“Jessie is a member of Congress, Mother.” He smirked, obviously enjoying the opportunity to set her straight. “She’s from Arizona and a freshman just like me.”
Processing what she’d just heard, Evelyn opened and then shut her mouth before her good manners took over. “Excuse me Congresswoman. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that. I do apologize.”
“Please, don’t apologize,” I said, shaking my head. “There are over four hundred members of the House. Only lobbyists know every single one of us, and that’s because they’re paid to.”
“No, it’s really inexcusable of me. Please forgive me.” Again she stared, still trying to place me. Then it dawned on me.
She thinks I’m a Republican, but she thought she knew all the Republican women in Congress.
I smiled, as she looked at her watch and announced, “Michael, do you mind if we leave now? I have an early morning meeting.”
“Not at all.” He still wore the same smirk.
“Thank you. Just let me tell the other board members that I’m leaving.” She turned to me. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Jessie, and I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow at the RNC fundraiser.”
Poor woman
. I felt a little bad for what I was about to do to her, but only a little. “Actually, no, Mrs. Grath, I won’t be attending the dinner. I’m a Democrat.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened, but only for a second before she composed herself. She was a political matron after all and hard to trip up. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
I waved my hand to dismiss the misunderstanding. “No apology necessary. It’s a good assumption. There are only ten Democrats in this freshman class.”
Michael appeared to watch the whole thing with amusement. He nodded to his mother. “Mom, go say your goodbyes.”
“Yes, I will.” Extending her hand one more time to me she said, “It really was nice to meet you. I hope we can speak again.”
“Yes, that would be nice.” I shook her hand. “Goodnight, Mrs. Grath.”
Evelyn turned to find some of her fellow trustees, but not before giving me one more look. I’d bewildered her. Why was her son talking to a Democrat like me? He wasn’t even divorced.
Oh, the scandal!
When she was a few steps further away, Michael smiled down at me. “Sorry about that. She sort of lives in her own little world.”
“No worries.” I laughed. “As you know, this happens to me a lot.”
“I guess I did make the same mistake as her.”
“You did.”
“But at least I didn’t talk to you like you were nineteen.”
My hand went to my hip. “No, but you thought I was a waitress.”
“You’re right.” He cringed and laughed. “I guess that’s not any better.”
“Not really.” I chuckled.
We had shared a smile before he gestured to my foot. “So you’re off your crutches. Do you feel better?”
“Yeah. My ankle works again. Thank God. I can’t wear heels, though, which just makes me look even more out of place.”
After a quick appraisal from head to toe and shrugged, “So you don’t look like your average congresswoman with gray hair and always wearing a suit and high heels.”
“Exactly. Which is why I try to look doubly professional.”
“I understand, but couldn’t you embrace the fact that you’re different—you know, work it to your advantage?”
I was just about to tell him all the reasons why that wouldn’t work when he spoke again, this time with some trepidation. “You’re very pretty, you know.” The compliment was like a shock to my heart, and before I could even mumble a thank you, he qualified it like he was only stating a fact. “I can’t be the first person to tell you that.”
Maybe he was just speaking plainly, but hearing it from him made me giddy. My cheeks flamed, as I found my voice to say a muted, “Thanks.”
“So Jessie, my work here is done,” Larry said, appearing from a few feet away.
I was thankful for his interruption until I saw the stupid grin on his face. Great. He must’ve heard everything. I minded my manners and gestured back and forth between the two men. “Larry Wingren meet Michael Grath.”
A jovial Larry pumped Michael’s hand. “Evening, Congressman. Nice to meet you.”
“Please, call me Michael.” He smiled. “And I’m not sure if it’s nice to meet you. You caught that last touchdown that knocked my Bears out of the playoffs last year.”
“Aw, you’re gonna hold that against me?”
“Hell, yeah.”
Larry turned to me. “I like this guy, already.” Then he said to Michael, “So, you like sports?”
“Sure. I’m excited for the NCAA Tournament coming up. A couple of Illinois schools are in the first round.”
“Yeah, that’s right. My alma mater, North Carolina State, is in it, too.”
“As is mine,” I said. “Arizona is a second seed.”
