by Lynn Murphy
Lily said, “If John had thought it was serious enough, he would have taken him to the hospital no matter what Kel said.”
George said, “Maybe, maybe not. Kel can be pretty stubborn about not making that a public issue.”
“But it already is,” Lily insisted.
“Well, Evan should be there by now and Kel will do whatever he suggests.”
Tara recalled Kel talking about trusting Evan with his life. Odette set plates in front of them and then kissed Lily and said, “Sorry I can’t stay. I have a lunch to cater and I’m nowhere near
ready. Let me know how Kel is okay?”
“I will ,” Lily said. “George, you can bless it and pray for Kel too.”
Odette stayed through the blessing and prayer and then left, promising to check in later. George finished his breakfast and stood. “I’m off to the hospital for the board meeting. I’ll see if Ross has heard from Evan.”
Tara left just after George and said, “I’m going in to the office for a few hours. If you hear anything let me know.”
Molly waited until the front door closed and said “She’s in love with him.”
Lily smiled. “Yes, she is.”
“Do you think he’s interested in her?”
Lily said, “Come with me.” She led Molly to the sunroom where three exquisite bouquets of flowers from Kel still sat. “He sends one every couple of days.”
Molly said, “Well now that’s interesting.”
“Yes,” Lily said. “Isn’t it?”
“What exactly do you think you are doing, John, expecting him to keep up with that kind of schedule?” Evan asked.
“It isn’t that way every day. I’ll take responsibility for yesterday of you need someone to blame Evan.”
“I’m not blaming anyone, but this isn’t an easy proposition for anybody. For Kel, however, you of all people should know what he’s capable of handling.”
John sighed. “He wants to be President of the United States, Evan. What do you want me to do? Sometimes that is just going to require sixteen hour days.”
“I want you to do your best to keep sixteen hour days to a minimum. He’s already shaking hands with hundreds of people every day, it’s not surprising he’s bound to catch something. I’m putting him on antibiotics since the fever indicates an infection and his lungs sound a little congested. I think we caught this before it turns into anything serious but you need to have him check his sugar level several times a day until its back to an acceptable level. Is there anything you can cancel for the next day or two without raising a lot of questions?”
“Not really but there isn’t as much scheduled for today and only two stops tomorrow before we head to Atlanta.”
“Every newspaper I pick up has some article about his diabetes. I get three or four calls a day from reporters wanting me to verify that he’s healthy enough to be President.”
“What do you tell them?”
Evan said, “I tell them he is, but he won’t be if you let him continue like this until the election. Don’t give them any reason to write about his medical needs if it’s an issue in the campaign.”
Kel entered the room, tying his tie. “Are the two of you done arguing?”
John said, “We aren’t arguing. Evan is reaming me out for not doing a better job taking care of you and I’m accepting the abuse.”
Kel laughed. “Well, good. I’d hate to think the two of you were breaking up because of me.”
Evan said, “If I go home now, will everyone agree to do a better job?”
John rolled his eyes. “You mean you aren’t going to follow us around for the next several days?”
“If I need to, I will.”
“You don’t,” Kel assured him, “But have lunch with us before you go.”
Tara took her story to Bobby’s office. He looked up when she knocked on his door. “Come in. I wanted to see you before you went to Atlanta. Obviously we need to do our own story on Kel being a diabetic. If you could get him to talk to you about it I’d like to run that next and I really think we need to do a story about his single status. If people realize that he hasn’t remarried because he lost the love of his life, they may be more receptive of him as a potentially single President.”
The love of his life? “You want me to do a story on Alise.” “No, a story about how much Kel loved Alise. Explain why he’s never remarried.”
Tara thought about what Mary Katherine had said about Alise. “Do you really think he’ll want me to do a story about that…part of his life?”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Bobby took the story from her, scanned over it, and said, “This looks great. When the election is over I might have to keep you as a regular feature writer.”
Tara tried to smile. “That would be nice. Well, I’m leaving in about an hour.”
“Have fun. And get both of those stories while you’re gone.”
The love of his life. Mary Katherine had never been a friend to Alise, so was it possible she had gotten it wrong? She drove to the airport and as she boarded her flight two thoughts played over and over. One, she was looking forward to seeing Kel, and two, she really didn’t want to interview him about his late wife.
Chapter Nine
Tara was on familiar territory when she left Hartsfield Jackson airport. She had missed rush hour traffic and drove toward downtown Atlanta without much difficulty. She turned into her parents’ neighborhood and pulled in the driveway. Her mother would be waiting and excited to see her. She climbed out of the car and grabbed her suitcase and was starting up the front walk as her brother Jack pulled up in his red convertible. He sprinted across the yard and grabbed her suitcase.
“Mom will kill me if you are carrying that when I’m here,” he said, kissing her cheek.
“It’s not that heavy, I’m only here for a couple of days.”
“Still.” They laughed. Their mother was adamant that he be a gentleman at all costs.
