the bathroom, one towel tied around his waist as he used a second to dry his hair.
âI canât tell you how good it feels to be warm,â Gabe said.
âAh, great. Yeah. I can imagine.â
âAre you from here? Winter can be pretty brutal, huh?â
âMy mom is actually from here. I was born in Philadelphia. We were all born in Philadelphia. I mean, Shayne, Morwenna and I,â Bobby said. âWhat about you?â
âDown in the city,â Gabe said. âRichmond.â
âNice. Soâhow did you come to be out here in the mountains?â Bobby asked.
âState policeâwe go wherever. Within the state, of course. So, are you a college student?â Gabe asked him.
Bobby couldnât help but roll his eyes. âYes, and no. Iâve just applied again. Iâve been to Columbia and Northwestern.â
âThose are good schools. Where are you trying to go now?â
The question was entirely innocent, and a natural get-to-know-you question. Bobby looked at the door; he didnât want Shayne to hear him.
âThey donât know itânone of them know itâI applied to Juilliard.â
âAh. Forââ
âIâm a guitarist, and I want to write my own music,â Bobby said, warmth entering his voice; he was speaking quickly. âMy familyâtheyâre all superachievers. My dad could write his ticket anywhere, though heâs stayed with the D.A.âs office. Maybe heâll run for something someday, who knows? My brother is, as you know, an M.D., and my sister, bless her heart, is an executive with one of Manhattanâs finest ad agencies. All respectable moneymakers.â
âAnd are they happy?â Gabe asked him.
âWell, yeah, I think. Shayne loves medicine.I knowâthrough the yearsâthat my folks have talked about his work every time he got an offer to go into private practice. And Morwennaâ¦â
âYeah?â
âShe was an artist once. A really good artist.â
âDoesnât she get to use that talent at the ad agency?â
âI think that was the idea. But I think it got lost in one of the executive meetings,â Bobby said wryly. âI loved it when I was a kid. She was always drawing fantasy creatures for me. Being snowed in up here isnât really anything all that new. Itâs happened before. God forbid they sell this place and head south!â
âWould you want them to?â Gabe asked him.
Bobby thought about that for a minute. âPalm Springs, Daytona Beachâ¦snowbound mountains!â He laughed. âNo, I donât suppose I would want them to sell. The house is historicâreally historic. You can tell by the horrible plumbing and the really bad electricity. But the place really means something to my mom. And, in all honesty, I guess it means something to me, too.â
âThatâs nice to hear. But, whatâs the story with your music?â Gabe asked.
âAccording to my father, music is a hobby. Not a career. You go to school for a career.â Bobby looked at the door again. âIâm an adult. If I really want it, I can just stop taking parental financial aid and go it on my own. It will be much harder, but Iâm willing to give it go. The thing isâ¦â Bobby trailed off.
âYeah?â Gabe pressed.
He laughed suddenly. âI guess itâs a good thing. We fight like cats and dogs, and itâs hard to plan a family dinner with a pack of overachieversâ¦but, still, my parents always loved us. Itâs the way that they look at me that kills me. Itâs the disappointment.â Bobby shut up, wondering why the hell he had just kind of spilled out so much to a stranger. Maybe, he thought, because heâd needed to tell someone, but he didnât want to tell them until he knew what might happen. He knew the odds were against him; getting into Juilliard was a numbers game, and there
Elmore - Carl Webster 03 Leonard