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Peter stepped in and shucked off his overcoat. “No, sir,” he said.
“Just put the cases on the elevator,” Stone said to the driver. “Then put the car in the garage, and you’re done.” He pressed a fifty into the man’s hand and closed the door.
“Now,” he said to Peter. “What did you just say?”
Peter handed him a sealed envelope, the back of which was emblazoned with the words “Calder Hall.”
“Come in, come in,” Stone said to the boy. “Have a seat while I read this.” He took a chair himself and tore open the envelope. Stone, I’m sorry to tell you this at the last minute, but I had a bad day yesterday, and my doctor has put me into the hospital, where they’re running some tests. I hope this is not a recurrence of the cancer, but I’ll know soon. In the meantime, take good care of our boy, and remember, don’t tell him anything. I’ll be in touch.
Fondly,
Arrington
“I think mostly she’s just tired, Uncle Stone,” Peter said. “She said she’d call tomorrow.”
Stone stuffed the envelope back into his pocket. “Well, I guess it’s just you and me, then, Peter. And by the way, just call me Stone, okay? I’m not your uncle anyway.”
Peter managed a smile. “All right, Stone.”
“How old are you now?”
/> “Fifteen,” Peter said.
“My God, I somehow thought you were twelve.” He handed the boy the photograph of him.
“I was twelve when this was taken,” he said.
“When did you turn fifteen?”
“Nearly a year ago. I’ll be sixteen next month.”
“Sixteen!” My God, he thought. Has it been that long?
“Yes, sir.”
“And don’t call me sir, either. Let’s just be friends. How tall are you?”
“Five feet eleven and a half inches, si-Stone.”
“That’s tall for fifteen-er, sixteen-isn’t it?”
“I think so. The doctor told me I’ll be well over six feet.”
“I expect you will. And your voice has already changed; you’re a baritone.”
“It happens, I guess. I sounded pretty funny for a while there.”
“I expect you did. Did your mother tell you I have a friend who’s a policeman, Dino Bacchetti?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Dino has a son who’s… about your age, and we’re having dinner with them tonight.”
“At Elaine’s?”
“Your mother told you about Elaine’s?”
“She told me a lot about it. She said it was her favorite place in New York.”
