“I wish I didn’t have to tell you this…”
What could be left? Proof that he’d never loved her? “Tell me,” she said. “If you saw it on the news, I’ll find out, anyway.”
Empathy softened Ruby’s face. “It wasn’t Virna or Susie or any of the other aides. It—it was an intern.”
Adelaide felt a surge of righteous anger. Those interns were young, some of them just out of high school. “Which one?” she cried.
Ruby cringed. “Phoenix Day.”
This was the last name Adelaide had expected to hear. She was so stunned she couldn’t move. “There must be some mistake. Phoenix is a boy, the sweetest boy you could ever meet.”
Ruby took her hands. “I know.”
“You’re saying— That can’t be true,” she whispered. “Mark wasn’t g*y. Mark…” Remembering his lack of interest the past couple of years they’d lived together, Adelaide fell silent. He’d told her he was too stressed to maintain much of a sex life, too pressured at work, too busy. Was it something else? Something more? An inappropriate attraction to Phoenix?
“The boy has agreed to come forward,” Ruby was saying. “He’s providing copies of the correspondence between him and Mark. At least, according to the news.”
Adelaide didn’t know how to respond, except to deny it, regardless of any proof anyone claimed to have. “This can’t be true. It’s a political move, a way to get me to bow out of the race.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” Ruby said. “But…”
“But what?” Adelaide echoed.
“I don’t think it’s Luke who wants you out of the race. I think it’s Maxim Donahue.”
Adelaide opened her mouth to argue. Ruby had no idea of the baby or how the situation with Maxim had changed. But Ruby spoke before she could explain.
“It has to be,” she insisted. “Silici said Maxim received an anonymous tip, that it was his campaign manager who ran down all the details.”
WHERE WAS SHE?
The girls had their friends over. They were chatting happily as they munched on the appetizers Rosa had made, but Maxim had been too busy watching the clock to eat with them. Adelaide was late. She’d said she’d arrive at six, but it was nearly six-thirty. He figured he’d give her another fifteen minutes, so he didn’t seem impatient, but when 6:45 p.m. rolled around she still wasn’t there. Neither had she called him.
“Dad, didn’t you say your friend would be here soon?”
Megan had finally noticed Adelaide’s tardiness, perhaps because he’d grown so quiet.
“I’m sure she’s on her way, but…I’ll check.”
Taking his cell phone, he stepped out of the room. But Adelaide didn’t pick up. She didn’t answer her house phone, either.
Where could she be? Planning to drive over there, he grabbed his keys from the counter and started for the door when he received a call. Assuming it would be her, he pulled his cell out of his pocket and punched the talk button without glancing at caller ID. “Hello?”
“Maxim, you are truly amazing!”
It definitely wasn’t Adelaide. That voice belonged to his assistant, Peter Goodrich. Peter kept Maxim’s capitol office running smoothly and interfaced with Jan Kenny, who ran Maxim’s district office. He also volunteered on the campaign, so they spent a lot of time together. Maxim considered Peter his best hire. But he didn’t want to talk to him on Christmas Eve. “Peter, are you drunk?”
“What? Of course not. You know I don’t drink.”
“You sound drunk.” Tall and skinny, with a very deep voice, Peter was so circumspect that Maxim liked to tease him. But he was half-serious tonight. Peter sounded much more animated than usual.
“I’m just…surprised,” Peter said.
“About what?” Maxim looked at his watch.
“You did it, man. There’s no way she’s gonna beat you now.”
Slightly irritated because he didn’t want to talk business while he was so preoccupied with other things, Maxim scratched his neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about Mark Fairfax. How did you know? I mean…what a shocker. I never would’ve guessed he was g*y.”
Until this moment, Maxim had only been paying partial attention. He’d been too busy watching the clock and keeping an eye on his driveway through the window, expecting Adelaide to pull in at any time. Now every bit of his energy and focus turned toward the conversation. “How do you know about Fairfax?”
“I guess it was on the news. I didn’t see it, but someone called Martha and she called me.”
Martha Sanchez worked for him, too. She handled all the scheduling for Maxim and the field reps. She wouldn’t have felt as comfortable calling him at home, but she and Peter worked well together and had become close friends.
“I mean, it’s true, isn’t it?” Peter asked. “It’s not a joke.”
With a silent curse, Maxim crossed the room and sank onto the couch. Damn Harvey Sillinger! He’d taken the bribe money and he’d still gone after Adelaide.
“Maxim?”
“I’m here,” he muttered.
“You seem upset.”
He was upset. If word of Fairfax’s affair had been on the news, Adelaide had heard about it, too. They were in politics, for crying out loud. They had people who were paid to watch and listen for any mention of their names in the media. If she hadn’t seen it on the news herself, she’d probably received a call very similar to this one. Son of a bitch.
“Maxim? Isn’t this good news?” Peter asked, uncertain now.
“No. It’s not good news,” he said and hung up.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
IT HADN’T BEEN EASY to get Ruby to leave. But Ruby had kids. She couldn’t miss Christmas. And although Ruby invited her, there was no way Adelaide wanted to join the party. She loved the children, but this was the first time the family would be celebrating the holidays together in three years. Adelaide refused to interfere with that. Besides, she’d rather be alone.
Bundled up in a wool coat, scarf and gloves, she sat on a bench in Capitol Park, gazing at the building that sheltered California’s government. Called the People’s Building, it was a domed piece of Greek Revival and Roman–Corinthian architecture resembling the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Tonight, the Christmas lights that adorned the building and the trees shone through the fog, making Adelaide feel as if she’d just stepped into the scene portrayed on the Christmas cards they sold in nearby gift shops.