“No!” she squealed, trying to run away from him as he approached her menacingly, but only managing to slip and slide on the frozen slabs. “Please don’t!”
“I thought you said everything was better with snow in front of it?” He was pulling at the neck of her t-shirt now, trying to shove his handful of snow down it as she wriggled, protested, and begged.
“I didn’t mean it, please don’t!” Her voice was a mixture of panic and giggles. She grabbed hold of his wrist, moving it away from her chest and trying to make his hand release the snow.
Suddenly, they were standing close. Too close. He realized that most of his body was in contact with hers. She was looking up at him, her face flushed with cold, her lips bright pink and slightly open. Her eyes captured his. He wondered what she would do if he leaned forward and pressed his mouth against hers.
Then he shook his head, realizing how stupid it was. She was younger than him, lived thousands of miles away. Thinking of her as anything other than a friend was more than foolish.
“Let’s get you home.” He flashed her a quick smile, stepping away to put some distance between them.
She looked confused for a moment, then straightened herself, shaking the snow from her hair. “Okay.”
AFTER DROPPING HANNA at her father’s apartment, Richard decided to sleep at the townhouse, rather than make the journey uptown to his dorm. The lights were still blazing in the Maxwell household; both Leon and Caroline were night owls, and rarely retired to bed before the early hours of the morning. His mother had the luxury of being able to lie in bed until late, while Leon just needed very little sleep.
“Richard, darling. What a lovely surprise.” His mother placed her wine glass on a side table. Rising up from her chair, she walked over to him. She offered him her cheek, and he inclined his head to kiss her. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I was in the area. I thought I’d sleep here tonight.”
As she pulled back from their embrace, Caroline did a double take. “What on earth are you wearing, darling? Where have you been?”
“I was watching a band play in a bar, over on the lower east side.”
“Why? Who were you with?”
“Hanna Vincent.”
“Do I know her parents?” Always the same question.
“She’s Philip Vincent’s daughter.”
Caroline stared up at him, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “But his daughters are only nine or ten, darling.”
Richard laughed out loud at the thought of taking Hanna’s sisters to the Mercury Lounge. “His other daughter, from his first marriage.” Richard walked over to the drink cabinet and poured himself a tumbler of whisky. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long night.
“Now there was a woman who didn’t know how to conduct herself. My God, poor Philip, she was such an embarrassment to him.” The tone of Caroline’s voice was derisory as she made her feelings toward Hanna’s mother abundantly clear.
“You knew her well?” Richard asked skeptically. His mother seemed to “know” everybody.
“We sat on some of the same committees. She was forever turning up late, or not at all. And the clothes she wore, oh my goodness, they were so inappropriate.”
Richard took another sip of whisky, not really sure what to say to his mother. She was on a roll, and he let himself fall back onto the sofa, deciding that if he had to listen to her tirade, he may as well do it in comfort.
“So, what is her daughter like? Does she take after Philip or Diana?” she asked.
There was nothing left but to swallow the lot. Richard tipped his head back and let the amber fluid slide down his throat, burning as it went down. “I’m not sure she’s like either of them. She’s an original.” He was wracking his brain to think of a suitable way to divert his mother. He wasn’t sure he liked where this conversation was headed. “Where’s Leon tonight?”
“He and Daniel went out for dinner. Leon wanted to do the father-son thing. Daniel has been in trouble at school.”
“Trouble?” Richard seized upon his mother’s tangent.
“He’s been cutting lessons. His GPA is reaching rock bottom. It’s going to take a lot of funding to get him into Columbia.”
Funding meant bribery. Leon Maxwell usually got what he wanted, even if he had to grease the wheels a little first. Richard was relieved his own acceptance to Columbia had required no such help from his stepfather.
Not that he was surprised to hear about Daniel’s troubles; the kid was a walking disaster. He was a boy with a sizeable drug habit, and an even bigger bank balance. With such unlimited access to funds, the only intervention Richard could see working would be to cut him off without a dime.
“We’ve been invited to Henry Jones’s wedding in October. Are you going to be around?”