Chapter 147

"So what do you think of him?" Gloria asked as she sipped her third martini.

'Him' was the financial planner Gloria had brought into her latest committee. Conroy Winthrop. So far, the money had been right and his sense of humor was tolerable. But it was the first time Glo had ever invited anyone to join us for drinks. He's just stepped into the gents.

"Honest, for once." I shrugged. "Hard to trust an accountant named 'Con'."

"That's why he goes by Roy." Glo pointed out. "But what do you think of him?"

"Too old to fuck physically, too poor to fuck financially." I sipped my drink.

"He asked me to marry him."

I nearly choked. I coughed for a minute while I absorbed that. "Are you nuts? Juan would kill him!"

"Juan's too young for me, even if he were serious." She finished the drink. "And you aren't on the market."

"You can do better." I said - although she probably couldn't.

"John, I'm 70." No brag, just fact. "No one else even sees me."

"Bullshit." It was probably true. "So what? You look 45. You act 25." Both a bit of a stretch, but not too much.

"Bullshit." She replied. "Sweet, but bullshit."

"So what did you say?"

She shrugged. "I had to ask Grey's son." They both used to call me that.

"None of my business." I said after a moment to consider. "Do what you want."

"It is your business." She sounded earnest. "I know you never took him seriously, but Grey meant that and I do too. Don't interrupt; I'm being serious now. Grey and I always thought of you like the son we never had. We always included you in our will and you are still my primary beneficiary."

I stopped drinking. Grey had mentioned to me once that the mistress who he knocked up was the only kid he would have, but he never told me why. After he died, there was a brief scandal when the woman came forward screaming that the kid was owed part of the estate. It had been very simple. Grey was in the ground. They were not going to exhume the body unless she had proof that Grey was the father. Since Grey never acknowledged paternity in any way and there were no other blood relatives to test. The case dried up fairly quickly.

Actually, Grey was waiting for the kid to grow up so he could meet him before he acknowledged him. He told me that if he did have a son, he would have like it to be a guy like me.

Still, that was a long way from putting me in his will. And Gloria had even less reason.

"Tax dodge?"

"Partly." She nodded. "But mostly because I actually like you. You and Grey are the only two real people I've ever known. Everyone else was plastic."

"What about Winthrop?"

"Roy's not 'people'; Roy's some sort of mythical creature - a fairy or something. Far too good to be true."

"Pre-nup?"

"Please, John! In love, not on crack! Mine is mine, his is his, marital property starts the day after the wedding."

"Which is?"

She arched an eyebrow. "Choose a date without consulting Juan first? Really! The very idea gives me shivers." She leaned back. "Roy, darling? Are you still in the kitchen or are you listening from the hallway?" There was no answer. "Oh my god, he might actually have gone to the kitchen! Can you believe it?"