The boy with her was on the basketball team. Six-six and shy. Except on the court. On the court, he ruled. Meghan thought they made a great couple. The intellectual and the jock.
“Hey, Jordan,” she said.
“Hey, Dr. Gaines.” He cautiously met her eyes, then looked down.
Hailey elbowed him in the side and said, “We were headed to the cafeteria for a late lunch. See you, Dr. Gaines.”
“Bye,” Meghan said with a smile.
She and Leo continued walking. “Nice kids,” Leo remarked.
“Yes, they are. Our students are, for the most part, pretty serious about getting an education and not wasting their parents’ money.”
Leo glanced into her upturned face as they were walking. “Is it true what Hailey said about you? That you’re always here?”
He didn’t know why he was curious as to what she did on her off time. He had already decided he wasn’t going to see her again, hadn’t he? But it tugged at his heart to imagine her so wrapped up in her career that she didn’t take time for herself, so he’d asked.
“I stay pretty busy,” Meghan said with a contented smile. “I garden, I work on my house, which I bought for a great price about three years ago. It’s in South Park, one of those black neighborhoods that sprang up around a college. Many of Shaw’s faculty members have lived in South Park over the years. Nowadays, the city of Raleigh consists of mostly mixed neighborhoods, so it’s not exactly a black neighborhood anymore. The street I live on is nice, with huge oak trees and well-maintained houses with manicured lawns. The owners take pride in their homes.”
“Yeah, I live near Duke and was told my neighborhood also has been the home of a lot of Duke’s faculty members,” Leo told her.
“Duke,” Meghan said, “was originally called Trinity College.”
“Do you always know every historical fact about everything?” Leo asked with a note of wonder.
“I know, I’m weird,” Meghan laughed. “But yes, I have a lot of historical trivia running around in my head. It was an endowment by the Duke family, who made their fortune from cigarettes, that financed the university. And it’s ironic, really. Cigarettes have killed so many people, but today Duke University’s hospital has some of the best doctors in the country. It’s almost like the family made a conscious effort to make up for all the bad they did by selling tobacco.”
Leo smiled at her. “I knew the history of Duke, but I never looked at it that way. Why some philanthropists choose to give money to an institution. Maybe you’re right, and the family did want to make up for all the harm caused by selling cigarettes.”
It was then that Leo knew Meghan Gaines was a woman to be reckoned with and was much more mature than she looked. She had a good head on her shoulders.
* * *
Back at Annie’s Café, Meghan parked the Mustang next to his late-model SUV. They got out and stretched their legs, neither of them seeming in a big hurry to end the day. It was still beautiful out at half past five. A brisk breeze came from the south, and the sky was a crystalline blue with barely any clouds.
“I had a good time,” Leo said, smiling at her. “And I learned a lot about the area. Knowing the little details about how our people had a hand in making Raleigh and Durham thrive does actually boost my appreciation of my new home. Thank you, Meghan.”
Meghan had to force herself not to be too effusive in her appreciation of that compliment. She was normally a very enthusiastic person, but sensed in Leo a more reserved soul. So she merely smiled and said, “It was my pleasure, Leo.”
She wanted to hug him but restrained herself.
* * *
Leo wanted to kiss her cheek and breathe in her essence one last time. But he shook her hand, instead.
“There’s no point in saying goodbye because our siblings are getting married, and I know I’ll be seeing you again soon,” he joked. He handed her his card.
“True enough,” Meghan agreed, palming the card. “See you soon,” she said softly as she turned away and got back into the Mustang. Leo reluctantly drew his gaze away and got into his car. But he didn’t start it until she’d driven away.
“Oh, my God, I’ve got it bad,” he groaned. “She’s adorable!”
* * *
In the Mustang, Meghan breathed a longing-filled sigh. “What a great guy. Too bad I talked his ears off and generally made an ass of myself!”
At home, Meghan parked her car in the garage and went into the three-bedroom, two-bath Southern-style bungalow through the garage door. Entering the laundry room, she yelled, “Mommy’s home!”
