Election Day

by J. A. Armstrong

***

  Duncan Reid handed his son a cold bottle of beer. He was thankful for a brief escape to the local watering hole in town. Whenever Toby visited, the two made a point of sharing a pint at The Tin Roof.

  “Thanks, Dad,” Toby said.

  “JD was happy when I told her that you were coming tomorrow.”

  “Miss the annual barbecue? No way.”

  Duncan laughed. Candace and Jameson’s annual Fourth of July barbecue was an event that everyone looked forward to. Most years, the backyard was filled with friends and family—a deliberate attempt to escape the spotlight that invaded Candace and Jameson’s life. This year, Duncan was aware there would be a small media presence. The journalists invited and the two photographers granted access had been hand-selected by Candace with Jameson’s approval. He’d heard his daughter-in-law’s pledge that the slightest feel of intrusiveness would result in a revoked invitation.

  “Are they actually letting reporters come?” Toby asked.

  “A couple,” Duncan replied.

  “What does JD think of that? I mean, with everything that’s been going on lately, I would think she’d want them as far away as possible.”

  “I’m sure they both do.”

  “But?”

  Duncan took a swig from his bottle. “I don’t think they have that luxury this year.”

  “I guess. How is JD holding up?”

  “You know your sister. She talks a good game.”

  “I can’t believe Uncle Jerry.”

  Duncan groaned. “I’d like to…”

  “Yeah, me too. What is his issue with JD anyway? I don’t get it. JD didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Craig.”

  “No. He’s always been a son of a bitch,” Duncan said. “It’s his way or no way.”

  “Well, he could keep it to himself,” Toby said.

  “He’s never been good at that,” Duncan replied with disgust. He took a greedy swallow of his beer. His brother-in-law had been free with more than his opinions over the years. Duncan had no use for a man who would hit his children or his wife. He’d tolerated the man because of Maureen. After Craig’s death, Jerry had appeared in their kitchen. He’d been drinking and decided that Maureen would be the target of that night’s rage. It had been the last time Jerry Donnelly had stepped into Duncan Reid’s home.

  “Hey, is it true what you said about the governor’s wife?”

  Toby and Duncan turned their attention to an unfamiliar voice a few feet away.

  “What’s that?” a voice asked.

  “That you and her—you know.”

  Toby hopped off the barstool he’d been occupying.

  “Let’s just say I doubt she screams that way with her old lady.”

  Toby shoved two people out of his way. He came face to face with Jed Tyler.

  “You son of a bitch!” Toby yelled. He grabbed Tyler by the shirt.

  Duncan scurried to grab hold of his son. He pulled Toby backward.

  “What’s your problem? Jealous?” Tyler baited Toby.

  “You fucking raped my sister, you asshole!”

  Toby lunged forward again. It took every ounce of strength Duncan had to pull him back.

  “Toby, leave it! He’s not worth it.”

  Jed Tyler brushed himself off. “Your sister? Which one was that?”

  Toby struggled against his father’s hold. Duncan spun Toby around. He looked at the familiar face of a local friend. “Brett,” Duncan asked his friend. “Get Toby out of here, will you?”

  Brett ushered Toby toward the door.

  “Let me go,” Toby shook off Brett’s hold.

  “The only place you’re going is to the door,” Brett said. “Your father’s right. That asshole isn’t worth it.”

  Duncan Reid had never enjoyed fighting. It was rare that he needed to. His mere presence could be imposing. Years of working construction had kept him fit. He was nearly 6’4, muscular and no one would have guessed that the sixty-eight-year-old man was a day over fifty-five. His temple twitched with anger as he deliberately approached Jed Tyler.

  “Got something to say, old man?” Tyler grinned.

  “To you?” Duncan said.

  “You’re the one standing here,” Tyler said.

  “You’re lucky Toby reached you first.”

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  “Because if I had, all the men in this bar wouldn’t have been able to stop me.”

  Tyler laughed. “Give it your best shot.”

