Free Elizabeth the First Wife by Lian Dolan Page A

wasn’t going to be around as a witness. Still, I wasn’t sure I had the skills to entertain Maddie all summer. “You know I think Maddie’s great. She smart and studious, a cool girl. …”
    â€œShe could be your intern! She could help you do research for your book. Or help you backstage. Or do whatever interns do. Please, Elizabeth. We’ll pay her expenses, even give her a salary that you could say was from you. She likes you and she loves the theater. And if you asked her, it wouldn’t seem like it was my idea.”
    Bumble was pleading, honestly pleading. I did love Maddie. We always had fun when she spent the weekend when Bumble went off to Washington for a few days. She reminded me of me at seventeen: preferring books to boys and engaged in just enough intellectual snobbery to make her interesting but not standoffish. We’d bonded over Jane Austen novels and Zac Efron movies. Plus, her birth mother’s behavior annoyed me beyond belief. How could you walk away from your daughter because you felt “suffocated”? Maybe I could use an intern.
    â€œOkay, I’ll ask her to come with me. But understand that I have work to do, so I can’t watch her every minute. I can’t babysit. And, if she doesn’t want to come, I’m out. I’d be happy to have a willing intern, but not forced labor. Only if Maddie really wants to come. Understood?”
    â€œThank you, Elizabeth.” Bumble hugged me. Then added, “Oh, and if you let Maddie fall for FX, I will kill you.”
    The real Bumble was back. “I can’t help it if a teenage girl gets a crush on a movie star, okay? But, of course, I’ll warn him and keep an eye on her. There will be a lot of attractive actors, so it’s not just FX you have to worry about.”
    â€œOh, that’s not Maddie’s thing. Really, she’s too smart for that.”
    Well, she wasn’t too smart to devour the Twilight books, because we both enjoyed those a few years ago. Bumble was boy crazy by age ten, so a girl like Maddie, who’d never been out with a boy, was a mystery to her. But not to me. I knew Maddie noticed boys, and when one finally noticed her, it would be her undoing.
    Bumble took a quick look around the party. We were still alone by the koi pond. “I have one more favor to ask. Do you want a housesitter this summer?”
    â€œI take it you have someone in mind…why, do you have a fertility goddess you want to stash at my place for the Sexapalooza?”
    That cracked Bumble up. “No, although not a bad idea. Actually, Ted’s chief of staff is moving here for the summer, during the congressional recess.” She lowered her voice dramatically. “He’s working on some stuff on the side for Ted. Some fact-finding. It would be great if he had a low-profile place to work out of. That’s also free. Like your house.”
    â€œIs Ted involved in some scandal?” I was genuinely concerned now. Bumble usually wasn’t so vague.
    â€œNo, no. Don’t tell anyone, but he’s considering a run for the governorship. So Rafa’s going to do some temperature-taking, a little listening tour with movers and shakers here to see if Ted can build a coalition and make a run.”
    Relief, then curiosity. Being the tennis fan, my ears shot up at the name Rafa. For one crazy moment, I pictured Rafael Nadal sleeping in my bed with nothing on but a headband. The thought gave me great pleasure. Bumble’s strange expression pulled me back from thebrink. I recovered, “Governor Ted? And First Lady Bumble. Wow, that’s really something. That’s huge.”
    â€œI know. But Ted actually cares and thinks he could make a difference. And so do I,” she said. “And I really want to be a First Lady.”
    â€œYou would be a great First Lady. To the Governor’s Manor born.” I had no doubt about Bumble, but I wanted to flush out