She could hear the frantic click of Chauncey’s nails on the tile floor as her two-year-old cocker spaniel came running. She knelt and hugged the dog, allowing her face to be licked to within an inch of its life. Rising, she rubbed Chauncey’s golden-brown head. “I bet you’re ready to go outside, aren’t you, girl?”
Meghan got her keys out of her shoulder bag, dropped them into her jacket pocket, then deposited her bag onto the shelf above the washer and dryer in the laundry room. She grabbed the leash that was on a hook by the door and attached it to Chauncey’s collar. “Let’s go to the park. I feel like walking off a little steam myself. I met a gorgeous man today, and I need someone to talk to about him other than your aunties, who’ll probably give me a lot of bad advice and then get mad at me for not taking it.”
Chauncey looked up at her with big soulful brown eyes, as if in sympathy. “I know, I know,” Meghan said. “It’s not easy being the baby of the family. Everybody wants to tell me how to live my life. My sisters are all—except for the rebel, Petra, and Desiree—happily taken by some man and are deliriously happy. And now they’re targeting me.”
They strolled down the sidewalk, and as they passed her neighbor’s house on the right, she saw Dr. Johnson in the yard putting up their Christmas lights. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson were always notoriously early decorating their house for the holidays. The elderly man was standing on a ladder and Meghan didn’t want to startle him by yelling hello, so she and Chauncey walked quietly along without saying anything. But she was only a few steps past when he called out, “Good afternoon, Miss Meghan and Miss Chauncey. How are you two ladies?”
Meghan laughed. A retired professor of economics, Dr. Leland Johnson was seventy-nine years old, but he looked around sixty with his dark skin, bald head and the neatest moustache Meghan had ever seen. “We’re doing just fine, Professor,” she politely replied. “How are you and Mrs. Johnson doing today?”
“We’re both in excellent health and spirits,” Dr. Johnson said brightly. “Getting the house outfitted for the season. We’re expecting our children this year. They’re going to stay a whole week. It will be bedlam, but we’re going to enjoy every minute of it.”
“Sounds like my family,” Meghan told him. “But good on you. I haven’t even begun to think how I’m going to decorate the house this year.”
“Your White Christmas theme was lovely last year.”
“Thank you,” Meghan said. “All the snow we got last year kind of canceled it out, though. I may go for a Kwanzaa theme this year.”
“That would be interesting,” Dr. Johnson responded.
Chauncey whined miserably. Dr. Johnson looked down at the dog and chuckled. “Am I holding up your walk, Miss Chauncey? Well, go on with your delicate sensibilities.”
When he said that word, sensibilities, it made Meghan think of Leo. That was who he reminded her of. A Jane Austen character. Not a character from Sense and Sensibility, though, but Pride and Prejudice: Darcy. Darcy with his proud manner and self-sufficiency. Until he fell in love with Elizabeth Bennett, Darcy had needed no one except himself.
She said goodbye to her neighbor and let Chauncey lead her to the nearby park, a place the dog knew quite well.
* * *
When Leo got home, he opened the two-car garage with the re
mote and parked the SUV next to his candy-apple-red 1967 Pontiac GTO. He smiled when he saw it. That baby had a four-hundred-cubic-inch V-8 engine that delivered 360 horsepower. It reminded him of Meghan now. Meghan with her 1965 Mustang. Some purists didn’t even consider pony cars like the Mustang to be muscle cars. But from riding around with Meghan that afternoon, he knew her particular Mustang deserved the title. There was power under that hood. And Meghan handled it beautifully.
What was wrong with him when he considered her driving skills to be damned sexy?
He got out of the SUV and, leaving the garage door open because he was thinking of going out to dinner later, walked to the front door and unlocked it.
