CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Charley
The next morning, I opened my eyes to an empty bed. Nick’s bag was still in the corner, so at least I knew he hadn’t snuck back to D.C. without me. I made my way downstairs and found him flipping pancakes at the stove while Mom looked on in amazement.
“Nick wanted to make us breakfast,” she explained, bordering on giddy. “Isn’t that sweet?”
“Nick’s a sweet guy,” I said, my eyes narrowing at him when he turned to face me. I was certain this was just a ploy to hear my Mom tell more embarrassing stories about me.
He smiled innocently, eyes wide. “This is my own special pancake recipe.”
“He has his own pancake recipe,” Mom hissed. “I just love a man that can cook.”
“Does Dad know?” I rolled my eyes, embarrassed at how non-subtle she was being. If it was up to her, Nick and I would be procreating right there in the kitchen.
I reached for my favorite mug on the top shelf, but Nick beat me to it.
“Coffee for my lady?” He reached for the freshly brewed pot.
“I can get it.” I was still getting used to having someone in my life to do simple things for me, like pour my morning coffee.
“Nonsense.” He finished pouring and handed me the mug with a flourish. “I like waiting on you.”
I took a tentative sip. “It’s good.”
“Glad you approve.” He kissed me chastely on the lips, a wise move considering my mother was watching unabashedly. “Now sit.”
I sat next to Mom and drank my coffee, flinching every time she kicked me under the table. It didn’t take a genius to see that she approved of Nick and was not-so-politely reminding me not to screw it up.
“Where’s Dad?” I had a feeling he would be a little less happy about me shacking up with Nick.
“He’s still in bed. We had a late night.” She glanced at me. “We couldn’t help but notice that the guest room was empty when we got home.”
My cheeks flushed hotly. I was nearly thirty-years-old, but my mother could still shame me for sleeping in the same bed with a man before marriage. I blushed even harder when I remembered all of the things we had done in that bed besides sleep.
For the first time all morning, Nick didn’t have a smile or charming words to offer. In fact, he looked even more embarrassed than me.
“Mother, I’m an adult now.”
“I know, dear. Frankly, it doesn’t bother me. But you know your father. He’s very old fashioned about that sort of thing.”
“That’s only because I’m a girl. If it was Tim-” I stopped abruptly.
It had been years since I had made such a careless slip, treating my brother like someone that was still a part of our lives. But something felt different today. After finding Tim’s card yesterday, I realized that he was still a part of our family and it didn’t hurt to say his name.
“Dad always did let Tim get away with more than me,” I finished.
“Tim was a free spirit. I think Dad knew it would be a waste of time trying to micromanage him,” Mom said. She seemed relieved to finally be talking about him after all these years.
Nick placed the last of the pancakes on a serving platter and set it in front of us on the table, next to a plate of bacon and fresh fruit. He pulled up a chair next to me and asked, “Should we wait for your father?”
“I’m here.”
Dad came in the room looking better-rested than I had seen him in a long time. Apparently the sight of the empty guest room hadn’t had a dramatic effect on him after all.
“Did you kids sleep well?” he asked, a faint hint of a smile playing at his lips as he watched us both squirm uncomfortably. “Breakfast smells good.”
“Nick cooked,” I said, determined to sell Nick as an upstanding gentleman. “It’s his special pancake recipe.”
For some reason, I felt the need to talk Nick up all throughout breakfast. My mom had been an easy sell, but my dad was harder to read. He wasn’t as easily impressed.
“I don’t like politicians,” he said after I talked about a recent bill Nick had worked on.
“I don’t either, sir,” Nick said.
Dad rewarded him with a dry laugh. “You’ll probably need to get over that if you’re going to be an effective Vice President.”
“I think I can find a way to do both.”
Nick’s phone rang loudly and he grabbed it quickly. “Sorry. I really need to take this.”
“I think we’ll be leaving soon,” I said as he left the room. “The media should follow us, so you guys won’t have to deal with that madness any longer.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” Dad said, taking a second helping of pancakes. “It’s been nice having you here.”
I nodded. “It’s been a good visit. I’m glad you got to meet Nick.”
Dad surprised me by saying, “We’re glad, too. He seems like a good guy. Not good enough for my daughter, but maybe the best I can hope for.”
“You like Nick?”
“Well, I’d like him better if he slept in the guest room.” Dad gave me a pointed look. “But you could certainly do worse.”
That was practically a ringing endorsement considering the source.
“Well, I’m glad you approve because I think I’ll be keeping him around for a while.” I stole a piece of bacon from Nick’s plate.
“Hopefully, that will score us an invite to the White House after his nomination becomes official.” Dad grinned to show that he was joking.
“Just think, we could end up being the parents of the first lady someday.” Mom clapped her hands together in delight.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s only been a few weeks.”
But when Nick walked back into the room, his serious look fading as he caught my eye, it felt like I had been in love with him for all my life.
“Time to go?” I asked.
