He heard the President’s laugh from Daniel’s office, so he turned in rather than continuing down to the Oval. Janet offered her typical teasing smile—that of a woman on the verge of retirement who had offered more than once to run off to Tangiers with him—and waved him through.
“If only I were a few decades older, and we were both unwed,” he told her. Janet had aged very well, but he’d met her very attentive husband.
“We need to be finding you a wife, Mr. Vice President. Or I will leave poor James for you.”
“I just might take you up on that, ma’am. Best warn him to start looking.” They traded winks then Zack strode up to the threshold.
Peter Matthews was the first President since Polk in the mid-1800s who wore his dark hair casually long—LBJ’s gray coif had only appeared after his reti
