Hot Mahogany

29

Stone was throwing a few things in a bag on Sunday afternoon, getting ready to pick up Carla for their trip to Connecticut, when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“It’s Eggers.” He sounded dour.

“Hi, Bill. What has you making phone calls on a Sunday?”

“I had lunch with Harlan Deal.”

“That sounds like a reason for indigestion, not a Sunday phone call.”

“His girlfriend dumped him,” Eggers said.

“The one who signed the prenup?”

“The very one.”

“Well, the poor guy.”

“He blames you.”

“Hey, wait a minute. I got her to agree to the prenup; I didn’t sign on to see that they lived happily ever after.”

“Harlan says he’s heard about your reputation with women, and he thinks you stole her.”

“What reputation with women? Usually, I get dumped!”

“What happened to that emergency room doctor you were going out with?”

“A perfect example,” Stone said. “A couple of weeks ago, she called and said she had to talk to me right away.”

“Sounds like she was pregnant.”

“That crossed my mind, but it wasn’t what was on hers. We met for lunch, and she broke the news to me that she’d been seeing a doctor at her hospital and that he had asked her to marry him.”

“Sounds like the signal for you to jump in and see the doc’s raise.”

“Well, I wasn’t quite up to seeing the doctor’s raise, and, anyway, it wasn’t a card game.”

“Did you think she was bluffing?”

“That crossed my mind, too, but like I said, it wasn’t a card game.”

“So how did you handle the doc’s raise?”

“Since it wasn’t a card game, I wished the two of them every possible happiness.”

“Now, that sounds like a bluff.”

“Why are you poker-obsessed today?”

“I know a poker game when I see one. Did she call your bluff?”

“She pecked me on the cheek, said it had been fun and left the restaurant.”

“So she called your bluff.”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Did you run after her?”

“Not exactly.”

“Why not?”

“I hadn’t paid the check. And it took a few minutes to get it out of the waiter.”

“Plenty of time for her to marry the doc.”

“Figuratively speaking, I suppose so.”

“Heard from her since?”

“No.”

“Have you called her?”

“Ah, no.”

“Game over.”

“Not until she marries the doc.”

“How do you know she hasn’t?”

“Because Dino’s girl, Genevieve, works with her at the hospital, and she would have told Dino, and since Dino loves to gloat, he would have told me.”

“So you’re sure she hasn’t married the doc?”

“Not absolutely entirely.”

“Why not?”

“Because Dino’s girl isn’t speaking to him right now.”

“Why not?”

“He has no idea.”

“She won’t tell him?”

“No.”

“I’ve played that game and lost,” Eggers said. “What’s he going to do about it?”

“He’s afraid to do anything, and he won’t take my advice.”

“Which is?”

“Pretend nothing has happened, and call her and ask her to dinner.”

“That’s not bad,” Eggers said, a touch of admiration in his voice.

“I thought it was pretty good.”

“If it’s such good advice, why don’t you follow it yourself?”

“You mean call Dr. Eliza and just ask her to dinner, as if nothing has happened?”

“Exactly.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s decided to marry another guy.”

“No she hasn’t.”

“Haven’t you listened to anything I’ve said to you?”

“Sure I have. She told you another guy has asked her to marry him; she didn’t say she’d said yes, did she?”

“Well…”

“Well, what?”

“Shut up. I’m mentally reviewing the conversation.”

Eggers was quiet for three seconds. “So?”

“Well, maybe she didn’t say exactly that, but I think I’m entitled to draw that inference.”

“This isn’t a dispute over a contract, Stone.”

“Well, in a way it is.”

“You didn’t have a contract with her, did you? Either written or implied?”

“Well, she must have thought so, because she felt it necessary to report this proposal of marriage to me.”

“Listen,” Eggers said, “I’m getting lost here. What was your original point?”

“I don’t remember,” Stone said. “What was the original question?”

“Uh… oh, the question was Harlan Deal’s.”

“I don’t remember.”

“I think it was more of a contention than a question. He thinks you stole his girl.”

“I wasn’t hired not to steal his girl, was I?”

“You mean you stole his girl?”

“Certainly not. In no way, shape or form.”

“That doesn’t sound like a complete denial to me.”

“What kind of denial would you like?”

“Answer the question directly: Did you steal his girl?”

“No.”

“You’re sure.”

“Bill, if the girl decided to dump Harlan, it wasn’t because I got her to.”

“What did you advise her to do?”

“My only advice to her was to read the prenup and consult a lawyer before signing.”

“Did she consult a lawyer?”

“Well, she says she did.”

“Where were you at the time?”

“At a table at Bemelmens Bar at the Carlyle.”

“Was another lawyer sitting at the table?”

“No.”

“So the lawyer she consulted was you?”

“That would be a conflict of interest, Bill.”

“It certainly would, Stone. Did you advise her to dump Harlan?”

“Certainly not! Why would I do that? Marrying Harlan looked like a pretty good deal to me.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should have.”

“I couldn’t give her advice, Bill; she wasn’t my client.”

“And what, exactly, is she to you?”

“Harlan Deal’s ex-girlfriend, what else?”

“Which is a good enough reason for you to steal her from Harlan.”

“If she had already dumped him, she couldn’t be stolen, could she?”

“This conversation is exhausting me,” Eggers said.

“Me, too.”

“What do you want me to tell Harlan?”

“Tell him? I don’t want you to tell him anything.”

“All right, I’ll tell him you didn’t steal his girlfriend.”

“That would be the accurate thing to tell him. Now I have to go, Bill; I have a date.”

“I hope to God it isn’t with Harlan’s ex-girlfriend, because he’ll find out.”

“Good-bye, Bill!” Stone hung up, then he picked up the phone and called Harlan Deal’s ex-girlfriend. “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Meet me in the garage, instead of on the street, okay?”

“Okay,” she said.