“You lived for the politics beat,” he said. “Are you going back?”
“Of course I am,” she said with more confidence than she had. She loved providing insight on events as they were happening. The scrums. The rush when she knew a politician was lying, and she had the indisputable proof. The immediacy and the adrenaline had made it all worthwhile, until that one day when she simply couldn’t take it anymore.
She had known she was tense and burned out by the armchair critics who forgot they were aiming their insults at an actual person. Or perhaps that was what made them do it, as long as they could act without fear of retribution. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to tell Frank it was getting to be too much and she needed a break. The death threat had at least pushed her into action, which was the thinnest possible silver lining. She bit her lip, hand lingering on the cabinet.
Noah poked her. “Hey, earth to Nad. You okay?”
She shook off her fugue. “I’m good. Don’t worry about me.”
“Preeti says we need to care about the people we love when they can’t care for themselves.”
“Preeti is right.” She gave him an impulsive hug, and he tapped her awkwardly on the back with his fingertips. “Thanks, brobob.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Goober.”
“Stretch.”
It had been so long, neither of them remembered where the nicknames had come from or why they’d been annoying. Over the years, they’d transformed into almost endearments, a way to sayI love youwithout the embarrassment of having to utter the words out loud.
Nadine put on a smile and said her goodbyes, then got in her car. Tapping Voline’s address into her GPS, she saw she had thirty-one minutes to put aside her parents’ concern and unease about her grandmother before she arrived.
In the end, it took twenty-four minutes for the anticipation to rise high enough to drown her other worries. Nothing, not her family or work or putting up with Wes, would ruin meeting Dot Voline for the first time.
Nine
As per their agreement, Wes waited for Nadine to arrive at Voline’s ornate gate so they could go in together. He’d been almost an hour early to escape his mother’s commentary on how he was deserting the family by working on the weekend, despite spending the morning grocery shopping and completing a series of errands to placate her.
He was also early because he was eager to talk to Dot Voline. Brent’s mention of his aunt keeping a promise meant he could be looking at a bigger story than he anticipated. It could also be a dud, but Wes didn’t think so, and neither did Nadine. He might not like her, but he could admit she had excellent intuition.
Nadine. He wasn’t thrilled about having to share this story. It helped that theHeraldwould look much more unkindly on Nadine coloring outside the lines than theSpear. If push came to shove, she had more to lose than he did, putting the balance of power squarely in his hands, which was satisfying. He’d still have to stay on his toes to make sure she played straight with him.
Five more minutes. He rubbed his hands together, letting his inner movie villain take over. Despite their agreement, if Nadine was ano-show, Wes would be within his rights to keep the meeting and have an uninterrupted hour, or longer, to earn Dot Voline’s trust. He’d take full advantage of it and make sure Nadine knew that she’d lost this particular round.
An arrow of misgiving shot through him at the thought that Nadine would miss this. He dropped his hands. There must be something wrong. Images of Nadine hurt or trapped filled his mind. The jaws of life. Sirens. Before he could panic or remind himself that she was probably only stuck in the permanent urban nightmare others would simply call traffic, a dirty car arrived.
It was Nadine.
“Don’t you ever wash your car?” he asked as she got out, a strange relief making him skip over a normal greeting. She wore a pale blue dress that swirled around her tanned legs and held the bouquet of flowers they’d agreed would be an appropriate gesture. He’d transferred her half the cost, to the penny.
“Whatever, Dad.”
The bouquet was pretty, with little white clusters he thought might be hyacinths. Rebecca had been on a big flower kick thanks to her blooming container garden. He should pitch a story on bringing unisex nosegays back in fashion.Fresh flowers provide an elegant touch that never goes out of style and can be an olfactory lifesaver in a sweaty summer crowd.
Nadine shifted the bouquet to her other hand to keep it away from him when he leaned in for a sniff. That was spiteful, but if she thought he wouldn’t sink to her level, she was mistaken. He stepped closer to breathe in loudly and obnoxiously. The scent was so strong he had to shove down a sneeze.
“I thought you weren’t going to make it,” he said once he got himself under control.
“You wish.”
“Is that the biggest bouquet you could get for fifty bucks?”
She barely glanced at him. “This is why I insisted on getting them.Bigger doesn’t equal better. You’d probably get a bunch of carnations from the grocery store and call it a day.”
“I like carnations.”
“Right, but, Wes?” Her voice was deceptively sweet. “I know it can be hard for you to understand, but it’s not about you, is it?”
