Her Lifelong Dream

by Judy Kouzel

  Just then, Jo Anne darted into the room, mumbling apologies to Terry. Leedy smiled at her as she dropped her books on her desk. "Late, as usual," she whispered, her cheeks a bright shade of pink. "Ryan's football practice ran longer than I expected." She brushed a loose curl out of her eyes and leaned over toward Leedy. "Can we get together for coffee after class?" she asked. "I have an important business proposition I would like to discuss with you."

  "Um ... well. Terry said he needed to speak with me after class," Leedy whispered.

  "He's coming too," Jo Anne said. "I called him this morning. He said he would tell you. I would have called you earlier, but you haven't been answering the phone lately. I left you three messages yesterday. Is your machine on the fritz?"

  "Yes," Leedy lied. Had Jo Anne called? She couldn't remember. The only thing she remembered was Terry's voice when she finally played his messages, over and over again.

  Her heart sank. Maybe Terry didn't want to talk to her at all. Maybe he was just passing on the message that Jo Anne wanted to meet for coffee after class. But his face had been so earnest, his whisper so insistent. "I can't wait," he had said. What did that mean?

  The rest of the class passed quickly and Leedy barely heard a word Terry said. She was too busy watching his expressive and handsome face and wondering what it would be like to feel his strong arms around her and taste his mouth on hers. Twice she caught him look in her direction. Both times, when he saw she was watching him, he looked as if he wanted to call out to her. And there was that expression again, if only for an almost imperceptible second. She did sense that he was attracted to her, she admitted-or maybe it was only wishful thinking on her part. Or maybe he was a player who juggled women for fun. But that didn't seem right either.

  "Are you ready?" Jo Anne asked.

  "Huh?" she said, lost in her troubled thoughts.

  "Earth to Leedy," Jo Anne said, laughing. "Class is over, sweetie. We can go now."

  "Oh ... I'm sorry," Leedy said, embarrassed. It didn't seem possible two hours had gone by so quickly-and so tortuously slow, all at the same time.

  She gathered up her things. The problem, she decided, was that she didn't know where she stood with Terry. And she didn't know where he stood with Krissy Montgomery. "It's about time I found out," she told herself as she stuffed her books into her bag. "Once and for all."

  "Did you say something?" Jo Anne asked.

  "Oh ... um ... no," Leedy shrugged, nodding in the direction of Terry's desk. "He seems to be busy. I just wonder if we should meet him there."

  "Terry might need a minute to escape his fan club," Jo Anne said in agreement. "But we can wait."

  Leedy reminded herself, for the hundredth time, that Terry was single ... and gorgeous ... and those women were only human. So am I, she wanted to shout out loud. So am I!

  Krissy was standing next to Terry, her hand, once again, was lightly touching his elbow. She looked in Leedy's direction and saw that she was watching. Krissy pursed her lips into a sneer and slipped her hand onto his back.

  "That Krissy," Jo Anne said indignantly, shaking her head. "Could she be more of a floozy? I'm surprised she had the nerve to even show her face here tonight after what she did last week!"

  "What do you mean?" Leedy asked, confused.

  "Didn't you hear?" Jo Anne asked. "You gotta start checking the messages on your answering machine more often, sweetie. I told you. I've been trying to call you for days!"

  "I worked double shifts all weekend," Leedy apologized. "What happened?"

  "Well, you know how Krissy has been throwing herself at Terry since the first day of class?" Jo Anne said, her voice low and her eyes darting toward the front of the room.

  "I suppose," Leedy said. "But Terry's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

  "True," Jo Anne said. "But I don't think you know the whole story. But take my word for it, Miss Diplomat, Krissy Montgomery hasn't been exactly forthright in her ongoing efforts to ... become better acquainted with our class instructor. It's been the talk of the coffee machine. I'm surprised you didn't know. Ever since the first day of class, she has been requesting extra help with her 'homework,' if you know what I mean. She wanted to talk with him about accounting or banking or whatever after class, at her place, of course."

  "Well," Leedy asked, sticking her chin out. "Terry is a bachelor and a red-blooded, healthy young man, and Krissy is an attractive young ... woman. They're both consenting adults, Jo Anne. They can do whatever they want."

