by Holley Trent
“This is getting tedious,” Mandy said, shrugging out from Aaron’s hold. “All parties in attendance — spit it out.”
“I like a woman who shoots straight from the hip,” Rick said.
“Yeah, me too,” Aaron said, letting his brows knit.
“Fine, fine. Let’s lay it all out here so Mr. Leonard can get back to the business of managing his car lot.” The governor walked over to Mandy and put a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t draw back. Of all the things she had to be afraid of, he wasn’t one of them.
“Mandy, my dear, are you aware your father — your biological father, I mean — has several wives?”
She looked from Charles to her mother, eyes narrowed. Mom shrugged. “We were never legally married. I didn’t know it at the time. He always kept us separate. When I didn’t agree to join the bunch, he left.”
There was her confirmation. She suspected as much after listening to that voicemail. If her mother thought one man was interchangeable for the next, she had never been in love. The realization had hit Mandy like a ton of bricks, but now she was just pissed. Mom didn’t even care that he’d left. He was just a means to an end.
“Well, there you go,” Mandy said, voice low and flat. “I haven’t seen my father since I was seven. We don’t communicate.”
“Ah,” the governor reached out a hand to give her a pat, but she backed up a step.
“Well, Mandy, he doesn’t try so hard to hide it nowadays. Gets around that sticky legal issue by being married on paper to one of the women. The rest live in his household quite comfortably. I’m sure you can see how this would muddle people’s understanding of the values espoused by my campaign.”
She shook her head. “No, actually I can’t. It’s a tenuous association at best. A man I don’t speak to engages in a practice you find distasteful? So what?”
“Ah, but you see — it’s easy for information like that to become twisted once it becomes public knowledge. The next thing you know, people will think Aaron appreciates that lifestyle, and by extension,” he put up his shoulders in a shrug, “me.”
Aaron cracked his knuckles and shoved his fists into the pockets of his slacks. “So, what am I supposed to do? Not love her?” He turned to Mom. “Adriana, don’t you want Mandy to be happy?”
“I don’t want her involved in a scandal, do you? That wouldn’t be good for any of us. What’s the point of letting all those skeletons out of the closet? Let them lie.”
Aaron shook his head and made a brisk walk across the room to take Mandy’s hand. “Listen to yourselves. Maybe Elly had it right all along.”
Rick scoffed and stretched his arms over his head, yawning. “Right. The girl with the IQ of a ladybug, now procreating. We should all follow her lead.”
Aaron took another involuntary step forward. Mandy shoved her hand into the waistband of his slacks and gave him a yank. It was enough.
“Dad, too far.”
Charles put up his hands. “You’re right. Rick, please.”
Rick shrugged.
Mom put her hands on Mandy’s shoulder and gave her a pleading look. “Miranda, please. The governor has done a lot of good for the people of North Carolina. Just think about it, will you? Can you put your desires aside for a little while? Until after the election?”
Aaron pulled Mandy back to him and held her against his chest, but for some reason she didn’t feel comforted.
“No. The election is next fall. Then what? You tell us to toe the line another three years while Dad gets his shit together for national office? I don’t think so. Come on, Miranda.”
“If you go without resolving this to my satisfaction,” Charles said, sinking into the seat beside Rick on the sofa, “there’s your funding.”
“You’re not welcome back here, Mandy, so you better make sure he takes care of you,” Archie barked.
Aaron’s hand squeezed tighter around hers as he pulled her toward the door.
Mom trailed them out and watched as Aaron helped Mandy into his SUV. She grabbed the door handle before he could push the door closed.
“Mandy, please. Think about what this is going to do to Archie.”
Mandy laughed, sounding somewhat hysterical and not caring. “Archie? Who gives a shit about Archie? Not me. Not anymore. What kind of deals has he been cutting with the governor in the past hour, huh? Gonna funnel some money his way somehow? Overlook his tax filings? Get him some permits?”
Mom shook her head and clucked her tongue. “Mandy, Archie took care of us when there was no one. The least you could do is help out.”
“What are you talking about? There was always Abi.”
Mom mumbled something low and gutteral in Spanish, the gist of which was about Abi stifling her freedom, which Mandy found ironic given her situation.
“She wouldn’t understand. Because of Archie, we didn’t have to move back to Spain after your father left. He made it so we could stay here.”
“You’re full of sh — ”
Aaron closed the door on Mandy’s commentary.
Adriana, blank-faced on the other side of the glass, had nothing further to say.
CHAPTER 18
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
Mandy had been pensive since returning to Durham, her mind constantly churning with what had happened back in Edenton. She’d called her grandmother for counsel, and all Abi could offer for reassurance was, “I’ll kill them.” That had made Mandy laugh, but it hadn’t lifted her spirits for long. She felt like some sort of outcast of her own making — one who could potentially ruin the life of the man she thought she loved. What does one do in that sort of bind?
She plucked a French fry from the basket they shared at Elmo’s Diner and shook her head. “Nothing. Just thinking about those interviews from this morning.”
