“Was I really…fierce?” she whispered in my ear when we came up for air.
“Absolutely. Fierce. Fearless. Ferocious.” I kissed her after each word, then went in for a long, languid tangling of tongues and mashing of lips. “Flawless,” I added when I finally pulled away.
She smiled, and cupped my cheek with her hand, a very un-Jane-like move. After placing a gentle kiss on my lips she said, “Thank you for being here today. It helped.”
Yeah, very un-Jane.
“Anytime,” I said, meaning it.
She stepped away from me and got into the Vette. Leaning out the window, she said, “I may take you up on that.” And I think she meant that, too.
The crew and Amanda Teller made their way out shortly after, the crew packing up their van and Amanda getting into a waiting limo. When I went back inside, Grayson, Elliot, Joe and Caro were around the dining room table, where they strategized for another hour. The dining room had pretty much stayed as command central ever since that day that Jane had joined them.
The day I took Jane’s virginity. The day she gave it.
When the men left, Caro called me in to the dining room.
“Sit, Stick,” she said, indicating the seat next to her.
My feelings for Caroline Stratton—much like my feelings for Jane—were incredibly complex.
I respected and admired Caro for the way she’d lived her life, the way she’d raised her children and for doing what she felt was the best thing for them even though it might not be the best thing for her.
But I also knew she was a shrewd woman who wasn’t above manipulating people for what she probably considered the greater good.
I wasn’t absolutely sure that her bonding with Jane hadn’t been part of her master plan to help her ex-husband’s campaign. And I knew she absolutely believed in Joe’s destiny for higher office, and that it would only benefit her children in the end.
I wasn’t sure she was right about any of that, but it wasn’t my place to say anything.
Not that she would change her mind even if I did.
I cared for her beyond being her caregiver. But it wasn’t as emotionally draining for me as doing the same things for my father. Yes, I had grown to like and respect Caro, but seeing her waste away was just very sad. Not emotionally devastating, as it had been with my old man.
The interview had taken a toll on her. She looked more tired than normal, even though she’d had her makeup and hair people in earlier today to get her ready for the interview. They even did Jane. Their phones had been confiscated while they were here, and they’d had to sign non-disclosure agreements, but Caro had wanted them here.
“You’ve got to be worn out,” I said to her.
She just nodded and looked down at her hands, which were folded on the large mahogany table. I waited. She was at the point now where words sometimes escaped her. It had happened to my father too…at the end.
She took a deep breath, then reached out to put a hand over mine.
“I need your help with something.”
“Anything,” I said, thinking maybe she wanted me to carry her to her room or something. She really had gone past her limits today.
“I need to call Betsy and Joey.”
“Sure, let me get the phone.” It wasn’t unusual for her to call them in the middle of the day. She spoke with her kids quite often, but hadn’t Skyped or FaceTimed with them in a while, not wanting them to see her weight loss. I started to rise, but she put a hand on my arm, stopping me.
“It’s time for them to come home.”
Chapter28
Stick
“So, what’s this all about?”I asked Lucas as he directed me to park along the main drag in Pierpoint, a small, fairly affluent town about forty minutes from Schoolport.
We were a few doors down from the hair salon where one of my information contacts worked.
