Suddenly she was annoyed with herself for bringing up his name. There was no need to know that he’d come to talk to Hannah about her. And she didn’t want to know if he was or wasn’t in love with her. Liking was enough for her.
She spied her bag coming down the conveyer and moved closer where she could grasp it easily. Jasmine rolled it out of the terminal and was met with a blast of heat that threatened to siphon the breath from her lungs. Cameron hadn’t lied. It was hot as Hades. Moisture coated her face with a shimmering glow. Thankfully she didn’t have to wait too long before Hannah’s vintage Mercedes Benz came to a stop in front of her.
Hannah got out, took the Pullman, and unlocked the trunk. “Get in the car before you faint.”
Jasmine slipped onto the passenger seat, and let out her breath as cool air feathered over her moist face. Seconds later, Hannah sat behind the wheel and headed for the airport exit. “This heat is a monster.”
“It’s hotter this year than when y’all came down last summer. And it’s still spring.”
“!Coño!That’s shit in Spanish,” Jasmine said, translating for Hannah.
“Andmerdein French,” Hannah countered, laughing.
“That’s close tomierda,which also means shit in Spanish.”
Hannah lightly tapped the horn, and then drove around a slow-moving car. “However you say it, the weather has been brutal. It’s as if Mother Nature is punishing us for not taking care of her Earth.”
Jasmine made a sucking sound with her tongue and teeth. “Please don’t get me started about global warming. Speaking of the Earth, where in the world are your cousins off to now?”
“Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.”
“Have they always been avid travelers?”
“Not really,” Hannah answered. “When they were teaching they’d take short vacations, but now that they’re retired they’ve become globetrotters. I guess they can do whatever they want because they don’t have husbands or children.”
“Was it their choice not to marry or have children?”
Hannah nodded. “Paige and LeAnn were always free spirits. Remember I told you about their involvement in civil rights and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations? That started what my uncle called their rebellious spirit, and while he waited for it to end, it never did. They dated whomever they wanted and lived with men without the benefit of marriage. My cousins were standard-bearers for women’s liberation, which upset my mother because she thought I was going to follow in their footsteps.”
“Did you?”
“Not in the beginning. My mother approved of my first husband because of his family lineage. Meanwhile I’m certain she’s spinning in her grave because I married St. John.”
“Are you saying she wouldn’t have approved of you marrying a black man?”
“Probably not. What she forgot was there are black people on my father’s family tree and probably on hers, too. All you have to do is study New Orleans’ history to know there was a preponderance of race mixing.”
“How’s Tonya?” Jasmine asked before the conversation shifted to her and Cameron as a mixed-race couple.
“She’s still working with Eustace at Chez Toussaints to perfect some of the Creole and Cajun dishes she plans to serve at her restaurant.”
“Tonya can really burn some pots. I still think about the time we had our international dinner where everyone prepared their favorite dish and we ate and drank so much that we could hardly move.”
Hannah gave her a quick glance. “How could I forget? That’s when I realized what I’d missed not having close girlfriends growing up.”
“Didn’t you have girlfriends in high school or college?”
“Not really.”
Jasmine listened intently as Hannah told her about transferring from a private all-girls school to a public school where most of the girls shunned her because they viewed her as a stuck-up rich girl. St. John and another black girl were the only ones to befriend her. She had a few friends in college, but none carried over to adulthood. “My first husband was a naval officer and I hated living on base. Most of the women were cliquish which reminded me of college. Again I found myself on the outside looking in. The day I invited you, Tonya, and Nydia to my apartment changed my life. It was as if I’d finally connected with women who made me feel as if I’d known them for years instead of a few hours.”
“That’s because we keep it real, Hannah. All of us are comfortable enough with one another to say exactly what’s on our minds. It worked when we gave you business about not wanting to marry St. John. He had to have had a dammed good reason for admitting to cheating on his wife, when he just could’ve lied and you wouldn’t have known the difference.”
“He did have a very good reason,” Hannah said. “I still beat up on myself for misjudging him.”
“It’s time you rid yourself of the self-pity, Mrs. St. John McNair.”
A knowing smile spread over the blonde’s delicate features. “Y’all were harder on me than we were with Nydia.”