  Duncan appraised the man before him and shook his head. “Like I said, you’re not worth it.”

  “Not what the lady said.”

  Duncan’s gaze grew menacing. He had no idea how Jed Tyler landed in the bar he frequented. He’d been around enough to guess that it hadn’t been by accident. Most of the people here were lifelong friends of Duncan’s. A few were friends of Jameson’s as well. In fact, the only two he didn’t recognize as frequent patrons were Tyler and the man he was talking to.

  “I doubt any lady has ever enjoyed the pleasure of your company,” Duncan said. “The screaming part? That I believe.” He took a step back and smiled. Duncan threw a fifty-dollar bill on the bar. “Do me a favor, Jack,” he addressed the bartender without looking at him. “Buy the bar a round on the Reid family.”

  Jack pushed the fifty-dollar bill back at Duncan. “The Reids are family,” Jack said. “This round’s on the house.”

  Duncan picked up the money. “Thanks, Jack.”

  “Tell JD that the governor has The Tin Roof’s vote,” he said.

  “Here, here!” a few voices echoed the sentiment.

  “Get out of here,” Jack told Jed Tyler and his friend.

  “No, no,” Duncan said. “Let them stay. If there’s one thing my daughter-in-law has taught me, it’s to be cordial to everyone—even assholes.” He smiled at Jed Tyler. “Enjoy your drink, Mr. Tyler.” He nodded to Jack and turned on his heels to leave.

  “She’ll never win, you know!” Tyler called across the room.

  Duncan continued toward the door. “She already has.”

  ***

  Candace handed Cooper a juice box. He accepted it with a smile and returned to coloring the picture in front of him. She sat back down on the sofa next to him. “What else?” she asked the group seated around her.

  “There is some disagreement on the idea of raising tolls,” Dan said.

  “There’s some disagreement on everything,” Candace said. “I don’t love the idea of raising prices on anything.” She sat quietly for a moment, considering all the arguments she’d heard.

  “Mommy?” Cooper whispered.

  Candace turned her attention to her son. “What is it, Cooper?”

  “What’s a toll?”

  “A toll is something a person pays for driving on a road or sometimes over a bridge,” she explained.

  Cooper’s lips gripped the straw in his drink. He sucked some more juice into his mouth and then looked back at her. “Why?”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Why do people pay to drive?”

  Cooper had begged Candace to let him stay with her while she conducted meetings that morning. Jameson had argued that it might be a distraction. Candace didn’t see it that way. None of her meetings were set to deal with pressing issues. She was looking to catch up on the details that she’d missed during the fervor of the convention and the weeks leading up to it. She’d been far more concerned about Cooper’s potential boredom than any distraction he might provide. He was naturally and genuinely curious about the discussion around him, even if it seemed boring to the people engaged in it. Being a part of his mother’s day made him feel important. Candace knew that.

  “Well, Cooper,” Candace began. “That’s a good question. People pay to do all kinds of things.”

  “Yep, like for ice cream.”

  “Right.”

  “But why?”

  This is not an easy question. “Well, money is one of the ways we keep control o
f the world we live in.” Or, it’s supposed to be that way. “Money is one of the ways that we show what things have value to us.”

  “Like ice cream?”

  The group in the room all giggled.

  “Yes, Cooper. You know, when you go to get an ice cream with Momma, the ice cream Momma buys you had to be made and it had to travel to get to you.”

  Cooper was puzzled. “Like from the cows?”

  Candace smiled. “That is where it starts. Cows give us the milk we need to make the ice cream.”

  “Do the cows get money?”

  They probably should. “No, sweetheart. The cows don’t get money, the people who take care of the cows do.”

  “Why? They don’t make milk.”

  Candace loved to listen to Cooper. “No, but they make sure the cows have what they need to eat, and they give the cows a place to sleep, and that all costs money.”

  “Oh.”

  “And, then a person has to spend time taking that milk and mixing it with other things to make your ice cream. Another person drives it to the store. Then someone has to scoop it into the cup for you to eat it.”

