Her Lifelong Dream (4 page)

It was only after the breakup that she learned that Brian
had met another woman. Her name was Angela, and they
had been seeing each other for almost a year, an overlap
in timing that left Leedy feeling emotionally raw. Oddly,
she had never been particularly angry about Brian's unfaithfulness, even if she had not known about it at the time.
She now realized that she had sensed the distance between
them long before Brian had met Angela. She had recently
heard through the grapevine that Brian and Angela were
getting married next spring.

Leedy took a deep breath and slammed the locker door
shut. There was no point dwelling on ancient history, especially today. She braced herself and headed for the
kitchen, suddenly grateful that her evening would be a busy
one.

She checked on the kitchen crew, then headed for the
dining room to be sure everything was running smoothly
there. She replenished the coffee stations, ran the sweeper
over some crumb-covered carpeting, and checked to be sure
the waiters and waitresses had everything they needed for
the dinner rush. After that, she headed back to the kitchen
where she prepared several Chocolate Ecstasy Cakes. The
recipe was one she had created herself and it had quickly
become the most popular dessert item on Mr. Hobo's menu.

Brittany had been right. Judging from the tables filled
with college-aged young people and beaming adults, there
was surely something going on at the University tonight.
In fact, she had never seen Mr. Hobo's so busy. It was well into the dinner hour before she finally found time to
schmooze with the customers in the dining room. "How
was your meal tonight, sir?" Leedy asked a man in a black
turtleneck shirt.

"My soup was cold," he complained.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir," she said. "May I get you another
bowl?"

'No.

"How about a dessert? It's on the house."

"All right," the man in the turtleneck said with a triumphant expression on his face. Leedy motioned for the
waiter and one quickly appeared at the table pushing the
dessert cart.

"The Chocolate Ecstasy Cake is the house specialty," the
waiter said, smiling luminously.

Leedy made her way around the room, charming the clientele as she went. She was in her element, smiling and
making jokes with the customers as she made her way
through the busy dining room, leaving a trail of happiness
behind her.

"And you, young lady?" Leedy asked a pretty, blonde
coed in a blue sweater sitting by herself at a table. "How
was your dinner?"

"Wonderful," the girl said, with a sweet smile. "I had
the shrimp scampi and it was absolutely delicious."

"Thank you," Leedy said. There was something about
this lovely girl that made her forget about the hordes of
other customers. Something sweet and precious, as if the
girl was a single red rose in a thicket of weeds. "I'm so
glad you enjoyed your meal," Leedy smiled. "May I offer
you a dessert?"

"Maybe ..." she said. "It's Parents' Night at the Uni versity. I'm waiting for my uncle to come back from the
restroom."

"Ah," Leedy said. "Parents' Night. That explains the
madhouse here this evening."

"There he is now," the young woman said excitedly.
"Uncle Terry, would you like a dessert?"

Leedy turned around smiling up at the figure approaching her from behind.

"Hello again," said a low, warm voice that sounded uncomfortably familiar. "Leedy, isn't it?"

"Oh ... um ... hi," Leedy stammered, thunderstruck
because, there, standing right in front of her, was Terry
Foster-the last person in the world she wanted to see.
"Nice to see you again, Mr. Foster," she mumbled.

"Call me Terry," he said. Leedy noticed that he was still
as gorgeous as he had been earlier that day-a fact that
didn't make her feel any better. "I see you've met my niece,
Deanna."

"Yes," Leedy said, turning her attention back to the girl.
"It is wonderful to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Deanna said, shaking
Leedy's hand and smiling from ear to ear. "May I call you
Leedy?"

"Of course."

"Deanna took me on a tour of the University," he said.
"But it has changed so much since I was a student there a
century or so ago ..."

"Oh, Uncle Terry," Deanna scolded. "You're only
thirty."

"And you're eighteen," he said, pretending to choke. "I
have socks older than you."

