by K. A. Linde
“You know, I recently started following this columnist and I think you would love him,” the woman said, pulling her phone out of her purse.
“Oh, really?” Liz asked enthusiastically. She was always looking for new people to follow.
“Yes! He hasn’t written much, but his pieces really strike a chord in the current debate. I was lucky that I caught his first piece quoted in the Post.”
Liz’s heart leaped into her throat. No . . . that was just a coincidence. Tons of people were quoted in the Post.
“Here we are. Oh, well he doesn’t list his name now that I’m looking for it, but he goes by Dear Congress.”
All of the air whooshed out of Liz’s lungs at once. She felt Brady’s hold on her tighten. He knew about her secret identity and she was sure he was listening very closely now. Neither of them wanted to be found out just yet. It was taxing knowing that she couldn’t reveal herself as this mysterious person, but at the same time exhilarating that her words were making a difference, they were being heard, and she had a voice once again.
“Dear Congress,” Brady said with a chuckle. “Sounds like someone I should start paying closer attention to.”
“You really should. He might help you with that bill you’re working on.”
“I’ll brush up on him—or her—when I get home, Barbara.”
Liz bit her lip and tried to keep from giggling. She knew that she shouldn’t think it funny, but it still was to her. If she was penetrating the reading circles of elite politicians, then it could only mean good things.
The conversation turned to lighter subjects and soon dinner was cleared away. The keynote speaker was a prominent North Carolina activist named Harold Carmine, who gave a charming speech centered around the bipartisan nature of the occasion and advocating compromise in the current divided times.
Carmine finished up his speech, the lights dimmed, and music started playing through the speakers. This was the beginning of the real party, where everyone could mingle and dance. Last time Liz had made it as far as the dessert table for Oreo cheesecake when Brady had swept her into a dance. This time she was looking forward to that dance, even if she still wasn’t that great a dancer.
Brady placed his hand on the small of her back and leaned into her when they stood. “I have to meet with Chelsea for a bit. Will you go with Barbara? She likes you.”
Liz laughed and nodded. “All right. Save me a dance.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You want to dance with me?”
“I think I do every night,” she whispered.
“That is a very different kind of dancing.”
“And I’m much better at it.”
“I’ll have you prove that to me later,” he said, squeezing her arm and then following Chelsea over to a now-empty table.
Liz followed Barbara over to another group of women and listened to them chatter among themselves. It was clear that they had all known one another for some time. Liz was introduced to several of the women and then conversation resumed. After a few pleasantries, the women started talking about some event they had all attended. Since Liz obviously hadn’t been there she found herself tuning the conversation out and just smiling and nodding at the right points.
Her eyes found Brady across the room. He and Chelsea’s postures were incredibly comfortable. She was leaning forward as she spoke animatedly about what Liz could only assume was the environmental policy. Brady had his leg crossed at his ankle and the man managed to make it look damn sexy in a tux. Brady shook his head at whatever she had been saying and splayed his hands out in front of him. She could see him stiffen, as if he were trying to get her to see his point and she was resisting.
There was something about Chelsea that Liz couldn’t put her finger on. Despite the physical differences between the women, Liz thought that Chelsea was a lot like Heather: always working, headstrong, and ambitious. Chelsea might be short, thin, and have a sort of reserved elegance in her features, but she still seemed just as hard and calculated as Heather.
Liz shook her head and turned her attention back to the conversation at hand. The women were discussing charity work, which she had always had an interest in.
“What charity are you heading for the upcoming season?” Barbara asked Liz.
Everyone turned expectant eyes toward her.
Charity. What charity she was heading. She had been to enough events to know that many of the women in attendance didn’t work and instead just helped plan fund-raising parties for charity. A few of them would even take a position on a board. Liz hadn’t been in the political arena long enough to have investigated anything like that. She already had a range of charitable organizations that she agreed with, but she had never had time or funding while she had been in school to do much about it. Now that she had the means it only made sense to help however she could.
“A children’s literacy and education charity,” Liz said quickly.
It was a politician’s truth. She was absolutely interested and invested in education policy. She just hadn’t taken that a step further, but she would talk to Brady about it later and they would figure something out. It complemented the work that he had been doing in Congress anyway.
“That’s lovely,” one woman said with a smile.
Liz was about to reply when she felt someone brush her elbow. “Mind if I interrupt?” Brady asked smoothly.
Her eyes glanced up into his and then over to the table he had been sitting at with Chelsea. The woman was gone.
“Of course.”
“You owe me a dance.” Brady took her hand in his and nodded at the women. “You’ll have to excuse us.”
They preened and relented as Brady escorted Liz out onto the dance floor. He could charm anyone, even people who were immune to the charisma within the political arena.
“That was a quick meeting,” she said once she was in his arms again.
“Chelsea has some very different ideas about how to get me to agree to her position than what I can accommodate,” he told her.
