Love in San Francisco ; Unconditionally

by Shirley Hailstock

  “It’s an ugly cape, girl,” Meghan said. “Get rid of it. It doesn’t do you justice. Wrap yourself up in the warmth of your family’s love instead.”

  Lauren stopped running and, hands on hips, faced her sister, who’d also stopped. “We’ve been running for about two miles already. Let’s go back to the house and get some cocoa.”

  “Got any mini marshmallows?”

  “Virginia Gaines came over and stocked my pantry. You know she didn’t forget those!”

  Meghan laughed, “Not our mother. Do you remember when she’d make us hot chocolate? She would put exactly...”

  “Five mini marshmallows in each cup,” Lauren finished for her. They turned around and began retracing their steps, this time walking.

  “So, how are things going with Leo?” Lauren asked.

  Meghan didn’t look surprised. If you told one sister a secret, nine times out of ten, the others found out about it pretty quickly.

  “I haven’t seen him since the wedding. But we have a standing playdate for the kids this weekend. I’ll see what happens then.”

  “You sound like a divorced couple,” Lauren said. And they both laughed.

  “Nah, we’re two sad humans trying to make sure our fur babies are happy,” Meghan said.

  “He sounds like a very sweet guy,” Lauren said wistfully.

  “He is a very sweet guy,” Meghan agreed. Unfortunately, he’s also a very secretive guy, she thought glumly.

  Leo wasn’t scheduled to begin teaching until the spring term started, but Marjorie Langdon asked him to show up for the next faculty meeting of the English department. That was where he was now, standing in the midst of his new colleagues, who were warm and welcoming and eager to get to know more about him.

  Marjorie introduced him to so many men and women that he was sure he wouldn’t remember them all, but there was one standout: Shari Dunbar, an English literature professor.

  When Shari found out he was from Atlanta, she told him she’d been born there and practically all her relatives were still there.

  “John and I are eventually going to end up there, no doubt,” she said. She was an attractive African American woman in her late forties, he guessed, around five-five, fit, with shoulder-length dark brown hair she wore straightened and combed back from her widow’s peak.

  Marjorie had excused herself to go take care of something, and now it was just him and Shari. “I take it John’s your significant other,” Leo said. Or else she was another pet owner who named her pets after ex-boyfriends, like Meghan.

  “My one and only,” Shari said proudly. “He’s a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps. He’s overseas right now, but he’s going to retire in a few months.”

  “How many years has he been in the military?” Leo asked, interested in this accomplished woman who taught English and lived a world apart from a husband who was serving his country.

  “Twenty years,” Shari told him. “Twenty-one in March.”

  “A career soldier,” Leo said. “You must be proud.”

  Shari smiled, a happy light in her dark brown eyes. “Yes, I am. I’m singularly proud that he’s doing what he wants to do and excelling at it. But the kids and I miss him a lot.”

  “How old are they?”

  “They’re both over eighteen,” Shari answered. She seemed to Leo like the type of person who could feel at ease in any situation and was able to express herself with equal ease. “John and I were so young when we got married. I was eighteen and he was twenty. We’ve supported each other through everything. He was the one who encouraged me to pursue my doctorate.”

  Leo smiled, shaking his head in admiration. “I envy you, Dr. Dunbar.”

  Shari glanced down at his ring finger. “A bachelor?” she asked with mild surprise.

  Leo chuckled softly. “Yes, but hopefully that condition won’t last for much longer.”

  Shari’s brows rose in curiosity. “Tell me about her.”

  Leo didn’t know why he felt so comfortable with Shari Dunbar. Maybe because she adored her husband. Maybe because she was safe. Safe in that she was a perfect stranger.

  While other faculty members chatted around them in the big conference room, he finally told someone besides his family how he felt about Meghan. He left out the macabre information about his heart condition and sterility.

  Shari, who was clearly a romantic at heart, listened raptly.

