“No.” Lee shook her head and backed up. “Don’t say it.”
“All of it?”
19
In the Doghouse
I hadn’t expected that the first time I’d get an invitation to Logan’shouse, it would be for a professional-grade reaming. But here I was, forced to lie in the uncomfortable bed of my own making. I pulled up behind a Jeep I recognized as Cary’s and studied Logan’s home. It was small, one of those Craftsman bungalows I’d always loved, white with blue trim and a wide front porch that would be perfect for a swinging chair. Logan probably wasn’t open to home improvement suggestions at this particular moment, so I’d have to suggest it later. His street was lovely and full of trees. What a shame to see it for the first time with this black cloud hanging over me. I took a deep breath, then exhaled. Time to face the music.
I’d barely finished knocking before the door swung open to reveal Cary. He slouched, one hand braced against the door frame, and shook his head. “Oooh, Rudy, you really did it this time.”
“I know.” I tried to push past him, but he kept blocking me. “Are you going to let me in?”
“Cary, let the girl in,” came a deep, throaty voice I recognized as Anita’s. Oh, boy. They’d brought in the big guns.
Cary reluctantly let me pass, and suddenly I was in Logan’s living room. It was warm and homey, glowing with lamplight and filled with a hodgepodge of furniture that looked like he’d collected it over the years from family castoffs, much like I’d collected mine. But the coziness of the overstuffed couch and throw rug was drastically undercut by the gauntlet of icy stares. Nora and Anita sat stone-faced on the couch, and Logan sat in a nearby armchair, frowning. His eyes flicked to mine as I walked in and I felt a surge of adrenaline. When he looked away, I was left alone with a racing heart.
Cary shut the front door and darted around me to sit on the couch, where he resumed shaking his head. He was enjoying not being the one in trouble far too much.
“Now that we’re all here,” Nora said. “Alexis, would you mind reading this press release?”
Not the most promising start, but... “Sure.” I took her phone and read from her screen. The release carried Governor Mane’s seal. “Governor in Negotiations with Collinsburg City Council to Reverse Controversial Book Ban,” the headline announced, followed by a subhead: “Governor leading the fight to defend constituents’ First Amendment rights.”
I frowned as I scanned the rest. It was time stamped only thirty minutes ago. Not only was the rally still going on, but this move seemed out of character for the governor. “I thought Mane would defend the book ban, not try to get it reversed. That’sourposition. How did this happen?”
“I’m so glad you asked,” Nora said coolly, and my mind yelledtrap!“This happened because one of the members of the Logan Arthur campaign, a young upstart by the name of Alexis Rosalie Stone—”
I winced. Hearing my full name never meant good things.
“Decided to take it upon herself to organize an entire rally in defense of an issue she’d barely talked to the rest of the campaign about. Instead of asking our strategists to come up with the best approach to score a political victory, she just slapdashed things and handed our opponent the perfect opportunity to look like a hero. And how has that changed favorability numbers, Anita?”
Anita glanced up from her iPad. “We’re up four percent positive from the rally. Governor’s up fourteen percent positive from actually solving the problem.”
“The rally could’ve solved the problem if we’d given it time to work,” I squeaked.
Nora’s eyebrows rose. I gulped.
“Nora,” Logan warned, and she sighed.
“I know you’re new at this, Alexis.” This time, her voice came out gentler. “But this is why you bring ideas to us first and don’t go rushing out into the field all idealistic and Pollyanna. We have to be strategic. Grover Mane is savvy. He’ll snake our own ideas out from under us.”
I lifted my chin higher. Lee had given me a pep talk before I drove over. She’d told me to apologize for genuine missteps, but otherwise hold my ground. “I understand the way I went about this was wrong, and I’m very sorry. I mean, I can’t say I’m sorry the governor swooped in and solved the problem, because I’m glad he did, for Gabby and her kids. If you think about it, in a way you could say our rallydidwork, it just didn’t benefit our campaign.”
Cary coughed, but I plunged forward. “And I know I should have confirmed that everyone knew what I was planning, but in my defense, I did send Cary a Twitter DM.”
“You sent me a gif of Leslie Knope yelling ‘boot and rally,’ with a caption that said, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing with this government stuff but I hope to see you there,’” he said.
“See? I don’t know how I could’ve been clearer. It says ‘rally’ right in the gif. That’s how gifs work, right? Layered meanings.”
Cary tsked. “A gif isn’t a proper message.”
“Then why do you send me so many?” I glared at him. “You sent me gifs, so I sent you gifs.” I pointed back and forth between us. “Gif, gif—”
“As fascinating as this insight into Gen Z communication styles is...” Nora drawled.
I threw up my hands. “I’m sorry. I know I messed up. I guess I got excited about actually being able to do something for Gabby and the book, you know, having this new platform. I got carried away.” I chanced a look at Logan, who was quietly hunched in his chair, elbows braced on his thighs, listening.
He must’ve felt my gaze, because he looked up and met my eyes. The adrenaline came back full force. I wished I would hurry up and become immune to the sight of him so I could finally have some peace.
