She stopped and acknowledged him with simply, “Brady.”
“Good to see you, Aspyn. You look … good.” In reality, she looked a little tired and shuttered, her normal radiance muted. But from the multicolored knit hat to the battered fuzzy boots on her feet, she was still quintessentially Aspyn. She even jangled slightly as she shifted the box in her arms and adjusted her jacket against the brisk wind that kicked up. “I tried to call you.”
“I know.” Her eyes wouldn’t meet his.
“Would you like to get a cup of coffee? Go somewhere and talk?”
That finally brought her eyes to his face. “No. I just came to get my stuff and thank everyone for the muffins. I need to—”
He reached for her, but she stepped away. He put his hands in his pockets instead. “I really need to explain—”
“Brady, I don’t really care what you need. It’s harsh and I hate it for you, but that’s the truth. I’ve said all I want to say and I’m not willing to listen to you justify your actions, so there’s no point in dragging this out.”
Anger sparked inside him. “Be reasonable, Aspyn.”
Color bloomed in her cheeks as her eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to be reasonable. I don’t have to be reasonable. You lied to me. You hurt me, and I’m not over that yet. I can’t believe you’d think I would be.” He could hear the betrayal behind the anger in her voice, and her face hardened as she looked him over. “You’re not the person I thought you were, and I don’t like the person you actually are. And, more importantly, I don’t like the person I was becoming because of you.”
She might as well have slapped him. In fact, he would have preferred she had.
“Goodbye, Brady.” Aspyn pushed past him, not quite breaking into a run, but definitely moving quickly.
A flash of movement to his right caught his attention, and he turned to see most of the campaign staff and volunteers standing near the big windows. They moved away quickly once he turned, but no doubt they’d seen everything. Depending on what Aspyn had told them about her sudden resignation, they probably had enough pieces to know what was going on.
He turned on his heel and went back to his car.
Dinner was a small, family affair and, as expected, Nana was placated for his tardiness by his intention to come out next week and stay for a while. The election gave him an easy excuse for his distractedness, and the need to get back to the city a good reason to not linger over coffee. The truth, though, was, as always, Aspyn. His temper hadn’t quite cooled, and anger wasn’t a good mix with everything else she stirred up in him. He really wasn’t in the mood for people at all right now.
A ride would help, but he didn’t have the time. But he made his way to the stable anyway for a quick visit with Spider before he drove back to the city.
The sounds and smells of the Marshall stable were familiar and comforting. Big heads popped over stall doors as he entered, and he heard Spider’s whinny of recognition. “Hey, boy,” he greeted the stallion. “How’s things?”
Somehow, he wasn’t surprised when a female voice answered. “He’s going to be disappointed if you don’t take him out.” Lily walked around the corner from the direction of the office. Although she was Ethan’s fiancée now, not too long ago she’d been an employee of the stable and was still more comfortable out here than up at the main house. She’d sat through dinner, but excused herself immediately after dessert. Everyone assumed the stable would be her destination. She still loved the horses. “You can’t tease him like that.”
He fed Spider a treat and rubbed his nose. “That will have to do until I get back next week.”
“You know, I always meant to ask you how you came up with the name Spider for a horse.”
“Finn named him, actually.” Lily looked surprised. “His legs were so long when he was born, Finn said he looked more like a big black spider than a horse. It just stuck.”
“Interesting.” Lily reached over and gave Spider a pat.
“Make Ethan tell you how he came up with Tinker’s name.”
“I’ll do that.” At the sound of his name, Ethan’s horse whinnied for attention. Lily patted him fondly. “And by the way, congrats on a well-run campaign. Good job.”
“It’s not over just yet, but thanks.”
Lily turned like she was going to leave, but she hesitated, her eyebrows pulling together as she dithered.
He shouldn’t ask and a month ago he wouldn’t have, but Aspyn had had a greater effect on him than he wanted to admit. “Something on your mind, Lily?”
She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket. “I know it’s not my business, but Ethan told me about what happened between you and Aspyn.”
So much for the sanctity of brotherly talk over good whiskey. “My brother has a big mouth.”
“That’s very true. But since he spilled all my deep dark secrets to you, I guess we’re even.” She frowned. “Aspyn seems like a neat person. I’m sorry things didn’t work out for either of you.”
What, exactly, had Ethan told her? It might help if he could fully remember everything he’d told Ethan. His hangover from that night was something from a college nightmare. “Thanks.” That should be a safe enough comment.
Lily opened her mouth to say something then changed her mind and closed it, shaking her head the whole time. Then she took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’m just going to risk it.”
“Risk what?”
“Your wrath. What you did to Aspyn sucks.”
Great. Another woman who sees this as all his fault. “I didn’t ‘do’ anything to her. She may have misunderstood the situation, but that’s not my fault.”
“It never is with you Marshall boys,” Lily snapped before she caught herself and cleared her throat. “You’ve lived in your bubble for so long, you just can’t see outside it. It’s a blindness for your entire family. I know it’s not intentional, but it’s there.”
