Page 40 of Tate
His eyes twinkled when he smiled, and how had she not noticed that before? Maybe the glitter of the spotlights had blinded her.
She glanced at her mother, wound up in a conversation with some general dressed in his Army Service Uniform, and nodded.
Sloan took her hand and they threaded through the crowd, around the side of the house, and up the stairs to the balcony. He led her into a side entrance.
The air conditioning raised gooseflesh, and she dropped his hand, rubbing hers on her arms.
“Sorry. I keep it pretty cool in here.” He went over to a kitchen area. A long granite bar top separated the kitchen area from the pool table and the lounge area. A giant flat-screen covered one wall, flanked by built-in speakers. He opened the freezer and pulled out a box of Ho Hos. Set them on the counter. “Dad let me take this over when I moved home.”
She guessed one of the closed doors might be a bedroom. “Where did you move from? I thought you were living in DC.”
“I was. Worked for the NRA as a lobbyist, but…I got a better job.”
She slid onto a counter stool and reached for a Ho Ho. “As?”
“Assistant campaign manager.”
She stopped her movements, the unwrapped Ho Ho in her hand. “For…Senator Reba Jackson.”
He pointed at her.
“Seriously?”
“Your mother represents all I believe in. She’s a moderate, votes conservative on freedoms, progressive on social issues, and represents the ideals of the majority of Americans. Besides, I think it’s time for a woman president, don’t you?”
He seemed so sincere she just had to nod.
“And I’m not campaigning here, but your mother always…well, not having a mother, she was sort of a fill-in. She’d show up at your events, and somehow I’d end up hanging out with you guys. Going for ice cream after school award ceremonies. Your mother always took care of me.”
It was good to see her mother through Sloan’s eyes. Because even if it had been her sister her mother had shown up to watch, she had been in the audience.
Every time.
“I’m sure you know this, but she got into politics because of Joy. She didn’t want Joy to miss out on any opportunities because of her physical challenges, so Mother ran for the school board. Made sure they were up to code, opened the door for personal help for the physically challenged, and pretty much transformed not only our school but brought changes to schools across Nashville.”
“It became her platform when she ran for mayor and won. I did my homework.” He winked at her. “Her law degree didn’t hold her back, either.”
He came around the counter. “Let’s go back outside. You’re freezing.”
She was cold and followed him out onto the balcony, now draped in the twilight hues of the setting sun. Behind them, the crowd had begun to take their seats at the tables, but Glo stayedat the railing, her gaze out on the rolling hills, the horses grazing in the pastures.
Maybe she could fit into this world, embrace her mother’s dreams. Be the daughter she needed.
Maybe she owed her mother that much.
Sloan pressed his hand to the small of her back. “I was hoping you’d come back, Glo. I…” He drew in a breath. “I missed you.”
She turned to him, very aware that her childhood friend had grown up, become the sort of man any woman would want.
Any woman but one still bleeding from the broken edges of her heart.
But maybe he was the distraction she needed. The perfect way to forget Tate.
What had Cher said—giddyup?
She smiled, mostly at Cher’s word, but he read it as something more maybe, because his hand came up to caress her cheek.
A feather touch, and she stilled.
