The Key to Everything Read Online Free PDF Page B

sunken treasure than this place.” His eyes widen as his tongue quickly darts across his lips.
    “Huh. Yeah. I must have grabbed the wrong one.” Reaching back in your pocket, you find the house keys and open the door. 
    Jason and Jeremy stand up on the couch, looking over, and yell in unison, “Daddy!”
    “Are you Santa?” Jeremy asks.
    “No.” Gene laughs gently. “I’m Gene Harmon. I live across the street. And I think I found something that belongs to you.” He bends down to look eye-to-eye with the little boy. “You’re probably going to need this, since you’re going to big boy school in a few weeks.” He puts the corn tray down, reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a Spongebob eraser.
    “Wow.” Jeremy greedily grabs the eraser. “Cool!”
    “What do you say when someone gives you a present?” Emily scolds as she walks out of the kitchen drying her hands on a towel. “You know better than that, young man.”
    “Thank you for the ‘raser.” Jeremy sits down on the couch, not taking his eyes off of his new prize, turning it around and around in his hands.
    Emily smiles and looks up from the boys. “Hi, I’m Emily. You must be Mr. Harmon.” She reaches out a hand.
    “Please, call me Gene.” He takes her hand and kisses it. “I present a few humble corn cobs, ready for grilling, ma’am. It’s my own recipe.” 
    Curtseying, Emily laughs. “Wow, a real gentleman.” She turns to you and winks. “Hey boys, you need to take some lessons from this one.” She takes the tray and heads back to the kitchen. “It’s nice to meet you, Gene. Can I get you something to drink? How about you, honey?”
    She stops at the corner of the room and finally looks at you. Gene grabs your arm as you sway, your hand locked in your pocket around the key, arm stiff as a board. Emily runs back to you and put her hands on your waist.
    “Auden? What did the doctor say?” Her face shows real concern. “What’s going on?”
    “Maybe we should sit him down.” 
    “Daddy? Are you sick?” Jeremy pulls the hand out of your pocket and protectively rubs your arm.
    “Daddy’s just a little tired, guys.” Emily sits down on the coffee table in front of you. “Jason, why don’t you take your brother upstairs and show him your new Star Wars sticker book?” It’s more of an order than a suggestion, and Jason knows it.
    Deciding not to risk getting into any trouble, he gives in quickly. “Come on, Jemy. Let’s go play.” He looks quickly at you, and then they both bound upstairs to Jason’s room.
    Leaning back into the couch, you push out a deep lungful of air. It feels like you’ve been suffocating. You’re queasy. It’s difficult to focus your eyes on anything, but sitting down seems to slow the spinning. You open your eyes and see Emily and Gene both looking worried.
    “I’m ok. The doctor thinks it’s just too much exertion from the move.” You rub your hands on the legs of your pants to get the feeling back into your fingers. “He said I should lay low for the next couple of days.”
    “Did he prescribe anything? Do you need more fluids? Did you tell him about the…” She catches herself and glances over at Gene.
    He picks up on the hint and stands up. “Maybe we should do the barbeque another time.” Looking down at you and smiling yet again, he says, “I didn’t realize you weren’t feeling well. I’ll just head on home.” He nods his head a few times. “It was nice meeting you, Emily. And if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to let me know.” He points over his shoulder. “I’m right over there. Actually if you’d like, I can give you my number, just in case.” 
    “That would be great.” Emily heads toward the chalkboard on the wall next to the phone. Underneath Jeremy’s drawing of a motorcycle, she writes down Gene’s information with a piece of green chalk. “Thank you so much for understanding.” Walking toward the door, she places her hand on