“Why?”

“She gave me the highball to pick you up.”

I said, “I let her think she had a diamond-studded live one.”

“Is he?”

“Maybe.”

“Friend of yours?”

“In a way. Why?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering.”

I finished out the game on the pinball machine, fed a coin in the slot, and pushed in the plunger. “Want to try it?” I asked.

She started shooting balls around the board. Joe came over and looked at me significantly.