All for nothing. She hadn’t won the campaign. She hadn’t saved the senator from a disgraceful defeat, and she’d lost Ethan. Grace buried her head in Blain’s lapel seeking comfort. But when he put his hand under her chin and lifted her mouth to kiss her, she pulled away, not only shocked, but a little offended. “Oh. No. Blain, that’s all over between us.”
He recovered, but only barely. “You’re sure?”
“Totally sure,” she said, and she meant it. Blain wasn’t the one for her; he never had been. He was part of a plan, part of a formula she’d dreamed up for how to get all the things she wanted in life, like a stable family and respectability. It wasn’t until Ethan came along that she realized love wasn’t something you could check off your to-do list.
She loved Ethan. What’s more, she loved herself when she was with him, even the wild and undisciplined parts that she’d spent her life trying to beat down. Ethan was real and he let her be real too. Which made it hurt that much more to know that tomorrow he’d pack his bags and leave for good.
…
Ethan woke up on the foldout couch of the camper with the worst hangover of his life. The pain throbbed beneath his skull and the light made him squint when he realized someone was knocking. Reporters. Great. Probably looking for a post-election story. Something about how far the professor had come, garnering nearly thirty percent of the vote.
Ethan had anticipated this, and had a quote ready. What he hadn’t anticipated was coming face to face with Delmont.
Video caught by nearby cameramen would later show that Delmont didn’t even get a chance to ask a question. Ethan launched himself out of the camper, Wii-trained boxing fists connecting with the reporter’s face before he fell back under the onslaught. Ethan smashed Delmont’s nose and, when he fell, Delmont’s expensive iPhone and its digital camera smashed on the driveway underneath him.
Someone called the cops.
And once again, Ethan was a guest of the Baltimore County Detention Center.
Chapter Eighteen
Grace arrived at the Halloway House just before nine, and was surprised to find the former senator laughing over waffles and orange juice. Grace worried that he didn’t understand that he’d lost the election. She knew he could be dotty in his old age, but surely he remembered last night’s humiliating defeat!
“Gracie, you look like your dog just died,” he said.
And Grace promptly burst into tears again.
“There, there,” Kip Halloway said, reaching out to dab at her cheeks with a cloth napkin from the table. “I’ve made your life difficult the past few months, haven’t I?”
“I’m so sorry,” Grace sniffled. “I’m so, so sorry. It was your last campaign and I lost it.”
“Nonsense. I lost it. Besides, who said this was my last campaign?” Kip Halloway drew himself up to his full height, and took Mama’s hand. “Mrs. Halloway and I have done some talking. This house is getting too big for us, and she’s done enough housework for a lifetime, so we’re going to buy a condo out on the shore.”
Grace tried to imagine Kip Halloway rambling around a condo in some resort town, his feet in flip-flops, reading the paper. No, she couldn’t imagine it. He’d hardly taken a day off work in his whole life. The abrupt change of pace might just kill him. She frowned and he noticed. “Oh, I’m not going off into that good night, young lady! Ocean City needs a new mayor. I thought I’d take the leftover ‘Halloway for Senate’ signs and slap a ‘Mayor’ sticker on them.”
“But they hate you on the Eastern Shore,” Grace reminded him, sniffling into the syrup-scented napkin. “You called them the Outhouse of Maryland.”
“I’ll run on a public sewage improvement platform!”
Grace began to hiccup laughter through her tears. He was crazy and as wonderful as he’d always been. She’d been a fool to think that something like losing an election would destroy the man. He was bigger than poll numbers or campaign cycles. He was Kip Halloway, and nothing could ever take that away from him.
Or from her.
Her hero, her stepfather (how weird was that?), pulled her into a hug, then squinted at the television. “What’s that on the news?”
Turning her head to gaze at the small screen, Grace did a double take. Was that…Ethan? Pummeling a reporter?