  Jo Anne snorted. "Oh, Krissy's pretty enough, I suppose. If you like the high-dollar tramp look. And she certainly makes the most of her assets. But it's not her looks that are the problem."

  "I don't understand."

  Jo Anne leaned in, almost whispering in Leedy's ear. "Krissy cornered Terry one day and told him she wanted a list of his clients."

  "Why would Krissy want that?" Leedy asked, confused. Jo Anne looked at Leedy's blank expression and sighed.

  "You're such a sweet little apple dumpling, aren't you?" Jo Anne said, shaking her head. "You have no idea how the Krissy Montgomerys of the world do business, do you?"

  "I'm sorry, Jo Anne," Leedy said. "But I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

  "I will spell it out for you then," Jo Anne said. "Krissy asked Terry for a list of his clients, along with a favorable letter of reference."

  "That's a bit forward of her," Leedy admitted.

  "That's not all," Jo Anne said. She glanced up at the front of the room again and saw that the flock of students vying for Terry's attention was thinning out. "Krissy told him she was willing to do `almost anything' to get a favorable recommendation from Madison's favorite banker." Jo Anne added the word `almost' reluctantly.

  "Recommendation for what?"

  "Krissy wants to be the financial planner for all the movers and shakers in town. Of course, no one in their right mind would turn their investments over to her, after that sticky business with the very rich and very old Mr. Hancock. Naturally, Terry saw through her right away. He's no fool. He thought he was safe after the first time she finished his class, but she just enrolled in the class again. And again. So far, he's managed to keep his distance from her. At least, up until last week."

  "What happened last week?" Leedy asked. Her breathing had become irregular and her heart was pounding. Every fiber of her existence suddenly depended on the next words that would come out of Jo Anne's mouth.

  "Krissy called him. She asked if he wouldn't mind giving her a lift to pick up her car at the garage after class. She said it would only take ten minutes ... she said it was at that place on Fitzpatrick?" Leedy nodded in understanding. "Krissy said she had her brakes replaced and she had no way to pick up her car."

  "Okay," Leedy shrugged. "So her car was in the shop." "And maybe pigs can fly!" Jo Anne exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. A few people in front of the room turned and glanced at them. "Anyway," Jo Anne continued, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Terry saw no harm in doing Krissy this one favor. But once he had her in his car, she was all over him! She told him she had fallen madly in love with him and wanted to spend the rest of her life proving it. She all but tore his clothes off-right there in the parking lot!"

  Leedy flinched, remembering seeing Terry and Krissy sitting in his car. She remembered how he seemed to want to say more. "How do you know all this?" Leedy blurted, her eyes darting to the front of the room. Terry was standing, with his back toward them, firmly reclaiming his elbow from Krissy's determined grip.

  "My husband told me all about it," Jo Anne whispered. "Terry and Ted have lunch together a few times a month, remember? Of course, Ted thought the whole thing was hysterically funny. He said Terry told him Krissy admitted her car was safe and sound at home. She said it was the only way she could think of to finally get him alone!"

  Leedy tried to imagine Terry alone in a dark parking lot with a beautiful, willing woman, but the image was too painful. "What did he do?" she asked, her voice
breaking.

  "I would have pushed her out onto the street and driven away! But you know Terry. He's too much of a gentleman for his own good. Ted said Terry drove Krissy to her house but then it took him nearly another hour to finally get her out of his car! Ted thought it was pretty darn amusing that Terry would be in such a soup. He said he wished he had to fight off beautiful women that way. But, as you may have already guessed, my husband is an idiot."

  Leedy was stunned. She looked at the front of the classroom. All the other students had finally filed out of the room except for Krissy. She was talking to Terry, or, judging by the body language, arguing with him. Her hands were in tight little fists that were perched on her hips defiantly. She was shaking her head, her face an expression of tight control, her eyes glaring at him angrily. Terry was speaking to her, his rugged jaw clenched and his face determined. Leedy wished she could hear what he was saying.

  "That's not all!" Jo Anne continued, her eyes flashing in anger. "Ted said he called Terry yesterday just to rib him about this whole Krissy situation and found out that she had the nerve to show up at his house! Right there in front of Deanna and everything!"