Julia greeted her children with smiles and hugs. “I’m so excited about going to the debate tonight,” she said as Tara came back downstairs. “I’ve never been to one before. Mostly I want to see if Senator O’Brien is anything like his father.”
Jack said, “Mom, you do realize it’s a debate, not a social event. You won’t be conversing with the man over cocktails.”
“Yes, Jack, I do realize that.” His mother swatted at him and he playfully ducked out of the way.
“Is Daddy coming?” Tara asked.
“He is, but he’s grumbling about it.”
“Well, I’m going to go meet up with the O’Brien entourage, but I’ll see you there.”
She hugged them both and drove downtown. She valet parked her car at the Renaissance Hotel and went into the lobby where she asked directions to where Kel was going to be meeting with local business leaders to discuss his economic policies. As she entered the conference room, he looked up and saw her and abandoned the conversation he was having with John and Skip and came to meet her.
Without thinking, he put his arms around her and kissed her. More than once. A photographer snapped a picture and then as if suddenly noticing they weren’t the only ones in the room, they broke their embrace and stepped away from each other.
“Why am I afraid I just became the news?” she said.
“At least maybe they’ll stop asking if I’ve got one foot in the grave,” he said.
“I heard you weren’t feeling well. How are you?” They started walking toward the others as the audience started filing in.
“Not a hundred per cent. But better.”
She greeted John and Skip and hugged Kimberly and they took their seats as Skip welcomed everyone and turned the floor over to Kel. He fielded questions and outlined ideas and policies he’d like to see put in motion and again she marveled at how well thought out his answers were and how easily he seemed to discuss any topic. She got the sense from the way they responded to Kel that he would have their support.
They left the Re
naissance and toured a local factory where Kel talked with the workers, went to lunch and met with a group of local ministers and religious leaders and went back to the hotel for an early dinner before the debate.
They ate in private in Kel’s room and then Skip and John and Kimberly went to their own rooms to rest a few precious minutes before they had to attend the debate, leaving Kel and Tara alone.
They sat side by side on the sofa and he said, “I wasn’t thinking about anything but kissing you this morning. I forgot I was on antibiotics for something, whatever it is that made me sick.”
She laughed and said, “I’ll take my chances with your germs.”
“Actually, I think we’re okay. I’ve been on them for forty eight hours now. Are you writing about the debate? What’s the slant on your story this week?”
She hesitated and then said, “Bobby wants two stories. He wants me to write about you being diabetic-with quotes from you on the subject.”
“I know I put that out there because I was angry and not thinking, but it still not a subject I really want to be interviewed about. However, a lot of people are writing about it without talking to me, so maybe he has a valid point. What’s the other story?”
She hesitated. “He wants me to interview you about ‘the love of your life.’”
“The what?”
“He wants a story about you and Alise.”
Kel stood up and looked out the window. Tara remained on the sofa, waiting for him to respond. “Why did you use the phrase ‘the love of your life’?”
“That’s how he referred to her.”
Kel nodded. “He would see it that way. Bobby is eight and half years younger than I am. When I went to college he was just in the fifth grade. Dad died that year too and I guess he’s always looked up to me. Even now, I still sort of think of him as a kid. I love him, as I do all my siblings, but I’ve never been close to him the way I have to Ross and Kim. He married Alise’s sister before he got out of college and as far as I know they’ve been happy. Because he was married to Debby I never made him privy to some of the more private parts of my relationship with Alise.” His cell phone rang and he paused and answered it. “Time to go,” he said. “As far as a story, well, try to hold him off on the great romance until I talk to John about that first. As for the other, maybe we can do that tomorrow.”
She stood and checked her hair and make-up and followed him to the door, more confused than ever about his relationship with his late wife.
He opened the door and held it for her, but before she could exit he leaned forward and gave her a kiss. “Let’s go see what they want to harass me about tonight, shall we?”
“Tara Kristin,” her father said the next morning as he tossed the paper on the breakfast table. “What is this?”
The headline read “First Lady In The Future?” and featured a large picture of Kel kissing her the day before. Her father threw two more papers on the table which featured the same photo and similar headlines.
Jack picked one up and said, “Gee Dad, why didn’t you get The National Enquirer and The Star while you were at it?
Michael McCaffrey snapped at his son. “That’s not funny Jack. But your sister probably is about to be on the cover of those scandal sheets too. This is completely unprofessional. What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking there would be a photographer. But I did want to kiss him, Dad.”
“You are interviewing him. Reporters don’t get involved with the people they are covering.”
Julia had picked up the first paper. “Well, darling, that’s quite a shot.”
Michael said, “Maybe you should find another job.”
Julia frowned at her husband. “Why, Michael? Because you don’t like Kelly O’Brien? You don’t even know him.”
“She doesn’t even know him.”
“Apparently she does, or at least would like to get to know him better.”
Tara said, “I kissed him, okay. It’s not the first time. I have no intention of quitting my job. But I would like to know why you seem so against him. You were almost rude last night and he was nothing but charming to you and Mother.”
