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“Heard of him. Hospital administrator, yes?”
“That’s him. He knows your father. Donated to his campaign.”
“Well, thank your son for us. I’m sure Dad will be hitting him up again soon.”
“We’ll be ready,” she said. “Are you looking forward to the Christmas party?”
“I’m not dreading it. Can’t say I’m excited about it.”
“You should be excited. Veronica will be wearing my red Givenchy. I’m making her wear it. Second time’s a charm, yes?”
Ian grimaced. He’d forgotten Flash had told her neighbor about the party incident.
“About that,” Ian said. “I still feel terrible. But I promise, nothing bad is going to happen at the Christmas party. I’ll be with her.”
“Good. They call people like Veronica ‘crabby’ but that only means she’s got a hard shell. Inside she’s soft as the rest of us. She takes things much harder than she lets on. She was very hurt that night. Very hurt. It’s been good to see her so happy lately. She says her new sculpture is the best work she’s ever done.”
“I hope it sells fast,” he said.
“She does, too.”
Ian grinned. “I’ll tell you a secret. I asked Flash to move in with me.”
“You did? She didn’t tell me. When is she moving?”
“She’s not. Not yet. She said she can’t move in with me until she can afford to pay her half of my monthly mortgage payment.”
“You have to respect that woman.”
“I do, although she drives me crazy with her pride.”
“Let me ask you these three questions, Ian Asher. First, would you want to date a woman without any pride or self-respect? Second, would you want to date a woman who expected you to foot every bill? And third, would you want to be with a woman who was attracted to you because of your father’s money or attracted to you in spite of your family’s money?”
He gave her a rueful smile. “Yeah, you may have a point there.”
He started to ask Mrs. Scheinberg a question but he heard the familiar sound of a pickup truck door opening and slamming shut.
“That’s her,” Mrs. Scheinberg said.
“I should go. Thank you for the tea.”
“You’re welcome, dear. Thank you for taking good care of Veronica. She’s been a dear friend to me and I have very few dear friends left.”
“I’ll be your dear friend, too, if you like,” Ian said.
“That would make me very happy.” She patted his cheek. “Such a handsome boy. But you need to cut your hair.”
“Tomorrow morning,” he said again. “I promise.”
“Good boy. Now go on. She’ll be happy to see you.”
Ian took his coat out of the hall closet and noticed the Givenchy dress hanging in a clear plastic dry cleaner bag. He looked at it and he looked at Mrs. Scheinberg.
“Can I ask you something strange?” Ian asked.
“Strange questions are my favorite questions. Go on.”
“Are you really, really attached to this dress?” he asked.
