“Not if we can think of somebody else to approach Manny, some-2 2 4
L o i t e r i n g w i t h I n t e n t
body with a plausible story of who recommended him, and somebody with a bunch of cash to wave at him.”
“You got somebody in mind?” Dino asked.
“No, but I’m thinking,” Tommy replied.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Stone said. “Let us know when you’ve fi gured it out.”
2 2 5
49
STON E A N D ANNIK A sat up in her bed, watching a DVD of An American in Paris.
“Isn’t Gene Kelly wonderful?” Annika said.
“Absolutely wonderful. He’s America’s best dancer ever, in any discipline.”
“You know about dancing?”
“No, but I still have an opinion.”
“You think Kelly is better than Fred Astaire?”
“Astaire was great, but he was a ballroom and tap dancer; he didn’t have Kelly’s balletic training and sense. Kelly could do everything, often at the same time.”
“Better than Baryshnikov?”
“Baryshnikov is a product of Russia, although I think he’s Latvian or maybe Estonian by birth.”
“Good point.”
“Would you like to go to a wedding tomorrow?” Stone asked.
“Oh, Stone, are you proposing?”
“I’m just proposing that you accompany me to the wedding of Evan Keating and Gigi Jones.”
2 2 6
L o i t e r i n g w i t h I n t e n t
“They’re getting married?”
“That’s why I’m inviting you to their wedding. It’s at noon, at the Marquesa, in their cottage, and there’s lunch afterward in the restaurant there.”
“I’d love to. Let me see if I can swap shifts with someone.”
“Would you like me to put the movie on hold?”
“Yes,” she said, reaching for him.
“I thought you were going to make phone calls.”
“Later.”