  "I know," Leedy said. "I was dropping Deanna off from the mall and saw them together, standing in the doorway."

  "What did you do?" Jo Anne gasped. "Boy, I wish your machine had been working this weekend. We could have had quite a juicy conversation ..."

  "I didn't do anything," Leedy said. "I just dropped Deanna off and waved goodbye."

  "You should have stuck around for the action. Ted said Terry was livid."

  "What did he do?" Leedy asked, holding her breath.

  "He threw her out on her perfect little bum," Jo Anne said, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm sure he said it as nicely as humanly possible. Although I wish he had told her to get on her broom and FLY AWAY!"

  Leedy's ears were ringing with this new information. "You mean, Terry does not ... like ... Krissy?" was all she could think to say.

  "Of course not!" Jo Anne said, trying to keep her voice low. "Terry knows Krissy is only interested in furthering her career ... even if it means destroying his reputation along the way! And my husband, God bless him, had the nerve to ask Terry why he didn't take Krissy up on her offer!"

  Leedy looked toward Terry and saw that Krissy was still standing in the front of the room, none too happy. Sud denly, she didn't look so pretty. For the first time, Leedy realized there was a hard, brittle edge to her appearance.

  Krissy glared at Terry, her face a mask of indignant anger. She was speaking to him, her hand waving toward Jo Anne and Leedy in the back of the room. She looked their way, glaring daggers at Leedy.

  "What was Terry's answer to Ted's question?" Leedy whispered to Jo Anne.

  Jo Anne's reply was drowned out by angry voices in the front of the classroom. Leedy and Jo Anne looked up and saw that Krissy had abandoned whispering tersely in Terry's ear in favor of a more direct approach.

  "Good luck, Mr. Foster," Krissy snarled. It was the first time Krissy had said anything loud enough for Leedy to hear her. "You're going to need it by the time I get done with you! I'm going to file a complaint with the University about your sexual harassment!"

  She gave Leedy one last angry glare, tossed her hair behind her and then stomped out of the classroom, not looking behind her.

  Jo Anne watched the scene happily and gave Leedy a happy wink. "Ted told me that Terry said he tried to explain to Krissy that he was interested in someone else ..." She left the sentence hanging in the air because Terry was now almost right next to them.

  "I'd like to see her try," he said, walking right up to Leedy. He slipped her hand into his and squeezed it. "Now let's get out of here before someone asks me another question. And don't forget, you and I have to talk."

  "Okay," Leedy said, squeezing his hand too. "We'll talk."

  He smiled at her and pushed his hand through his mop of curly hair. He was flustered from his confrontation with Krissy, but also relieved.

  "Can we go now?" Jo Anne chided him. "Before any more young, pretty girls show up and file complaints against the faculty."

  He glanced at Leedy and shrugged as if to apologize. "Jo Anne, all those pretty girls have finally gone home. Except for you two ladies, of course."

  "Of course," Jo Anne said and poked him in the arm. "Now can we go?"

  Leedy swallowed the lump in her throat and put the tape recorder into her bookbag. Her hands were shaking and it was all she could do to not throw her arms around Terry and weep. He slipped his hand gently on her back and she could feel a slight tremble to his touch.

  "I'm ready. Are you?" he asked. All she could do was nod.

  I'm glad we are all finally together," Jo Anne said. "I'm so excited, I feel as if I'm about to explode!"

  "Yeah," Terry said, glancing at Leedy. "I'm glad too. I've been wanting to talk to both you and Leedy." He led them into the hallway. Leedy walked beside him, still holding his hand. She didn't care what Jo Anne thought. She was all through playing hard-to-get.

  "I've been wanting to talk with you too," she said.

  "This is business," Jo Anne interjected. "You two will have plenty of time to talk about other matters after I say what I have to say."

  "What's this about, Jo Anne?" Leedy asked, suddenly curious. "Do you need banking advice from Terry?"

  "Oh, yes," she said. "I need lots of banking advice."

