The Senator's Daughter

by Sophia Sasson

  Alex’s chest burned, and he wanted nothing more than to tell the senator he was wrong, that he’d miscalculated what life with Emilia would’ve been like, but he couldn’t. Aside from dinner and breakfast this morning, he’d never had a conversation with Kat that didn’t result in an argument. What would he do when she riled him up? When her strong temper lit up his explosive side?

  “You’re going to be president one day, you know.” The senator’s voice was soft, mellowed by the cool night air and the brandy he’d been sipping.

  Alex laughed. “How about we focus on getting you elected first.”

  But the senator wasn’t listening. “I hear there might be some openings soon. One more high-profile position, then you run for governor of Virginia in four years—you’ll need it to win the presidential. It’s going to be a purple state for years to come.”

  In any election, the states were identified as red or blue depending on whether they tended to vote Republican or Democratic. Purple states were battleground or swing states. Virginia had been firmly red, but in recent years, with the increasingly liberal influence of Northern Virginia, which bordered Washington, DC, and Maryland, the state was beginning to polarize. The last few elections had all been within five polling points.

  Alex and the senator had the conversation about his career once a year, usually with Alex drinking coffee and the senator sipping brandy, but the tone was different this time. The senator wasn’t just sounding off. He was laying out timelines and details with a level of specificity they hadn’t discussed before. All of a sudden, the hypothetical was becoming real.

  But the more the senator talked, the more the knot in Alex’s stomach twisted, sending a burning sensation up through his belly and into his chest. This is what I want, isn’t it? He should be grateful, and he was. Every man he’d ever worked for had tried to hold him back, keep him in a position where Alex wouldn’t overshadow him. They were never going to let Alex become one of the elite. The senator had treated him like a son, taken him under his wing and shaped his success. He was the only person who accepted what Alex aspired to be. Why can’t I just be happy? Because he doesn’t fully trust me. If he did, he wouldn’t have had Crista keep an eye on me for him.

  The senator’s next words pulled him out of his internal musings like the ringing of a fire alarm.

  “Vickie’s career can be fast-tracked if she’s the governor’s wife first.”

  Suddenly, things clicked into place for him. “You’ve been grooming me to set the path for Vickie.”

  The senator winced at Alex’s tone. “I’ve invested in your future.”

  “Is that what you were doing when you asked Crista to spy on me?”

  “I asked her to watch out for you, make sure you didn’t make foolish moves. You had too much of an emotional stake in the IED bill,” he replied with the smoothness of a practiced politician.

  Alex took a breath to calm himself. There was no point in arguing with the senator. He was playing the game.

  “How long have you had this plan?”

  “Don’t get testy with me, Alex. I hired you because you were qualified. I promoted you because you were good. Vickie’s always liked you—don’t tell me you haven’t noticed her being sweet on you. You two would be very good for each other.”

  “You’d want me to marry your daughter, knowing I don’t love her.”

  The senator stood, swirling the dredges of amber liquid in his snifter. “Until you told me about Kat, I thought you got along well with Vickie. She has feelings for you.”

  And until he’d met Kat, he would’ve welcomed this conversation with the senator. “Sir, I love Kat. Like the love you had for Emilia.”

  “But if you married Vickie, it would be like my marriage to Carol. It’s your decision, son. Know this, though—if you want to be with Kat, you have to be willing to give up on becoming president. I’ll give you my blessing either way. Love only comes once in a lifetime, but a presidency sets you up for generations.”

  An uneasy feeling settled into his stomach. He wanted to take the senator at his word, but years of experience had taught him to read between the lines.

  He’d never considered Vickie for a life partner, in large part because he assumed she was off-limits, but she was exactly the type of woman he had always wanted. This is the kind of deal I’ve been waiting for my whole life. He’s giving me an inside ticket.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  SOMETHING WAS GOING on with Alex. He’d been avoiding her for a week. His claim that he had a lot of work to do in DC seemed legitimate, but Kat couldn’t shake the feeling that he was pulling away from her. He’d made a surprise announcement the morning after the dinner with her father that he was delegating his campaign responsibilities to Crista so he could focus on the IED bill, which was coming up for vote soon. The vote was scheduled for tomorrow. Something was up, and it bothered Kat that she didn’t know what.

  Her mother was being similarly aloof. Emilia had been positively giddy after the dinner with the senator, but she still refused to open up about what they were privately discussing, first at the house and then on their nightly phone calls.

  “What are you working on?”

  Kat jumped at Crista’s voice behind her. “Just an analysis of what the passage of the IED bill might mean for future spending.”

  Crista rolled her eyes. “Is this for your book?”

  Kat nodded. She’d written two versions of a critical chapter on the IED legislation. One continuing to argue how wasteful the spending would be, and the other analyzing it from Alex’s perspective. Reading each chapter multiple times, she’d finally gone with what felt right to her.

