“Yeah.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. “But I should’ve been the only one at risk, not you.”
“This stuff never just touches the candidate—it touches the entire family.”
His deep sigh ruffles my hair. “You know that better than anyone. You’ve been through this once already.”
His tone is laced with guilt. And while that’s not what I want him to feel, there’s a sense of relief that he gets it. I didn’t have to tell him how hard this is for me, because he knows me well enough to get it.
“My dad was guilty, though, and you aren’t,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but in the court of public opinion, I’m guilty until proven innocent.”
“One day at a time,” I remind him. “There’s no evidence that you did what she says, but there may be evidence that you didn’t. Let’s let it play out.”
He tightens his hold on me. “No matter who we bring on for communications and strategy, you and I get the final say on everything. I trust your judgment more than anyone’s.”
I close my eyes, my lips curving up in a smile. It feels good to hear him say those words, even after all this time together.
“We’ll be okay,” I say softly. “No matter what happens, we’ll be okay.”
“I hear you, babe, I really do.” His tone is defeated. “But integrity is everything to me. I don’t care if I lose fairly, as long as I worked my hardest. But this… Fuck, I really don’t want to go down like this.”
I press my cheek to his chest, wishing I had words of reassurance. But I don’t. If these charges can’t be proven false, Jude won’t recover from being accused of sexual harassment. Even if he wins the race and becomes governor, having his honor questioned will last forever for him.
16
Jude
“In closing,I vehemently deny the allegations against me. I’m a man of my word, and as a Marine, my honor is everything to me. I never touched the woman in question, nor any woman, in a suggestive or inappropriate manner. I may be a senator and running for the governorship, but above all else, I’m a devoted and loyal husband.” I step back from the podium as reporters rise to their feet, hurling questions like they hadn’t heard a word of my official statement.
This is the dirty side of politics. The reason why so many good people who could really help better our country stay far away. Everyone has a skeleton or two in their closet, but no one wants to risk that indiscretion becoming public knowledge. Then there are the lies that are created to damage a person’s creditability. Planting the seed in any voter’s mind is dangerous.
The one thing I know is that I never touched that woman or any woman besides my wife in well over five years. I never even thought about having an affair. But that didn’t stop the lies from landing on my doorstep.
“You were fabulous,” Reagan says as she wraps her arms around my stomach as soon as I make my way backstage, and she hugs me tightly. “I couldn’t have done it better myself.”
I kiss the top of her head, closing my eyes so I can forget everything around me for just a moment. I try to block out the low murmur of the reporters in the other room as they scramble to get their story submitted for the evening news. Tyson’s on the phone, yelling at someone about something I probably don’t even want to know about.
“I love you,” I whisper into her hair and take a deep breath, losing myself in her familiar scent. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
There’s nothing but truth in that statement. She’s my other half, the feisty liberal half, but still vital in everything I am and will continue to be.
She tilts her head back and stares up at me. “You’ll never get rid of me, Jude.”
In the last five years, I’ve seen marriages end for much less than a simple allegation. Distance spent apart is usually the crushing factor, but I refuse to let any of it do us in. When I said my vows and promiseduntil death do us part,I meant every single word.
I take a deep breath and utter the words I never wanted to say, “Should I drop out?”
Her eyes widen as she leans back, staring at me in disbelief. “You will do no such thing. That’s admitting defeat, and in a way, proving to the world you’re guilty. You willnotdrop out of this race. Do you understand?”
I nod and somehow manage a smile. “I don’t want to drop out, but I would for you, Reagan. Only for you.”
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my wife, including giving up my career in politics if I knew it would make her happy. If there were any chance my career would destroy our marriage, I’d give my resignation and never look back without a single thought or regret.
She slides her hands to my front, placing her palms against my chest. “I can take the heat, especially when I know they’re lies. You fight and don’t stop until you’re sitting in the governor’s office.”
“We’resitting in the governor’s office,” I remind her.
This isn’t a one-man show. To the public, it may be, but I value Reagan’s advice even though I don’t always take it. We may be polar opposites on almost every issue, but she helps me understand the other side of the argument. She’s the biggest asset to my political career even if the people around me don’t see it that way.