“What does that mean exactly?”
“She likes to make demands and her company likes to throw money, but I’m not a man to be bought. You were the one who thought I was in it for the money, and apparently she also believes that.”
Liz sighed. She had inferred that from one meeting with Brady, but knowing him now she knew it wasn’t the truth. Brady actually believed wholeheartedly in everything he worked on. “Well, do you not agree with her position?”
He seemed to ponder this as he twirled her around the ballroom dance floor. “I agree with her underlying policies, but not with her methods. Also, I don’t think that what EMi is asking for is feasible in Congress. It’s hard enough getting education policy reform in the climate right now. It’s all well and good that we’re at a bipartisan event, but the world works in partisan ideologies that frequently clash. She wants something more extreme than I can promise would go through.”
“So, do you think it’s better not to introduce anything at all?” Liz asked. She could gauge his feeling on the matter, but she wanted to know exactly where his head was.
“I could introduce an anti-fracking bill knowing it would fail, but it does feel unethical. If she’s going to fund my campaign, then I want her to know why she’s doing it.”
Liz leaned into Brady as they danced. Here was the man she had accused of entering politics for profit, talking about turning aside money for ethical reasons.
“You know, you’re really nothing like I thought you were when we first met. I’m so glad I got to know the man underneath the mask.”
“And I’m glad I finally found someone worth sharing it with,” he whispered.
Chapter 22
FOURTH OF JULY
Liz and Brady’s town car rolled up to the Fourth of July festivities three weeks later. Brady’s family, Clay’s girlfriend,
Andrea, as well the rest of Brady’s team were in the cars following behind them. The park where the event was held was filled with families excited about the fireworks later on that evening. Kids wearing red, white, and blue outfits were chasing one another, grills were set up around the perimeter, and all around people were enjoying the outdoors after the parade that had gone through the park earlier.
When Liz had been at this event two years ago, Calleigh Hollingsworth had actually given her a press pass so Liz could be backstage for questions. She had just come to see Brady’s speech, the very speech that had won her vote. She fingered the locket around her neck that had the number four in it and smiled at the memories.
As soon as they reached their destination, people crowded in on all sides. Liz looked over at Brady with her eyes wide. “What’s going on?”
“They’re just here to see us. We had a crowd the past two years too,” he said, drawing her closer for a kiss.
The driver came around and opened the door for them. Liz stepped outside, but people didn’t part for them. They just crowded in more. She froze, unsure how to proceed. Brady stepped out behind her and urged her forward, but people weren’t moving. They weren’t getting out of their way. She knew that reporters hassled people and followed them. She had been exposed to that herself, but she had never felt more claustrophobic than that moment.
Just then a large man dressed in all black appeared through the crowd. “Sorry, Congressman Maxwell. This way,” he said and then started walking them toward the stage.
Liz steeled herself and then followed the man through the crowd of reporters. Flashes were going off on all sides and Liz smiled as she walked. Then she heard someone call out over the crowd.
Home wrecker.
Liz had looked out into the crowd and realized that the person was talking about her. Then someone else chimed in.
Whore. Slut.
Her mouth dropped open at the familiar accusation and she bristled all over. How dare people say that about her! She and Brady had been dating since February. She knew that people wanted a story and could see them wanting to provoke her, but what the hell?
She didn’t have time to process it. She had to follow their escort, and with Brady’s soothing hand on her back she pushed forward, trying to ignore the insults.
Once they had been shepherded through the group and landed safely in their closed-off area, Liz turned to Brady with questions in her eyes. His family and staff appeared a second later. It seemed that the crowd had no interest in them . . . just her.
“What the hell was that?” Liz asked Brady.
But Heather was the one to speak up. “There are still rumors flying that you broke up Brady and Erin. It’s been circulating again in the tabloids.”
“It’ll blow over,” Brady said confidently.
“When? When will it blow over? It’s been five months. You and Erin broke up in October.”
“Yes, but I never announced that publicly.”
“So now it looks like I’m the home wrecker,” Liz said.
She hadn’t been looking in the papers after that first breakdown. She hadn’t wanted to know what people were saying about her. But now she knew that was her grave mistake. She wasn’t prepared for this.
“Are they still saying I’m pregnant?” She touched the stomach of her loose, flowing red-and-white dress. It wasn’t the best choice if she wanted people to think that she wasn’t carrying Brady Maxwell IV at the present moment.
“We know you’re not.”
“But they still think I am?”
“Yes,” Heather answered.
“Don’t you think that’s important for me to know?” Liz gestured down. “A skintight dress might deter some of that reasoning.”
“Then they’d just say that you’d had an abortion or faked it,” Heather said callously.
“Why don’t you just shut the fuck up!” Liz screeched at her.