  She was grateful that it had been slow at the campaign office the past few days. Congress was almost ready to go to recess, so all the action was in Washington, DC, where they were trying to get a budget passed in addition to the IED bill vote. The senator was down ten points in the polls, a significant hit. Crista was hoping that the passage of the IED bill would get them back on track. Until then, there was nothing to do.

  “So, are you and Nathan ever going to take that hike?” Crista and Kat had gotten closer since Alex’s return. They’d even gone out to lunch this week.

  Crista sighed dramatically. “He hasn’t brought it up, and the one time I did, he changed the subject. I think he’s intimidated by my new role.”

  “But not much has changed—you were running the place before, too.”

  Crista stared at Kat. “Do you not get how big a deal it was for Alex to delegate primary responsibility to me?”

  Guess not.

  “I was his right-hand woman before, but he was the boss, making the strategic decisions, having the difficult conversations. Now I do that, and it’s not an easy role. It often creates tension with the staff. Like yesterday, when I asked Nathan to redo his research on the policy statement the opponent put out on military spending because I didn’t think he did a good job.”

  Kat swallowed. She hadn’t really absorbed the news that Crista was now her boss. But more important, was it a demotion for Alex? Had the senator punished him for being with her?

  “And in four months, the campaign will be over and we’re all going back to our previously scheduled lives,” Crista continued.

  Kat sat up. She knew her time here was limited, but she hadn’t thought about what it meant for everyone else. “So where are you two going?”

  “I have a couple of offers in DC, but I haven’t decided what I’ll take. Nathan is going to get his PhD. He’s already been accepted to Berkeley. In fact, he’ll be leaving the campaign in a few weeks.”

  “But...”

  Crista stood. “He has differe
nt goals than I do. He wants to work for a think tank or possibly even do TV reporting.” She widened her arms and gestured to everyone around her. “I love this, the energy, the life-changing work. Our paths are diverging, that’s all.”

  Something twisted inside Kat’s chest and she sat up straighter. “Listen, that’s not true. There are a ton of schools and think tanks around DC. With his background, he could become a political correspondent.”

  “Campaign romances are always temporary,” Crista said dismissively, walking away. Kat wondered whether she was looking for an excuse not to get involved with Nathan...and whether it was one of the reasons Alex had pushed away from her.

  The day went by quickly. Though she had been with the campaign for only a little over a month, her book was due to the publishers in under four weeks. The dean had called to say they needed it as soon as possible to get it into circulation before the election. She still hadn’t dropped that bomb on Alex, but knew she had to say something the next time she saw him. More important, she needed to tell him what she was writing so he wouldn’t feel blindsided. Her BlackBerry buzzed and a shiver of excitement went through her as a text from Alex popped up.

  Go to primail.com and set up a free email account. Send me the address.

  She frowned. What was this about? Somehow she’d been expecting something a little more romantic from him. And why couldn’t he just call or email her campaign account? Then she remembered the campaign emails were monitored. Probably by Crista. She sighed. Alex would probably say this was just how the game was played, but she didn’t believe it. Surely there was another way to run a campaign, one where friends didn’t feel the need to spy on each other.

  Still, she wanted to hear from him, so she followed his directions and texted him the address she’d set up. The website said it was private, encrypted email. She went to the account and a message popped up from Alex. She looked over her shoulder then opened it.

  From: Alex.Santiago@primail.com

  To: Kat.Driscoll@primail.com

  Subject: We need to talk

  I’m in back-to-back meetings and can’t call. Just found out the senator is going to your house tonight. You need to talk to your mother. It’s not my place to tell you what I know, but she’s been keeping a secret from you.

  —Alex

  A bitter taste filled her mouth. She had bitten the inside of her cheek. Something was going on with her mother and Alex was keeping it from her? How could he? Knowing how much she worried about her mother, why would he torture her like this?

  From: Kat.Driscoll@primail.com

  To: Alex.Santiago@primail.com

  Subject: This is not funny.

  Do you really think it’s okay to send me an email like that? Call me or do some fast typing. Tell me what’s going on.

  —Kat

  She refreshed her screen several times, but it took a full ten minutes to get a short email that simply said I can’t. I’m sorry. Go home and talk to your mother.

  And just like that, she knew what was going on with her and Alex. He’d picked sides, and it wasn’t hers. She grabbed her bag and let Crista know she was heading out. While driving, she tried Alex on his BlackBerry, his office phone, even the private phone she knew he kept in the car in case his cell ran out of battery. She gave up when she passed by a police cruiser. The last thing her dwindling savings account needed was a texting-and-driving ticket.

  Parking in the driveway, she took a breath and went to her front door, ignoring Rex’s barking. Did it smell like...apple pie? She walked into the kitchen to find her mother wearing one of her pretty dresses under an apron. Her hair was done; she even had lipstick on. She looked like she could be on the cover of Good Housekeeping.

