The room exploded as everyone seemed to speak at once. But all Liz saw was Brady. She couldn’t believe what he had just done, and now she understood why Heather had been arguing with him. She probably hadn’t wanted him to be so . . . brash and condescending, but it sent a very clear message. He loved her. They were getting married. Whatever the media hurled at them didn’t matter, and he wouldn’t tolerate it any longer.
Brady went on to the Q&A section, but Liz didn’t need to hear the questions. She took a step away from the entrance with a pleased sigh.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she slid it out to check the message.
Are you at the conference?
Hayden. Well, damn. She hadn’t heard from him since the start of the summer, when she had accused him of conspiring with Calleigh against her and Brady.
Yeah, I’m here.
She received a reply almost instantly.
Can we meet up?
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. How would it look to have Brady confess his love for her and that they were getting married, only for her to go meet her ex-boyfriend? Not smart.
I can’t. Why?
I have a lead on C.
C. Calleigh. She had almost forgotten that Hayden had agreed to keep his eye on Calleigh and tell her if anything was amiss.
How bad?
There was a pause as she waited.
Nothing concrete yet, but I’ve overheard a couple times that something is being planned. I’m trying to figure it all out. I only have strong suspicions that I thought I’d tip you off to now. Then y’all could investigate. I’d rather do it in person, though.
Liz chewed on her bottom lip. I can’t meet. If you can, send me what you think now and I’ll pass it along.
Okay.
Liz started to put her phone away, thinking that was the end of the conversation, when it buzzed one more time.
Congratulations on your engagement.
She cringed and got rid of her phone. She knew that he was only being nice, but she could feel his pain in those four words. Hayden had wanted that with her, but it hadn’t been in the cards. And he’d had to stand there in the audience while Brady announced their engagement to the world and talked about how much he loved her. She didn’t feel bad that Hayden knew, just that it hurt him.
With a heavy sigh, she returned to the opening and stood next to Heather. “How is he doing?” she asked.
“Great. The reporters seemed surprised by his brashness, so they’re feeding off of it. I’m going to wrap it up here soon, though.”
Liz turned her attention to Brady and the reporter who pushed her way through the crowd to speak. Calleigh Hollingsworth.
“Congressman Maxwell, you refute the claim that Miss Dougherty is the reason for your breakup with Miss Edwards. Yet, you are the reason that Miss Dougherty left her boyfriend, are you not?”
“Miss Dougherty was not on good terms with her boyfriend and they broke up as a result of miscommunication.”
“I see,” Calleigh said. “Miscommunication over the extent of your relationship?”
“Over a past relationship that had no bearing on who she was dating at the time. As much as that relationship has no bearing on the current now,” he said curtly.
“And you don’t think that she turned to you simply because her previous relationship failed? Or that she is using you . . .”
Brady cut her off with a swift slap to the podium. He still looked calm, but Liz knew him well enough to know that he was actually pissed.
“For the record, I am very much in love with Liz Dougherty. I plan to spend the rest of my life with her. You can keep asking me questions about how we got together and what effect that has if you want, but I don’t see how they’re pertinent. What matters is that we are together and will remain so.”
He shot Calleigh a biting look.
“I just hope if you find yourself in a similar situation, someone doesn’t judge you for falling in love.”
Chapter 30
SWIFT BOAT
I have some evidence.
The text came from Hayden six weeks after the press conference where Brady confessed his love for Liz and told the whole world of their engagement. Since then it had been nonstop action. Between her classes and teaching Monday through Thursday and helping Brady on the campaign Friday through Sunday, Liz was about spent. She enjoyed both aspects of her life, but she felt a bit like a head case.
She was thankful she had Brady, who never showed how overworked he was on the campaign, but she saw his private moments of weariness. If even he was tired from the work, then she was definitely allowed to be.
You’re not going to like it.
Great. Liz wasn’t looking forward to this conversation. She had been hoping that whatever Hayden had been talking about all those weeks ago had just blown over. She had hoped that Calleigh Hollingsworth had just gotten over herself and she and Brady could move on with their lives. Apparently not.
Is it serious?
She didn’t really want to see Hayden or have him waste her time. But if she thought that whatever Hayden knew would hurt Brady with only two and a half weeks left in the campaign, then she would do whatever it took to make sure that it didn’t.
Worse than I thought.
Liz sighed and closed her computer. She wasn’t going to get any work done now with all of this swirling around in her head. She was already planning to meet Brady in Durham tomorrow for the Delta Rae show that night. The band was from the area and had come out in support of his campaign. It was going to be really fun, but now she was going to be spending some of that time dealing with this shit.
I’ll be in NC tomorrow. There’s a show in Durham. That would be the easiest time to meet.
Liz jotted out the information to him and then called Brady to let him know what was going on.
“How do you even know he actually has information?” Brady asked.
“I don’t,” she said with a sigh. “But do you want to risk it?”
“I’m going to be there when this happens.”
“What? No. You know he won’t talk if you’re around,” Liz insisted.
“The guy doesn’t even deserve to see your beautiful face, let alone get to talk to you after what happened. I haven’t forgotten, and I don’t trust him. I need to be there.”
Not that she blamed Brady for how he was feeling, but having him around to get vital information from Hayden probably wasn’t a good idea. Hayden had enough reason to dislike Brady, just as Brady had reason to dislike Hayden. She would rather avoid the awkward moment of bringing them together. “Shouldn’t you be working?” she implored.