“I’m sorry, I’m never going to be able to spend money like it’s from a Monopoly board. I’m not Jackie.”
“Jackie?”
“My mother.”
“Vodka and lottery tickets Jackie?”
“The very same, she never met a budget she could stick to.”
“She sounds like my first two wives.”
“Two?”
J.J. handed Stone a bottle of water from the mini fridge they’d set up in the back. She took a sip from hers.Note to self, we’ll need a bigger one once the place is filled with stylists.
Stone had worked hard, hands-on. She had to give him that.
“I’m embarrassed to say, yes, two wives. The first wife, well, I was head over heels in love with her. She was in love with status, and then Mick Jagger, and then one of Goldie’s co-stars, I think. Anyway, we had a quick divorce since, well, since it was all over the tabloids.”
“Rich people, they’re just like us.”
“Ouch.”
“Sorry, sorry, that sounds terrible. I mean, I can see what Goldie’s been through.”
“Wife number two, well, she was ready to have kids and wanted me to settle down and be home a lot. And I wasn’t ready. That one took a lot to disentangle from. I should have made it clear that I wasn’t ready for the suburban lifestyle. My fault on that second go-round.”
“No kids, then?”
“One, she’s in med school. I’m very proud of her. But she’s closer with her mom and stepdad than she is with me.”
“I see.”
“Yeah, bungled things pretty good. I’m trying to work on fixing it. But probably way too late.”
“Look, we do the best we can. No one’s a perfect parent or spouse.”
“You and Dean seemed pretty perfect.”
“Well, instead of divorcing when he wasn’t ready to be a family man, I stuck it out. And I mean, he was whooping it up, and I was too controlling. That was what, the early 2000s? We could have both bolted at different points, but we kept plugging, and it smoothed out, until...”
Stone didn’t say anything, but he reached over and squeezed her shoulder. She felt his concern for her, and she was glad he didn’t say any of the grief words. The “I’m sorry” or the “It must be so tough.” None of them helped, no matter how much people meant well.
J.J. and Stone locked eyes for a second.
Why in the world does this person want to share his story with me?
Stone was one of the most elusive people out there. If you Googled him, there weren’t many stories to find. He didn’t play the field or date the newest TikTok model.
And yet here he was, lamenting his love life, no more successful at it than her neighbor, Stewie Richards. He’d lost one wife to their other neighbor when said neighbor got a hot tub and then divorced his second wife after she continued to get arrested for shoplifting at the Five Below in Adrian.
Billionaires, they’re just like us.
And before she could stop herself, without even planning it, J.J. went out on a big limb. She just blurted it out. It seemed the most natural thing in the world. She’d gotten that comfortable with Stone Stirling.
“Hey,” she began tentatively, “I don’t know what you’re up to, but it is the weekend. We put in a lot of time here, and if you’re free tomorrow, we’re going to help celebrate Keith’s opening night.”
Keith Brady, Libby’s one true love and J.J.’s lifelong townie friend, had revived the marina restaurant. Steve’s Marina Eats was now Keith’s Dockside.