Grace grabbed the remote and turned it up, staring in open disbelief. Oh, that was Ethan all right, taking a swing at Dale Delmont and laying him out flat. And in spite of the fact that she abhorred violence, her eyes widened in sudden glee at the sight of that bloody nose.
She wasn’t the only one. The old man hooted, slapping at the table as if he hadn’t been this entertained in years. “It looks like I’m not the only one who thinks a good punch in the nose is a fine answer.”
Grace’s hands went to her face, as her heart burst open in full bloom.
The old man grinned. “Go find out whether or not your gentleman suitor feels the same way about you that you feel about him. From the looks of it, I’d say he’s waiting for you.”
…
She had to bribe Morris with a whole box of doughnuts to let her pick up Ethan after his arraignment. As she pulled up in her car, she saw him, hands in his pockets, bracing against the autumn air and kicking piles of leaves as he walked. She pulled up beside him and rolled down the window. Though she’d made a list of things to say, she blurted, “You sure spend a lot of time in lockup these days.”
“You know me,” Ethan said, his voice distant. “I’ll do anything for media attention.”
“Can I give you a ride?”
Wordlessly, Ethan opened the passenger side and hopped in.
“How is Dr. Dark Ages taking it?” What an icebreaker. She was really bad at this kind of thing.
“He’s giddy,” Ethan replied coolly. “Turns out, I wanted him to win a lot more than he wanted to win. What about Old Man Halloway?”
“He’s gearing up to run for mayor of Ocean City. He’s indomitable.”
Ethan chuckled with her and the frost in the air seemed to abate. “There’s not even a speck of dust on your dashboard…”
“I keep a duster in the glove box,” she said.
“You have a sickness, Grace. Get help.”
“I need it.” Grace found a spot on a side street and parked under a tree ablaze with orange leaves. She turned off the ignition. “I also need to apologize.”
“Don’t. It was a campaign. I’d have done the same thing in your position.”
“You wouldn’t have done what I did. You said so yourself.”
He shrugged. “Being self-righteous comes easy for me.”
Grace tightened her grip on the wheel. “I just wanted to prove myself and help Senator Halloway.”
“That’s because you love him.” His voice was warmer, but he still wasn’t looking at her. “It’s a good trait to have. I believe in ideas, but you believe in people, and you fight for them.”
“I’m not the only one,” Grace said, eyeing the bandage on Ethan’s wrist. “Why did you deck Dale?”
“You know why. He deserved it for what he did to you.”
Grace’s eyes misted in the corners. “You always said you’d fight for me. I just didn’t know how hard. You really are Superman underneath that Clark Kent costume.”
Ethan held up his fist and flexed it. “Don’t be too impressed. My hand is killing me. I’m gonna need to get it x-rayed. I hope I broke his nose, though.”
“Trust me, you did,” she said, surprised by her sudden bloodlust. “…and it was awesome!”
“Grace, I need to say something to you about…about those pictures. I should never have pushed you to do stuff like that in law school. You aren’t a thrill-seeker. I am. But I was a reckless idiot with you.”
He had everything so wrong. “Ethan, you never push me to do anything I don’t want to do. You push me to do things I want to do but wouldn’t find the courage to do on my own. The night you asked me to meet you in the library stairwell…it was late
and we could see all the lights below. It was so exciting to be pressed against the glass like that. You made me feel so open, so free to do things that were wicked and delicious…”
He stared at her mouth pointedly when she said the words wicked and delicious, which made her blush. “Anyway, I used to think that Blain Halloway was everything I always wanted in a man, but you ruined me for Blain…for anybody really. You make me feel like I can finally put myself into someone else’s hands. You make it seem safe to take a risk.”
“Except it isn’t safe. I didn’t keep you safe. I put you and your career at risk, over and over again.”
“That’s not your fault, though. It was mine. I didn’t want to be the kind of girl who liked that sort of thing, but I am.”
He tilted his head, frowning. “Why didn’t you want to like that sort of thing?”
