I laughed. "She didn't let me forget about the candy after that."
"Why do I suspect she didn't let you forget the drinks either?"
"That lady kept a strict cocktail schedule. Nothing got in the way." I held out my hands. "That's the system. That's the strategy."
"And the secrets." She clutched the insulated bottle to her chest. "Let's do it."
We stationed ourselves at the end of the drive, candy propped on the overturned box and blankets draped over our laps because it was fucking freezing now that the sun was past the horizon.
"I got an email from Preston this morning," she said, her gaze fixed on her blanket.
Since I had no patience for the ex-husband, no patience whatsoever, I heaved out an irritated breath. "What does that fucking guy need now?"
Still occupied with straightening the blanket, she replied, "That fucking guy used to be my best friend in D.C."
"Best friends treat each other better than he treated you. So do husbands. It's a damn good thing he's on the other side of the ocean." When she shrugged like that wasn't the cold, hard truth, I asked, "What did he have to say for himself?"
"He forwarded a job he thought I might want to explore."
I waited for her to elaborate but she didn't. "Do you?"
"I'm not sure. It's interesting but it's different." I motioned for her to continue. "He knows some people who put together an organization that identifies regions with the highest levels of voter suppression and engages in extensive community activism to move the needle. What's fascinating to me is they've taken a fully non-partisan approach—or, as nonpartisan as possible, considering the intentions behind suppression efforts—and they've found some positive results." She lifted a shoulder. "Preston said they want to double the number of regions in which they work this year and he thought it might be a good fit for me."
"Am I right to think this sounds very different from your last gig?"
"Yeah, for sure. Completely different. The goal of this organization is increasing access for all voters. They don't take a stand on candidates or issues aside from those specifically tied to voter suppression." She tucked a wisp of hair over her ear. "I mean, it sounds great but, if I went that direction, it would be an enormous change."
"Would that be so bad?"
"I don't know what it would be other than a massive shift from working on a senator's Capitol staff to being fully removed from the Beltway. That could be nice, considering D.C. is not real life and has no connection to the needs and priorities of real people."
She was a bit breathless as she spoke, as if she couldn't get the words out quickly enough. There was a lilt to her voice, the same one I'd heard when she talked about toast and her problems with the local highway system. "You sound excited."
"I might be? Maybe? I'm not sure."
"You're allowed to be excited," I said.
"I'm aware of that, Linden."
I had to smile at the snap in her tone. God, I loved it when she was brutal. "You can see yourself doing this."
"Again, maybe. It could be good or it could be the most boring, dead-end thing in the world. All I know for sure is it won't lead to me being anyone's chief of staff and I probably won't work on another major campaign if I wander down the nonpartisan rabbit hole but—" she held up her hands—"I'm not headed in that direction anymore, am I? It's been two months. There have been other scandals. My hot-mic moment isn't a relevant news story anymore. I'm not getting any calls because no one wants to call me."
"You've gotten plenty of calls. You've rejected them all."
"Yeah but that was different," she replied. "It was media and political privateering."
"You're allowed to be excited," I repeated. "And you don't have to view this as a last resort."
"That remains to be seen." She glanced up the street. "What's the deal with this town and Halloween? There was the Spooky Stroll at the elementary school last weekend and the jack-o'-lantern gallery in the town center, plus the two thousand pumpkins or so on the lawn outside the town hall. And all of that is on top of the actual event. That's a lot, right?"
Okay. Moving right along and away from Jasper and her next steps.
"Even though Salem gets all the attention, this whole region is witchy and haunted as hell. Gotta lean into it."
"Fair enough."
After a family dressed as the feelings fromInside Outheaded back up the street, Jasper turned to me with a strange smile. "I bet you and your siblings had some precious group costumes when you were kids."