  When he finished talking, feeling almost like he’d just made a confession to a priest, she looked up at him and smiled. “I like to think that’s exactly how John feels about me. Thank you, Leo, for reminding me what it feels like to be newly in love. If there’s anything that I can ever do for you and the lovely history instructor, who’s nearly thirty but looks much younger, let me know.”

  “Same here,” Leo said. “If there’s anything I can do for you.”

  She smiled at him. “I’m a plainspoken woman, Leo. What do you think of Pink?”

  “The color’s not my favorite,” Leo admitted.

  “Not pink the color. Pink the singer!”

  “Oh, I think she’s talented.”

  “Then will you go with me to a concert at the end of the month? She’s going to be at the PNC Arena.”

  Leo smiled, remembering Meghan had told him that you could find live entertainment in Raleigh practically any day of the week. “Sure,” he said. “Why not?”

  “Exactly,” Shari said. “My man is halfway around the world and you feel like your lady is. We can support each other.”

  * * *

  Meghan, who sometimes ran on the Shaw University track late in the afternoon when the track team was finished practicing and other faculty and students took over the track for personal use, was running there one day at the end of February when the assistant football coach, Andre Hanks, called to her. She held up two fingers to denote she had two laps left to run and would speak with him afterward, and he grinned at her.

  Meghan wondered what he wanted. They used to date, but hadn’t been intimate. Andre had been too much of a ladies’ man for her. He was still quite the player according to what she heard from the college gossip mill. Her mind hadn’t changed about him romantically, but sometimes she did like to run with him. He was a great athlete and made her work hard. He was also, she hated to admit, good for her ego. She wasn’t proud that his continued interest made her feel feminine and appreciated by the male sex. After Leo’s rejection, the way Andre looked at her boosted her poor self-esteem. Which also made her feel bad, because why should her self-esteem need a boost? That irked her.

  After the two laps, she walked off the track and up to Andre. He was half African American and half Swedish. His father was a professional basketball player and his mother a former swimsuit model. The man was gorgeous. Six-five and 250 pounds of pure muscle. It was no wonder he was a chick magnet. Meghan didn’t know if it was possible for him to be loyal to any one woman.

  “Hey, girl,” he said, grinning. His coppery brown skin was flawless, and his square-chinned face clean-shaven. His hair was curly and dark brown with blond highlights Meghan knew were natural. He’d always had them, and she’d known him since they were in their teens.

  “Hey yourself,” she said, smiling back. “How has life been treating you, Andre?”

  “I’ve been great,” he said. He gestured toward the gate that led to the parking lot.

  “I was wondering if you have plans for Saturday night,” he said shyly. Meghan smiled. In spite of his luck with women, Andre still got tongue-tied around them.

  “Is this something you need a plus-one for?” she asked. They’d made a deal that occasionally they would serve as each other’s platonic dates for certain events. A last resort thing. Meghan knew that Andre wasn’t the right man for her, but she liked him as a friend. She didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t be civil and see eac
h other based on those terms. He’d agreed, and they’d been there for each other for the past three years now.

  “My sister’s getting married,” he said, frowning. “You know if I asked anyone I’m currently dating to go with me, she’d read too much into it.”

  “When is it?”

  “This Saturday,” Andre said, his tone regretful. “Sorry I couldn’t give you more notice. I was thinking of going with Sharon, but she’s been hinting that we should take our relationship further than I’m ready to take it, and I chickened out and didn’t ask her.”

  Meghan thought his explanation had the ring of truth to it. She didn’t feel good coming to his rescue at the disadvantage of another woman, though. However, she also didn’t believe she should lecture him on his inability to commit to one woman. Andre was twenty-nine. Meghan didn’t believe all men that young were commitment challenged, but she hadn’t met one yet who wasn’t.

  “What time Saturday?” Meghan asked. She and Chauncey were supposed to meet Leo and Malcolm at William B. Umstead State Park at noon, weather permitting. They’d gotten flurries lately, but no heavy snow.