Heather glared at her, but Brady shot her a warning look. He put his hand on Liz’s shoulder and she immediately sagged into him. God, she was wound up. “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter.” He stroked his hand back through her hair soothingly. “We know the truth, baby.”
“It doesn’t matter if we know the truth,” Liz whispered. “People are going to think what they want to think, and that’s going to negatively affect the campaign, isn’t it?” She looked up at Brady expectantly.
His jaw was set and he just nodded.
“I did say this from the beginning,” Heather said.
“Oh, because ‘I told you so’ is really going to help anything right now,” Liz snapped.
Heather looked as if she was ready to yell at Liz when Clay stepped in. “You know, Heather, you have a lot of pent-up anger. I think I could help with that.” He winked at her and she turned her glare on him. “Just a helpful suggestion.”
“Aren’t you full of them,” Brady said, shaking his head.
“You were the ones raising your voice in public. Now, you know I prefer that we’re actually acting like humans rather than robots, but dare I say . . . you’re bit of an embarrassment, Big Brother.” Clay had his devil-may-care smirk on his face as the words tumbled out of his mouth. He looked as if he had been waiting to say that his entire life.
“He’s testing my patience, isn’t he?” Brady asked, directing the question at Liz.
And she couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Yes, he is. Don’t worry; you’re not really an embarrassment . . . I am.”
“She should have picked me,” Clay said with another wink.
“As if there were even a choice,” Liz said.
“Ouch.” He covered his heart as though he was wounded.
“Clay,” Andrea snapped, grabbing his arm. “Why are you being an asshole again?”
“It’s in my blood, babe,” he said, retreating to his girlfriend’s side.
“That’s the damn truth,” she muttered.
Heather took a deep breath as if she was trying to calm herself down. “Maybe you should make a statement, Brady.”
“I already did, when we first got together. Nothing else needs to be said,” he said.
“Maybe if they heard you refute the rumors then they would lie low for a while. We have to get through the primary still.”
“I’m making a statement every day just by being with her. I don’t need to say anything. The rumors will go away,” he said sharply. “Addressing them makes them seem like they matter, and they don’t.”
Heather looked as if she wanted to say more, but even she knew a losing battle when she saw one. “Well, just get ready for your speech then, and I’ll talk to the press, and to the police about clearing the area.”
She walked off and left Brady and Liz alone. Liz didn’t know what to say. A part of her agreed that they shouldn’t say anything about it and just let it blow over, but the other part of her wanted to scream at the media to stop following them around. She had only been with Brady for five months, and already the entire political process exhausted her.
“Try not to worry about the press, okay, baby? Things are going to blow over. We’ll always be in the spotlight, but there’s not a whole lot we can do about everyone else. As long as we’re good then that’s what matters. And we are good, right?”
“Of course,” she told him.
“Good.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I can’t wait to get you to Hilton Head and really be able to be with you.”
“Me either.” She wanted to replace the memories of when Brady had flown her out to Hilton Head. This time he wasn’t going to ignore her. There wouldn’t be another woman as his date—only be the two of them together with his family for a whole weekend on a much-needed vacation.
“Well, I should run through the speech before going up there. You know, I love that we work together and that part of the speech is part of you.”
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Liz smiled at the compliment. He had started practicing his speeches in front of her and asking her to point out anything she would change. It had become a fun routine between them and always ensured that she heard his speech a million times before he walked up to that podium to deliver it.
Almost as soon as Brady walked away, Savannah took his place. “How are you holding up? I heard what those people were saying.” Her brown eyes were large and concerned.
“I’m all right. Just frustrated.”
“I don’t think most people actually believe the media.”
“Someone has to or they wouldn’t latch on to it,” Liz said.
“They’ll find something else to talk about soon. You and Brady are the real deal. I’ve never seen him happier,” Savannah said, glancing at her brother. “Others will see that too.”
“I hope so. What about you? Are you and Easton still hanging out?”
Savannah tried to hide her own smile. “Yeah. We’ve been together all summer. He’s really great.”
“But?” Liz prompted.
“I didn’t say but.”
“Yeah, but I know you.”
Savannah sighed. “I invited him to Hilton Head with us.”
“And?” Liz had a feeling she knew where this was going.
“Lucas is going to be there.”
“Do you think something will happen between you and Lucas?”
Savannah shrugged. “I don’t know. No. He’s been home all summer and we’ve been hanging out again. I just get mixed signals from him. Nothing has happened since Fourth of July two years ago, but it’s just weird between us. Or maybe it’s weird how normal it is. I can’t keep it straight.”
“It’ll work itself out, just like this media bullshit,” Liz said. “You really don’t need a guy who hasn’t made a move in two years. I made that mistake. Hayden was only interested in me once Brady and I had already started dating. I swear, it’s like a beacon for guys.”
Savannah laughed. “An ‘unavailable’ beacon. It screams, ‘I’m dating someone else, so come hit on me.’ ”