brushing
the wrinkles from her pleated navy slacks. On her way to the exit,
she stopped to don her London Fog raincoat. Marjorie detested
her taste for the ordinary labels she wore so as not to appear
snooty among the other teachers. But then her mother-in-law
looked down her nose at the idea of her working at all.
The stairs already glistened with rain, prompting her to grip
the handrail tightly as she descended. The cold drizzle was a
fitting touch to the dismal day, made worse by the realization
that her daughter wasn’t present. “Where’s Eva?”
“I delivered her to your parents. A thirteen-year-old child
doesn’t need a memory such as this,” Marjorie answered
brusquely.
Claudia tamped down the familiar surge of rage she felt
whenever Marjorie inserted herself into decisions that weren’t
hers to make. Eva had been adamant in her desire to come to the
airport, and Claudia had left explicit instructions with Big Jim
that she be allowed to greet the plane.
Without another word she took up her position beside her
mother-in-law, standing ramrod straight as a mahogany casket
was unloaded from the rear of the plane. She heard a faint
whimper and glanced to see Marjorie’s anguished face. For an
instant she tried to comprehend the pain of losing a child but
it was more than she could bear. Though she sympathized with
the woman’s heartbreak, she believed any words of condolence
would stir only agitation.
Marjorie dabbed a handkerchief to her cheek. “We’ve
arranged for a private service at three tomorrow afternoon. He’ll
be buried in our family plot.”
Though it wasn’t the Pettigrews’ place to do so, Claudia
didn’t particularly mind that they had assumed command of the
funeral arrangements. She had already mourned her husband’s
passing privately during the long hours over the Pacific. The
gulf between her and Mike, present since even before their
marriage, no longer mattered. For better or worse, he had been
her husband and the father of her child. Her priority now was to
00
support her daughter and to guide her through this loss. Her first
act would be to invite Eva’s two closest friends to the “private”
service, along with Maria and Sandy. Marjorie could huff all she
wanted.
“Mike left a trust for Eva that should take care of your living
expenses until she graduates from college. At that time, she’ll
inherit her father’s estate directly. It’s all contingent, of course,
on the two of you remaining in Cambria.”
Claudia gritted her teeth. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind
that her mother-in-law had engineered that caveat in order to
keep her under her thumb and Eva under her influence. For a
woman of such high social status, Marjorie was classless when it
came to respecting others. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to
discuss Mike’s estate. Can we just get through this please?”
The men solemnly loaded the casket into the waiting hearse.
When it pulled away, Marjorie primly waited for her chauffeur
to open her door. “Jim is waiting at home to discuss his ideas for
a memorial.”
“Not today, Marjorie. I asked Jeff to call ahead for a taxi, which
should be out front by now. I need to be with my daughter.”
Leo slammed her backseat door and slung the strap of her
garment bag over her shoulder. Her three-day photo shoot at
the luxurious Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas had been
exciting and fun, but she was glad to be home.
The first thing that met her as she strode through the back
door was definitely not the smell of fishy cat food. More like
spaghetti, which she had made the night before she left and
put in the refrigerator. She dropped her
bag in the kitchen and
stepped over a five-gallon bucket of paint that propped open the
door into what used to be her studio. From the looks of things,
the crown molding was in place and the room had gotten its first
coat of paint on its way back to becoming a dining room.
She had expected the remodel of the old Victorian to be
obtrusive, but with her new studio and office on Cannery Row
she had been able to avoid most of the ruckus, if not the mess.
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It was worth it to convert her house into a home, even with her
planned renovations slated to take more than two years.
A small stack of unopened mail sat on her desk and she quickly
thumbed through it, confirming to her satisfaction there was
nothing that couldn’t wait until tomorrow. This room was next
on her remodel list. With the help of one of her new magazine
clients, an interior designer from LA, she had ordered custom
furniture that would turn the space into a comfortable gathering
place for her growing circle of friends.
She turned off the desk lamp and followed the sound of
the television to the second floor. Patty Clemons’s long frame
stretched from one end of the couch to the other. She was sound
asleep, which allowed Madeline to help herself to the remnants
of her spaghetti. Whether startled or glad to see her, the cat
meowed loudly, causing Patty to stir.
“I was just resting my eyes,” she said as she sat up and
stretched. “How was Vegas?”
Leo took the empty seat beside her and leaned into a warm,
slow kiss. “Crazy as ever. One of the models caught a stray
cigarette with her boa and burst into flames. Peter doused it with
gin and the designer nearly had a seizure.”
Patty frowned, still looking a bit groggy. “How come nothing
like that ever happens where I work? I’d give anything to see
some of the people I work with catch on fire.”
She chuckled and fell against Patty’s strong shoulder. “I was
glad to see your car still here. Are you staying tonight?”
“Can’t.” She tugged on her sneakers and laced them. “I have
an eight o’clock meeting with the team from Austin to go over
our new application. If I fall asleep they’ll probably screw around
with the code and break it.”
“Did Maddie give you any trouble?”
“Not unless you count eating off my plate faster than I could.”
Patty gave the cat an affectionate scratch. “But she took her pills
without biting me this time.”
“What’s the matter with you, Maddie? You going soft on
me?” Given the fifteen-year-old cat’s thyroid problems, it was a
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godsend that Patty was willing to stay over on the nights when
Leo’s work took her out of town. She usually went home when
Leo returned, ironic considering they had been lovers for four
years. Neither seemed to need the closeness of everyday contact
or the intimacy of sharing a bed, at least not from one another.