He hadn’t wanted to be lectured by Ethan, and he definitely didn’t want to be lectured by Lily. But he couldn’t dismiss her unless he wanted Ethan coming after him for upsetting her again. “Your point?”
“My point is simple.” She leaned against Tinker’s stall, easily brushing the horse away when he tried to chew on her ponytail. “Take an idealistic, optimistic believer, tell her what she’s hoping to hear and give her the opportunity she’s been waiting for. She’s going to believe it, adopt it as her own and live it wholeheartedly, because she wants to believe in the goodness and the possibilities. That’s who Aspyn is.”
Lily had Aspyn pegged. And that clear insight into Aspyn’s psyche made him a little wary of what was still to come from Lily.
“Now you know how Ethan is about honesty. That’s a direct result of this weird political bubble y’all live in. He distrusts everything until it’s proven otherwise. Aspyn is the flip side of that—believing everything—but just like Ethan, she can’t really see the gray area.”
Lily had a good point there.
“You lied to her, Brady. You might see it as a little white lie, but Aspyn isn’t going to make that distinction. Not about something like this. That one lie brings down everything she’d put belief in.” She leveled a look at him. “You know I speak from experience, and you know I’m right. Oddly enough, you and I are a lot alike. We understand that gray area between totally right and totally wrong.”
He nodded. “The bigger picture.”
“Exactly. Ethan and Aspyn, bless their hearts, don’t always see it.” A small smile crossed her face. “Ethan’s getting better at it these days, but Aspyn … This is probably the first time she’s had that kind of slap-in-the-face betrayal of something she believed to be true.”
Damn it. Lily was right. It wasn’t just a lie; it was an assault against Aspyn’s entire worldview. “I stomped her optimism.”
“Yep. And there’s no good way to recover from that. For either of you. Then there’s …” Lily cut her eyes at him. “Then there’s the fact you … um … expa
nded to a physical relationship. That makes the betrayal deeper because sex means something.”
“Aspyn would disagree about that.”
“She might, but I’d argue otherwise. Aspyn definitely cares for you.” He swallowed his shock, and if Lily noticed, she didn’t comment. “How deeply she cares, I can’t say. But even if she didn’t, ‘Free Love’ isn’t empty or void of all meaning. By its nature, it’s honest. And even if she didn’t expect you to be a forever guy, I guarantee you she at least expected honesty in bed. If you lied to her about one thing important to her …”
He held up a hand. “I get it, Lily.” He’d been flogged enough.
“Good.” She looked at him. “I mean, I’m sorry that things worked out like that, but I’m glad you can see it from her perspective.”
They left the stable and started to walk back up to the main house in silence. After a minute, he couldn’t hold the question back any longer. “So no advice on how to fix this?”
Lily’s eyebrows arched up. “I didn’t know you wanted to.”
Did he? “Well, if I wanted to, what would you suggest?”
“Well, you can’t fix it and you can’t make it up to her. That idea is a lie perpetrated by bad movies. What’s done is done. You can’t ‘unhurt’ someone, and she might not be willing to get past it.”
“Have you always been such a pessimist?”
“I’m actually an optimist. I wouldn’t be here today if I weren’t. Thing is, I know you can’t change the past. The only thing you can do is admit your mistakes and do better in the future.” She shrugged.
“That’s it? That’s all you have?”
“That depends.”
“On …” he prompted.
She stopped and sized him up. “Do you love her?”
He shifted his weight, uncomfortable under her stare, and she laughed. “You don’t have to answer that. But you should probably plan on some serious groveling.” She started walking again. “You can’t jerk her around, though. Only grovel if you mean it and plan to follow through.”
Before he could ask her what she meant, Ethan called her name from halfway up the path. “Lily! You ready?”
“On my way,” she answered before turning back to him. “But let me know if you do decide to grovel. I wanna watch.” She smirked, then she ran up the path and into his brother’s arms for a big kiss.
Lily was sharper than he’d given her credit for, even if that insight wasn’t all that pleasant for him at the moment.
Aspyn had invested herself in the campaign one hundred percent. She’d done everything asked of her and more, and she’d proven she had a sharp and savvy political mind. He’d originally admired her passion and commitment to her beliefs, and she deserved the honest chance he’d implied she had. That much he could easily do. He could make amends for that part of the problem.
As for Aspyn herself …
Did he love her?
He missed her. He worried about her. He was angry at himself for hurting her, and angry at her for not returning his calls. Aspyn was the one person who never bored him, the one person who could surprise him.
She made him eat quiche and tofu and worry about the rain forests. She made him feel optimistic about the future. And he could easily see her in his future, now that he could admit his view of the future had changed because of her.
Damn.
It was a bit disconcerting to Aspyn how quickly her life went back to normal. Even more disconcerting was how no one seemed to find it odd that she’d left the campaign this close to the election.
No, the most disconcerting thing was how few people even noticed at all. Talk about a flash in the pan. Society as a whole, Aspyn decided, had the attention span of a goldfish. After all the hoopla about getting their politicians to listen to them, no one seemed to realize or care that her return to her old life meant no one was listening to them now.
