Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Mary Jane Clark Read Free Book Online

concerned. I guess it didn’t hurt that he was a good-looking s.o.b.”
    Win speared another mouthful of salad. “Disarming. That’s how I’d describe the man. Even though I knew he was going to try to stick me with some tough questions, I always felt he did it in a charming, almost seductive sort of way. Unfailingly well mannered. As a matter of fact, Joy, he asked me how you were surviving the campaign.”
    Joy looked up from her untouched plate and nodded but did not comment. Neither man seemed to expect a response.
    Instead, Nate Heller wondered out loud, “What do you suppose happened? Awfully young and in damn good shape from what I could see. Remember that member-guest we played at Congressional last fall, Win? Kendall was in excellent form. He shot a seventy-six, for God’s sake. A heart attack?” Nate shook his head in disbelief. “That’s what it usually is when it’s quick like that. If ever there was a stressful job, his was it. It’s right up there with mine in the tension department. You know, boss, I deserve a raise, don’t you think?” Nate grinned, the uncomfortableness with the death of a contemporary quickly replaced with his particular brand of protective, self-centered humor.
    Win mumbled something about the campaign manager’s reward coming after November. That led into the latest campaign strategy session, which was interrupted by the ringing of Nate’s pocket phone.
    Joy half listened as he barked “Nate Heller” into his phone. Why couldn’t he say hello like everybody else, she wondered. He said, “Don’t worry. It’ll be taken care of.” She wanted to be anywhere but at this table, feigning interest in yet another campaign talk, listening to business-as-usual. Nate was so rude, taking a phone call at the dinner table. When Trudy had cleared the table and brought in fresh-brewed decaf in the silver coffee service, Joy excused herself, saying that she had some papers to go over.
    “Great, hon,” said Win. “I’m really glad that we’ll be doing that campaign trip together next week. You’re a real asset to me, isn’t she, Nate?”
    “You bet. America still loves a healthy, good-looking, charismatic couple. And you two certainly fit that bill. Photogenically, we definitely have the advantage. But being easy on the eyes is not enough for a potential first lady. Now the candidate’s wife has to be well informed, a mover and a shaker in her own right. That’s why the preparation you do for our road shows can only help. Unless, of course, you were to say something stupid. But that would never happen, would it, Joy?”
    “Never,” answered Joy with a tight smile. “And that’s why I’ve got to get in there and hit the position papers. Good night, gentlemen.”
    Exiting the dining room, she paused on the blood-red Persian rug in the hallway as she listened to Nate continue his speculating. “Man, I wouldn’t want to be running KEY News tonight. Not only was Bill Kendall the network’s big draw, but there’s a real smear job running on Eliza Blake in The Mole . KEY has some big-time damage control to do.”
    She hurried up the staircase, wanting to escape Win, the campaign and gossipy Nate Heller. Though Joy didn’t think that most people would want to admit it, Nate bragged that he read The Mole faithfully, along with The Star, The Enquirer and Spy . Nate said that a lot of the dirt had an element of truth somewhere.
    Joy closed the bedroom door and locked it. Surrounded by the calming sea of textured off-white silk which padded the walls of the bedroom, she walked over to her dressing table, sat down on the tufted chair in front of it and looked into the mirror. The keen blue eyes assessed the face. A straight nose, a shapely mouth, a long, graceful neck. The kind of physical package which had learned early on its power to get what its owner wanted. As a child, a face adults had difficulty saying no to. As an adolescent, a face that teenage boys were attracted to. An