  “Kat, you’re home early.”

  “Mom, what’re you doing?”

  “Your father is coming over for dinner. I made his favorite apple pie. I was thinking we could go have dinner at that nice Italian place then come back here for dessert.”

  Kat stepped into the kitchen. “Mother, why is he coming here?”

  She shrugged, washing out a mixing bowl in the sink. “Oh, who knows. Probably just to say hello.”

  Kat took a breath to keep herself calm. “Mom, I’ve had enough. You need to tell me what you’ve been discussing with my father.”

  Emilia turned off the water and stood with her arms on the kitchen sink. “Put on a pot of coffee.”

  They sat in the living room. Kat warmed her hands on her mug. Despite the warm day, she felt a chill in her bones.

  “I’ve been keeping something from you, Katerina.” Her mother’s hands shook as she picked up her own mug and took a sip. “Remember three years ago when you took me to see the doctor?”

  It could’ve been any number of trips. Kat didn’t specifically remember, but she nodded. She had yet to drink any of her coffee; she was so nauseous, she was sure anything she sent to her stomach would come right back up.

  “I asked to speak to the doctor privately.”

  Kat narrowed her eyes. She vaguely remembered that visit... It might have been the first time her mother had requested privacy, but Kat hadn’t thought much about it since the doctors always talked to her about treatment plans anyway.

  “I’d been having some symptoms, and I didn’t want to worry you, so I talked to the doctor and she ran some tests.”

  Kat set the mug down. She didn’t have the strength in her hands to hold it. “What kind of symptoms?”

  “There’s no easy way to say this, so I just have to tell you. I have Parkinson’s.”

  This can’t be true. Her mother must be mistaken. How could she have hidden this from Kat for three years?

  “Mom, I’m sure that’s not right. I would’ve seen the signs. Not once have I seen your hands tremble.”

  “I’ve been having trouble sleeping and writing.”

  Kat knew her mother had insomnia; she had assumed it was a side effect of the psychiatric medications. She’d even mentioned it to the doctor, who had subsequently changed her mother’s dosages.

  “Does Dr. Leventhal know about this?”

  Emilia nodded. “I asked him not to tell you. She’s bound by doctor-patient confidentiality.”

  Doctor-patient confidentiality? Since when was her mother in charge of her own health care? How could the doctors keep something like this from Kat? While she didn’t have power of attorney over her mother, Kat had always been her primary caregiver and the doctors consulted her on everything.

  Kat had a million questions. She grilled her mother about the details, of which there were few. She was in the early stages but would get worse as the years went on. That was why the doctor had authorized taking Emilia off the lithium and refused to put her back on even after Kat insisted. The doctor had recently put her on new medication. Medication that her mother took without Kat’s knowledge, sometimes with the help of the nursing company. Nurses that Kat sacrificed her own needs to pay for, but who were asked to keep Kat in the dark.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Her mother sighed. “You’ve spent your whole life taking care of me. I found out right when Colin left. You were already hurting—it was time for me to start being your mother.”

  Kat put a hand to her mouth to stifle a hysterical laugh that threatened to escape. What world was her mother living in? Hiding critical medical information from Kat so she couldn’t properly manage her bipolar disorder was parenting?

  “I know you
’re upset. I wasn’t going to tell you, but I didn’t want you to hear it from your father.”

  “He knows?” Now the tremble in Kat’s hands was from the rage burning inside her.

  “Kat, I need to make sure someone will take care of you if I die, and who better than your father?”

  Kat couldn’t take it anymore. “My father?” she sputtered. “When did you tell him?”

  “About a year ago. We were trying to figure out a way to talk to you when the story broke.”

  “Is that why he’s coming to dinner? So you can tell me about your illness before it’s broadcast on the news? I’m a grown woman, Mom. I don’t need a father—or a mother, for that matter. The time for needing a parent is long gone.”

  She picked up her purse and walked out. She didn’t want to see the senator. Did Alex know about this? Was that why he sent her home to talk to her mother? So he’d hidden it from her, too. She got into her car and slammed the door shut. She wasn’t going to cry. She’d used up all her tears the last time she was betrayed. The one constant in her life, the one person she knew would never betray her, was her mother.

  A knock on the window made her head jerk. She hit the button to roll it down. “What’re you doing here?”

  “I came to make sure you’re okay.”

  She opened the door and got out.

  “Did you know, Alex?”

  “Kat.”

  Of course he knew. That was what the email had been about. She wasn’t going to cry. She knew how to deal with a man betraying her.

  “Alex, I need an honest answer. How long have you known?”

  “I just found out this morning, I swear. If I’d known earlier, I would’ve told you. The senator said he was coming over for dinner and that he and your mom planned to tell you. I sent you the email because I wanted you to be prepared.”

  “So why are you here? Why didn’t you just call and tell me?”

  “Crista said you tore out of headquarters. I got worried.”