The Bellator Saga: The First Trilogy (Dissident, Conscience, and Sojourn) Page 6

  “Sometimes. She has a tendency to buy me extravagant presents.”

  She did it much too often. Christine had to have plunked down close to four figures on all the random items she’d gotten for Caroline and her daughters that past Christmas. Fortunately Caroline picked out a far too expensive gift for Chrissy in return, but she still felt guilty about it. Maybe this year she’d ask Christine to exchange charitable contributions instead.

  “She and Tom worked very hard to get to where they are,” Caroline said. “Neither one of them had a lot growing up. Tom has a huge family and Chrissy just didn’t have a lot. I don’t know too many details but she had a very rough childhood. And I appreciate every thoughtful gift she’s ever given me, because I know why she behaves that way.”

  “That’s not envy. That’s gratitude.”

  “I’m not sure that’s how I’d describe it.”

  “Caroline, you are very down to earth. Very, dare I say, normal.”

  She tried not to snicker. “I don’t think anyone has used that adjective to describe me. Ever.”

  “You know what I mean. If extreme wealth didn’t make you a little uncomfortable, I would be shocked. I don’t want my extreme wealth to be an issue for you.”

  “It’s not. It’s just…you have a lot. At least from what I can tell.”

  “You haven’t researched my net worth?” Jack looked a little surprised. “I’m flattered that you might actually be spending time with me for the right reasons.”

  She assumed that was a reference to all the women he dated, including while he was running for office. Christine told her a few tales when she reamed Caroline out for her endorsements the past fall, probably to make her feel less guilty.

  “I wouldn’t want to guess how much money you have,” she said. “I assume you’re quite comfortable.”

  “Comfortable is the understatement of the year. But you at least know I’m a millionaire. A playboy, even.”

  Caroline stared down at the table. She knew from his tone that he didn’t mean to wound her, but she hated to be reminded of what she’d said about him.

  “I read your biography on your campaign website but not much beyond that.” She felt her cheeks burning as she remembered some of her dreadful conduct during the previous election cycle. “As you might have figured out, I did not do proper fact checking before blasting most of my victims.”

  Jack’s eyes were suddenly dark. “I’m sorry I made that comment. That speech is so far removed from where we are now.”

  “Where are we now, Jack?”

  “We’re friends. Don’t you think so?”

  “Sure. Are you the type of friend who buys his colleagues flowers and lunch?”

  “For the ones I like, yes. And much more, if they’d let me.”

  “Must be nice.”

  “My money does bother you, then.”

  “No, I’m a little jealous of your security. That’s all.”

  “Money isn’t everything, Caroline.”

  “I know. But it sure as hell makes a lot of things easier.”

  “Would the past year have been easier for you if you’d been rich?”

  She sighed again. “I guess not.”

  “I probably indulge myself too much,” Jack said. “Yes, the house was an extravagant purchase. But it felt right. I wanted to do it.”

  “You have every right to spend your money as you please.”

  “Sometimes it’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

  Caroline laughed. “I’ll bet.”

  “What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?”

  “Well, I don’t have to worry, at least right now. I put Nicky’s life insurance in a trust for the girls. But that still might not be enough to pay for college. I’d like to put that concern aside. I stress about my retirement since it’s all government pensions and investments. And whether or not I should pay off the mortgage or my student loans so I don’t have to think about them anymore.” Caroline studied Jack’s face. His expression was hard to read. “But I’m doing all right. I’m not living paycheck to paycheck. Nicky was very conservative with our shared finances. I simply had to adjust once everything got cut in half.”

  She stared down at her menu, seeing the words blending together. She didn’t want to think about this. At all. She regretted broaching the topic in the first place. It seemed as if their lunch so far had been a big, awkward mess.

  Jack squeezed Caroline’s hand lightly. His fingers were warm and she flinched, startled by the intimate gesture.

  “Don’t feel bad for talking about this with me.” He pulled his hand back quickly. “I appreciate your candor. And if you ever need any help-”

  “Jack-”

  “I don’t mean financial help. If you ever need anything, I’m here for you.”

  Caroline smiled. “Thank you, Jack. You’re a good friend.”

  “You barely know me.”

  “I know enough.”

  Jack smiled back at Caroline and picked his menu back up. “Shall we order?”

  “Sure.”

  * * * * *

  Caroline and her daughters pulled up to the house at around four thirty. It had been an early day, and she had picked them up straight from school instead of having their babysitter do it. A freshly washed Lincoln sat in the driveway.

  “Good,” she said. “Chrissy’s home already.”

  “She didn’t have any romantic outing planned with Tom tonight?” Marguerite asked.

  “Apparently not.”

  “Are we going to make heart shaped cookies before bedtime?” Sophie asked.

  “Sure,” Caroline replied. “That sounds yummy.”

  “I’ll make the dough,” Marguerite said.

  “That sounds proactive,” said Caroline.

  “I’ll make the frosting,” Sophie said cheerily.

  “And that sounds destructive,” Caroline said. “But I shall let you do it anyway because I am in a stupendous mood.”

  The front door was unlocked, and they walked inside. The girls said their hellos to Christine, who was sitting in the living room.

