Vacant Read Online Free Page B

had always had a temper, and he absolutely believed she’d done this thing.
    Shocked, I stayed behind as they walked into the department. Crap.

CHAPTER 3
    Tuesday morning and I was, two days early, in the old coffee shop to meet Swartz. He was there at our regular (rescheduled) meeting for the first time since his heart attack months ago, and when I walked in and saw him—five minutes before the appointed time—it was like a small miracle, a return to what was and had always been.
    Swartz had been my Narcotics Anonymous sponsor for years now, and was a good guy and a good friend. He’d also been an early riser for the entirety of the time I’d known him, and seeing him here now was like a return to normalcy. The last of the puffiness in his face from the procedures had finally left, and his color was coming back.
    A few months ago he’d had a heart attack, a bad one, that had damaged the vessels around his heart bad enough to keep him from being eligible for an artificial heart. He’d come very close to dying. How close still bothered me. I’d made a deal with the Telepaths’ Guild for one of their medics to heal the damage. I’d spent all the money I’d had, and owed a great deal more besides, but it had been worth it. Swartz had been worth it. Even if I was terrified he’d never fully recover, and that I’d be in debt to the Guild for the rest of my life.
    Here now, he was looking good. He’d gotten a pot oflicorice coffee for me and a pot of herbal tea for him, which already sat on the worn wooden table, ready to go.
    I said hello to the bartender and folded into the leather booth, pulling off my scarf and gloves. I was smiling, really smiling, for the first time in a long time.
    â€œYou look good,” I said. It was true, and it had the pleasant additional effect of distracting me from the events of earlier.
    â€œI’m doing better than they expected. Should be back to teaching by summer.”
    â€œJust in time for summer school,” I said. “And all the really difficult kids.” I set my scarf down in the booth and took one of the ugly coffee cups off the tray, pouring a cup of that licorice coffee I associated so strongly with our meetings.
    â€œThe kids just need a little attention.”
    â€œI’m sure,” I said.
    The vision from earlier still haunted me. I’d seen it over and over, and now we were talking about some of his kids. Worse, Cherabino was in the middle of a political train wreck, and I couldn’t help. I couldn’t help. Even so, something about being around Swartz made the world make more sense. Just sitting next to him made it less overwhelming.
    I poured the coffee, the strong smell of licorice normal and comforting in context. Today, for once, I had my three things picked out and ready to go, not that it made me feel better about the vision. “I know what I’m grateful for this week.”
    â€œAlready?” His amusement leaked into Mindspace very clearly.
    â€œOne, Cherabino took me to visit her grandmother again, and this time she didn’t hate me.” Unlike the last time.
    â€œThat turned out well, then,” Swartz said, with a nod. “Good.”
    I wished everything with Cherabino went that well, that easily. I wished the conversation yesterday had gone better. I didn’t know what to do. Often, I didn’t know what to do at all, like now, with Branen so . . . something.
    But this morning, this moment, was supposed to be about gratefulness. I nodded in acknowledgment. “The second thing I’m grateful for. Having control over my own money again, even if it’s going out faster than it’s coming in while I’m on part-time hours.” I sighed. “I’m getting nervous.” And with the department not wanting me there right now, it was only going to get worse. I was worried about Cherabino too.
    Swartz held his cup of herbal tea