  They took Leedy's Jeep to a nearby coffee shop and found a booth along the wall. Jo Anne sat down on one side of the booth and Leedy sat down on the other. Her heart skipped a beat when Terry slid into the seat next to her. She felt his hand softly take hers underneath the table and squeeze it. Just the feel of his touch made her heart melt.

  She picked up her menu with her free hand and pretended to study it intently while Jo Anne and Terry did the same. The waitress came quickly, and they all ordered coffee and cheeseburgers.

  "I know you're both wondering why I asked you here tonight," Jo Anne began. Leedy tried to focus her eyes on her friend, but the feel of Terry's hand wrapped over hers was too distracting. Jo Anne has something important to say, Leedy suddenly realized, taking in the bright pink flush on her cheeks and the way her voice sounded breathless and quick. She had thought Jo Anne might have been still worked up over the Krissy Montgomery scandal, but obviously it was something more. But his hand was holding tightly onto hers and he was sitting so close it was driving her crazy. She was finding it hard to concentrate on the business at hand.

  "I wanted to talk to Leedy about an idea I have," Jo Anne finally began. "But first, I want to tell you both that I've been rehearsing this speech all weekend, so, please don't interrupt me until I'm finished. After that I'll entertain discussion of all of your questions and concerns."

  "Okay," Leedy said. "We won't interrupt."

  "That would be an interruption," Jo Anne said with a sigh. Scolded, Leedy gestured that her lips were zipped shut and the invisible key had been duly discarded. Jo Anne took a deep breath and began again. "Okay, then, here goes nothing ... As you already are aware, Leedy, you and I have a great deal in common. To a remarkable degree really ... we've talked about this extensively, right?"

  "Yes," Leedy said, forgetting she was not allowed to speak.

  "And even though I'm twenty years older than you, we have similar backgrounds. In fact, we have so much in common, we have almost identical likes and dislikes."

  "Yes," Leedy said, smiling at her encouragingly.

  "No talking! ... We both have a background in restaurant management. We both love to cook except you're a trained chef and I'm more of a self-taught baker. In fact, if you think about it, our skills compliment each other."

  "True," Terry offered. "And you both want to open a restaurant."

  "Yes," Jo Anne said. "But let me finish ... Where was I? Oh, yes. The restaurants that Leedy and I both envision are amazingly similar. As a matter of fact, you could safely say the restaurants we both have in mind are alm
ost one and the same." Leedy nodded again and Jo Anne went on. "We both want an upscale, sophisticated restaurant that serves gourmet food. We both want a banquet hall and a wine cellar."

  "And we've both failed to get loans," Leedy reminded her.

  "Right," Jo Anne said. "And that's the problem."

  "No kidding," Leedy said. "Now tell me something I don't know."

  "You're not understanding me, Leedy," Jo Anne said. "The problem is as clear as the nose on our faces but we never stopped to think about it. Even now, you have hit the nail right on the head and still don't know it."

  "I'm sorry," Leedy said, confused. "I'm not following you."

  "Let me explain it again," Jo Anne said. "The problem is that both of us have failed to make our restaurants a reality."

  "Yes," Leedy said. "Don't rub it in. We've both failed to open our restaurants."

  "Don't you see?" Jo Anne yelped, her voice rising in excitement. "You said it again! We both failed to get our loans approved. Think about it, Leedy! What if we tried to open up a restaurant together?"

  "Huh?" Leedy asked. She suddenly forgot that Terry was still holding her hand underneath the table.

  "Don't you get it?" Jo Anne continued. "Our problem is that both of us are trying to do this alone!"

  Terry's face split into a huge smile. "I was hoping you two would come to this conclusion. I love it, Jo Anne! It's a great idea! And it just might work."

  Leedy looked at Terry and then back to Jo Anne. "What idea?"

  "You're not making this easy on me, are you?" Jo Anne exclaimed. "Earth to Leedy! Let's open a restaurant together! You and me. We can be partners!"

  Leedy was not sure if she heard them right. "What?" she asked.

  "We could do it!" Jo Anne exclaimed.

  It took a minute for the words to sink in. Leedy had never considered sharing her dream of opening her own restaurant with anyone else. "Together?"

  "Yes!" Jo Anne said, practically shouting. "We'll make terrific partners! Why not? We both want the same thing!"