Candidate: A Love Story (12 page)

“Okay, I’ve been on the phone most of the morning and I think we have things pretty set for next week. I do have some questions about the carnival on Friday. Will you be bringing a date?” Kate asked, looking down at a yellow pad.

Grady’s chair swiveled to face her and he gave a smile. “To my parents’ backyard carnival? Is that customary?”

“Well, it’s a family-type thing. There will be a lot of families, couples, and I just wanted to know if you would be bringing someone. I want to be prepared. Maybe Maddie from the fundraiser?” Kate glanced up long enough to see Grady’s smile widen.

“Yeah, that didn’t really work out, but you already knew that.”

“I . . . you know, you could have patched things up. There was real potential there.”

Grady matched her sarcasm. “You think? Nah, it’s important that my pretend girlfriend during a campaign at least know there are two senators from each state.”

Kate smiled and looked down at her pad again.

“So, with Mensa Maddie gone, I’m not sure the other ladies I associate with would fit in with the carnival crowd. In other words, no, Kate, I will not be bringing a date. Can I bring my dog?”

Their eyes met on his question.

“You have a dog? How did I not know that? What kind of dog? How long . . . ” Kate began to write. She wasn’t sure what the hell she was writing, but she couldn’t look at him sitting across from her in jeans and a long-sleeved gingham shirt rolled up above his exceptional arms.
God, he has great hands too
. Her mind was not her own, it flooded with images of Grady walking his dog, Grady on the beach, or Grady curled up next to her on a couch she didn’t even own. She noticed everything about him and suddenly found herself wanting something, someone she wasn’t even sure existed.

“Are you taking notes on my dog?” Grady looked over at her pad. “I just got him last night. He’s a mutt, will that look bad for the campaign?”

Kate caught the sarcasm and enjoyed the distraction of returning it. “Well, actually adopting an inner-city dog may be just the thing your father needs. Does this dog have all his shots?”

“Taking him to the vet today.”

“Make sure you get a license too. We don’t want a scandal at this point, Mr. Malendar.”

His laugh, had she ever noticed his laugh before? How his eyes squinted almost closed? Kate had to pull herself together. She flipped through her notes and tried to find some order. What was their meeting about today?

“I’ll be sure to provide you with copies of all documentation.”

Kate sat back in the soft leather chair.

“A dog. Did you go to the shelter? I’m surprised that wasn’t a photo op.”

“I do manage to sneak around occasionally, but no he was hanging around the construction site . . . er, I was just hanging out, meeting a friend for dinner. The foreman mentioned the dog, Bo, that’s what I named him, had been around for a few days. I need a dog, you told me to stay closer to home, so it was meant to be, right?”

“I suppose it was . . . meant to be.” Their eyes held and Kate knew he felt it too, but he didn’t look nearly as petrified as she felt. Being together, their easy bantering, it was no longer annoying, it was fun, she looked forward to it, and she could tell from the look on his face that he did too. She needed to back this up. They had months left with the campaign and this was not the time for butterflies. She took out Grady’s schedule for the coming week and handed it to him, hoping to redirect both of them back to the job at hand.

“Did you watch the game last night?”

Kate flipped through the first page of her schedule. “What game?”

“Um, baseball. Yankees . . . Red Socks . . . big game?”

“No, I’m not really into sports. No game. Why are we discussing baseball? We should be discussing, oh yes, here it is. The town meeting. I’m told you will be speaking, a brief question and answer—”

“What do you mean, you don’t like sports?”

Kate looked at him. “I mean, I grew up surrounded by men, so I tolerate sports, but I’m certainly not watching them in my home.” She showed him the town meeting on his copy as a way to redirect, and then scooted closer in to the conference table. Grady nodded at her gesture, but continued talking about sports.

“Wait, back up here. Last week, at the play, you were rambling off stats and talking current games and projections like a pro. I remember vividly because I didn’t figure you for a baseball fan. How can that person not like sports?”

“Oh,” Kate chuckled, “that’s just the job. Governor Spellman looked bored before the play started, and I know he is a huge baseball fan. It’s my job to schmooze and make people feel important. Doing my homework is part of that. Mark said your father needed his support, so I brought out the baseball. Doesn’t mean that’s who I am behind the curtain.”