“We have a little time.” Nick glanced at his plate. “Did you seriously steal my bacon while I was gone?”
“That doesn’t sound like something I would do,” I said, batting my eyes innocently.
Dad was quick to sell me out. “She’s a bacon thief. Always has been. You should watch out for that.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Nick slid back into his seat and squeezed my leg. “I’ll keep my eye on her. Any other bad habits I should know about?”
“You got a few hours?”
“Oh, I see what this is. You two are ganging up on me. Swell.” I pretended to pout.
“It could be worse,” Dad said.
“It could?”
He nodded. “Yes. Your mom and I could be ganging up on Nick.”
Fair point.
The Secret Service arrived an hour after breakfast and they weren’t very happy. I couldn’t tell if it was because Nick had ditched them, making them look like fools, or if they just really didn’t like being in Danville. If it was the latter, I didn’t blame them.
“Hey, you okay?” Nick nudged me in the car on our way to the airport. We had been driving for several minutes without speaking.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “It was harder saying goodbye to my parents than I expected. We aren’t usually so weepy.”
“Weepy?” Nick laughed. “Your mother was the only one that cried and I’m pretty sure that was only because she’s going to miss me. I would hardly call that a weepy goodbye.”
“You just don’t know my family that well yet.” It had been the most emotion my family had shown since Tim’s funeral.
Our Secret Service companions got us special privileges at the airport and we made it through security in record time. Nick was dressed in his normal incognito disguise– faded blue jeans, worn t-shirt, and baseball hat pulled low over his eyes. It didn’t matter. Nick wasn’t someone that could pass as ordinary.
While Nick took yet another important call, I stocked up on candy and trashy magazines.
“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” the clerk said as she rang up my purchases.
For a second, I thought she was talking about Nick, but when I glanced over my shoulder, he was nowhere in sight. Then I looked back at the magazine and saw Nick’s face staring up at me.
“He’s alright,” I said with a small, secret smile. “I hear he’s a good cook, too.”
“Hot, good cook, rich… I bet he’s good in bed, too,” she said with a wink.
I grabbed my bag of goodies and answered confidently, “You have no idea just how good. He does this thing with his tongue…”
Her mouth dropped open as she watched me walk away and greet the real Nick with a passionate kiss.
“Easy, girl. We’re in public,” Nick scolded, but he didn’t pull away.
“That was a long phone call. Anything I should know about?” I couldn’t help but notice that his eyes weren’t quite as bright as they usually were when he looked at me.
Nick glanced over my shoulder. “We need to board.”
It didn’t pass my notice that he hadn’t answered the question, but I followed him on the plane without protest. We had over two hours on the plane for me to get an answer out of him.
“It says here that you are the most eligible bachelor in Congress.” I scanned the article about Nick, laughing at some of the obvious lies. “It also says you have a temper and you are a notorious womanizer.”
“Why are you reading that?” His lip lifted in a sneer. “It’s garbage. I can’t believe you paid money for that.”
“I didn’t buy it to read it.” I held it up so that he could see his face on the glossy cover. “I bought it for the hot pictures.”
He frowned at it. “They didn’t even get my good side.”
“I have yet to see a side of you that isn’t good.” I stuck the magazine into the pocket of the seat in front of me. “Now, about that question you so stealthily evaded earlier…”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He pretended to be busy typing on his phone.
I grabbed it from his hand. “Don’t be cute, Nick.”
“I can’t exactly help it.” He tried one of his charming smiles, but I brushed it aside.
“Stop. Tell me what’s going on.”
Nick reached over, I thought to take back his cell phone, but he took my hand instead. “When we get back, I need you to meet with some people.”
“Huh?”
“The vetting process is starting, and once everyone is done digging through my life, they’re going to start on yours. My advisors want to meet with you and see if there is anything we should prepare to face.” Nick couldn’t quite meet my eye.
“Like what?” I pulled my hand away, feeling defensive. “You just spent the past couple of days with my family in my childhood home. You know everything about me.” I lowered my voice. “I even told you about Ben.”
“I know.” Nick looked adorably crestfallen. “I don’t want to do this to you, Charley, but I don’t think we have a choice. These people are going to come after you, trying to get to me, and I can’t let them do that. But I can’t protect you unless you let me.”
“I don’t need you to protect me, Nick.” It was hard to keep my inner-feminist calm. “I’ve been protecting myself for a long time.”
Nick said, “Not from something as big as this, Charley.”
“And what, exactly, is this?” From the way he was acting, it seemed like he knew exactly what I would be facing.
Nick’s jaw clenched as he looked away. For a long time, he just stared out the window. When he finally turned back to me, his eyes were dark. “They know about Ben.”
The air left my chest like I had been punched. “They? Who’s they?”
“The advisors that were assigned to me by the White House.”
“How did they find out?” For the life of me, I couldn’t think of anyone that might’ve told them “Unless…”
Nick’s face confirmed my suspicion. “I told them, Charley. I told them everything.”