“Law?”
“Yes. I work for Martin.”
“Funny, you don’t look like an assistant DA.”
“That’s the nicest thing anybody has said to me this year.”
“Then you’ve been seeing the wrong men.”
“You’re not only courtly, you’re clairvoyant.”
“I can’t divine your name.”
“Susan Bean.”
“Of the L.L. Beans?”
“No, and not of the Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Beans, either. Of the entirely undistinguished Beans. And you?”
“Stone Barrington.”
“I believe I’ve heard the name. Of the Massachusetts Great Barringtons, I presume?”
Stone shook his head. “Of the Massachusetts Lesser Barringtons.”
“And how did you come to be in the big city?”
“It was easy; I was born here. After my parents had bailed out of Massachusetts.”
“Are you hungry?”
To his surprise, he was. He’d hardly touched his dinner at Elaine’s. “Yes.”
“The canapés were already gone when I got here. You want to get some dinner someplace?”
“I do.”
She stood up, and she was taller than he had expected. Quite beautiful, too. Stone got out of his chair. “Did you have a coat?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go find it.”
He took her arm, and, just for a moment, he thought the pain had gone away. Not quite, but a little. He steered her toward the front door, avoiding their hosts. Dino gave him a surreptitious wink, and a moment later, they were on the sidewalk.
“It’s nearly eleven,” Stone said, glancing at his watch. “I wonder if anyplace is still serving around here.”
“My apartment is only a couple of blocks away,” she said, “and there’s a good Chinese place that delivers.”
“Perfect,” he said.
“It’s not perfect, but it delivers.”
“I wasn’t talking about Chinese food.”
2
T HEY WALKED AT A LEISURELY PACE, CHATTING idly. Her voice was low and musical, and Stone enjoyed listening.