Malcolm, his chocolate Labrador retriever puppy, ambled into the room from the kitchen. Malcolm had such a calm personality that even his master’s return home rarely fazed him. He walked up to Leo and sat down, lifted his head and cocked it to the side, looking at Leo with a benign expression on his face. Leo knelt, scooped Malcolm up into his arms and hugged him. “I hope my pessimism isn’t rubbing off on you, fella. You’re a puppy. You’re supposed to be bouncing off the walls.”
He peered into the puppy’s eyes. “Maybe you need to rip and run for a while. Do you want to go outside?”
Malcolm licked his cheek. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Leo joked.
He went and opened the back door that led to the yard. Putting Malcolm on the floor, he watched as the puppy sprinted for the wooden fence. On the other side was the neighbor’s tomcat, sitting there glaring at Malcolm through the slats.
“Don’t let him scare you, Malcolm. You own this yard!”
Leo turned away to go into the kitchen and get a bottle of water from the refrigerator. As he was reaching for the bottle, his cell phone rang. Looking down at the display, he saw that it was Jake.
No matter what, he always answered when family called.
“Hey, bro,” he said.
“Well, what do you think about Meghan?”
“I think you knew what I’d think when you set me up with her,” was Leo’s reply.
Jake laughed, “I knew you’d find her beautiful. All of Mina’s sisters are beautiful. And I hoped you’d have a lot in common. But other than that, I didn’t know if you’d hit it off or not. So, what’s the verdict? And Mina isn’t here, so you can be brutally honest.”
“Okay,” Leo said. “She’s the biggest history nerd I’ve ever met. She talks a mile a minute, and she has the tendency to blush a lot. She says she’s thirty, but she looks twenty.”
“Does that mean you don’t like her?” Jake asked, sounding confused. “Because I definitely didn’t think that was going to happen. Everybody likes Meghan. She’s one of the sweetest girls on earth. Did you know she goes to see her old elementary school teacher who’s in a nursing home, practically every Sunday?”
“She sounds like a saint. The last thing I need is a saint,” Leo told his twin brother. “What I need is a woman who thinks out of the box. A woman who won’t be cowed and afraid when I tell her that, in spite of how I look or how I perform in the bedroom, I’ll never be able to give her a child. I need somebody strong enough to accept me as I am.”
Jake let out a frustrated sigh. “What makes you think Meghan isn’t strong enough to take you as you are, Leo? The question is, are you brave enough to let down your guard and find out?”
“Are you calling me a coward?” Leo asked indignantly.
“Yes, I am, baby brother,” Jake said. “And I suggest you grow a pair!”
With that, he hung up.
Leo looked down at the phone in disbelief before turning it off and placing it on the kitchen counter. He couldn’t believe his brother had said that. He might have been really pissed off if Jake hadn’t been right. He was a coward. But he had reason to be. Natalie had broken off their engagement three years ago when he’d confided in her that he’d been born with a condition that caused him to be sterile. Plus, he had a congenital heart defect. Basically, he could drop dead any minute. And there was no cure for it. All he could do was live as healthily as he could and wish for the best. And should it look like his heart was going to fail him, they could rush him to an operating room and give him a new heart. But he didn’t hold out much hope of finding a donor in time to save his life.
He’d always held the opinion that life had royally screwed him. Natalie had freaked out when he told her. She stopped taking his calls and totally cut him out of her life, finally saying after a month of silence that she wanted children who looked like her. Children who came from her body. Children with a biological connection to her and her husband. She didn’t even mention the heart condition in her explanation. Leo figured the subject was too scary to touch. When she’d looked at him, he’d known why: there was pity in her big, beautiful brown eyes. That was worse than anything. It had made him feel less than a man.
Leo couldn’t find fault with her reasoning. Most people did want children who looked like them. But it still hurt like hell. He’d loved Natalie with all of his being. She’d been the only woman he’d ever loved, and she’d ripped his heart out when she’d dropped him so easily. He’d thought love could fill the void. He’d thought love was everything and made all the difference in the world. But love had made not one iota of difference for Natalie. It had made no difference that he was an accomplished human being. It had made no difference that he was a wonderful, giving lover. It had made no difference that he earned a very good living and they would live comfortably together. Nothing took the place of a biological child. Last thing he heard about her, she’d married someone a year after she’d broken up with him and had a child the following year. So her dreams had come true, while his had turned to dust.