“The curtain. There’s a curtain?”

“Of course there’s a curtain, this whole business is a curtain of sorts, isn’t it? Were you thinking you were the only one hiding yourself?”

Grady looked genuinely surprised. Maybe he didn’t think she knew he was playing a game too?

“Yes, Grady, you’re hiding. I’m not sure what it is you don’t want me or anyone else to know, but I know your dancing Dumbo thing is a front. I also know more than I ever wanted to know about Wheaton Terriers. I can do some Ju Jitzu and I might remember how to make curry. Actually, probably not, but I can tell you what goes into it and where to find the closest Indian market.” She marveled at her own odd skill-set and slid the preliminary questions Grady would need to review across the table to him.

“Wow, I’m a little speechless here. That all goes on in front of the curtain? Why?”

“Why do you insist you’re shallow, self-centered and ridiculous?”

Grady said nothing.

“No answer, why am I not surprised? I just told you why I do what I do. Research. I need to get to know what people are interested in for the connection. Nothing does that quite like learning or taking an interest in their hobbies, jobs, and friends. It helps me get close.”

“Oh I get it, so the cold babysitter thing you’re working with me, I won’t see her again? Next time you’ll be in tennis whites showing me your moves?”

“No, I will not be showing you my moves. You’re . . . different.”

He smiled.

“I can’t play tennis. Bad knees. Most of your other hobbies are dangerous or close to illegal, so I’m going to pass.”

“Fine. Miss out. Do I get to see what’s behind the curtain then, Kate?”

“Grady,” she warned.

“Not what I meant. I mean the real you, off-hours you. I got a little at the spelling bee. I had to steal that piece though. What do you really like to do? Do you even know? You seem to spend an awful lot of time at work.”

“Of course I know and . . . no, you will not get to see the real me because we have to prep for your glittering performance at your father’s town meeting and you are my client. You did get to see the spelling bee and I do love doing that, but that’s enough about me. We’re here to discuss you.”

He pressed on. “I’m not feeling very connected to you. If you’re looking for me to open up, I think the best way—”

“Ah, fine.” Kate closed her folder and took a sip of her water. “I crochet. I learned in college. I like very cold beer from the bottle. I clean my oven and my refrigerator when I’m stressed. I like cold pizza much more than warm pizza. I watch reruns of
Law and Order
and . . . I sing Motown, mostly Gladys Knight and the Pips, in the shower.”

“Are you Gladys or the Pips?” Grady asked, not missing a beat.

“Usually, Gladys, but sometimes I can’t help myself and I try to sing both. ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ is especially hard to resist. You know, the train,
hoo hoo
.” Kate gestured the train horn with her right hand. “The Pips have some great lines, but it’s never a good idea to try their moves in the shower.” She laughed and caught herself.

“Can we move on now? I need you to really focus on the top four questions. They’re going to be the ones that . . . ”

He just stared so she stopped.

“What?”

He kept staring.

Kate checked her teeth with her tongue. Nothing. “What?”

He smiled. “Sorry, my mind was still back in your shower. Give me a minute.”

Kate was sure she blushed, and there went the temperature again.

Grady looked at the paper she had handed him. “Behind the curtain is, well it’s surprising. There’s a whole hell of a lot more going on than you let others believe. And I’m usually pretty good at reading people, Kate.” He looked up. “I’m starting to think I had you all wrong.” He held her eyes for a moment and she was suddenly aware of her chest breathing in and out. At the odd sensation, she broke eye contact and cleared her throat.

“Okay, enough of that,” Grady said, and looked again at the questions, obviously trying to ease the tension that seemed to grow between them more and more these days. Kate followed suit and looked at her copy of the town hall questions. “I’ve made some in-roads with the YMCA and the Veteran’s Youth Program. Both seem very interested in having me speak at their events and will send representatives to the town meeting,” he continued.

Kate asked him a few questions and just like that they were back to business.

