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I need to be adult about this. Classy. Composed.
Violet slowed.
The coat thief met her halfway. He had a slight build and finely chiseled features. He carried himself well in Xuri’s jacket. His mother probably loved him. She probably bragged about him during Bunco nights and at the beauty salon.
Vi drew a deep breath, drawing on the poise of Professor Violet Summer.
“Hey.” The young model greeted Vi with the same superiority Xuri looked down on people. But he was no Xuri. He wasn’t even an ancient professor dressing down a young, associate professor for behavior unbecoming a representative of Harvard University.
“Hey,” Violet said, feeling twitchy.
He sipped a dark drink from a tumbler, most likely Rum & Coke because he didn’t know any better. “I like how you ditched your date.”
Shakespeare.
The anger bubbled in her veins once more.
“I hear they have beds downstairs.” He smiled, running his palms over his chest and his eyes over her. “I like older women.”
Older women? Rage!
“Hey, baby.” Vi couldn’t stop herself any longer, despite seeing the cameraman move closer out of the corner of her eye. She grabbed hold of the young stud’s coat lapels with both hands. “I’m not smiling at you because I want to see what’s in your diaper, chisel cheeks. I have had a really bad day.”
Harvard, Vi. Think of Harvard.
“Ah.” His smile grew. He touched a lock of her hair resting on the shoulder of her jacket. “A bad hair day?”
Rage!
It was far too late for taking the high road. Lines had been crossed. This punk thought he was entitled to treat others poorly, just because he was pretty and had caught Xuri’s eye. He had to be taught a lesson.
“Good looks and thick hair fade fast as you age, jerk.” Violet dragged him closer by those coat lapels. “I don’t care about your ego. If you don’t show me what’s in your inner coat pocket right now, I’m going to make a very loud joke about how bad you were in the sack at the first party of the night. And I’m going to continue to make performance jokes at your expense until your underage, underwear model friends believe me.”
“Why would you do that?” he squeaked, mousy nature revealed.
“Because you have no manners and no soul. You stole this jacket from a little old lady. And your mother wouldnotbe proud.”
“I…” Instead of arguing, he opened his lapels and let Vi rummage through those inner pockets.
“They’re empty.” Violet checked a second time. “Did you spend the twenty and throw the cell phone and ring away?” Vi’s knees weakened, along with her anger. She’d been so certain her grandmother had told the truth about putting her things in the coat pocket. But they could be anywhere.
The cameraman moved nearer, more a shark than Vi had ever been.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The young model jerked away. And then he composed himself, blew her a kiss, and scurried back to his friends.
Violet stared at him blankly for several seconds until something registered.
There weren’t blue bunnies on the back of his jacket.
*
“I know this address.” Coop turned down a too familiar driveway. “The after-after party is at my family’s house. It’s time to call the cops.”
“Why?” Simon had been huddling in front of the heating vents. He leaned back to look at Coop.
“This is my family’s vacation home.” For the first time since picking up Vivi and Dotty this evening, Coop felt as if he was in control. And for a breath or two, he forgot how cold and wet he was. Not even a thirty minute drive could dry his clothes and even if it could have, salt from the ocean dunking made them stiff and sticky. “If this is where Xuri’s party boat is heading, I’m going to get her arrested for trespassing.”
“That might not be such a good idea. You do know that every property in the Hamptons is for rent, right?” Simon returned to his position making love to the heating vents, stretching the placate of his polo shirt to allow hot air inside. “I can’t count the number of times my old man rented out our property. You can get five or six figures a night. With money like that, you don’t need to pay the mortgage.”