Deanna rolled her eyes and wrinkled her adorable nose. "Stop teasing," she warned, giving him a playful poke.
Leedy sensed a strong affection between them.

Deanna looked at Leedy, as though sizing her up, and
then glanced at her uncle. "Please excuse me, Uncle
Terry ... Leedy," she said sweetly. "I need to powder my
nose."

Leedy watched her walk off toward the restrooms. She
noticed that Deanna had the same tall, lean build and the
same confident gait as her uncle.

"Are Deanna's parents here too?" she asked Terry after
Deanna turned the corner.

"No," he said, his voice dropping. "Deanna's parents
were killed in a car accident about six years ago. Ever since
then it's just been the two of us."

"I'm sorry," Leedy said softly, taken aback.

"Thank you," Terry said. "Deanna and I miss them both
very much."

"She's a lovely young woman," she added, feeling
shaken. "You have obviously done a good job with her.
You must be very proud."

"I am," he said. "But I can't take all the credit. Deanna
is a great kid. A teenager isn't always as much trouble as
people seem to think. She eats her vegetables, doesn't
smoke or drink, and makes good grades in school. And
she's quite bright."

"Yes. I can tell."

"She's in her first year at the University. She wants to
be teacher."

Terry Foster's face beamed when he spoke of Deanna.
Indisputably, he had been a good guardian to the girl.
Leedy was embarrassed. She remembered tearfully dashing
out of his office earlier that day and felt suddenly ashamed
of herself.

"Excuse me," said the man in the black turtleneck who
was sitting at the table behind them. "Whom do I have to
kill to get a cup of hot coffee around here?"

"I'll be happy to get you some coffee, sir," Leedy said.
Terry gave the man an annoyed glare. "Have a nice evening, Mr. Foster," she added to Terry, not knowing what
else to say. But for some reason, she hesitated to leave his
table. She shook his hand and smiled. She didn't want to
leave him, but duty called.

By the time she had gone through the dining room with
the coffee pot, Terry and Deanna were getting ready to
leave. "No dessert?" she asked, trying to hide her disappointment. She had developed an instant fondness for
Deanna, and the new-found knowledge that she was an orphan only made her feel even more of an attachment to the
girl.

"No thanks, Leedy," Deanna said. "We had better not.
My uncle and I are running in a 10k race tomorrow."

"Oh?" she asked. "Is it the one at Baker Park?"

"Yes."

"I'm running in that race, too."

"Are you really?" Deanna gushed, delighted.

"Yes. I usually only run in the 5K races. I'm not a very
good distance runner. This is my first 1OK race."

"It doesn't matter if you're not a distance runner,"
Deanna said. "It's all for fun, isn't it? We're in the Cheese
City Runners Club. We run in all the 1OK races. You
should join too."

"I've thought about joining them," Leedy confessed.
"But my schedule is so erratic. I just run in the races when
I can."

"I hope we see you there," Deanna said happily. "In fact,
why don't you meet us there?"

"Well ... I could ... I guess ..."

"It would be fun!" she pressed. "We always warm up by
the starting line. You could meet us there right before the
race."

Without realizing it, Leedy was nodding. "Okay," she
said, not daring to look at Terry Foster. But she could feel
him watching her with those brilliant blue eyes of his.

"We'll see you there," he said. Leedy looked up and saw
he was looking at her with a lingering look that she
couldn't quite read. He smiled at her and then helped
Deanna on with her jacket before they headed for the door.

"It was nice to meet you," Deanna called as they left the
restaurant. "We'll see you at the race tomorrow."

Leedy crouched beneath a large maple tree by the starting line and stretched her hamstring muscles. She tried to
look nonchalant as she scanned the faces in the crowd. "I'm
just looking for Deanna," she told herself. "I don't care if
Uncle What's-His-Name shows up or not." But she was
nervous. What if she didn't find them? What if she never
saw Uncle What's-His-Name again?