Grace heard herself swallow. “Because I was afraid that kind of girl isn’t good enough…you know, for someone to stay. I want to be the kind of girl that you make love to, not the girl you hook up with in hotel rooms and library stairwells.”
Ethan’s frown deepened. “Why are those different girls? You’re smart and sexy. You’re prudent and courageous. You’re a good girl and a bad girl. You’re a waffle girl and a Napoleon cake girl. I’ve told you before that you can have it all. You don’t have to put yourself in a box, Grace, because you’re already the whole package.”
The whole package.
It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to Grace and she loved him so bad it hurt. How could she help but get weepy? For the first time, there was no reason she couldn’t tell him how she felt about him. No reason they couldn’t be together—except for the fact that a new campaign was going to take him away.
Yet, he was the one. It was the most complicated, disorderly, wonderful thing she’d ever felt in her life, and couldn’t be denied. Damn the risk and damn the rules. “Ethan, I keep a list of heroes,” she confessed, pulling an old and folded piece of paper from her purse.
“You scare me…” Then he glanced at it and tilted his head when he saw where she’d added his name. “I supplanted Susan B. Anthony?”
“The suffragettes steered me wrong about the debate so I’m demoting her.”
Ethan leaned back and his hands fidgeted, as though he wasn’t sure what to do with them. “What are you saying?”
She was risking her heart for what was probably a completely lost cause, but that’s what you did when you believed in someone…and when you loved someone. “I’m saying I’m going to fight for you. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to show you how much I love you, even if I’ve ruined everything between us.”
Ethan paused so long that it set her nerves on edge. Shouldn’t he say something? Even if he was going to tell her that he didn’t feel the same way, it was better than silence. Wasn’t it? On the other hand, if he was going to break her heart, maybe silence was better.
Ethan finally met her eyes and murmured, “You haven’t ruined anything.”
“I haven’t?” Grace asked, perking up.
“Well, you certainly tried hard enough to ruin everything,” he admitted. “But I’m crazy about you, Grace. I have been since the day we met. You make me laugh. You challenge me. You don’t let me take anything for granted…and you make me want to be better at everything, better for you. In case I haven’t made it totally obvious, I love you.”
Grace forgot to breathe. She took off her seat belt, and turned to look at that oh-so-handsome face. Wow. He was telling the truth. He loved her, and yet his expression was unmistakably sad. “But Grace, we’re still in the same situation as before. You don’t want a long-distance relationship and I can’t stay in Maryland forever…though I might be on probation for a while.”
“You’ll beat the rap.” She was sure he could talk his way out of anything. “Besides, it’s my turn to upend my life. After you’ve paid your debt to society, I thought I could go to work for you, since now I’m kind of out of a job.”
“Grace Santiago, unemployed,” he said with a wry smile. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“So what do you say? Will you take me with you on the campaign trail?”
“It’d be total chaos,” Ethan warned.
“I can do chaos.” When she saw the incredulity on his face she said, “Okay, I can try to do chaos. I’ll prove it.” Grace unbuttoned her corduroy jacket, and, taking a deep breath, threw it on the floor of the car. “There!”
Ethan laughed. “How long until you pick that up? I’m guessing about ten seconds. Nine, eight…”
“You’re wrong. I’m a new woman,” she said, unbuttoning the top button of her blouse.
His eyes bugged with interest, but then he laid his hand over hers. “Grace, I don’t need the adrenaline rush of another sex scandal. I love risky sex, but not as much as I love you.”
She gaped. “Are you saying now that I’ve finally worked up the courage to be adventurous in bed, you want me to be mild-mannered?”
He picked up her jacket. “I just wanna confine our adventures to an actual bedroom for a change.”
Flirtatiously twirling a wisp of hair around one finger, she said, “Why Mr. Castle, are you turning into a conventional guy on me?”
“You have no idea just how conventional…I’ve been thinking about a way to destroy any chance of those photos coming back to haunt you politically.”
Grace was painfully curious. “You’re not suggesting we murder Delmont?”