Larry’s face brightened like he’d come up with a great idea. “Hey, Michael, my butt is gonna be parked on the couch all next weekend. You should come over one day and watch some of the games.” He then nodded to me. “Maybe Jessie will come up from the basement and watch, too.”
I’d already been smiling, but my teeth clenched as Larry assumed the role of matchmaker. I wanted to hide with embarrassment as Michael turned to me. He was the one who’d been asked the question, but clearly, my opinion was the one that counted. What was he expecting? Was I supposed to say “Please come over”? Or did he want me to let him off the hook with something like “Next weekend isn’t really good”? I kept my frozen smile, hoping that was enough encouragement.
“That sounds great,” Michael said as he looked back at Larry. “I don’t have many friends my age in D.C.”
“Me either,” said Larry. Then he turned to me. “What do you say, Jessie? Will you be joining us?”
Despite wanting to both punch and hug Larry for what he was doing to me, I managed to be nonchalant. “Sure. For a bit.”
“Unfortunately, I need to take my mother home now.” Michael pointed to Evelyn, who stood by the door, staring us down, again. He asked, “How about I come over late Friday afternoon? I think that’s when Southern Illinois is playing.”
Larry grinned. “The Salukis. Excellent. You can tell me then why a state school has such a prissy dog for a mascot.”
“Sure.” He laughed. “I’ll do it then.” With a direct smile at me, he said, “It was really good talking with you. I’ll see you later.”
Finding myself without words, I summarized what he said. “It was nice talking with you, too. Have a good night.”
When Michael was far enough away, Larry whispered, “Does Trish know you like him?”
It was better to ignore Larry for assuming I had a thing for Michael. Instead, I told him something he was going to have to deal with since he’d invited Michael to his home. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you, but Trish hates his guts.”
Larry’s abs of steel shook as he laughed hard, and he put his arm around me. “I bet she does hate him. Don’t worry. I’ll handle her.”
“What are you going to say?” I pled. “Because there’s nothing to say.”
“I’m not saying anything other than I met a guy my age who isn’t a meathead Redskin, and I invited him over to watch some basketball.”
“Well, you can tell Trish I’ll join you for a little while, but only because it would be odd if I didn’t. Michael is a colleague who’s going to be at my chief of staff’s house on a social visit. I happen to live in that house, too. I have to drop by. Otherwise, it would be impolite to avoid him.”
It all sounded logical to me, but Larry didn’t buy it. He nodded. “Uh, huh. Yeah. Work. That’s the reason you’re dropping by.”
“And I like basketball.”
“Don’t worry.” He winked. “Your secret is safe with me.”
He was such a big, lovable teddy bear. I had to smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
~~~
When I got home to the safety of my apartment that night, I let Severus outside and then sank into my sofa with way too much Michael Grath on my mind. Because I was so lost in my jumbled thoughts, I was startled when the phone rang. I scrambled to find it in my purse, and was confused to see Alan Young’s name on the screen.
Huh. Why is he calling so late?
“Hi, Alan. How are you?”
“Hey, Jessie. I’m good. How are you? I don’t see you as much now that you’re not gimping around.”
“I’m doing okay. It’s nice to be able to walk again.”
“I bet it is. So, how about you let me take you out on Saturday?”
Whoa. That came out of nowhere. I should’ve expected him to ask at one point, but it came as a surprise when my mind was squarely on Michael. Those thoughts were silly, though. For the briefest moment, I considered an actual date with Alan. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea, but turning him down seemed like very bad politics, especially after he’d been so helpful to me. A voice of reason rang in my head.
Why can’t you at least go out with Alan for dinner? He’s great. Michael is just a crush. Nothing can ever happen there.
Pragmatic Jessie heeded the voice. “That would be great, Alan. Thanks for asking.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Michael
As we walked to my car from the Boys and Girls Club building, my mother said nothing important, mainly commenting on the weather. If she hadn’t been around, I would have been happy thinking about Jessie: what she was doing, remembering how pretty she was, thinking ahead to Friday, and maybe even wondering what it would be like to kiss her. Instead, I waited for the other shoe to drop.