Aaron watched her for a moment wordlessly then took a bite of his bean cake sandwich. “Screenings didn’t go well?” He’d been out of the office for the past couple of days and had just gotten back into town. He’d been talking with potential major donors, looking for funding sources to make up for the deficit he expected Cars to Work to face in the coming year.
“They were okay. I’m just worried their personalities won’t jibe with the rest of the crew.”
He shrugged. “It’s an important concern, for sure, but as the charity gets bigger, we may not have the luxury of ensuring everyone on each team is simpatico.”
“That’s true.” She swirled the French fry again without even having taken a bite from the first time she dipped it.
“Miranda?”
“Hmm?”
“Is there anything else upsetting you?” He put his sandwich down and reached across the tabletop to grab her hands.
She drew back. “Aaron, I … ” She took a deep breath and let the words come out in one mumbled stream. “I guess I’m putting in my notice. I can’t do this.”
He shook his head. “What are you talking about? I’m about to promote everyone including you.”
“Aaron, I … I just don’t feel I can keep up with you. We’re on completely different levels?” She didn’t mean for it to sound like a question, but she hadn’t rehearsed the lie enough times for it to come out the way she wanted.
He stood. “Woman, what are you talking about?”
She slipped out of her side of the bench and walked briskly to the door. There was a bus coming. She intended to be on it. He tried to follow but the waitress caught up. “Sir, your bill?”
He stopped. “Miranda!”
She rushed outside the restaurant and onto the city bus when it stopped at the corner. As she dropped coins into the receptacle, she looked through the door’s glass panels to see him standing by their table, his jaw slack as if he’d just been slapped.
• • •
> Ten days later, Mandy was sitting in her apartment on the sofa, feet on the coffee table and her CTW laptop propped on her lap. It was the last time she’d have to enter payroll figures or schedule screening appointments. It’d be someone else’s chore in a few days, she figured.
Other than to buy groceries and walk the quarter mile to her mailbox, she hadn’t left the apartment. Mike had been trying to coax her out, insisting it was safe to work out of the office because Aaron wasn’t there, but she didn’t believe him.
She closed the laptop lid and flicked on the television. Mike had left it on some news station and there on the screen was the governor bloviating about fiscal something-or-other. She rolled her eyes and flipped through the channels, finally settling on a Mexican soap opera. She understood about every other word.
She had actually been giving some thought to moving to Spain after she tidied up her loose ends with CTW. It’d been Abi’s idea. “What else you gonna do, huh? Sit around and sulk? You’re young. Live your life. Come live with me. I’ll make sure you have fun,” Abi had said. “Don’t worry about the money. You want money? I’ll give you some. Why you don’t ask?”
“Mom said to never ask.”
Abi had mumbled something in Spanish Mandy hadn’t quite caught, but the gist didn’t cast Mom in a good light.
Keys jangled just outside the door and Mike and Eleanor fell into the apartment, laughing.
“Hey, Mandy!” Eleanor straightened up, tucking her mussed shirt into her jeans.
“Hey.” Mandy looked at the clock on the cable box. Lunchtime. She stood up and padded to the refrigerator in her sheepy pajamas and fuzzy socks.
“What are you doing here?” Mike asked, closing the door. “Aren’t you supposed to be meeting with that vendor about employee badges?”
She stuck her head into the fridge, scanning the shelves for the baggie full of bacon she’d put away. “Nope. Not my job.”
“Uh, yeah it’s your job. At least until Monday.”
She shrugged. She gave up on finding the bacon after remembering she’d eaten it as a 3 A.M. snack the second time she’d woken up from dreaming about Aaron. The first time she’d pounded her head against the pillow until she’d fallen back asleep.
“Come on, Mandy, you can’t be seriously quitting just like that.” Eleanor climbed up onto one of the tall barstools at the kitchen counter and leaned her elbows onto the countertop.
Mandy pulled out a block of cheddar and closed the door. She nodded. “Yes, I can. It’s too awkward.”
“How?” Mike took the cheese, which Mandy was unsuccessfully trying to unwrap with her thumbnails, and found the easy-open tab. He peeled the plastic off and handed it back to her. “You work mostly from home. You’d see Aaron once per month for staff meetings or whenever you’d have to go in to conduct interviews.”
Mandy cut her gaze toward Eleanor.
“She knows,” Mike said. “It’s not a secret. Everyone in the office knows.”
“Yeah,” Eleanor agreed. She pulled a cheese knife out of the block and handed it to Mandy. “And everyone in the office thinks you’re an idiot.”
Mandy chopped off a giant hunk of cheese, ate it, and followed it immediately with a bite of rustic bread she’d torn right off the loaf. “Okay, so maybe awkward’s not the right word to use. Maybe devastating is a better word. Fuck, is that better for y’all?”
Mike drew her into a hug. “Aw, honey. I know what it’s like to love someone you can’t have.”
“You do?”
“Sure, I do. I’ve been there. But that’s not what you’re dealing with. You can have him. This is a matter of choice. Your choice. He’s been clear the ball’s in your court, hasn’t he?”
She shrugged. “Dunno. I don’t listen to his voicemails.”
