“Me too.”

“You’re his cousin, aren’t you… I’m Paige Carrington.”

“I thought I recognized you. I’ve seen you a few times, but only onstage.” Carrington was a dancer who had created a comic one-woman show with the Windy City Balletworks.

She gave the triangular smile audiences loved. “I’ve been seeing a lot of your cousin the last few months. We kept it quiet because we didn’t want Herguth or Greta splashing it around the gossip columns-your cousin was news even when he stopped skating.”

She was right. I was always seeing my cousin’s name in print. It’s funny being close to someone famous. You read a lot about them, but the person in print’s never the one you know.

“I think Boom Boom cared more for you than anyone.” She frowned, thinking about the statement. Even her frown was perfect, giving her an absorbed, considering look. Then she smiled, a bit wistfully. “I think we were in love, but I don’t know. I’ll never be sure now.”

I mumbled something soothing.

“I wanted to meet you. Boom Boom talked about you all the time. He loved you very much. I’m sorry he never introduced us.”

“Yes. I hadn’t seen him for several months… Are you driving back to the city? Can I beg a ride? I had to come out with the procession and my car is on the North Side.”

She pushed the white silk cuff emerging from her jacket sleeve and looked at her watch. “I have to be at a rehearsal in an hour. Okay if I drop you downtown?”

“That’d be great. I feel like Br’er Rabbit out here in suburbia-I need to get back to my brier patch.”

She laughed at that. “I know what you mean. I grew up in Lake Bluff myself. But now when I go out there to visit I feel like my oxygen’s been cut off.”

I looked at the house, wondering if I should make a formal farewell. Good manners certainly dictated it, but I didn’t want a fifteen-minute lecture on why I should clean up both the dishes and my life. I shrugged and followed Paige Carrington down the street.