Hand-Me-Down Love (13 page)

“
Nice to meet you,
Meredith,” he said. How was he going to ask her out, which is
exactly what he wanted to do right that minute? His heart was
thumping, but he had to play it cool. “Welcome to South Bay Bank.”

“
Thank you,” she
said sweetly, looking at him with her blue gaze.

All through that
first week Meredith worked at the bank, Sean went out of his way to
go into the credit department, making excuses to see Meredith. She
always greeted him with a smile.

On Fridays, several
bank employees usually went to a nearby bar and Sean sometimes joined
them. That first Friday that Meredith worked at the bank, Sean went
to the bar. He sat at a booth with Janice, a teller, and Mark, who
worked in his department. Sean kept watching the door to the bar
hoping to see Meredith walk through it.

“
Hey, Sean,”
Mark said. “Why are you so jumpy tonight? Rough day?”

Embarrassed, Sean
made a conscious effort to appear casual. It wasn’t easy. Carol,
who worked in the credit department, walked in a few minutes later
and plopped down.

“
I think we need
to get one of those tables,” she said. “Meredith said she was
coming and this booth isn’t big enough.”

Sean couldn’t
believe his good luck. Meredith was coming to the bar and he was
going to talk to her. He would make sure he talked to her if it was
the last thing he ever did.

The group moved to a
round table that could seat at least eight, maybe ten, people. Sean
kept his eye on the door while pretending to listen to what his
co-workers were talking about. But he didn’t give a damn what they
were talking about. He just wanted to see Meredith.

“
So, let’s keep
the bitching down when she gets here,” Carol said. What was she
talking about, Sean wondered. Bitching was what they did! It was the
whole reason to meet at the bar. I guess they don’t want to scare
her off, he thought. It was her first week, after all. He certainly
didn’t want to scare her off. He wanted her to keep working at the
bank so he could see her every single day.

It seemed like an
eternity went by, but Meredith did finally walk into the bar. Sean
saw her step into the room, her blond hair hanging past her
shoulders, a leather purse on her arm. Mark waved his arm at her and
when she saw him she walked over to the table.

“
I’m sorry to
get here so late,” she said, sitting down next to Mark. Dammit, he
wanted her to sit next to him! But she could hardly do that since
Carol was on one side of him and Janice on the other. Dammit! He was
going to have to figure it out because Meredith was not leaving until
he could talk to her.

The waiter came over
and Meredith ordered a margarita. “I guess I’m celebrating,”
she said shyly. “My first week on the job.” When her drink came
they all raised their glasses to Meredith’s first week. “To many
more weeks,” Sean said. God, how stupid could he be.

The evening took on
a life of its own. Carol called her husband and said she’d be out
late with her “people.” Janice didn’t have to call anyone and
ordered another martini. Sean ordered appetizers of stuffed mushrooms
and artichoke and spinach dip. He’d keep ordering appetizers if he
had to, to keep the evening alive. Meanwhile, Mark was talking
intently to Meredith and it was starting to piss Sean off.

A band started
setting up in the far end of the bar and Sean hoped the music would
be decent. He recognized the band as one who played mostly cover
songs ranging from the seventies through the present day, and it
would be all right. They did a good job. He just needed for Mark to
stop talking to Meredith.

“
I think this is
my cue to leave,” Carol said. “If I get into this band, I’ll be
getting home at two a.m. and my husband won’t be happy with that.”
She got her purse and said, “See y’all Monday morning bright and
early.”

The band kicked off
the evening with John Mellencamp’s “Cherry Bomb,” and Mark
asked Meredith to dance. Sean was going to kill him. No, he was going
to fire him! That’s how pissed he was. But Sean asked Janice to
dance instead of killing Mark. The couples moved around the floor.
Sean thought the dance would never end. He wanted to cut in on Mark,
but didn’t know if people still did that and didn’t want to be
that obvious. Besides, Janice was a sweet girl and didn’t deserve
to be dumped like that on the dance floor.

The song and their
dancing became excruciating to Sean. Would it ever end? He had to
find a way to dance with Meredith if it killed him. Finally, the song
ended and they all sat back down. Sean ordered baskets of fried
shrimp and oysters for everyone. This evening was not going to end
without him talking to Meredith.

While they waited on
the food, the plaintive sounds of the Stones’ “Wild Horses”
started from the band. Sean had already danced with Janice and he
wasn’t letting his chance go by again. He saw Mark start to stand
up, but he stood up first and asked Meredith to dance.

“
I thought we’d
never get here,” she said as they started to dance. She laughed
impishly, knowingly. As much as he had tried to play it cool, Sean
realized he was completely transparent to Meredith. Probably to
Janice and Mark too. He laughed. She laughed. They laughed as they
danced close to each other. He never wanted to let her go.

They danced every
dance after that, and Mark and Janice joined them on the dance floor.
But Sean never let Meredith dance with Mark again that night and Mark
kept his distance. He knew not to go up against Sean. The band played
until midnight and then the bar started its closing ritual. Sean
didn’t want the night with Meredith to end.

“
Would you like to
go to Bobby’s for a nightcap and some food?” he asked her on
their last dance. He didn’t want Mark and Janice to be in on that.
He needed alone time with Meredith.

“
You know, that
sounds fun,” she said. “Let’s do it. We don’t have to work
tomorrow, so why not?”

Bobby’s stayed
open very late, sometimes until four a.m. Sean led Meredith to a
table and the waiter took their order. A few minutes later he brought
martinis to the table and Sean ordered steaks a la Bobby with baked
potato.