Finally, she thought she saw a tall, slender girl in the
crowd. Yes, that was Deanna all right. And Terry Foster
was standing next to her. They were warming up together
on a patch of grass near the starting line. They wore matching black nylon running shorts and yellow t-shirts emblazoned with the words `CHEESE CITY RUNNER'S CLUB,
BAKER PARK 2002 1OK RUN" Leedy immediately noticed how Terry looked just as good in his running clothes
as he did in the charcoal gray banker's suit. In fact, the
sight of his long, muscular legs and well-formed biceps
made her heart skip a beat.

She stood up and slowly walked toward them, trying to
look disinterested. "Hi, Leedy," Deanna called when she
saw her. She looked up, pretending she had not seen them.

"Please come join us!"

Terry Foster smiled broadly and waved her over. "Hey
there!" he called over the noisy crowd.

"Great day for a run, isn't it?" Deanna gushed when
Leedy returned their greeting.

"Yes," she said, coming toward them, trying not to look
at Terry.

"Would you like to run with us?" Deanna offered.

"I'm a little rusty," Leedy lied. "I haven't been running
as much as I should. I probably would only slow you
down."

"We don't mind," Deanna assured her. "Uncle Terry usually beats me anyway. And we're not here to compete.
We're here for the fun of it. We won't care if you fall
behind."

"All right," Leedy said, stealing a shy glance toward
Terry. "But, like I said before. I'm not a long-distance runner. Don't let me slow you down."

"We can all start together, anyway," Terry offered.

"All right," she said with an indifferent shrug.

"You won't mind if I take off like a bullet, would you?"
he asked her, leaning in closer. "I've been running quite a
bit lately. I'm training to run in a marathon this spring. I'm
in great shape for a 1OK run."

"Is that so?" she asked, taking in the smug, amused expression on his handsome face.

"Oh, yes," he said. "Deanna will tell you."

Deanna nodded and rolled her eyes. "It's true," she said.
"He's been running every day."

"I'm up to fifteen miles a day," he gloated. "As a matter
of fact, I might just win this race."

"Win it?" Leedy asked, skeptically.

"Yes," he said. "I have a good feeling I'm going to win
today."

"Good luck," Leedy said, uncertain of what to make of
his sudden smugness.

Deanna rolled her eyes again and laughed. "Don't mind
him, Leedy. He's just teasing you. And stop bragging, Uncle Terry."

"You're right," he said with a wink. "But I'm still going
to win the race."

"He probably will win," Deanna said to Leedy, with a
shrug. "But still ..."

Just then a red-faced man with a megaphone announced
the start of the race. All of the runners gave their bodies
one last stretch and then headed for the starting line. Leedy,
Terry, and Deanna made their way through the crowd until
they found a place near the front. Leedy stood in between
Terry and Deanna. She glanced over at Terry and saw that
he was watching her with a big, happy grin on his face.

"Good luck," he said.

"On your mark!" shouted the red-faced man into the
megaphone.

"You too," Leedy said. "But I only run for the exercise.
This is all in fun, you know."

"Get set!" yelled the man.

"Well then," Terry said, with a confident smirk. "Have
fun."

"GO!" screamed the man into the megaphone. A whistle
blew and Leedy took off, running at top speed. She knew
she had little hope of winning, but if she could gain some distance early in the race, she might have a chance at doing
well. "Coming through," she said, as she sprinted past
Terry. He only smiled and waved her on as he kept running,
not missing a single beat in his steady, smooth stride.

She dashed as fast as her legs could carry her ahead of
him. Something about Terry's cocky confidence made her
determined to do well. Within a minute she had overtaken
Deanna and then another runner. Despite what she had told
Deanna, Leedy had been running quite a bit lately. It was
a coping strategy for the ongoing stress of her busy life.
Even so, she was surprised at how easily she passed the
other racers, who seemed to be moving slower than they
should.