Venom and the River Read Free Page B

won’t deny that I like worrying them with it because it keeps them calling and talking to me.” He rubbed his eyes with the butt of his palms and yawned.
    “You told them you have a ghost? Was that wise?”
    “Why keep it from my kids?”
    “Word can get out, Terry. And if it does your publisher might want someone else on the job.”
    “The secret’s safe. My kids won’t tell because they’re hoping I give up on it. Leigh, I don’t apologize for my vanity about the writing credit. I wrote the first one, every damn word. This will be the last thing I do and…” He stared out the window. His hand rose and dipped.
    Leigh watched the hand, puzzled, until she spotted a massive oak tree on the lawn. He was tracing its lines in the air.
    “It’s the last chance I have to leave something behind,” he said. “The money men have ruined everything. Bought every set of balls in Congress and erased all the good things we did. Mental health. Arts. Veterans.” He rested his head on a hand and closed his eyes. Within moments his breathing was coming in noisy, even puffs.
    Leigh reached over to the coffee service and poured a cup, then took a scone and settled in to wait.

3.
    “Get anything done?” Geneva said. She motioned to a counter, and Leigh set the tray down.
    “Not really. First he got me to talk way too much about myself, then he fell asleep. He’s still out. I thought I may as well sneak away and settle into my room.”
    Geneva speed-sliced through an onion and then tossed the knife into the sink. She wiped her hands on a towel that was draped through the handle of the oven door. “He’s so good at that. The listening, I mean. I grew up in Red Wing, upriver? I moved away to go to school, but then I went back and was living there with my mom after I dropped out of college. Anyway, one day about three years ago I came down here to the shoe outlet and he was in there buying socks. An ex-vice president of the United States buying his own socks! The outlet sells really good ones, by the way. I recognized him and didn’t see any reason not to say hi so I did and I swear that within ninety seconds I was telling him the story of my life and when I was done with that he offered me this job. Did you notice how he looks at you like you were some sort of miracle?”
    “He’s curious, that’s obvious. And a talented sleeper. He went out so fast, I almost wondered if something had happened.”
    Geneva nodded. “That’s how it goes. He can fall asleep like that.” She snapped her fingers. “I should warn you that except for an hour or so every morning and during meals and cocktail hour, he’s mostly sleeping. So you’re pretty much on your own with this book you’re not ghostwriting. He won’t be awake enough to be much help.” She reached for the handset of a baby monitor and wedged it into a pocket. “C’mon, I’ll show you to your place.”
    *
    “Everyone calls it the cottage. I call it a pain in the ass, mostly because it took me forever to clean. I’m not blaming you, sorry. It hadn’t been opened or used in years. When I have my own house, it will be new construction, I’ll tell you that. He had the electrician and plumber in, so all that’s good to go. The phone works, which you’ll need because for some reason this house is a cellphone dead zone. Cable hook-ups went in there behind the desk, so you’ve got TV and broadband. He thought you’d need the Internet for research. It’s so dark in here. All the trees. I couldn’t stand staying in this place, I know that; I need sunshine.”
    “I thought he doesn’t like spending money on repairs.”
    Geneva made a face. “Not on the big house, he doesn’t. But he got all excited about opening this place. There are two bedrooms. One with a view of trees and one with a view of different trees. Screens are new, which will save you from being eaten alive when the mosquitoes hatch, which will be any minute. You’ve come too late for the mayfly