  “Upstairs and try to finish your homework before dinner,” Caroline said.

  Marguerite and Sophie turned to pout at her.

  “Homework or no cookies.” Caroline could have sworn she heard Marguerite mumbling vague obscenities as she grumped her way upstairs but decided to let it go. Sophie was trudging along behind her talking about red food coloring.

  Christine was on the couch reading the material they’d received at the caucus meeting that morning.

  “This is so incredibly dry.” She tossed the papers on the cushion beside her. “And self-defeating. They always focus on birth control and abortion. And nothing else.”

  Caroline scooped them up and stacked them on the side table, taking the seat next to Christine and nudging her shoulder playfully. “Oh, come on. They complained about equal pay too.”

  Christine rolled her eyes. “Thank you for reminding me. I’d spent most of the day blocking that out.”

  Caroline laughed. “It was nice how you tore them all a new one and went off on some Hyde Amendment nonsense for twenty minutes.”

  “I cannot help it if I do not want to use government funds to kill babies, Caroline.”

  She waved her hand at Christine. “Let’s not start that. I was complimenting you. It was hilarious.”

  “Yes, it is quite hilarious when we Republicans are outnumbered all the time. Every meeting is a joy.”

  “You could just sit and seethe every meeting instead of bringing the thunder. Or you could start skipping meetings.”

  “No,” Christine said. “It would break your heart if I didn’t keep you company. I’ll stick it out.”

  “I do have Ellie.”

  “Ellen Goldman is even more of a bleeding heart than you. And she won’t write you furtive notes in the back of the room like I will.”

  She was glad the two of them had perfected their little r
outine. They didn’t sit on any committees together but they did both participate in the women’s caucus. It was a bipartisan caucus and all female Representatives and Senators were members, but Christine didn’t enjoy going to meetings. Caroline needed to bribe Christine the first few times to get her to participate. Christine didn’t like admitting that she was even the slightest bit interested in what she perceived as women’s issues, and distanced herself from them at every opportunity.

  Caroline was too kind to point out that Christine actually knew more about gender theory than any other member of Congress, thanks to the four years she spent in Ann Arbor. Chrissy blamed it on supposedly being forced to take women’s studies classes during college, but Caroline knew better. Her best friend was totally in the feminist closet, just begging to come out.

  Which was probably why Christine still showed up to every caucus activity. They had gotten into the habit of scribbling surreptitious messages to each other while pretending to pay attention. To the casual observer it merely looked as if they were taking notes on whatever the speaker was saying. The biggest flaw in their plan was that Christine sometimes had to resist the urge to laugh out loud when reading Caroline’s awful handwriting. Caroline had the same problem when Christine started doodling. Christine had quite a gift when it came to drawing snarky looking animals, and was also progressing nicely when it came to not taking herself too seriously.

  As opposed to Ellen, who had taken on a leadership role in the caucus. Senator Goldman could be counted on for good fun when she was off the clock, but during the day she was all business. With just a hint of ambition.

  “That’s true,” Caroline said. “Ellie’s such a goody goody. She’s a nice kid, though. I know you can’t wait to spend more time with her in the upper chamber.”

  “My Senate campaign isn’t a done deal yet. And Ellen’s twenty years older than you.”

  “Whatever you say. Everyone’s a kid to me, including you.”

  “Why are you so chirpy today? You were all twinkly when you were in the caucus meeting too.”

  Caroline leaned back and crossed her legs. “I got flowers this morning. It was nice.”

  Christine frowned. “I don’t even want to know.”

  “Of course you want to know.”

  “Fine, I want to know.”

  “They were from Jack. He shocked the hell out of Jen and Katie. They were in the process of opening the card when I walked in the door.”

  “Because they remembered what happened last year. My goodness.”

  The distress in Christine’s voice brought Caroline down a little, and she wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m still trying to forget that.”

  “I know you are,” Christine said. “It scared me. It really did.”

  “You weren’t even there.”

  “I know enough about what happened. We were all very concerned for you back then.”

  “And you’re not anymore?”

  “You know what I mean. It was part of the reason I-” Christine squeezed her hands together.

  “You what?”

  “Never mind.”

  Christine didn’t like to talk about their living arrangement. She’d sublet her apartment the previous February, taking a huge financial hit in the process. She refused to discuss it further after she’d done it, but had shown up in Caroline’s office one day and told her that she was moving in to help. And made it perfectly clear that it was not up for discussion. Other than getting to know each other’s interesting domestic quirks, Caroline and Christine didn’t really talk about it.

  Caroline respected Christine’s limitations and knew better than to push certain topics. Chrissy really had no good reason to stay with them anymore but hadn’t made any move to rent another place on Capitol Hill. Caroline was sure that if she brought it up, Christine would do her best to dodge the question. So she kept her mouth shut. After a year of living together their friendship had gotten stronger and they were pretty much like college roommates, except there were two children in the house as well.

  Christine broke the silence. “So, McIntyre gave you flowers, eh?”

  “He did. They were lovely. And then he bought me lunch.”

  Christine crooked an eyebrow at her.

  “We’re just friends,” Caroline asserted.

