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Tristan shook his head. “Where are you going to find a representative to sponsor the bill?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far.”
Mariah said, “Angela, I have stood behind you since the beginning. We never expected to get as far as we did. But here we are—the first two women to ever hold these positions. Have you decided if you’re going to run again?”
“No.”
“If you don’t, I’m going to.” Mariah glanced at Robert, and he nodded. “We’ve talked about it, and it’s the right thing to do. If I back you in this, I may just as well kiss away my political career.”
It took Angela a few heartbeats to gather her thoughts and form an answer. She knew Mariah was right. This was the kind of idea that ruined political careers. If she decided to run again, it might make more sense to wait until she was elected. But this was also the right thing to do. She was never more convinced of that than she was at that moment.
She walked over to Mariah and took the woman’s hands. “If I don’t choose to run, I will be the first one to vote for you. I will campaign for you more than anyone else. But this is the right thing to do. I feel like this is one of those line-in-the-sand moments.”
Doyle took a step closer to the two women. “If my opinion means anything, I think it’s the right thing to do, and you should also run for re-election.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “I might regret asking you, but why do you think that.” Before he could answer, she held up her hand and stopped him. “If your answer starts with ‘I once knew a set of twins,’ I don’t want to hear it.”
Doyle scoffed. “I don’t search out twins. They find me.” He held up his hand to stop Angela from interrupting him. “I don’t follow human politics because they bore me. But I remember your first set of debates. It was the first time I was interested. And it had nothing to do with how hot you looked in that red power suit.”
Tristan said, “Stop being disgusting. It’s getting too hard to defend you, Doyle.”
Doyle held out his hands to the side and shrugged. “What? You know I’m right.” He stopped Angela with his hand again. “I did listen to what you said. I also noticed that you never once raised your voice. Your opponent got so flustered he kept repeating himself. You weren’t nasty at all. I think your idea is good, and you should figure out how to do it.” He paused, glanced at the ceiling, and then back to Angela. “Would that mean we’d have to pay taxes?”
“Is that what bothers you?” Angela asked.
“If you want to run for re-election, are you prepared to do the work to get the bill passed and the work to get re-elected?” Mariah asked.
Angela walked back to the window. The deer weren’t as visible in the setting sun, but she could still see their shapes. The same deer stared back at her.
After telling Blake the stories about her grandmother, he convinced her she was probably a kitchen witch. Did her grandmother know what she was? Everyone in the family just called her “connected” or, worse, “special.” If she were still alive and something horrible happened to her and Angela didn’t try to stop it, she’d never forgive herself.
She turned back to the room. “I’m going for a walk. I need to think.”
“Okay,” Doyle said.
Angela shook her head as she put on a jacket. “Oh no, you’re not.”
Doyle said, “I wasn’t asking for permission. Where you go, I go. That’s what I’m being paid for.”
Angela sent Tristan a pleading look. “Can’t you come with me?”
Tristan said, “I could. But Doyle is your guard.”
Angela scrunched her face like she smelled the world’s most rotten egg. “But he’s, he’s-” she threw up her hands, “-well, I don’t know what he is.”
“Wow, I feel the love,” Doyle said, walking toward the door. He opened it and bowed at the waist. “After you, Madam President.”
Angela huffed like a toddler, picked up her coat from the bar, and walked through the door. They walked in silence for almost five minutes.
“I’m getting the sense that you don’t like me,” Doyle said.
“Gee, you think? I have no idea what gave you that idea.”
Doyle didn’t respond and kept walking. He soon started whistling.
Angela stormed past him, speed-walking. The faster she walked, the quicker he walked. She started panting, and her chest tightened. When stars appeared in her vision, she couldn’t go anymore.This was stupid. She could run miles without any trouble.
“I need to stop.” She stopped, used a tree to keep from passing out, and bent over. Everything in her stomach made a quick exit.