“No, but you don’t have to worry about him. I’m going to make sure he understands that if those photos ever see the light of day, I’ll break more than his nose. But it’s not going to be an issue, Grace. His career will suffer more than yours, and he knows it. Trust me. It’s not gonna happen. It’s over. There’s no black cloud hanging over you anymore…”
“Okay,” Grace said, thinking it through.
“But just in case, we should get married,” Ethan said, stunning her into complete and utter silence. “Nothing takes the salaciousness out of a sex scandal quicker than marriage.”
Speckles danced behind Grace’s eyelids.
“Grace? Breathe. Your lips are gonna start turning blue…”
She blinked. Maybe it was lack of oxygen or maybe it was her mind exploding. She gasped, her words running together, “Didyoujust propose marriage to me as a form of political damage control?”
He laughed a warm, rich laugh, one she could listen to for the rest of her life. “It’s a trial balloon…how’s it polling?”
“In a representative sample, one out of two voters approve…”
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Is the holdout you or the finicky feline?”
Grace couldn’t stop smiling. “You’ve got my vote forever. It’s Thurgood you still need to impress.”
Holding her chin, he made her look him in the eye. “Grace, take me home to meet that goddamned cat. And do it now.”
“One last question…if I start following you around the campaign trail like PolitiGal, would you think I was a shady stalker?”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “But I kind of like it.”
Grace leaned forward and kissed him full on the mouth. After a lifetime of pretending otherwise, she was now thoroughly unmasked as the kind of girl who kissed first. She wrapped her arms around his neck and crawled halfway over the seat to press into his arms. He growled and her toes curled inside her decidedly comfortable shoes.
They kissed and kept kissing. When they finally came up for air, Ethan was saying, “You know, instead of you trailing after me on campaign, I might have an idea for a more permanent solution…”
Grace groaned. “The last time you said that, things didn’t work out that well.”
“What do you mean?” Ethan asked, leaning forward to kiss her again. “Things worked out perfectly.”
Epilogue
Clearly, the Founding Fathers were sadists, Grace thought. Otherwise, why have inaugurations in the middle of January? It was so cold the
only appropriate outfit she could put together was her high-heeled black leather boots and a red wool coat. A perfectly pressed and cat-hair-free red wool coat, as it happened; it turned out that sending her clothes to the dry cleaners was a successful trust-building exercise.
Looking in the mirror, she decided that she looked like…well, she looked like Grace Santiago. And that was a pretty great feeling.
As if the freezing winds howling through Annapolis and threatening to blow over the governor’s inaugural parade weren’t bad enough, inaugurations forced all the recent political candidates to gather together in one spot and pretend they didn’t hate one another.
Today Kip Halloway would face the newly sworn Senator Nancy Jackson and all her gloating staffers. This might be a pretty rough day. But as soon as they stepped out of the car, they were greeted by a chorus of cheers from former aides.
Grace watched the droopy lines of Kip Halloway’s weathered face lift into a smile. “Y’all gonna come work for me in my campaign to be mayor of Ocean City?”
The crowd cheered, chanting, “Halloway for mayor!”
Grace’s mood lightened and she puffed warm air into her hands. That’s when she saw Ethan with the Jackson people. He was wearing a dark overcoat and held an actual briefcase in his hand, looking like the sharp new legislative director that he was. Grace waved to him across the crowd and he lit up to see her.
In the full view of everybody, he crossed Lawyers’ Mall to embrace her. Then Ethan turned to Kip Halloway and extended his hand. “Good to see you again, sir.”
Grace always twitched when the two most important men in her life came face-to-face. She’d worried that the Halloway family would hold the campaign against Ethan, but Grace’s new stepfather delighted in playing back the video of Ethan punching Dale Delmont.
Now he took Ethan’s hand and shook it, enthusiastically. “How’s your hand healing up, son?”
Ethan gave his television smile. “Good as new.”
“I hear you’re going to be part of the family!”
In Bed With the Opposition Page 19