bringing someone home.”
Understanding she doesn’t want me to meet her mother—and not sure how I feel about that—I lean toward her. “I like that she cares so much about you. I wish I had that kind of closeness with my family, to be honest.”
“You have all the servers and hostesses mothering you wherever you go.” She gives me a smile, but we both know it’s not the same thing.
“I’d never want to be an absent parent.” My humorless laugh curls around us. “Not that I’d know how to be a present one.” She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can get a word out, someone speaks over her.
“Christian,” a familiar female voice says as her steps come to an abrupt stop at our table. “I thought that was you.”
I turn, not at all surprised to find Cynthia Saunders smiling at me. I stand and pull her into my arms. “Cynthia, it’s so nice to see you.”
“You too.” I break the hug and she smiles at Maize.
“This is my friend, Maize,” I say, waving my hand toward her. “We go to Kingston together. Next year though…” I give her a wink. “She’ll be in Harvard Law, just like you.”
“Really?” she asks. “That’s fantastic. I look forward to getting to know you. Any friend of Christian’s…” She gives a laugh. “Although I must warn you. The dean is kind of a tyrant. I’m not sure I’m going to do well at the interviews. We might not be classmates at all.”
“He’s a tyrant?” Maize’s eyes go wide, a little frightened.
“Maize, this is Cynthia Saunders, Dean Saunders’s daughter. She’s kidding. Sort of.”
“Oh,” she says with a laugh, as she playfully taps her head. “I get it. A little slow. Sorry.”
“Not slow at all. It’s been a long day,” I say to Cynthia. “We just got in, actually.”
“I’m not going to keep you, then.” Her brow arches hopefully. “You need to get all the nourishment you can for the slopes tomorrow. Can’t wait to race you down, Christian—and win of course.” She gives Maize a wink. “He’s yet to beat me.”
“That’s because you cheat,” I say as I lean in to give her another hug. “I don’t know how you cheat, but you do.”
“Such a frail male ego,” she says with a laugh. She lowers her voice and whispers into my ear. “I like her, Christian.” We break the hug, and she turns to Maize. “See you guys later. Enjoy dinner.” She walks off and I smile as I sit back down, remembering all our fond times together.
“She’s really pretty,” Maize says.
“Yeah, I guess,” I say. I think of Cynthia as a sister. We spent a lot of time here together as kids and teens.
“Did you two ever…” She holds out an index finger and circles it.
I mimic her actions. “Did we ever circle our finger at each other?” I ask, even though I know exactly what she’s getting at.
She whacks my hand away. “You know what I mean.”
“No. We’re just friends.” I take in the tightening of Maize’s lips. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”
She gives a fast shake of her head. “I’m not, not at all. I was just curious.”
“She’s a childhood friend,” I explain again, and lift my beer to salute her before taking a long pull.
She looks at me thoughtfully. “So how does an NFL draft work?” she asks, changing the subject. We order our food, and I spend the next half hour talking about the draft and how it works, and that I’m a draft prospect, and chances of getting picked up are pretty good. She listens intently as our meal comes and we eat, and I know she’s not faking interest because she nods and asks questions at all the right times. I finally set my fork down.
“I’ve been hogging the entire conversation,” I say with a laugh.
“I like hearing about your future.” She wipes her mouth and sets her napkin down on the table. “You said you wanted to be a teacher someday, after your NFL career. Do you think you’ll settle in California?”
“You know, I’m close to my grandmother, but living in California isn’t a must. I can live and teach anywhere. What about you? Where do you want to practice?”
She laughs. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. All I can think about right now is getting into Harvard.”
The server comes back with dessert menus, and we decide to get a big piece of chocolate cake to take back to