As much as it pained her to think about Brady, she was glad that Hayden wasn’t here to witness it. He read her like an open book. She couldn’t hide what was warring inside of her. She couldn’t lie to him, and she wasn’t ready to tell him. She wasn’t sure she would ever be ready for that.
It wasn’t as bad as Liz thought it was going to be. Brady didn’t look in her direction once . . . if he even knew that she was there. It hurt, of course. But really it was for the best. She certainly wasn’t going to ask him a question during the Q&A.
“What do you think about asking, boxers or briefs?” Massey leaned in and asked.
Liz swallowed. She had some firsthand experience with the answer to that question. It made color rush to her cheeks.
“Oh my God, Lizzie,” she joked. “I’m not actually going to ask him that. I’m not that embarrassing!”
Liz just shook her head and tried to hide her own embarrassment. Somehow Massey managed to pull herself together to get a question out to Brady.
“Congressman Maxwell,” she said.
Brady looked over in their direction and Liz felt his eyes flicker over her face. Her heart stopped as her blue eyes met the dark depths of his chocolaty brown ones. She felt her world spin in that one look before he passed over her and turned to address Massey.
Liz didn’t even hear the question. Massey had it written down, so Liz could grab it from her later . . . and it probably wouldn’t be essential to include in her report anyway. But all she could see were memories flashing before her eyes. The lake house, Fourth of July, the moment he slid his key into her hand, the feel of his hands on her body, the sound of his voice when he said that he loved her. It all came rushing back so perfectly.
She thought about the chain sitting in her jewelry box on her dresser and the meaning of each of those charms inside the locket: an airplane, the number four, a key, and the November birthstone. Brady had given it to her on the beach in Hilton Head as a gift, maybe even a promise of a future that they had never had. She had worn it every day for months. She never took the damn thing off except to shower. Even then she felt lost without it. But after the election she had forced herself to stop wearing it. It didn’t make any difference. In that moment, she wished desperately that she was wearing it. Her eyes stung as she fought to hold back her tears.
She hadn’t felt like this in months. The last time had been when she found out about Brady’s new girlfriend, and before that New Year’s. She had moved on. But then why did she feel as if she was being torn to pieces with just one lingering look?
The panel concluded and Liz numbly followed Massey out of the auditorium. She was hanging with a group of sorority girls Liz didn’t really fit in with, but the benefit of that was that she didn’t have to say anything. They carried on the conversation just fine without any input.
The lobby of the campus conference center was full of people milling around after that last panel. There were two more panels after it, but Liz had assumed they would be smaller. A lot of the students wouldn’t be attending them. Liz was only going because she had helped Dr. Mires put the entire thing on, so she didn’t think she would be able to sneak away.
Liz caught sight of a head of long dark hair and smiled. Savannah. So she was here. Ever since the day that Liz had told her that she had actually voted for Brady, things had been different between them. Both girls had relaxed around each other at work and the few occasions when they hung out. Liz found that she actually liked Savannah best of anyone else at the paper. They had similar work ethics, and each was more determined than the other to prove herself.
Liz waved to her as she walked over to where Savannah was standing. “Hey, I didn’t see you in there.”
Savannah shrugged. “I’ve heard them speak a million times. I didn’t need to hear this one.”
“You didn’t miss much. It was pretty boring,” she said softly.
“Oh, I figured. Brady said at lunch that it was going to be.”
Liz breathed in and out as slowly as possible. Of course Savannah had lunch with her brother while he was in town. Nothing to freak out about.
“Well, he was right.” As always.
“Hey, I’m glad I ran into you. What are you doing for dinner tonight?” Savannah asked.
“Um . . . I don’t know. Why?”
“Want to come with me? I’ll pick you up and everything.”
“Are you asking me on a date, Savannah?” Liz asked with a half laugh. “You’re not really my type.”
“Okay, it’s super secret. Like, don’t even tell Hayden about it. Just tell him you’re going out with me, but we’ll have a good time, okay?”
“I haven’t even agreed,” Liz said, her interest piqued.
“Oh, did you not? I didn’t notice. I’ll come get you around eight,” Savannah told her.
“All right,” Liz said with a shrug.
“Brady’s going to be out in a second. Want me to introduce you two?” she asked. “I know you guys met on campaign, but I’ll introduce you to the real Brady Maxwell. He’s actually not as stuck up as he looks.” Savannah giggled and started dragging her across the room.
“Oh, no, Savannah . . . that’s okay. We’ve . . . we’ve already met. It’s, um . . . really not necessary,” Liz stammered out.
“Come on. It’s just my brother. He doesn’t bite.”
Liz disagreed. He most certainly did bite . . .
“Oh, there he is,” Savannah said, just as Brady walked out of a back door from the auditorium. “I had a feeling he’d come this way.”
“Oh,” was all Liz managed to get out as she stared at Brady standing there talking to his father. She felt as if her legs were made of lead and she wasn’t sure how she was dragging them along.
“Brady!” Savannah called as they approached.
His eyes snapped up to Savannah and he smiled. She knew that smile. God, how many times had she seen him look that happy? He loved his sister. They were really two peas in a pod. And then he saw Liz walking next to her and the smile dropped off of his face. Her legs didn’t just feel like lead then; her whole body felt like lead, sinking straight to the bottom of the ocean.
Savannah pulled Liz along behind her and kept that smile on her face. “Brady, this is my friend Liz. I work with her on the paper. She was my boss during the campaign. I don’t know if I mentioned her.”