thoughts of Claudia were pushed from Philip’s mind as he headed for his office.
After Philip went back to the administrative wing, Claudia began to clear off her desk. She had given a pop quiz in the form of an essay assignment to her Composition I class—much to their dismay—and she would have to read and grade the papers tonight. And she needed to read ahead for the Principles of Marketing class, which met tomorrow. And there was nothing in her condo to eat, which meant she’d better stop at the supermarket on the way home. She sighed. She’d better get a move on if she hoped to get everything done.
Claudia taught two classes of Composition I, which was a first-year course; one class of Composition II, a second-year course; two classes of Principles of Selling; and one class of Principles of Marketing—a total of 18 classroom hours a week. What with lesson planning, grading papers and tests, special projects and other related duties, it was a heavy load, especially for a first-year professor, but Claudia didn’t mind. She loved teaching, particularly at this level. She’d found she had a natural rapport with her students, especially once they realized she had hands-on marketing experience herself.
With all her belongings packed into her tote, she slung her handbag over her shoulder and headed out to the parking lot. The late September heat blasted her when she exited the air-conditioned building. And when she unlocked the Jeep, it felt like an oven inside. After tossing her stuff into the back, she took off her brown linen jacket, exposing the white tank top she wore underneath.
With her favorite rock station blasting—and Claudia singing along in her slightly off-key voice—she edged the Jeep into Southwest Freeway traffic and headed south toward the Loop and her Galleria-area condo. Traffic was already heavy and it was only four o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon. But then, traffic always seemed to be heavy here.
Her family, most of whom lived in Morgan Creek, the small Texas town where Hathaway Baking had its main plant and offices, couldn’t understand why she wanted to work somewhere like Houston, but Claudia loved the city. Yes, there were a lot of people. And yes, it was hot and humid for five months out of the year. And yes, the traffic could be horrendous.
But there was so much energy in the city. It was exciting. There was a feeling here that anything could be accomplished if you just worked hard enough. And the shopping, the theater and arts scene, the restaurants and the museums were fabulous.
Claudia loved it all. There was nothing about Morgan Creek she missed except her siblings and her nieces. But a person couldn’t have everything. Sometimes you had to choose, and she’d chosen to cut the cord that she’d felt slowly strangling her.
She had managed to spend a few hours in Morgan Creek last Sunday, and that was nice. She’d enjoyed talking to Bryce and Lorna, telling them about her new job and hearing about everything that had happened since she’d left. It had been nice to see how happy Bryce was now, too, married to Amy—who had been nanny to his two young daughters—and father to her little girl. Bryce certainly deserved to be happy, Claudia thought, after suffering through so much pain when he lost his first wife, whom he’d loved so dearly.
Claudia had spent Saturday afternoon and evening with Sally in Austin, and that had been fun, too. All in all, it was a good weekend, even though not everything had worked out the way she’d hoped. One of the reasons she’d made the trip home so soon after moving to Houston was that she’d been unable to get the cute guy she’d met that day in August out of her mind. She’d kept thinking about him and finally she’d decided she would call him when she got to Sally’s, see if he wanted to go to a party they were invited to attend that night.
Remembering how she’d felt when she’d called the number on the card she’d gotten from him, Claudia frowned. She’d been so sure Jason Webb liked her. That he’d meant it when he’d given her his business card and asked her to call him the next time she was in Austin.
But Jason Webb didn’t remember her. In fact, he seemed to have no idea who she was, even after she’d mentioned the restaurant where they’d literally bumped into one another. He said he was sorry, but he didn’t remember meeting her. Claudia was so embarrassed, she didn’t elaborate or try to explain. She just said she was sorry to have bothered him and hung up. It wasn’t meant to be, she told herself afterward, furious with herself for being a romantic fool.
Deliberately, she had put him out of her mind, but obviously that hadn’t worked, for here she was, thinking about him again.
“Stop that,” she muttered. “You’ll never see Jason Webb again, and even if you did, you probably wouldn’t like him.”
Seeing the entrance to the supermarket, she put on her turn signal and all thoughts of Jason Webb were finally wiped from her mind as she mentally began to form her shopping list.
John made good time driving into Houston from Austin. He had mixed emotions about his company’s relocating. On the one hand, he hated leaving Austin—a city he loved. On the other, he was looking forward to living close to his family again, especially his sister and his cousin, Philip—who also happened to be his best friend. Not to mention the man who had saved his life.
John knew if he lived to be a hundred, he could never repay Philip who—three years ago, without a moment’s hesitation—had agreed to give John one of his kidneys after both John’s kidneys failed as a result of the damage caused by a severe case of nephritis when he was ten.
Which reminded John—he should call Philip, let him know he was on his way in. Whipping out his cell phone, he punched five. Speed dial kicked in and moments later, Philip answered.
“Hey, cuz,” John said. “I’m headin’ into town. Just left Prairie View.” He glanced at the clock on his dashboard. “I should get to Jen’s about two.”
“Oh, you’re going straight there?”
“Yeah, I told her I’d help her get ready for tonight. I guess she’s expecting a bunch of people.”
“About thirty, she said.”
“You still cool about me bunking with you until I find a place?”
“Sure. No problem.”
“Why don’t you come over to Jen’s early, too?”
“I would, but I’m bringing a date tonight, and I told her I’d pick her up at seven.”
There was something in Philip’s voice that made John smile. “So who’s the date? Anybody I know?”
“It’s that new prof I told you about. The one I’ve been trying to get to go out with me for weeks.”
“So you finally wore her down, huh?”
“Actually, I took her to a movie Wednesday night.”
John could almost hear the smile in his cousin’s voice. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Just remember. I saw her first.”
“She’s that hot?” John teased. He laughed when Philip sputtered something about her being a nice girl. “Nice girls can be hot, too.” Then he took pity on his cousin. “Tell me about her. What’s she look like?”
“I’d rather wait and just let you see for yourself.”
“Not even a hint?”
Before
