Irresistible Forces (16 page)

They talked about business again then and the children never reappeared. When Cal went for a swim, Meredith watched him. He had a long powerful body, and said he'd been on the swimming team in college. He looked a lot younger than his fifty-one years, and there was no denying that he was very attractive. But Meredith was anxious to see Steve, and when it was time for her to leave to pick him up, Cal called her a cab, and renewed his offer to take her. But Meredith insisted that she wanted to take a taxi, and Cal didn't want to force himself on them. They had a lot to talk about, and he didn't want to push it.

He invited them to dinner the following night, and Meredith accepted and told him that Steve was anxious to meet him. She didn't tell him why, that Steve was minimally nervous about him, because for the most part she thought Steve was teasing about it. But she did think it was important, for a variety of reasons, that Steve meet him. And she trusted Steve's insights and opinions. She suspected, and hoped, that the two men would like each other, and she respected each of them, though for different reasons.

When she met Steve at the gate, he came off in wrinkled khaki pants and a shirt that looked like it had never been ironed, and he was still wearing the clogs he wore at work. He had come straight from the hospital to the airport. And the old tweed jacket he'd brought had holes in both elbows. It was like watching a kid come home from boarding school, and wondering what he'd done with the decent clothes you'd sent with him.

“Why on earth did you bring that jacket?” she asked. She had hidden it, two years before, at the back of the hall closet. But no matter what she did with it, he always seemed to find it. And she'd never had the courage to just give it away. She'd done that with a favorite pair of pants of his once, and she'd never heard the end of it.

But she couldn't believe he had actually brought this relic to San Francisco.

“What's wrong with it?” He looked amazed by her question. “We're not going to a black tie dinner, are we?”

“No, but we're having dinner at Callan Dow's tomorrow night. I hope you brought another jacket.” It was the kind of conversation married people have, which to others always sounds so stupid.

“Don't worry about it. Guys understand these things. It has personality, and history.” He hated new clothes, and he could never understand why she thought his pants should be pressed. He spent so much of his life in wrinkled scrubs that to him, the rest was no different. He was immaculately clean, but everything he owned was always wrinkled.

“I think that little speech about personality and history means you didn't bring another jacket, right?”

“Correcto.” He grinned at her and leaned over to kiss her as they picked up his single bag, which felt like it had bricks in it.

“My God, what did you bring? A bowling ball?”

“No,” he grinned, “some reading.” He never went anywhere without a stack of new medical books he felt he had to read in order to stay current. In truth, it was all he cared about. Steve was a brilliant doctor, but no clothes horse. Unlike Cal, who was incomparable in his own field, but always looked impeccable and very elegant. The two men couldn't have been more different. “So how's it going? Anything new today?” Steve looked happy to be there, which pleased her.

“No, it's better than ever,” she beamed at him, and talked animatedly about Cal's company all the way back to the hotel in the cab. And then they sat in their room and talked till long after midnight.

She left Steve at the hotel the next day. She was going to meet clients with Cal, and Steve had rented a car to go to his assorted appointments. She had suggested he use a car and driver, which wasn't his style. He had gotten a couple of maps from the place where he'd rented the car, and said he was sure he could find the hospitals where he was going. Meredith kissed him when she left, and promised to meet him at the hotel at the end of the day. She wished him luck and rushed off to Dow Tech to meet Callan.

It was another extraordinary day with him. They visited three of his most important customers, and had a tour of one of the hospitals where his diagnostic equipment was in greatest use. It was a fascinating afternoon for her, and Cal was pleased with her reaction. And when she left him at the end of the day, he reminded her to be at his house at seven thirty. “I can't wait to meet Steve, I feel like we're already old friends,” he said warmly. She had talked about him so much during the due diligence tour that he honestly did feel as though he knew him.