  “Oh, it’s an evening ceremony,” Andre said cheerfully. “I’ll pick you up at five in the afternoon.”

  “All right, then,” Meghan said.

  They arrived at her Mustang. She looked up at Andre. “I think you ought to know I’m serious about someone now.”

  Andre smiled. “A woman like you couldn’t remain a free agent forever.”

  Meghan laughed, “You and your sports references.”

  * * *

  William B. Umstead State Park was about the same distance from Meghan’s house in Raleigh and Leo’s in Durham. The weather was fine—a clear blue sky, very little wind and the temperature in the midthirties. The park was huge, but she’d told Leo which parking area she would be in, and shortly before noon he rolled up in the SUV. She waited by the Mustang until he and Malcolm got out of it and joined her and Chauncey. The dogs immediately said hello by nuzzling the sides of each other’s heads.

  Leo looked at her with tender emotions mirrored in his light brown eyes, and Meghan swallowed a lump in her throat. She wished she could control the physical reaction she had to him, but every time his gaze swept over her, she shivered with longing. She wondered how long it was going to take for her body to stop craving his touch.

  “Hi, Meghan,” he said, his baritone husky.

  “Hi, Leo,” she returned, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat, lowered her gaze and pointed to a wooden bridge nearby that led to one of the park’s many trails for hikers. “Would you like to try that trail?”

  Silently Leo got Malcolm’s attention, and they all started walking toward the bridge, Malcolm and Chauncey leading the way.

  “I see you’re letting your hair grow out,” Meghan commented.

  Leo ran his hand over his head. “Yeah, I got tired of shaving my head every day.”

  As always, the park was busy. People were walking and running; parents were running while pushing babies in sports strollers. Meghan even saw people on horseback in the distance.

  “You’re not going to go into tour guide mode?” Leo asked lightly.

  Meghan smiled at him. “Maybe I’d like to talk about more personal things instead of telling you that this park covers over five thousand acres and was once farmland.”

  Leo laughed, “Talk about anything you want to talk about. I’m just glad you’re willing to talk to me at all.”

  “I’m afraid I’ll pick a subject that will further alienate you from me,” Meghan said candidly.

  “Honestly, there’s nothing you can say that will make me willingly pull away from you, Meghan.”

  “Conversely, there is nothing I can say that will make you take me in your arms,” she couldn’t help saying.

  “You’re wrong there,” Leo said. “All you have to say is you’ll accept me as I am, and I’m yours for the rest of my life.”

  Meghan noticed that he’d said for the rest of my life, not for the rest of our lives. She suddenly felt lost and hopeless. She wasn’t one of those morose readers of novels with heroes or heroines who met tragic ends. She didn’t like reading tearjerkers. She was a cockeyed optimist. A person who found something positive in the most depressing of situations. That was her gift, being certain that no matter what happened in life, there was always a silver lining.

  She didn’t like movies where the widow was shown grieving her young, handsome husband while figuring out how to live the rest of her life without him. No, that wasn’t her. But she had a sneaking suspicion that if she allowed herself to fall in love with Leo Wolfe, she was going to be starring in one of those movies in real life. Yet she couldn’t resist wanting to know more about him. What was more, she wanted to be the one who put a real smile on his handsome face. Was she a glutton for punishment?

  She laughed and said, “In my imagination, Nina Simone is at the top of your life’s playlist, Leo. When I’m with you, her voice is in my head singing ‘Suzanne’ or ‘Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair.’ I’m drawn to you, but I don’t know why, because you withhold yourself from me. You’re a perfect specimen of male beauty, and when you talk, I listen raptly, as though I can’t bear to miss anything you have to say.”

  “I love Nina Simone,” Leo said quietly.

  “I knew you would,” Meghan said mockingly. “Because you’re my perfect match. That’s the joke in this situation. There should be nothing keeping us apart because, to anyone looking on, you and I are a match made in proverbial heaven!”

  “Don’t you think I’m frustrated, too?” Leo asked, his voice anguish filled.