“I just don’t like him,” her father said.
“He’s coming to dinner,” Julia said. “I invited John and Kimberly and Kel and their handsome nephew too.”
“You didn’t ask me first?” Michael turned to his wife.
“I didn’t know I had to. John is the son of one of my closest friends-one of your friends. How can we not ask them to dinner when they are in town?”
Tara watched her parents argue, something she had rarely witnessed. “I’m going to work. I’ll see you both for dinner. And just for the record, if I want to kiss Kelly O’Brien-or anyone else for that matter-I will.” She picked up her briefcase and walked out the door.
Jack called after her, “Wait up Tara!” and followed in her wake.
Julia sat down at the table and glanced again at the newspapers. “I know what your objection to him is, Michael, but that was a very long time ago and it isn’t fair to take it out on him or your daughter.”
“I will be as gracious as I can be for your sake, Julia, but this relationship isn’t going anywhere. He isn’t right for her.” He turned and left his wife sitting at the table. She looked at the newspapers one more time. She wasn’t sure that she agreed with her husband at all. The photographs told a different story,
Kel was quiet as they drove to the McCaffrey’s home. He was tired and still not completely feeling one hundred per cent, but he also had the distinct feeling that her father did not like him. He’d asked John how well he knew them and he had said that he hardly knew them, that the relationship had been with Lily and Julia, but that somehow George and Michael also knew each other and Lily had introduced the McCaffreys. He’d only seen them a handful of times when they had come to visit Julia’s family.
He hadn’t had a chance to discuss Bobby’s proposed articles with John, but he had gone ahead and talked with Tara about what it was like to be a diabetic. He had asked her to be sure and talk with Evan before she submitted the story to give it the balance of having someone well acquainted with his particular case from a medical standpoint to give it credibility. Above all, he wanted to make sure that the public realized that he was and had always been capable of doing his job.
Talking about Alise, especially with someone he was romantically interested in was more awkward. He had spent so many years not talking about Alise and if he told the truth, how would that affect Jim and Janet? He had never shared details of his marriage with his children for whom their mother was just a distant memory. He had been single for so many years because he had been afraid to have his heart broken again.
He was falling in love with Tara and even though the timing was horrible, he didn’t know what to do about it except fall. The time he spent with her was resurrecting the old romantic, idealistic side of him that he thought had died a long time ago.
The morning papers had been quite something. John hadn’t been exactly pleased, but as Skip pointed out, no one was talking about Kel’s health today. He laughed out loud as he remembered Skip’s brief comments to the press that morning.
“What are you laughing at?” Kimberly asked, turning around from the front seat.
“At Skip’s comments this morning.”
“How did that go again? Yes Senator O’Brien does know Miss McCaffrey. No, I couldn’t possibly comment on whether or not this is the first time he has ever kissed her. What I can verify at this time is that to the best of my knowledge they have not made plans to marry, have children or buy pets together.” John recited the quote word for word, but then it had been replayed a million times over if you counted YouTube hits.
“Sometimes they ask the stupidest questions,” Skip said. “But if I were you Kel, I would tread lightly around Tara’s dad, because I get the feeling for some reason he really doesn’t like you.”
“Thanks Skip,” Kel said as they pulled
into the driveway. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Tara greeted them in the foyer and made a point of kissing Kel. She wasn’t all together certain her family was watching, but she wasn’t going to not kiss him if they were. She could tell that surprised him a little, but he smiled back at her and said in hushed tones, “Would you like to get a dog together?”
She broke into laughter and said, “I thought that was the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. Skip is a media star now.” She took his arm and said, “I’m not sure everyone thought it was funny, though.”
Looking at her father’s expression as he entered the living room he knew who she was talking about. He extended his hand to Michael. “It’s nice to see you again Mr. McCaffrey.” Michael shook his hand, but didn’t offer any pleasantries.
Julia, on the other hand, invited them to sit and said to Kel, “You look exactly like your father. But then John looks so much like George too.”
Michael did ask about George and Lily and talked with John and Kimberly, and even Skip, but didn’t make any attempt to talk with Kel. Jack and Tara tried to cover up their father’s social shortcomings and then Julia called them to the dinner table.
The conversation seemed to go around Kel during dinner as well. Michael made it abundantly clear he was not interested in including him, which Kel wasn’t sure if he found irritating or amusing. After dessert, John made excuses for an early departure and Tara walked them to the door and stepped outside, closing it behind her.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what is wrong with my father this evening. Normally he isn’t that rude.”
“He probably isn’t used to seeing his daughter on the front page of every newspaper,” Kel said. “It’s all right.”
“Where are you going tomorrow?” She was sad to think she would be flying back to Newport and he wouldn’t.
“Florida. We still don’t have enough delegates to be the clear candidate, so we need to hit them hard before their primary.”
“I’ll miss you.”
He pulled her close and kissed her. “I’ll miss you too.”