  Christine crossed her arms. “You’ve been spending a large amount of time with him since the new session started.”

  “He makes me laugh. And he’s reasonably intellectual.”

  “I should have never let you talk me into inviting him to that party.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m glad he came. Otherwise he and I wouldn’t be friends.”

  “And you think that’s all he wants?”

  “What more would he want?”

  “Caroline, are you dense?”

  Caroline felt a twinge of anger. “Don’t insult me, Christine. He gave me flowers. He’s a friend. It was nothing.”

  “You are so naïve sometimes.”

  “You’re just pissed that Tom stopped doing stuff like that for you since you don’t appreciate it.”

  “For your information, Thomas is on his way here now to take me to dinner. And you just unintentionally proved my point.”

  “How nice for you. And I did not.”

  Christine’s tone changed. “I’m sure Tom is taking me out only because he feels obligated. So don’t get too excited.”

  Caroline metaphorically kicked herself. She knew better than to play games with Christine’s insecurities. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. That was a low blow.”

  Christine ignored her apology. “You think you’re the only female in Washington who’s caught Congressman McIntyre’s attention?”

  “I never thought about it. I told you, Chrissy. We’re friends. I wish you wouldn’t get so upset about it.”

  “I will get upset. You need to watch yourself.”

  “I’m a big girl,” Caroline said. “I can take care of myself.”

  “And you did such a great job of that last year.”

  Caroline stood up. “I said I was sorry for that remark about Tom. If you’re going to keep being a bitch I’m ending this conversation now.”

  Christine rose from the couch and clutched Caroline’s elbow. “Wait. I shouldn’t have said that. But I want you to be careful. That man is a philanderer. And you’re vulnerable.”

  “I’m not interested in him in that way.”

  “I’m not sure that matters. He has a reputation. I’ve heard stories like you wouldn’t believe. Worse than what I’ve already told you.”

  “That doesn’t matter to me. He’s a friend. It’s not going further than that.”

  “Make sure that it doesn’t. You’re too good for him, Punky. Much too good.”

  Caroline took a deep breath. “He’s not my type. All right?”

  The doorbell rang and Christine instantly moved toward the foyer. “That’ll be my hot date, I suppose. I’m sorry I was so harsh before. Just…be careful.”

  Caroline walked over to the front door with her. “I’m not even close to wanting a relationship right now. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “I’ll worry about you anyway. Because you matter to me.” Christine swung open the door. “Hello, Thomas.”

  Tom stepped inside with a bouquet of flowers.

  Caroline smiled at him. “Chrissy, stop being all mawkish with me and let your husband take you out for a romantic dinner. And he brought you such lovely calla lilies. Want to hear my Katharine Hepburn impression?” she asked in her best New England accent.

  Tom kissed Caroline on the cheek. “They’re actually for you. Nice reference.”

  “I love Stage Door.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought of when I bought them. Could you act out that entire scene?”

  “Probably. I could do most of The Lion in Winter, too.”

  “Chrissy does a mean Queen Eleanor. Emphasis on mean.”

  Caroline took th
e flowers out of Tom’s hand. “No chocolates or teddy bears for your wife?” she asked.

  “She only gets a free meal. And probably not much beyond that.”

  Christine pulled her coat out of the hall closet. “I’m standing right here, you know.”

  Caroline gave Tom a hug. “Thanks, Thomas,” she said pointedly.

  Tom grimaced. “Cut that Thomas shit out, Punky. Only Chrissy pulls that.”

  “Watch your language,” Christine scolded, and turned to Caroline. “Will you and the girls be okay?”

  “We’re fine. I’m going to grill up some hamburgers and we’ll make cookies later. I assume I may not see you until tomorrow?”

  Christine rolled her eyes as Tom helped her put on her coat. “It’s probably safe for you to assume I’ll be back before you’ve even gone to bed, what with my husband’s generous offer of dinner and nothing else. Looks like you’re cleaning up in the flower department today.”

  “Don’t ask.” Caroline rolled her eyes as Tom gave her a puzzled look. “I’m sure Chrissy will complain to you all night.”

  “Great,” Tom said. “I can’t wait. See you later, kid.”

  “You two lovebirds have fun,” Caroline told them, laughing as Christine stuck her tongue out at her on the way out the door.

  She locked the door behind them and went into the kitchen to make dinner. Christine was a little frigid at times but Caroline knew much of it was manufactured. As was Tom’s ribbing. If he had booked a hotel room somewhere, Christine definitely wouldn’t be coming back that night. Whether or not Tom would get lucky was an open question. It probably depended on how much wine he could trick Chrissy into drinking.

  But some of what Christine had told her still stung. She was only being protective, but Caroline knew that Chrissy secretly believed that she was much too nice sometimes. Maybe most of the time. Caroline conceded the possibility that there was more to the flowers, but that was preposterous. And Christine was probably right. God only knew how many women Jack had on the sly. She hadn’t really heard anything but maybe she needed to pay more attention.

  Not that it mattered; she still wasn’t interested in dating anyone. Not yet. But Caroline grasped one thing for sure. She definitely wasn’t going to talk about Jack McIntyre with Christine Sullivan anymore.