No wonder pessimism and cynicism reigned supreme on Capitol Hill.
And with her current attitude, she’d fit right in. Ugh.
She ripped the credit card receipt off the roll and handed it and the stack of books to the man on the other side of the counter. From her bag tucked away near her feet, she heard her phone ring and dug it out as the door closed behind him.
“Aspyn Breedlove?”
“Speaking.”
“This is Kelly James in Senator Peters’s office.”
Aspyn swallowed hard. Senator Peters was a ranking member on the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Whoa. She tried to ignore the pump of adrenaline into her system. She probably thinks I’m still with the campaign or something. “Yes, how can I help you?”
“Senator Marshall’s office sent over some of the data and reports you worked on for them.”
“They did?” she squeaked. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Really?”
“I must admit some of the trends you note are quite intriguing, but I’m also interested in a footnote you have here referring to …”
Aspyn had to sit. An aide to one of the most powerful men in the Senate when it came to environmental policy had read her report. Margo rushed over, concern written all over her face, but Aspyn waved her away. “I’d be happy to provide the source material for you.”
“Wonderful. Could we set up a short meeting for sometime next week?”
Aspyn’s world swayed slightly and she nearly fell off the stool. “Next week? Sure. I’d like that.”
“How’s Thursday around two for you?”
Margo slipped something in my tea earlier that’s causing me to hallucinate. “That would be great.”
“I’m going to email you a few things to look at and a couple of other questions your data raises …”
Nope. This was real. Aspyn jumped up and did a happy dance as Kelly confirmed her email address and said goodbye. After making sure the call was disconnected, she grabbed Margo in a huge hug. “Yay! This is amazing!”
“I’m so happy for you, honey. What’s amazing?”
“I’ve got a meeting with an aide in Senator Peters’s office next week.”
“I have no idea what that means, but I’m thrilled for you nonetheless.” Margo squeezed her shoulders tight.
“Well, I know exactly what that means.”
Aspyn whirled around at the amused voice. “Mom!” She ran and was caught in a hug that smelled of sandalwood and vanilla—the two scents she always associated with her parents. “What are you doing back? Where’s Dad? Is everything okay?”
“He was right behind me. Who knows what’s distracted him. Everything is fine, and we’re here to see you, of course.” Her mom gave her another squeeze, then greeted Margo.
“There’s my girl.”
“Dad!”
As her father hugged the breath out of her, she heard her mother say, “Allen, Aspyn has a meeting with Senator Peters’s office next week.”
Her dad held her at arm’s length, surprise written on his face. “Is this true?”
Her heart sank to her knees. “I can explain. I swear.”
“I certainly hope so,” her father huffed. “I went on a hunger strike on the steps of the Capitol Building and got diddly. You get handcuffed to a senator’s son, start a revolution and end up with the ear of not one, but two senators, in what? A month? That’s unreal. Good for you.”
She searched their faces. “You’re not mad at me?”
Her mom blinked. “Mad? Why on earth would we be mad?”
“You are obviously a force to be reckoned with,” her father added.
Aspyn had to pick her jaw up off the floor before she could speak. “Really? I am?”
Her mom led her over to Margo’s couch and sat. “Goodness, what did you think?”
“I was afraid you’d think I’d sold out my principles. Gone over to the Dark Side.”
Her father sat on her other side. “Did you?”
“No! But I know how you feel about—”
Her mom patted her knee. “Aspyn, you’
re making your waves your way. And it seems to be working for you.”
“Pretty damn well, I’d say,” her father added. “Maybe we should take a few pointers from you.”
Pride swelled in her chest.
“I told you so,” Margo added.
So did Brady. Her heart contracted painfully at the thought of him. She shouldn’t be thinking about him.
“Who?” her mom asked, and she realized she’d said it aloud.
She forced herself to smile, but it felt odd and fake on her face. “Brady Marshall. The one I got handcuffed to. He’s probably the one responsible for getting me the meeting with Peters’s aide,” she realized, and that meant she needed to have a think as to what Brady was up to now.
It would have to be later, though. Thinking about Brady hurt too much. Right now, her head was spinning in a good way, and she didn’t want to ruin this moment by letting that pain out.
“So tell us about this Brady Marshall person. I remember when his grandfather was in the Senate …”
Damn.
On Tuesday, Aspyn went to the polls early. She was tempted to retaliate, and for a minute her pen hovered over the box for Mack Taylor. But she couldn’t. She’d worked too hard; everyone at HQ had worked too hard for her to betray them by throwing away her vote out of spite and anger.
Who would ever have thought an election could make her cry.
CHAPTER TEN
MARSHALL Sweeps To A Third Term, the headlines shouted at Aspyn Wednesday morning. Not that she was all that surprised at the election results, but working on a winning campaign would look much better on her résumé than working on a losing one. If she ever got around to updating it, that was. At this point, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with all her new knowledge and connections, if anything at all.
It was absolutely ridiculous to let her personal feelings for Brady affect her decisions about future career options, but right now, the two were too tangled together for her to want to investigate that path.
The Power and the Glory Page 14