Chapter Thirteen

E
veryone was already gathered around him in Mark’s office when Grady noticed Kate enter and stand near the door. They had been at this for almost an hour, so Grady rubbed the bridge of his nose and finished off the last bit of coffee in his Starbuck’s cup. After the news Kate had called him with last night, Grady found himself wishing there was more than coffee in his cup. There was a lull in the bickering, so Grady tried again.

“For the last damn time, I am not gay,” he said quietly.

“Okay, so you say. I mean if that’s your story, I’m fine with that,” Stanley said, rolling his eyes.

“Well that’s just great.” Grady stood and made eye contact with Kate. “Stanley, I’m so happy you’re fine. Can we be done here?”

“No. As much as I would like to be done, we still have a situation. These pictures—the ones on the front page of every rag in town— they sure look like you’re gay and they are not going away.”

Grady was about to explode.

His father put a hand on Stanley’s shoulder, gesturing for him to take a seat. He looked at Grady. “Okay, so help me understand these pictures one more time.”

“Christ.” Grady took his seat again. “You know how Harvard has the Hasty Pudding production? The theater department has celebrities get in on the acts? Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“Yes,” his father said.

“Okay, some guys at Stanford were mocking them. Putting it up on the Internet, sending them their version of the Harvard tradition, like a
Saturday Night Live
sketch. It was actually pretty clever. Literary references and the like. Anyway, one of the guys in their theater department was in my frat. He needed a bigger guy and asked for my help.”

“And you didn’t think this would come back and—”

“Dad, I was twenty years old. I was in college. It seemed harmless. Did I think some asshole would profit from it over ten years later? No, I did not.”

“Right, well that’s exactly what has happened. I’ve told you your whole life that we need to be careful, more careful than the average family because people find things to—”

“Careful, we need to be careful, or just not get caught? Which is it, because I’m not sure any of us are always careful, are we, Dad?” Grady could feel the anger flood his face.

“Don’t start,” his father warned.

Grady knew the entire room could feel the unspoken happening between them, but he was suddenly fed up with the double standard.

Senator Malendar continued, “Okay, this is an issue and we need to deal with it. It’s not time to play poor Grady, neglected son.”

Grady glared, but said nothing.

Kate spoke up. “Excuse me, sir. I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’ve gone over the information and I think I have an idea.” Mark looked a little nervous, as if he had no idea what Kate was going to say. Grady didn’t either, but he hoped whatever it was would put this crap to bed quickly.

The senator gestured for her to share her thoughts.

Kate walked toward them. “So, there’s nothing shameful about being gay.”

“Jesus Christ, I’m not—”

Kate put her hand up to stop Grady. “Let me finish. As a campaign, we are offended that the other side is making this out to be a scandal. Explain that it was a spoof, a skit, and then turn it on its head. Grady Malendar respects the gay community and is in no way threatened by an innocent skit. He and the senator both find it absurd and insulting to their gay friends, and the community as a whole, that his opponent would use such obviously innocent and fun pictures as something disgraceful.”

All eyes were on Kate. No one said a word, and she continued. “This could lead to an awareness campaign, acceptance of alternative lifestyles. The gay community, at least the out and progressive gay community, are a large part of that youthful vote you are looking for, sir. This isn’t an embarrassment, it’s a young man not intimidated or homophobic.”

It was quiet for a moment longer and then Stanley crossed the room and hugged Kate, who looked shocked and a little squeamish. Grady had wanted to punch Stanley before, but this moment was really testing his control.

“Yes, I don’t know why I didn’t see it first,” Stanley said, clearly relieved.

“Because you were too busy preparing me for some kind of homosexual exorcism there, Stan-ley. Super cool that you’re all pro-gay now. Gotta love politics!” Grady said, shaking his head and laughing at the stupid insanity of the world he grew up in. “It’s a great plan, Kate. You really are a wonder, perfectly suited for this zoo.” He stood and didn’t care that she looked hurt. “Now, are there any other tidbits of my personal life we need to comb over, or can I get the hell out of this cage? I have things to do, real things.”

The senator shook Kate’s hand while he was saying, “Sure, Grady. Thanks for—”

That was all Grady heard as the conference room door closed behind him.