Chapter 14
That evening, Stone sat at the bar at Patroon, enjoying a Knob Creek, while he waited for Josie to arrive.
“Mind if we join you?” a familiar voice said behind him.
He turned to find Mike Freeman in the company of a beautiful, raven-haired woman Stone didn’t know.
“Of course not,” Stone said.
They took the pair of empty stools to his right.
“Stone, I’d like to introduce you to Madeline Santiago. Madeline, this is my good friend Stone Barrington.”
“Miss Santiago, it’s a pleasure,” Stone said.
“Please, call me Maddie,” she said with a prominent Spanish accent. “All my close friends do.”
“Thank you, Maddie. And you must call me Stone.”
“Stone it is then.”
“Do you live in the city?”
“Yes, but not this one. Madrid mostly, and when I’m not there, you can usually find me in Paris or Monte Carlo.”
“Three of my favorite places.”
“I’m sure you’re familiar with the M. Santiago brand,” Mike said.
Stone’s eyes widened. “That’s you?”
Maddie smiled. “Guilty.”
M. Santiago was one of the premier fashion houses in the world and had been for several decades.
“You must have been a child when you started it.”
Maddie laughed. “It was my mother’s company first. She named it after me.”
“That explains it. What brings you to New York?”
“What brings anyone in the fashion business to New York?”
“It’s not Fashion Week, is it?”
“Not until September. But there is much work to do before then.”
“She’s meeting with her designers and event planners,” Mike said.
“And my security company,” she said, touching Mike’s arm.
“So, this is a business dinner,” Stone said.
“Sure,” Maddie said. “We can call it that for now.”
“Yes, well, um…” Mike said, looking like he was about to blush.
“If you gentlemen will excuse me for a moment,” Maddie said. “I have to, as they say, powder my nose.”
“Of course,” Stone said.
She slipped off her stool and headed for the restrooms.
“If you’re here alone, Stone, you’re most welcome to join us.”
“Thank you, but I’m actually waiting for someone.”
Mike looked confused. “Not Tamlyn?”
“No, a friend of Peter’s. Josie Hale.”
“The actress?”
“Former actress, now director.”
“Ah.” Mike fell silent for a moment. “Tamlyn told me that you two broke things off.”
“All amicably, I assure you.”
“That’s what she said, too. I can’t help but think it’s my fault, though. After all, it’s the work she’s doing for me that’s tying her up.”
Stone held up a hand. “There’s no one to blame. Life happens. And I wouldn’t have ever met her if you hadn’t hired her. For that, I’m thankful.”
“Then you’re welcome, I guess.”
A hand touched Stone’s shoulder.
“Good evening,” Josie Hale said.
“Hello,” Stone said. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you.” She was dressed in a gorgeous green-and-black-patterned sleeveless dress.
Stone motioned to Mike. “This is my friend Mike Freeman.”
“Nice to meet you,” Josie said, taking Mike’s proffered hand.
“Not half as nice as it is for me to meet you. I’m a big fan.”
“Is that so?”
“I can safely say I’ve seen every episode of Tobin Country at least twice.”
She gave him a look of mock concern. “A big fan? Or a crazed one?”
“The former.”
“That’s good. I would hate to take out a restraining order on you right after we’ve met.”
“Mike is actually in the business of protecting people from the overzealous,” Stone said.
“You’re a bodyguard?”
“In a way,” Mike said.
“He’s the CEO of Strategic Services,” Stone said. “The number two security firm in the world.”
“I know Strategic Services. You do a lot of work in the entertainment industry.”
“We do,” Mike said. “And we have Stone to thank for a lot of that. He introduced us to Centurion Pictures several years ago, and the rest is history.”
Maddie rejoined them.
“This is my friend Josie Hale,” Stone said.
As Josie extended a hand, Maddie said, “The movie director?”
“One and the same,” Josie said.
“Josie, this is Madeline Santiago,” Stone said.
Josie cocked her head. “Of M. Santiago?”
“One and the same,” Maddie said.
“I’m wearing one of your dresses right now.”
“I noticed. And quite nicely, too.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you. And if you ever need anything special for one of your films, please don’t hesitate to reach out. It would be an honor.”
“Why do I feel like they’ve forgotten we’re here?” Stone said to Mike.
“Because they have,” Mike said.
Maddie smirked. “Why do men feel like they need to be the center of attention all the time?”
“Because they do,” Josie suggested.
“We deserved that,” Stone said.
Mike nodded. “We did.”
One of the staff approached. “Mr. Barrington, your table is ready.”
“It was a pleasure meeting both of you,” Josie said to Maddie and Mike.
Similar sentiments were echoed, then Josie and Stone were led to their table.
“What’s good here?” Josie asked as she perused the menu.