To this day Patty still seemed to need it from Joyce, who had left
her abruptly after six years for someone at work. Leo understood
the pain of a broken heart, and the comfort they found in their
companionship seemed natural. What they lacked in passion,
they made up for in friendship.
“We’re still on for Wednesday, right?” Patty asked as she
slipped on her jacket.
Leo stretched out in the spot Patty had vacated. The last
Wednesday of every month was always a potluck dinner with their
lesbian friends. When her renovations were finished, she would
host it more often at her house. “Sure. What am I supposed to
bring?”
“I can throw something together.”
They both snorted. “Like what? Noodles and wallpaper
paste?”
“You’d better hope you never get sick and have to depend
on me.” She gave Leo a parting peck on the lips and started out.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Maria called this afternoon. She thought
you might want to know that Mike Pettigrew died.”
Just the name was enough to send a shockwave through her.
“How?”
“Heart attack, apparently. He was working somewhere in
Asia.”
“When did this happen?”
“Three or four days ago. She said Claudia had to fly over and
bring his body home.”
Leo’s heart raced with emotions, chief among them a
cavernous ache that she had missed so much of Claudia’s life, and
the likelihood that an offer of condolences would be perceived as
distant or run-of-the-mill, lost among those from Claudia’s real
friends.
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“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Patty said, returning from the
doorway to drop a kiss on Leo’s forehead. She wore a tacit look
of understanding, not unlike the one Leo sported whenever
Joyce’s name came up. It was an unspoken acknowledgment
that somewhere deep inside each of them, a torch burned for
someone else.
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Chapter 29
Present Day
The long table held two dozen guests from the bride and
groom’s immediate families. The breakfast dishes had been
cleared, but the families lingered over coffee as though not ready
to have the occasion officially end. Eva and Todd had set the
casual tone by appearing in jeans and T-shirts in preparation for
their long journey to Africa.
Raymond Galloway, looking dapper in slacks and a sport coat,
had apparently been tasked with stewardship of the Pettigrews at
the far end of the table, where his persistent smile was a stark
contrast to Marjorie’s upturned nose, Deborah’s scowl and Big
Jim’s vacant gaze. Most of the women were clustered around the
center of the table, except Claudia, who sat at the other end with
the McCord men. Eva and Todd walked around the perimeter
to speak personally with each of their guests. They were due to
depart for the airport soon.
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From her discreet position in the corner of the banquet
room, Leo clicked off a series of photos as Claudia and the
McCord men laughed. She was too far from the table to hear
what was so funny, but it amused her to see the men competing
for Claudia’s attention. Best she could tell Claudia was doing all
the charming.
They hadn’t spoken this morning, but Claudia had shot her
a wink when she walked into the banquet room. As far as Leo
was concerned, that confirmed where they had left things last
night when she finally dragged herself out the door of the Sunset
Suite. If she had stayed thirty seconds longer she would have
stolen a kiss, which might have opened the floodgates for more.
In the light of day that notion felt like too much too soon, but
she couldn’t decide whether she was guarding her own feelings
or Claudia’s. It felt safer to let Claudia define the parameters, as
well as set the pace.
“Leo, can we talk a minute?”
She had been so consumed with watching Claudia that she
hadn’t seen E
va approach. “Sure.”
“I just wanted to ask how you felt about the album. Did you
get all the photos you wanted?”
“I got exactly what I wanted. The question is did I get what
you and Todd wanted?” She pulled two memory cards from her
pocket. “We’ll have a couple thousand to choose from.”
“Wow.”
“I got some great shots at the reception.”
“That’s fantastic. I can’t wait to see them.” She looked over
her shoulder, where the guests were starting to rise. “Granddad
said you and Mom were talking out in the hallway last night.”
“Just for a minute. It’s been good to see her again.” Dozens
of people had seen them together outside the ballroom, but she
doubted anyone knew about her late visit to the Sunset Suite.
“It’s been good for her too.”
The comment took Leo by surprise at first, but then she
recalled Eva asking her mother if she was the one from Monterey.
“What makes you say that?”
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Eva grinned slyly and shrugged. “I know my mom. When she
decided at the last minute that she wanted a strapless dress with
a slit in it instead of the formal gown she’d picked out a year ago,
I knew there had to be a reason.”
Leo could feel the heat rising on her neck, and there was no
way to hide it under her open-collared shirt.
“Anyway, I just wanted to say I’m glad it worked out for you
to do this. I appreciate you jumping in at the last minute and
doing such a good job.”
“It was my pleasure.” In every way imaginable, she thought.
“Eva!” Todd pointed to his watch. “Limo…plane…Land
Rover.”
Leo followed the family en masse as they exited to the circle
at the front of the hotel where a Town Car waited. Marjorie
Pettigrew shook her head at the vehicle with unveiled disdain
and glanced at the nearby valet lot, which held an array of luxury
cars. Leo figured the Bentley was hers. She also spied one she was
willing to bet was Claudia’s, a black Nissan Z convertible.
She picked off a superb photo of Eva bending over Big Jim’s
wheelchair to give him a kiss on the cheek, and then several
more as she and Todd walked the line to the car. She zoomed
in to capture Eva’s final hug with her mother, a long one in
which Claudia beamed with happiness and pride. Then as the
limo pulled out, Leo caught the shot of the day—the Pettigrews