Jake had had the nerve to call him a coward. He wasn’t a coward. Not really. He was a realist. The adorable Miss Meghan Gaines would run for the hills if he told her he could never father a child, not to mention the heart condition. She was pushing thirty, too, which made some women think their clocks were ticking and there was no time to lose.
No, she was definitely not a possible soul mate for him.
Chapter 3
Jake called back five minutes after hanging up on him. “I didn’t mean to call you a coward. I know you’re not a coward. But it frustrates me to see you give up like you’re doing!”
Leo listened patiently. He knew his brother better than he knew anyone else on the planet. Jake wanted him to be as happy as he was right now with the lovely Mina. Even though Jake had been born only a few seconds before him, Jake had always considered himself the big brother. So when he saw his baby brother struggling in life, he naturally wanted to lend a helping hand.
“If you had let me finish talking,” Leo said now, “I would have told you that I like Meghan a lot. She’s, frankly, an angel. But I’m not going to pursue it.”
“Why not?” Jake practically yelled.
“You. Know. Why,” Leo said, enunciating every word. “She’s a saint. And a saint deserves someone she can count on to give her the life she wants. I’m not that guy. So please don’t continue talking me up to Mina or anyone else in her family. Just let me be the brother who occasionally shows up at family gatherings with one anonymous woman after another on his arm.”
“Sometimes I think there should be violins playing in the background when you’re talking, brother. Look, all right, when Mina asks me why you’re not interested in her gorgeous baby sister, what am I supposed to tell her?”
“I’ve already told Meghan I think I’m too old for her,” Leo offered. “After which she ribbed me big-time about it. I have to admit, she makes me laugh.”
Jake chuckled. “Believe me, you want a woman like that in your life.” Then, with a more serious tone to his voice, he asked, “Did she like you?”
“Attracting women has never been my problem. It’s hanging on to them that eludes me.” Leo wasn’t bragging, just s
tating the facts.
“If I had the time, I’d come to Durham and knock some sense into you, but since I’m on a case, you get a free pass.”
“Yeah, how is that going?” Leo asked, knowing full well his DEA agent brother couldn’t disclose any details of his present assignment.
“You’ll have to read about it in my memoirs when I retire,” Jake told him. “Okay, if Mina asks why you’re not in hot pursuit of Meghan, I’ll say you’re just crazy as hell.”
“That’s how I feel right now,” Leo admitted. “She’s so perfect, I can’t imagine why she’s not already taken.”
“Are you interested enough to hear the reason?” Jake asked. “Because I’ll tell you if you really want to know.”
Leo couldn’t resist finding out as much about Meghan as he possibly could. “Tell me.”
“It’s a common story, really,” Jake began quietly. “When she was an undergraduate at Shaw, she fell in love with the football team’s quarterback. By the time they were seniors, it was a pretty widespread belief that they were destined to get married. He was picked in the first-round draft to go to the Dallas Cowboys. She’d already been accepted in the English master’s program at Duke.”
“She didn’t even mention that,” Leo said.
“About her attending Duke? Bad memories, probably,” Jake said. “Anyway, he went off to Dallas and broke up with her via email, the creep!”
“Poor kid,” Leo murmured, his heart thudding in sympathy for Meghan’s broken heart.
“So, you see, you’re not the only one who was stomped on by love,” Jake said. “Gotta go. But I just want to say one more thing first. Don’t burn your bridges where Meghan’s concerned right now. If you don’t want to date her, at least be friendly when you see her—and you will see her. Mina wanted me to tell you that they’re having Thanksgiving in the mountains this year. You’re invited.”
Love in San Francisco ; Unconditionally Page 19