Stewart was my costar in
Doris ushered us off to where they’d put up a temporary set for her to conduct our interview.
“What’s with the hair?” she asked me to kick us off.
“I like David’s new look. He is the quintessential California boy now: blond hair and a rugged jaw topped off with a surfer body. David looks like he lives on salt water and sunshine and was born to run beaches shirtless,” Halle said.
“Do you really surf?”
“David’s pretty good for a relative rookie. I think it has to do with his athletic abilities,” Halle said, hogging the interview. “He has used our beach house, and I’ve heard he’s been seen surfing at various beaches in Malibu.”
“You don’t have problems surfing in public?” Doris asked.
“Surfers are usually pretty cool,” Halle said. “The only time we ever have any difficulties is when the paparazzi decide to swarm us.”
“So, are you two dating?”
I waited for Halle to jump in, but she suddenly got quiet. I was so going to kill her.
“Seriously? You have nothing?” I asked.
“I just realized I had been taking all the questions,” she tried.
Even Doris wasn’t buying that one.
“I’ll take that as she wants to, but you have other ideas,” Doris said to me.
“Next question,” I encouraged.
Somehow Halle got over being shy, and I never got a word in after that. She looked at me sheepishly as we walked out, but then smiled.
“I forgot to tell you. We get to sing my song tonight.”
First, it would have been nice to have a heads-up. Second, I noticed it was now ‘her’ song. That made me realize that everyone remembered that Martina McBride sang the song as a duet. I would bet almost no one could name the male singer. I had a feeling in years to come, it would be the same with Halle’s and my version.
She looked at me in confusion when I threw my hands up and walked away.
“Was it something I said?” she called out behind me.
◊◊◊
I walked in and spotted Dare. The kid had apparently hit his growth spurt while I was gone. I would estimate he was almost two inches taller. He was there with his mom. Evidently, Brook had invited the guy who had a secret crush on her. When he saw me, his face lit up.
“David, where’s Brook?” he asked to confirm my suspicions.
“Hello, Dr. Rossetti. What have you been feeding him?” I asked.
“I think your question should be, what doesn’t he eat?” she said and smiled. “How are you, David?”
“I was doing just fine until your son started perving on my girlfriend.”
I’d almost forgotten what an introvert Dare was. He turned bright red when he figured out that I was onto him. The poor boy’s eyes were now glued to his shoes.
“My son has a date for tonight,” Dr. Rossetti shared, to Dare’s horror.
You had to love moms.
“Chrissy?” I asked.
“Dare wanted to ask you something,” Dr. Rossetti piled on.
I could see he was about to die of embarrassment, so I figured I’d better save him.
“Come on, Buddy. Let’s go to the bar and get your mom a drink while I get one for Brook,” I suggested.
He followed me like we were at school, with me a step ahead. I stopped once we were out of earshot of his mom and not around anyone else.
“Talk to me,” I ordered.
It was a 50/50 proposition as to whether he would talk to me. I might have to get Brook to get him to speak again tonight. I guess the prospect of having a date and not being sure what to do won out.
“What do I do with her? I don’t want her to hate me,” Dare said, looking like he might be sick.
“Dare, relax. Talk to her. Dance with her. Have fun.” I encouraged.
At that, his brain seemed to be spinning, and I envisioned him making a list: Talk. Dance. Have fun.
“Stop overanalyzing it,” I said.
“If it all blows up, can I dance with Brook?” he asked and then smirked at me.
The little shit. I put him in a headlock, and out of nowhere, Brook and Cassidy appeared.
“David,” Cassidy warned.
“I deserved it,” Dare admitted.
I almost got whiplash as his train of thought made an abrupt turn.
“How is the drone working?” he asked.
“We need to work on the amount of noise it makes. I think that for our purposes, it has to stealthier. Otherwise, it’s been great.”
“To get what you want, I might have to buy a different model. The ones that have noise dampening aren’t cheap,” he warned.
“David’s rich. Get what you need and put it through to Megan,” Cassidy said.
Both Brook and I looked at her.
“What?” Cassidy asked. “That’s what I do.”
For some reason, I wasn’t sure whether she was pulling my leg or not. I think Brook agreed with me. I made a mental note to talk to Megan when I got a chance.
Dare saw Chrissy had arrived with her parents, and he got excited.
“What should I do?” he asked.
“I just told you,” I reminded him.
“Oh, yeah. Talk. Dance. Have fun,” he recited.