“
I can’t believe
we’re eating again,” Meredith said as she took a sip of her
martini.

“
I know,” Sean
said. “But it’s been hours since we ate. Do you mind?”

“
Hell, no,”
Meredith said emphatically. “I don’t mind at all. I’m actually
hungry again.”

Bobby’s was a
completely different place from the rollicking bar they had been in
all night. A lone black musician sat at a piano in one corner of the
bar, playing jazz. Sometimes, he sang old classics, but mostly he
played cool and romantic jazz. It was perfect, Sean thought.

As they ate their
steaks, Sean told Meredith about his upbringing in Atlanta, how he
had walked a section of the Appalachian Trail after high school, how
he had attended the University of Alabama business school majoring in
finance.

“
My dad really
wanted me to do that, but I really wanted to be a forest ranger or
something outdoors. But he convinced me I’d never make a living
with that, so I majored in finance and started working for South Bay
Bank after I graduated.”

Meredith told him
that she had majored in creative writing at the University of South
Alabama in Mobile. “Both of my parents graduated from there,” she
said. “That’s where they met so it was natural for me to go
there. I had no idea what to do with my degree when I got out. That’s
why I started working at the bank. My father said I needed to work
while I figured my life out.” She laughed a small laugh.

“
Sounds like
you’re close to your father,” Sean said. “Does he live in
Mobile?”

“
No, he lives in
Bay Point. Do you know where that is?”

“
Isn’t it across
the bridge on the bay?” Sean said. “I think I went there one day
for some kind of festival.

“
That must have
been the Oak Point Festival. It’s the town’s biggest event.”

“
Yeah, that was
it. The Oak Point Festival.”

“
So, is that where
you’re from?” Sean asked, wanting to know everything about
Meredith.

“
Yes, that’s
where I’m from. My mother’s family goes back generations in Oak
Point. When she and my father got married, they decided to live there
even though my father worked in Mobile. He commutes every day.”

”
What does he
do?” Sean asked, taking a sip of his martini.

“
He’s the
president of a bank,” Meredith said, taking a sip of her drink.

“
Oh yeah?” Sean
said. “Which bank is that?”

“
South Bay Bank,”
she said, giving him another impish look.

Sean spewed his
drink and some of it hit Meredith. She picked up her napkin to wipe
herself off, laughing the whole time.

“
I’m sorry,”
he said. God, he was so stupid.

“
What is your last
name?” he asked already knowing the answer.

“
Anderson,” she
said sweetly.

Sean just looked at
her for a moment. He didn’t know what to say. He had already spit
his drink on her. How much worse could this get?

“
I’m sorry,
Sean,” Meredith said. “I thought you knew. But then I realized
that you didn’t know, so I played along.”

“
No,” Sean said
slowly. “I didn’t know that.”

“
Well, I hope it
doesn’t make any difference to you,” Meredith said.

“
He is my boss, so
I guess it’s got to make some difference to me.”

Meredith stood up
and came to his side of the table. “Let’s dance,” she said.

They stood close
together moving to the piano jazz. Meredith turned her face up to
Sean’s and she kissed him. He kissed her back and forgot about who
she was. She was who he wanted and it didn’t matter who her father
was.

“
Let’s get out
of here,” Meredith said. “I’ve got an apartment a few blocks
over. Wanna come?”

Inside Meredith’s
apartment, they sat on the couch and started kissing again. He wanted
her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life.

“
Let’s go in the
bedroom,” Meredith said. “It’s more comfortable in there.”

Sean followed her to
her bed and they fell on it still kissing. While grappling each other
they managed to get most of their clothes off. They touched each
other, rubbed each other, and then he was inside her and they were
moving against each other. “Oh,” he said loudly as he came.
Meredith echoed him as she came and then they collapsed in each
other’s arms.

Chapter
Fifteen

As Sean walked the
trail, tears came to his eyes sometimes when he remembered Meredith.
He’d never met anyone like her. She was so full of life, laughing
and joking all the time. He got used to her jokes, which were often
dry and wicked. It took him a second to get them sometimes, but when
he did, he roared with laughter. He fell in love with her hard and
she fell in love with him.

There were detour
trails to spectacular views of the mountains, and Sean took them
almost every time a sign pointed the way. On his third day hiking, he
took one of the detour trails and sat on a rock overlooking the vista
of mountains. Majestic was the only word to describe them. It was
like he was on the edge of the world when he looked over the vast
landscape of mountains as far as he could see. He was awed in their
presence, as he had been when he had first viewed them as an
eighteen-year-old.

Sean took a photo of
the view with his iPhone. He would send it to his mother and Marla
when he had cell phone service again. He didn’t know when that
would be. He pulled some beef jerky from his backpack and looked at
the incredible mountains. He missed Meredith. He missed Marla. He
missed both of them, but he would never see Meredith again. Marla
might be waiting for him.

Marla was still in
college when Sean met her for the first time over at Bob and
Cynthia’s. It was a supper visit and Marla had left soon after the
meal to meet some friends in Mobile. The next time he saw her was at
Thanksgiving. When Sean and Meredith announced their engagement,
after the huge meal that Mrs. Anderson had cooked. Marla had jumped
up from the table and hugged Meredith. She hugged Sean too. What a
nice sister, he remembered thinking back then.

Sean moved up and
down the trail, stopping sometimes to fill his water bottles at the
natural springs. Most nights he was able to stay in a shelter, but a
few nights he put his tent up in a campground area.