Mavis was sure that if her martini had arrived, she would be choking on the olive. Instead, her voice sputtered as she spoke. "Vlad?" she repeated.
The man sitting next to her chuckled, a rich, deep chuckle that had absolutely no accent at all. "I know. It's an odd name to you but a very common one back in my homeland."
Maybe this was another guy named Vlad, Mavis reasoned. Mavis this wasn't the same man her sister-in-law had fooled around with at the same time she was married to Tom. Maybe this Vlad had just happened to come to Schuyler Square for another reason than seeing his possible daughter. "It's an interesting name," Mavis finally managed to say as soon as she remembered to shut her mouth and stop staring at Vlad.
Vlad shrugged. "It's a name. What should I call you?"
"Mavis Schuyler."
"Mavis? You don't look like a Mavis. I think I'll call you Mavushka, if that's all right with you. It's a kind of term of endearment."
Mavis was beginning to see how Lynette had fallen for this guy. He was pretty charming. Make that very charming. She wondered if she should tell him that she knew who he was and why he was in Schuyler Square. No, Mavis decided, she'd let Vlad do all the talking. "That's fine with me," she said. Her martini arrived and Mavis took a huge gulp,making sure not to swallow the olive hole. That was the last thing she needed--to get the olive stuck in her throat and have to have a tracheotomy on top of the bar performed by the bartender with Vlad assisting. "So what brings you to America?"
"Two things: I have a new job at Schuyler College and I'm here to see my daughter." Vlad looked at her slyly. "But I suspect you knew that already, Mavushka. Your name is an unusual one too. One that I recognized immediately. Not only are you Lynnette's sister-in-law, your husband's family owns this town, doesn't it?"
"What's left of the family owns a pretty good share of it," Mavis agreed. The bartender set her drink down in front of her and Mavis took a large gulp. As soon as the martini hit her bloodstream she felt a little steadier. Wasn't she smart to have gone out tonight? If she'd stayed home brooding over Peter, she never would have met this charming, handsome man--even if she knew for a fact that he was also a first class rat.
"What's left of it? What do you mean?"
"Well, my husband died last spring and Lynnette also died."
The color drained out of Vlad's face. "Lynnette is dead? What happened?"
"She was in a car accident. It was quite tragic. The other driver was her daughter--your daughter--Tiffany." Mavis polished off the rest of her drink and signaled for another. "Of course, we don't know for sure that Tiffany is your daughter, do we?"
"No," Vlad said. "That's what I'm here to find out."
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