  “And put in the chips!”

  “And, put in the chocolate chips too—yes, that’s true.”

  “But, Mommy we have to drive to get ice cream.”

  “Yes, we do. And, just like the ice cream has all those people who help make it, so do the roads. And, that’s why we have tolls.” Something like that.

  “Momma says everything costs too much.”

  Candace laughed. I’ll bet she did. “Well, Momma’s not wrong.”

  Cooper shrugged and returned to coloring his picture.

  Oh, how I love you, Cooper. Candace shook her head. “See what other options there are. I’m open to ideas,” she told her staff.

  “Anything else, Governor?” Dan asked.

  “No. I don’t think so. I think that’s enough for today. I’m suddenly craving ice cream.”

  Cooper looked up excitedly.

  Candace winked at her son. “You all enjoy your holiday. I’ll see you next week.” She bid farewell to her staff and turned back to Cooper. “So, what do you say? How about we stop for an ice cream on the way home?”

  “Just you and me?” Cooper asked.

  Candace’s heart ached in the best of ways. “Just you and me.”

  Cooper nodded excitedly. “But, Mommy…”

  “What is it, Cooper?”

  “What about Jeff and Gil? They have to have ice cream too.”

  Candace nodded. Gil Barclay was the agent in charge of her security detail, and Jeff Lamkin was assigned to Cooper full-time. “Well, I’ll tell you what, Gil and Jeff are in the kitchen right now. Why don’t you go tell them what the plan is? You can offer to buy them both an ice cream.”

  “’Kay!”

  Candace watched Cooper run off in search of the two Secret Service agents. She understood that if she made the offer, it would be politely declined with a customary, ‘No thank you, Ma’am.’ If Cooper made the overture, the two senior agents were likely to acquiesce. She sympathized with the two men. The Fletcher-Reid family was both large and larger than life. It was the agents’ duty to keep Candace and her family safe. That required a unique blend of physical closeness and emotional distance. She did not envy their task. To Cooper, the frequent faces that accompanied their family had become friends. He was full of questions and stories. She imagined it would be difficult for anyone to avoid falling in love with her son. She certainly had.

  “Governor,” Gil Barclay rapped on the open door.

  “I’m guessing that Cooper found you.”

  He nodded. “You want to stop at Andy’s on the way back to Schoharie?”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “No, Ma’am.”

  “But?”

  “It is an open area.”

  “I know. No one is expecting us there. I think we’ll be fine.”

  “From a planned threat, yes.”

  “Gil…”

  “Governor, you need to take these precautions seriously—not just for yourself.”

  Candace groaned. She knew the agent was right. She also knew that her ability to do these things would end if she were elected. “Gil, if I win this election, the days of deciding to stop for an ice cream with Cooper at will are all but over for the next four years. He’s a little boy. I need to do as much as I can with him now. Do you understand?”

  “I do,” he said. “Promise me that you will leave the moment I ask.”

  Candace held his gaze. “You have my word.”

  “I’ll send Jeff ahead.”

  Candace nodded. “Gil?” she called after him.

  “Yes, Governor?”

  “Tell him to be inconspicuous.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Candace threw her head back and sighed. It’s just an ice cream.

  ***

  Jameson stepped out of the car and waited for Nate Ellison and his family to exit. “I should warn you,” she said. “Things can get a little crazy when all the kids are here.”

  Ellison smiled. “No worries, JD. I think Janine has been looking forward to this almost as much as the boys. She enjoyed talking to Marianne at the convention.”

  “Marianne’s the best,” Jameson said as she led the group toward the house.

  “You two are close?” he asked.

  “We are. It wasn’t always that way.” Jameson chuckled. “I’m not sure either of us would have envisioned how close we are now—not when I first started seeing Candace.”

  “Must be a little strange, being so close in age, I mean.”

  “Sometimes it is,” Jameson admitted. “Not as much now as it used to be. Family is family. We have our ups and downs like everybody else. I wouldn’t trade any of it, though.”

