“Are those for me?” Julie asks, her voice slightly hoarse.
“I offered them to Martha, but she kindly declined.” He kisses Julie’s cold forehead, giving her the flowers. “Good book?”
“It’s quite boring, honestly. Too many descriptions. I can picture a forest just fine without reading about the shape of the trees and rocks.”
“I can tell you all about the shapes of trees.”
“And that is why you’re never invited to parties.”
He puts his hands over his heart. “Ouch.”
“You’ll need to go to the library soon. The latest bunch of books weren’t great. Tell Francie to try harder.”
Since the librarian would bite his head off, he will do no such thing. “Sure.”
She takes a sniff of the flowers. “I can barely smell anything these days, but they’re lovely. Did you go outside last night? It rained so much.”
He keeps his expression neutral. Julie is aware of what happened with Joel five years ago, but she wasn’t living in town full time back then because of school, so most of the gossip didn’t reach her. Then she got sick,and Will did everything he could to keep the hell he was dealing with from her. “I called it a night early.”
“But you didn’t sleep well.” She gives him a knowing look.
“I’ll make up for it tonight.” Though he can never tell how long his time at the mayor’s house will last. It depends on the number of guests and the way things roll.
They talk about anything besides Julie’s condition, and soon a nurse comes with dinner. Will glances at his watch. He needs to leave now if he wants to catch a nap and a shower before driving over to the mayor’s house. He says his goodbyes and drives home. His house is not far from the town center but secluded enough to feel isolated. You need to take a turn between the trees, then drive up on a dirt road to reach it. He and Julie grew up in that small house, sharing a bedroom because their mom couldn’t afford something bigger. Their dad left when they were little to God knows where and never offered any support. The house may be small, but it’s spacious enough for one man who doesn’t have many possessions.
Will worries he’ll be too troubled to fall asleep, but his exhaustion prevails. He wakes up after an hour to the alarm clock, groggy but relieved. He takes a shower—the kind he never enjoys taking—then gets dressed in plain jeans and one of his many flannel shirts. He’s starving, but it won’t be wise to eat at this stage.
The moon is high in the sky by the time he leaves hishouse, and the air is chilly. It will be a while until early summer turns the evenings warm, and Will can’t wait. It takes a few minutes for him to reach his destination. His uncle’s house is the biggest in town, surrounded by a tall stone wall. A sign on the front gate readsMayor Ray Walker. When Will was little, they rarely visited his mother’s stepbrother, who was the mayor even back then. He used to wonder why they didn’t visit more often, but the older he got, the more he could sense the animosity between his mom and the mayor, even though she refused to speak about it. The only comment she made was,He never wanted a sister, and he never accepted me as his family.
As his nervousness intensifies, Will reminds himself why he agreed to this deal in the first place. When Julie got sick and needed the kind of financial support Will couldn’t provide, he turned to the mayor for help. Despite the man’s disdain for Will, especially after the chaos with Joel, he expected his step-uncle to agree to help, but Ray came up with a counteroffer.
Days later, once Will was done raging and feeling betrayed, he returned to the mayor and accepted the deal. He has no regrets, but it doesn’t mean he has to like any of this.
He presses the button at the gate and waits to be buzzed inside. His uncle opens the door for him at the top of the stairs, though it’s usually his housekeeper, Veronica, who does that.
“William.” Ray blows smoke from his pipe. He’s wearing a gray vest that complements his thick, gray hair and mustache. He’s in his early sixties, a handsome man, though his dark eyes are incapable of showing warmth. He has the kind of deep voice that feels like he’s warning you to behave regardless of what he’s saying.
Will clears his throat. “Sir.”
“You seem tired.”
“I’m fine.”
They step inside the warm foyer. Large paintings hang on the walls, mostly of tragic scenes from the Civil War. People are talking from the dining room, their voices carrying through the hallway. He’s usually told to arrive about an hour after the mayor’s guests, around the time they’re done talking business.
“You know everyone here tonight,” the mayor says. “Put your bag upstairs, then come say hello and bring them drinks.”
Will climbs the stairs and enters the bedroom the mayor designated for these events. He puts his backpack with his spare clothes on the floor, then climbs back down. In the wide dining room, four men and one woman sit across the long table, illuminated by the light of the chandelier. All are around his uncle’s age and wealthy enough to be worthy of the mayor’s time. Only one of them, Doctor Levi, is from Van Buren, while the others are from other towns in Carter County. The only woman at these events, Roberta, might be from ShannonCounty up north.
“Evening,” Will says stiffly.
“You’re getting more handsome by the day,” Roberta says as she plays with her pearls.
“Thank you. I’ll go take care of your drinks.”
He enters the kitchen, where Veronica is preparing the food. Her dark hair is held in a ponytail, and her narrow face is expressionless as she cuts meat and throws it onto a pan. She doesn’t glance at him, which is fine, since she’s mental. He wishes to keep all contact with her to a bare minimum.
Down in the wine cellar, the air is thick and the light is dim, with rows of expensive bottles on both sides. He could probably pay off all of Julie’s medical expenses by selling some of these bottles. He picks out what he knows the guests upstairs prefer, including one bottle of vodka from a small fridge. Before going back up, he opens the vodka and takes a few sips, wishing to fog his senses for what’s coming.