And when Meredith met Steve back at the hotel, he looked relaxed and sounded surprisingly enthusiastic. He had been impressed with all three hospitals he'd seen, and had been given a referral to a fourth one that handled only the most extreme trauma cases. They had a helipad, and apparently ran a trauma unit very similar to the one where he worked, and he could hardly wait to visit it on Monday. He already had an appointment with the director. The hospitals where he'd been had been interesting, and very interested in him, but they had no openings that were suitable for him, although they'd been very impressed with his credentials, and they promised to keep him in mind if anything came up. But he was too senior and too experienced for them to offer him less than the top job and none of theirs was open. He said he could have been happy in any one of them, but he had his hopes pinned on the one in the East Bay that he was visiting on Monday.

“So what are you thinking?” She smiled at him, they had both had a good day, and she could see that he was very positive about it.

“I'm thinking that I love San Francisco,” he beamed at her. “The city is a little jewel, and the people are so nice here. It's not like New York, they don't all look like they think you're about to mug them. Even in the trauma units, people seem pretty relaxed here. The one in Oakland was a little dicey, but they'd just gotten six guys in with gunshot wounds two minutes before I got there. To be honest with you, I love it, Merrie. I can see why it appeals to you.” She suddenly felt as though a whole new life was opening up for them, and there was something very exciting about it. The one problem was that they had no job for him, yet, but there was still the hospital in the East Bay that he was going to see on Monday, and they had sounded hopeful, but they didn't want to commit to anything on the phone. He had faxed them his C.V., but they still had to meet him.

“Where would you want to live?” he asked her casually, as though the decision had already been made, or at least as though they were closer to it. “In the city or out here? I actually like it out here, and I wouldn't mind commuting.”

“It would be easier for me out here, but that's up to you. You have to go back and forth to work at crazier hours than I do, and a lot more often.”

“We'll see. I kind of like the idea of a house in the suburbs, and,” he paused dramatically, searching her eyes cautiously for a reaction, “I think this would be a great place to bring up kids, a lot better than New York. And you wouldn't be under the gun the way you are there, you wouldn't have to do any more due diligence tours, or hopefully work till midnight. This might be the right time, and the right place, to do it.” He almost held his breath as he waited for her to answer, and she paused for a long minute, seeming to weigh what he'd been saying.

“Maybe,” was all she finally came up with. But she didn't want to get into that discussion with him. Not yet anyway. There were still a lot of other factors to think of.

“That's it?” he said, looking mildly disappointed, “just ‘maybe’? I think if we're ever going to do it, Merrie, it would be great here. What better life than to be a kid in California?”

“To be a kid with other parents,” she smiled at him, and then seemed to relax a little bit. It always made her feel tense when they talked about having children. But she had to admit, it might not be so bad here.

They were both in good spirits when they set out for Cal's house at seven fifteen, and they arrived promptly at seven thirty. He was waiting for them in the garden, next to the pool, with margaritas and caviar. The kids had just gotten out of the pool, and he looked relaxed and as handsome as usual in a perfectly pressed blue shirt, and beige gabardine slacks, with his bare feet in Gucci loafers. Steve was wearing an old striped shirt and the threadbare tweed jacket that she hated, and she wished she had had the forethought to pack his bag for him before she left for California. Next time, she vowed to herself as the two men shook hands, and greeted each other. Cal was telling him how much he had looked forward to meeting him, after everything he'd heard about him from Meredith during their time together.

“Your wife is a one-man band on your behalf, Steve. I hope you know that. She never stopped talking about you.” It was the right thing to say, and Steve seemed pleased, as he looked Cal over.

The conversation was relaxed and moved with ease as they discussed a variety of subjects, and eventually Cal asked him about the hospitals he'd seen, and they wound up talking about Cal's high-tech diagnostic equipment. Steve gave him a critical assessment of it, praised two of Cal's machines inordinately, and gave him some interesting insights and pointers from a physician's standpoint. And Cal looked pleased by what he was hearing from him.

They moved inside to the dining room after an hour, and Cal served a Mouton-Rothschild Bordeaux that impressed Steve no end. And at eleven o'clock they were still talking over brandy. It was nearly midnight when they left, and Meredith had the impression that the evening had gone well. Both men seemed to have liked each other.