“Everything,” Stone said.
“I was hoping for something a bit more specific.”
“I’m partial to the sirloin or the Dover sole.”
“That’s better.”
A waiter approached. “Another Knob Creek, Mr. Barrington?”
“Please.”
“And for the lady?”
“A bourbon sounds great,” Josie said. “I’ll have the same.”
As the waiter left, Stone heard the buzz of a phone.
Josie started to reach for her purse, then stopped. “Do you mind if I check that?”
“Not at all.”
She pulled out her cell, read something on the screen, then looked at Stone and smiled.
“I talked to Xavier this afternoon about using his equipment,” she said.
“He said he’d be happy to help. He just needed to check on availability.
” She looked at the screen again. “He says the ship with the ROV equipment is undergoing maintenance this week but should be ready to go out either Sunday or Monday.”
“That’s great news. I’ll let the Coast Guard know and make sure they’re okay with it. If you could find out how much it will cost, I’ll have a check sent over.”
“No check necessary. He’s doing it as a favor to me. I’ve been thinking about filming a doc about notable wrecks, and I told him this would be a great test run.”
“That’s very kind of him.”
“For a billionaire, he’s not that bad of a guy.”
“Thank you for doing this.”
“I’m just glad it worked out. And now you have a good reason for taking me out to dinner.”
“The prospect of spending time with you was reason enough.”
“Oh, my. You really are a charmer.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“A very good thing.”
Drinks arrived and dinner was ordered.
“Now it’s my turn to thank you,” Josie said.
“For what?”
“Showing me your mother’s paintings,” Josie said. “I’ve been thinking about them ever since I saw them. She was an amazing talent.”
“She was,” Stone said. “So, tell me about your bio.”
She chuckled. “Not much to tell. Grew up in a small town in California you’ve probably never heard of.”
“Try me.”
“Filmore.”
“In the county of Ventura, where you were surrounded by avocado and lemon trees.”
“You do know it.”
“Do you still have family there?”
She nodded. “My parents. My father’s from Sweden and is a doctor, and my mother is from the Philippines and is a nurse.”
“Hale doesn’t sound Swedish.”
“That’s because it’s my stage name. My real last name is Halverson. Back when I was starting out, my agent thought Hale would be easier for producers to remember.”
“That explains it. Does your father still practice?”
“My sister has taken over the bulk of his clients, but he and Mom still go into the office once or twice a week.”
“So how do a Swedish doctor and a Filipino nurse end up together in a small California town?”
“They met when he was a resident. She was one of the nurses he worked with. The way Dad tells the story is that Mom had to read him the riot act more than once for botching some procedure or the other.”
“Ah, enemies to lovers.”
Josie raised an eyebrow. “Why, Mr. Barrington, are you a romance reader?”
“I have a client who is a romance writer, so I may have done a bit of research in that area.”
“I’ll take that for a yes,” she said.
“As long as it puts me in a good light.”
“It does. Now, where was I? I went to college at UCLA for theater and began acting, mostly in small theaters in L.A., like Playwrights’ Arena and the East West Players.
A casting director saw me and gave me a recurring role in a sitcom no one remembers.
That led to more parts, which eventually landed me the role of Patty in Tobin Country.
You pretty much know the rest. What about you? ”
“You already know the first part. The only son of a painter and carpenter, who inherited a house from his great-aunt.”
“And the part I don’t know?”
“After spending several years in the NYPD, I made the switch to law thanks to an errant bullet to the knee.”
“Oh, my. You were shot?”
“Not by choice.”
“That must have been horrible.”
“I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“But you’re fine now?”
Stone bent his right knee back and forth. “Good as new.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You seem to have done well for yourself since.”
“You could say that.”
The waiter appeared with their dinner, and they fell into easy conversation as they ate.
When they finished, Josie said, “This has been a lovely evening. Thank you.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “Normally, I would invite you back to my place for a nightcap, but…”
“But you’re not interested in me in that way,” she said, looking both understanding and disappointed.
“Quite the contrary. I’m very interested in you. The ‘but’ is there because the woman I had been seeing broke things off with me just a few days ago.”
“Oh,” she said. “Is there a chance you might get back together?”
“While we left that possibility open, no promises were made. The thing is, I like you, and I’d like to get to know you better. But contrary to what I might have done in the past, I don’t want to rush things.”
“How far in the past are we talking?”
“Is that important?”
“I suppose not.” She smiled. “You are quite the surprise. I’ve known far too many men who wouldn’t have let a recent breakup stop them from taking someone else home.”
“I can’t say I haven’t been one of those men before, but I’m trying to be better.”
“I don’t know if you realize this or not, but honesty is a very attractive quality.”
“So, that’s a yes to seeing each other again?”
“It’s a definite yes.”