  “Ever think about adding more?” Ellison teased.

  “If you mean Candace and me—no. The way Candace’s kids reproduce we’ll need a state of our own pretty soon.”

  Ellison laughed.

  “There you are!” Pearl stepped out onto the back porch.

  “Here we are,” Jameson said.

  Pearl stepped down and extended her good hand. “Nice to see you again, Senator.”

  “Nice to see you, Mrs. Johnson,” he greeted her. “But really, Nate is fine.”

  “Well then, you can call me Pearl or Grandma. I seem to answer to just about anything these days.”

  Jameson rolled her eyes. “Just make sure you don’t trip over anything.”

  “You are a regular comedienne, Jameson,” Pearl replied dryly. “How about you let me show the Ellisons to their rooms?”

  “I can,” Jameson began to protest.

  “I know you can,” Pearl said. “The natives are getting restless,” she said.

  Jameson shook her head.

  “Marianne got home a couple of hours ago and Spencer’s been asking every five minutes where you all are.”

  “Who’s us all?” Jameson asked.

  “You, Cooper, and Nana.”

  “Candace isn’t here yet?” Jameson asked.

  “Nope. She called and said she and Cooper had something important to do before they came home.”

  Jameson frowned. What on earth is she up to?

  Pearl looped her arm around Nate Ellison’s and looked at Janine. “You have the pleasure of staying in Shell’s old room,” she said. She looked at the youngest of Ellison’s sons. “You must be Grayson.”

  He nodded.

  “Candy thought you might like to stay with Cooper and Spencer.”

  Grayson’s face lit up. “Can I?” he asked his mother.

  “Sure.”

  “And, you’re Derek?” Pearl guessed.

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “There are no Ma’ams in this family,” Pearl told him with a wink. “You can call me Pearl or Grandma Pearl, just don’t call me ma’am. Makes me think of some old lady.”

  Jameson snickered.

  “Somethin
g funny?” Pearl asked her.

  “No, Ma’am.”

  Pearl glared at Jameson. “Watch it.”

  Janine Ellison giggled.

  Pearl looked back at Derek. “Forgive Jameson. She fell and hit her head once. Hasn’t been the same since.”

  Jameson rolled her eyes.

  “Candy thought that you might like to share a room with her friends’ son, Dylan. Of course, if I had to bet, half the boys will be out in Jonah’s old tent tomorrow night.” Pearl leaned into Janine’s ear. “I’ll let Shell explain that one to you later.”

  “Pearl!” Jameson scolded the older woman.

  Pearl flashed an impish grin. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get you settled. We’ll see if you still want to be part of this nuthouse after the next two days.”

  Jameson shook her head as Pearl disappeared into the house with the Ellison family.

  “Where’s Pearl off to?” Jonah’s asked when Jameson stepped into the kitchen.”

  “Nice to see you too,” Jameson laughed. “She’s on a mission as usual,” Jameson said. “Didn’t think I’d see you until tomorrow.”

  “Laura spent the day with her mom.”

  “Does she have the kids?”

  “Sophie. JJ is upstairs with Maddie.”

  Jameson regarded Jonah thoughtfully. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Can I get a beer first?” Jameson asked. She pulled a cold bottle from the refrigerator. “You want one?” she asked.

  “Sure.”

  Jameson handed Jonah a beer. “What’s up? Issues at work?”

  “No,” Jonah said. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “Okay?”

  “I was kind of wondering if maybe you had some time next week. You know, I thought maybe we could go fishing or something.”

  Jameson took a sip from her beer. “Sure.” She chuckled at the surprise on Jonah’s face. “Your mom is home until the middle of next week. Everybody will be cleared out of here in a couple of days. Why don’t we go on Friday?”

  “Seriously?”

  Jameson nodded. “If your boss will let you have the day off, that is.”

  Jonah laughed. “I’m sure Mel won’t mind.”

  “How about Laura?”

  “She won’t mind either. Maybe she’ll have a chance to spend some time with Mom.”