Page 91 of In the Air Tonight

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Everything is more enjoyable when you’re not harboring a hideous secret.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Even knowing the shit could hit the fan at any second isn’t as bad as the secret was. I wonder all the time about how my life might’ve been different if I’d done the right thing then. Maybe everyone would’ve hated me, but I wouldn’t have had to carry a thousand-pound weight around with me.”

“Having everyone hate you doesn’t look as terrible now as it would’ve been then. Who knows what kind of damage that would’ve done, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“It was a no-win situation for you no matter what you did. Still is. But you’re doing the right thing regardless of what it might cost you. That’s admirable.”

I’m still not ready to take praise for what I’m doing. Maybe someday I’ll get there, but that won’t happen today.

After a quiet minute, he says, “You want to grab some dinner?”

“What’re you thinking?”

“I know a place out at the point with great food. An old friend of mine is the owner.”

“Would it be a date?”

“Something like that.”

“I’d love to.”

Chapter 19

Ryder

NOW

My kids are wild tonight. They’re resisting bedtime with everything they’ve got. I resort to blackmail to get them into bed.

“Anyone who gets in bed right now will get a special surprise tomorrow.”

Three little bodies go hurtling toward their beds.

That worked better than expected.

Seven-year-old Miles, five-year-old Grace and three-year-old Elise are in bed in two seconds flat.

“What will our surprise be?” Grace asks.

“You’ll have to wait and see. And everyone has tostayin bed, or there’s no surprise.”

“You hear that, Elise?” Miles asks. “Don’t mess it up for the rest of us.”

We keep saying we need to put the girls in their own room, but Miles wants “his babies” with him. He’s been the best big brother to them from the day we brought each of them home from the hospital.

I kiss them all goodnight and advise them to go to sleep, so they’ll earn their surprise, and then I head for the shower.

Since I declared my candidacy, I’ve missed a lot of bedtimes. I hate that. I never want to miss a second with them, but I’m determined to do whatever it takes to win this special election in November. Our longtime representative resigned his seat, which gave me an opening that I jumped on. The opportunity to servethe community I grew up in on the national stage is something I’ve long aspired to do.

If I win, Caroline and the kids will move to DC, so we can be together most of the time. I’ll have to be back in Rhode Island a lot, but our goal is to keep the family together as much as we possibly can. Thanks to the job I left to run for office, we’ve got some savings to set up a second household in Washington.

It’s all a huge risk, in more ways than one, but it’s been an exciting time for our entire family.

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