them. She helped him shop for gifts for Daphne, and together they had picked out a beautiful little diamond tennis bracelet at Graff's that Arabella assured him would be perfect for her. She said it was fit for a princess. He had gone back to the store and picked out a gift that was suitable for a viscountess, a spectacular sapphire bracelet. And when he gave it to her, she was thrilled. They celebrated on Christmas Eve, and flew to New York in his plane the next day. They arrived at his New York apartment late in the afternoon on Christmas Day, and he called Maxine as soon as they got in. She and the children had just gotten back from celebrating Christmas with her parents, and the kids were ready to leave the next day. She had been packing for them for two days.
“I see you've been busy,” she teased him. “Daffy and I have been reading about you in
“Wait till you meet her. She's terrific.”
“I can hardly wait,” Maxine laughed. Usually the women in his life didn't last long enough for her to meet. And this had only been going on for a few weeks. She knew Blake, and she didn't believe him when he said this was different. He always said that. She couldn't imagine him being serious about anyone, although this woman was older than his usual fare, but she was still only twenty-nine, a kid as far as Maxine was concerned. And then Maxine volunteered her news. “I'm seeing someone too,” she said nonchalantly.
“Well, that's a new trend. Who's the lucky guy?”
“An internist I met through a patient.”
“Sounds perfect. Is he nice?”
“I think so.” She didn't wax poetic, which he knew was typical of her. Maxine was reserved about everything.
“What do the kids say about it?” He was curious to know.
“Ah…,” she sighed, “that's another story. Daphne hates him with a passion, Jack isn't thrilled, and I don't think Sam really cares.”
“Why does Daff hate him?”
“He's a guy. They all figure they should be enough for me, and they are. But this is nice for a change. It gives me a grown-up to talk to between patients and car pools.”
“Sounds good to me.”
And then Maxine thought she should warn him about their daughter. “She's on the warpath about you too.”
“She is?” He sounded surprised. “What about?” He couldn't imagine. He was very naive.
“Your new romance. She seems to be very possessive about both of us these days. She said you promised to come to Aspen alone this time. Are you?”
He hesitated. “Uh…no…actually not. Arabella is with me.”
“I figured. I told Daffy that was probably the case. You may be in for a bit of a shitstorm. Brace yourself.”
“Great. I'd better tell Arabella. She's been looking forward to meeting them.”
“The boys will be fine. They're used to your women. Just tell her not to take Daphne's attitude too much to heart. She's thirteen, it's a tough age.”
“Apparently,” he said, but he was confident that Arabella could win anyone over, even Daphne. He didn't think it was a big deal. “I'll pick them up tomorrow morning at eight-thirty,” he told Maxine.
“I'll have them ready for you,” she promised. “I hope everything goes okay.” Daphne hadn't relented about Charles yet, but she had only seen him in passing, and he had kept away for the holiday. He didn't like Christmas, had no family of his own anymore, and had gone to his house in Vermont. Maxine was meeting him there after the kids left with Blake. She was driving up the next day, and was a little nervous about it. It was going to be a honeymoon of sorts for them, and it had been a long time for her, but they had been dating for six weeks. She couldn't put it off forever. Sleeping with him seemed like a huge step.
Blake picked the children up in the morning as promised, and Maxine didn't go downstairs to see him. She told the children to give him her love. She didn't think it was fair to intrude on him with Arabella. Sam clung to his mother for a moment, and she told him he could call her on her cell phone anytime, and warned the older ones to keep an eye on him and sleep with him at night. Daphne already looked upset, since her mother had told her that Blake had Arabella with him. “But he promised…” she had wailed, in tears, the night before, as Maxine reassured her that it didn't mean he didn't love her or want to spend time with her, he just liked having a woman around too. And they both knew that whoever Arabella was, she wouldn't be around for long. His women never were, and why would she be the exception to the rule? Daphne hugged her mom, and ran to catch the elevator where Jack and Sam were waiting.
The apartment was deadly quiet after they left. Maxine and Zelda tidied up together, and Zelda changed their beds before leaving for the theater for a matinee. And then Maxine called Charles in Vermont. He was anxious for her to come up. She was looking forward to seeing him, but nervous about their plans. She felt like a born-again virgin thinking about going to bed with him. And he had already been apologetic about his “cabin in the mountains,” as he called it, knowing the kind of luxury she had experienced with Blake. He said that his house in Vermont was spartan and very plain. It was near a ski resort, and he was looking forward to skiing with her, but he pointed out that it was by no means St. Moritz, or Aspen, or any of the places she knew so well.
“Stop worrying about it, Charles,” she reassured him. “If that was important to me, I'd still be married to Blake. Remember, I left. I just want to spend time with you. I don't care how simple the cabin is. I'm coming up for you, not the house.” And she meant it.
He was enormously relieved to be alone with her for a change. It was still stressful for him being around her children. He had bought them all CDs for Christmas, by bands their mother had suggested, and some DVDs for Sam. He had no idea what they liked, and picking out gifts for them had made him nervous. He had bought Maxine a serious-looking Chanel scarf, which he thought was pretty, and she loved it. He had given it to her the last time they had dinner before he left for Vermont, four days before Christmas. He preferred leaving town before people got serious about the holidays. That just wasn't for him, which she thought was too bad. But it was easier for her that way with the children. Daphne would have had a major meltdown if he'd been around for Christmas and expected to spend time with them, so everything worked out for the best.
Maxine had given him a Hermes tie and a matching pocket scarf. He put them on for dinner that night. It was a comfortable relationship for both of them, not too serious, with plenty of room for them to continue to pursue their own careers and lives. Maxine didn't know how much things would change if she slept with him. She couldn't imagine him staying at the house with her children, and Charles had already said he would never do that. He would have been too afraid Daphne would kill him in his sleep. And besides that, he didn't think it was respectable to sleep with her with her children around, and Maxine agreed.
She left the city at noon, and was planning to be away until New Year's Day. And she expected to be in Vermont by six o'clock that night. Charles called her on the road twice, to make sure she was all right. It was snowing north of Boston, but the roads were clear, although it got heavier when she got to New Hampshire, and by then she had heard from her children. Daphne had called her the minute they landed in Aspen, and sounded frantic.
“I
“Awful how?” Maxine tried to keep an open mind, although she had to admit, some of Blake's women had been pretty dicey. Maxine had gotten philosophical about it in the last five years. They never lasted long anyway, so it wasn't worth getting upset about, unless they did something dangerous for the children. But they were too old for that now anyway, they weren't babies.
“She has tattoos up and down her arms!” Maxine smiled at the vision.
“So did the last one, and on her legs, and that didn't bother you. Is she nice?” Maybe she was being rude to the children. Maxine hoped not, but she didn't think Blake would let that happen. He loved his kids, even if he liked his women.
“I don't know. I won't talk to her,” Daphne said proudly.
“Don't be rude, Daff. It's not nice, and it'll just upset your father. Is she being nice to the boys?”
“She did a bunch of dumb pictures for Sam. She's a painter or something. And she wears this stupid thing between her eyes.”
“What kind of thing?” Maxine envisioned her with an arrow and a suction cup glued to her forehead.
“You know, like Indian women. She's such a fake.”