“What did you think of him?” she asked in the car on the way back to the hotel as Steve drove. She was interested in Steve's assessment of him.

“He's a hell of a bright guy. And you're right, he's good looking of course, but you forget about it after a while. He's got so many innovative ideas, and there's so much he wants to do, you kind of get caught up in his head and forget the fancy clothes and the movie star looks. I can see why you like him.” And then he smiled sheepishly at his wife. “I'm sorry about the jacket, Merrie. I'll bring a better one next time.”

“Who cares?” She smiled at the man she loved. She was so proud of him and loved him so much, and she was glad he had liked Cal. And she was a little stunned by what he said next. “I think you ought to take the job. I don't think you'll ever forgive yourself if you don't. You'd always wonder what might have happened if you'd come out here. Baby, you've got to do it.”

“You're amazing. What about you?”

“I'll find something. There's plenty of work. They just have to make room for me.” And he felt sure they would, in time. “Right now, this job for you is the main thing. I want you to be happy.” There were tears in her eyes as he said it. He was so good to her, and so kind, and so generous of spirit.

“I'm not making any decisions until we know where things stand for you. This involves both of us, not just me, no matter how altruistic you are about it.”

“Let's see what happens on Monday. And in the meantime, let's have a good time this weekend.” Cal had offered to tour them around the next day, but Steve had told him they wanted to discover the city on their own, and they had agreed to come over on Sunday afternoon to swim, and have dinner with him with his kids. And Cal had promised to do a barbecue for them. But Steve and Meredith were looking forward to spending time in the city before that.

On Saturday, they went to Marin, and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge with the top down on their rented convertible. They had lunch in Sausalito and wandered around in the shops, and they had dinner at Scoma's. The view was spectacular, and afterward they drove around San Francisco, and wound up at Fisherman's Wharf for an Irish coffee. He took her to the Top of the Mark at midnight just to see the view, and then they went back to the Peninsula, and talked about what they'd seen of the city. Cal had told them that Pacific Heights would be the place for them to live, and they had driven through it, with its neat rows of pretty Victorians and brick houses and colorful stuccos. Everything looked tidy and neat and clean, and the streets were immaculate. And Steve had fallen in love with the city.

On Sunday morning, they visited the Stanford campus, and then strolled through Palo Alto. They were both overwhelmed by what they'd seen and how much they'd liked it. They arrived at Cal's on Sunday afternoon and joined everyone at the pool. Steve was playing Marco Polo in the water with Cal's children, as Meredith chatted with Callan.

“I think you've made a convert,” Meredith said softly as they watched him. “He loves San Francisco.”

“And you, Merrie?”

“I love your company, and the work.” She smiled at him. She would have been happy at the north pole with a job like the one he was offering, and they both knew it.

“You're a workaholic, like I am. We're hopeless.”He glanced at her husband playing with his children and smiled back at her. “He's a nice guy, Merrie. You were right. And I hear he's a damn good doctor.” He had made some polite inquiries before recommending him at the hospitals where he'd sent him. “How's the job front looking?”

“Nothing yet. No one has an opening for him, but he doesn't seem too panicked about it. He's got an interview in the East Bay on Monday.”

“I hope it works out,” Cal said fervently, and meant every word of it. He was more desperate than ever to have her come out and join him. The past three days had confirmed to him everything he'd thought about her.

“So do I,” she said quietly, as Steve threw the ball to Mary Ellen and she squealed with pleasure. As cautious as the children had been around Meredith, they seemed to have no trouble opening up to her husband. But she had never been very comfortable around children, and they sensed that.

It was an easy afternoon for them, and Steve and Cal and Meredith got into long, interesting discussions that night, mostly about politics and their effect on business. Steve had his own pet peeves in what related to medicine, and they exchanged points of view for hours, and when they left, Cal wished him luck the next day at his interview, and told Merrie he'd see her in the morning.