"Next year," Brandon answered flatly.
* * * * *
The Secretary of Interior hardly spoke to the young man waiting by his
vehicle. He wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. These
yearly visits to Brandon always upset him, made him feel like a cad. It
would be days before he shook the unwanted feeling.
"How did it go?" the young man asked eagerly.
The Secretary took in the youngish face, the confidence flowing from
the eyes. Evans always managed to give that youthful impression, yet he
wasn't really a young man. In a way the thin man envied Evans ... with
one exception, of course. This would be Evans' first visit to Brandon.
Some of the confidence would be gone when he walked out of Brandon's
house.
"I said how did it go?" Evans repeated.