  “Apparently you’re not frustrated enough,” Meghan told him. “Because if you were, you’d tell me what’s wrong.”

  “It’s not an easy thing to say,” Leo said quietly. “When I told Natalie, she dropped me so fast it made my head spin.”

  “I’m a lot stronger than I look!” Meghan cried.

  “I know you’re strong, Meghan. You wouldn’t be here now if you weren’t.”

  “Damn straight,” Meghan said huffily.

  They stared at each other, her expression belligerent, his patient and loving, as though she were a recalcitrant child whose parent meted out kindness when the child acted out.

  She could not stay mad at him. She heaved a huge sigh and said, “My sisters and I are planning an anniversary party for our parents. It’s a surprise, so keep it on the down low. It’s going to be a big affair. Petra is coming home from Africa to be here for it. You’re invited. You can bring a date.” She hadn’t wanted to say that, but the affair was for couples and she didn’t want him feeling like a third wheel. “You’ll be getting a formal invitation in the mail. It’s their thirty-fifth anniversary so we’re going all out.”

  “I’ll be there,” Leo said without hesitation. Meghan could have screamed in frustration. There were those puppy-dog eyes again, causing her heart to beat double time and her female center to get ready for the sex that would not be forthcoming.

  It was cold as hell where they were standing, tall pine trees and myriad other trees and plants all around them, but her body temperature was going up due to the Leo effect.

  She met his eyes. “I’m not going to wait forever.”

  Leo nodded. “I know.”

  Chapter 9

  Several weeks later, Raleigh-Durham International Airport was as busy as usual on Sunday night when Meghan and Desiree went to pick up Petra. The sisters were waiting in the terminal when Petra walked in wearing jeans and hiking boots, a man’s thick denim shirt and a lined safari jacket that had seen better days. She was a world traveler who packed lightly—she was only carrying a huge shoulder bag, also made of khaki, and one carry-on bag.

  Desiree, the fashionista in the family, groaned while hugging her petite sister. “Oh, girl, it’s so good to se
e you!”

  “It’s great to see you, too, sis.” Petra grinned, her straight teeth in her sun-kissed medium brown face looking extra white in contrast to her skin.

  She had her waist-length curly, dark brown hair piled on top of her head, with a wide black headband holding it in place. Her face was devoid of makeup and she smelled like eucalyptus oil.

  “Do you have a cold?” Meghan asked after she’d hugged Petra.

  “No, it’s this jacket,” Petra explained. “I’m usually covered in eucalyptus oil, a natural insect repellant, and I haven’t had the chance to have the jacket dry-cleaned.” She looked around the busy terminal. “This place is almost unrecognizable. It’s gotten so big.” She regarded her sisters. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I’m hungry.”

  “Seriously?” Desiree asked, astonished. “You didn’t bring any more clothes?”

  “I’ve got a couple changes of clothes in here,” Petra told her, indicating her carry-on bag. “How much clothes do you need?”

  “For you, not me,” Desiree said. “It’s relatively warm here because we’re down South, but I know that jacket didn’t cut it in New York City. You must have frozen half to death. You were there for a couple days before coming here, weren’t you?”

  “Yes, but I was rarely outside in the weather,” Petra said reasonably. “I was picked up by a limousine and taken to a luxury hotel. I ran from the hotel to the car. Was driven to the airport and got on the plane, and here I am.”

  Desiree gave Meghan an “I don’t know what we’re going to do about our sister” look and reached over to take Petra’s carry-on bag, which was surprisingly heavy. “What the heck do you have in here?”

  “My camera equipment, satellite phone, laptop, various essential oils and necessary clothing.”

  “I’m taking you shopping tomorrow,” Desiree told her.

  They began walking toward the exit. “What happened to your apartment in the city?” Meghan asked.

  “I gave that up before I left for the Congo,” Petra said. “I gave away all unnecessary items, so now I’m free of material things and much happier without them.”