It was only a matter of time before my mom brought up Jessie. She waited only until I had pulled out of my parking space before she commented all too casually, “I said goodbye to Fanny Hampton. She’s a board member from California. She’s also a Democrat, so I asked her about Jessica Clark. She says that Jessica is a real firebrand—a little star within the party.”
I was matter of fact. “Well, she won a hard election against an incumbent Republican in a year that went GOP. The Democrats love her.”
“Fanny said she’s very smart.”
Mom stared at me waiting for me to let something slip with a twitch of my eye or a twist of my mouth. I never looked at her, though. Instead, I stared straight ahead and drove, calmly replied, “Yes, she is. She’s an interesting person.”
As soon as she said “Michael” and then sighed I knew I was in for a torrent of motherly concern. It began with, “I’m sure she is interesting, and she’s certainly pretty, but please consider—”
“Mom…,” I said, flashing her a look. “Don’t say a thing. There’s nothing you can say that I haven’t thought about.”
She was quiet for a moment, and so was I. There was so much silence I started to think I should say something, or she’d think I’d already fallen for Jessie. Hell. I didn’t even really know her. I just wanted to get to know her better. I muttered, “It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it.”
“But that’s it, Michael. Everything in your life is a big deal now. You’re a member of Congress.”
“I
understand
that.” My testiness showed through the three words.
More silence ensued as I drove faster than I should have through the D.C. streets. My parents kept a condo at the Watergate, so if I could just get my mom out of the car, the topic could die for the night. When we finally arrived at Virginia Avenue not far from her building, she broke the quiet solitude I’d retreated into. She was direct, but her voice was kind. “You’ve thought about everything, yet you still like her?”
What to say? She’d already figured it all out. I waited only a few seconds before I gave in, both to my mom and my situation. With a slow nod, I said, “Yet, I still like her.”
“And how do you think she feels?”
Staring blankly at the road, I told the truth. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
~~~
When Larry met me at the door, he grinned at the two six-packs of micro-brew I held in my hands. “Hey. Thanks for bringing the beer.”
“My pleasure.” I grinned. “Thanks for having me over.”
“Let me get that,” Larry said as he motioned toward the bottles.
“Nah. I got it.”
“Well, come on in. There are some great games on right now.”
As he led me upstairs, we hashed out the latest tournament results. The second floor of the house was different from the typical Washington turn of the century townhome. The traditional dining and living rooms were merged into one spacious living area. I was about to pay a compliment about the house’s design, but the spread of food on the coffee table distracted me. “This is great. Who made all this?”
“Trish.” Larry shrugged at the grilled lamb skewers, twice baked potatoes, roasted vegetable crudité, popcorn, spiced nuts, and a bowl of M&M’s. “She’s upstairs working. She’ll come down later.”
I couldn’t believe the dragon lady could be such a gracious hostess. “I’ll have to thank her.”
“Trish likes to cook for people. It’s her thing.”
“It looks like you’re a lucky man.” She had to be cooking for him and not me.
“Yes, I am.” He chuckled. “She takes care of me. Sorry if she’s ever been rude to you. It takes her a while to warm up to people.”
“I wouldn’t say she’s been rude.” I was surprised that he would talk so openly about her. “She’s just a good chief of staff, you know, protective of her boss.”
“Yeah, that’s a good way of putting it.” Larry snickered. He motioned toward the sofa. “Grab a beer for yourself, and take a load off. I’ll put the rest of the beer in the fridge.”
“Thanks. I will.”
For the next hour, we watched basketball, yelled at the television, talked sports, drank beer, and ate Trish’s food. We had a great time together, but I’d occasionally check the time on the cable box. I wondered if Jessie was still going to come over. I enjoyed hanging out with Larry, but I’d also hoped to see her.
When the University of Arizona v. Utah State game started and there was still no Jessie, I worried she might not come at all. I casually asked Larry, “Didn’t Jessie go to Arizona?”
“Yeah, she did.” He shifted his eyes, looking mischievous. “She should be here soon. Trish forced her to spend the afternoon doing fundraising calls at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Conference doing fundraising calls.”
Jessie’s voice rose from the kitchen doorway. “Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee—not ‘conference.’ This isn’t the NFL, and I’m not in the NFC East.”