My mother didn’t return until late Monday evening. I totally forgot it was a three day weekend and a day off from school. I spent the extra time working on some paperwork the college would require come Fall.

I heard her arrive downstairs and reluctantly rose from my desk—at least I would get to see her reaction to my now ebony colored locks.

Mom stood in the middle of the library sporting her own surprise—instead of her grey hair, now it was colored a warm honey tint and she looked to me greedy for praise.



“Laura, how do you like it? I figure you were an expert in hair dye,” she began rotating to face me. Her expression shifted from expectation to a scowl but she then smiled and looked pretty.

“I’m closer than I thought,” she finished. “Stealing my thunder, again?” She laughed with mirth which took me by surprise. “That’s a bit Goth, isn’t it? You’re not a Goth, now, are you?”

“No, Mom, I’m not,” I answered cautiously. “How come you dyed your hair? I thought you said you’d keep it grey forever?”

“Well, I was at the spa and there was this fantastic hairdresser everyone was raving about and Sammy said he detested grey hair on a woman, so I—“

“Who’s Sammy?” My intuition was kicking in. My mother had met someone who was obviously responsible for her sugary mood.

“Oh, that’s right,” she gushed. “I have to tell you everything, Laura. Remember last month when Martha and Stephan had that cocktail party at their house? The one for Harold, their nephew who was accepted in Yale? Well, Stephan knows everyone in this town and he invited some of his business connections and one of them was Sammy.”

“Uh, huh,” I replied.

“Sammy is C. Arthur Samuel Hunt, Laura—you know, the financier and real estate mogul. Seems like he took a shine to your mother, Laura, at the party, and guess WHO was at Blue Water Resort this weekend? C. Arthur Samuel Hunt.”

“That’s great, Mom.”

She frowned. “You don’t seem happy for me, Laura. He is the real deal—someone who can set me up for life. Not like your father, dabbling in this or that for pennies. This man is LOADED and he is going to advise me and help me invest my money.”

“Mom, this seems too sudden,” I replied. “You have to be a bit careful. I don’t know who he is and really neither do you.”

“What do you know,” she said coldly. “You travel in homeless shelter circles, so you can’t possibly realize what a wonderful opportunity this is for me. Besides, I think you’re jealous. He likes me. He really does. We spent nearly every part of the weekend together.”

She left the room and returned wearing an expensive mink fur coat and pranced around like a model.



“Sammy loaded my room with presents last night when I was down having a massage in the hotel spa. When I returned, there was this coat, baskets of fruit and wine, flowers, and more.”

“Fur, Mom, really?”

“Why not, Laura? Your father couldn’t afford anything this nice, no matter how hard he claimed he worked. I told you Sammy is rich and not afraid to spend it.”

She pulled out some photos from her purse and showed them to me. A well dressed and distinguished man of about sixty five or seventy stood in front of a gorgeous yellow sports car in the first picture. The second focused more on the car than the man.

"I took that one yesterday," she explained. "Isn't Sammy hilarious?"




“That’s one sweet car,” I admitted. Yellow was my favorite color and she knew it.

“One of four he owns. Did I tell you Sammy advises Malcolm Landgrab? And President Trumf?”

“He sounds impressive.”

My mother handed me a newspaper with an article all about her new boyfriend.

“Oh, he is. But you’ll be meeting him soon. I’ve invited him over tomorrow for drinks before we go out to dinner.”

“Mom, I have to talk to you about college tuition. We have to get it in by the end of June—“

She had already turned her attention back to herself in the mirror. “I have to try on a few of the outfits Sammy bought for me and find the right one for tomorrow night. Go put the flowers in water, Laura. They’re on the kitchen table. We’ll discuss college payments tomorrow when Sammy is here. He knows all about these things.”