He gave her a little shake. “Ugh. You’re hopeless.”
She took another bite of cheese and sidled away to grab a green apple out of the basket. “Exactly. I’m doing what’s best for him.” She shuffled toward her bedroom.
“Oh, I see,” Mike called after her. “Well, don’t forget you have a job fair you’re supposed to represent CTW at tomorrow.”
She froze. She had forgotten. “Shit.”
“Yeah, that. Oh, package came for you.” He tapped it on the counter. “Hey, Eleanor. You want a cheese sandwich?”
• • •
Mandy yawned and picked up the last of the boxes of pamphlets and swag. She nestled it into her tight car trunk and slammed the lid shut. She wiped her hands off on her black slacks and rooted in her hipster purse for her keys. The purse was new. The funky gray and black bag had been in the mail Mike had brought up the day before. She knew a bribe when she saw one, but she couldn’t fault Mrs. Owen for her chutzpah. It wasn’t like she was going to send it back. It was special edition.
“Damn it.” She opened her purse wider but couldn’t see the glint of metal inside. “Maybe I left them on the seat.”
She opened the passenger door and found her keys there on the floorboard. “Ah.”
Aaron slipped into the driver’s side with some effort and pushed the seat back.
She startled. Where the Hell had he come from so quietly?
He shut the door and pulled the seatbelt across his chest, offering her that winning smile that she had found so charming the day they met at Archie’s lot.
“How about we take a little test drive and check out the struts on this thing?”
“Aaron, I have somewhere to be. Can you move?”
“Oh, I know. Job fair. I shuffled my schedule a bit. I can go.”
“Oh. Well, have fun.” She shut the door.
He rolled down the window. “Get in the car, Miranda. We’re going together.”
She snorted. “The Hell we are. I quit, remember? We broke up? Or, whatever people who aren’t really together do.”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “We were together, and you know it. Get in the car.”
She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, unmoving.
He sighed, put the parking brake on, and got out. He walked around to her, grabbed her by the arms without a word, and stared into her eyes for a few moments. Then he folded her into the passenger seat. “I wish you had back doors. I’d put the child safety lock on,” he mumbled while pulling her seatbelt across her body.
She crossed her arms over her chest again and briefly considered jumping out while he made his way back to the driver’s side, but figured it’d be pointless. It was her car after all. She’d be stuck either way.
He got in and set the car on the road. They rode in silence for a while, and then he rested a hand atop her left knee. She looked down at it, but didn’t push it away. “I missed you, sweetheart.”
“Oh?”
“Of course. I love you, Miranda. I really do.”
Her face burned and pulse pounded in her ears.
Oh my God. Fuck. What now?
She shifted her lips to the right side of her face and chewed the inside of her mouth. She stopped suddenly, remembering she’d all but given up that habit in recent weeks. Her stress level had gone way down after leaving AA1A. After meeting Aaron. Hell, her life had improved in a lot of ways, and not just carnal ones.
They rode in silence a while longer, but when he missed the exit he was supposed to take, she tapped his hand. “Uh, Aaron.”
“Shh. I know where I’m going.”
“Do you? The next exit is three miles past the road we need to get on.”
He didn’t answer. He missed the next exit, and the one after it, too. When he did turn off, they were somewhere in the middle of Bumfuck and Podunk and behind schedule. He parked the car on a quiet street in a small, quaint Piedmont town and seemed to be looking around for something. He unbuckled his seatbelt.
“Aaron?”
“Don’t worry. Never worry with me.”
• • •
Aaron looked around the lot for evidence of the silver sedan and found it parked in a primo space right in front of the office. Typical. “Ah. Come on, sweetheart. Get your purse.”
“Why?”
“You need your I.D.”
He reached under the driver’s seat, pulled out a manila envelope, and grabbed Mandy by the arm.
She put the brakes on their egress and swatted him. “For what? Tell me now or I’m not moving from this spot.”
He laughed. God, he loved that prickly little woman.
“You really think I couldn’t just pick your little ass up and carry you?”
She tapped the toe of her pump against the concrete walkway. “Could and should do not equate.”
“Mom’s waiting on us.” He crooked his thumb toward the squat municipal building. “She’s inside.”
She raised a brow and clutched her new purse protectively. “Your mother? Why?”
“Just trust me. Please?” He clamped the envelope under his arm and pressed his hands together as if to pray.
She narrowed her eyes but finally shrugged her shoulders.
He looped his free arm around her waist and escorted her up the walkway.
“I kind of feel like I’m being marched to the gallows.”
Something like that.
Mom met them in the small lobby and he watched Mandy’s gaze immediately land on his mother’s purse. It was from the new line. He gave Mandy’s arm a nudge with his elbow to wake her up.
“Hello, Miranda,” Mom said, pressing Mandy into a hug. She blotted at her eyes with a crumbled up tissue.
“What’s wrong?” Mandy cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brow. “What happened? Did someone die?”
Mom’s voice went high and keening. “No, I always cry at weddings.”
“Do what now?”
He gave Mandy a nudge toward the counter. “Heh. Don’t mind Mom, sweetheart.”
