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His gaze homed in on Ally, who was sitting with Iris, Flynn, Hannah, Tate, Gareth, Kyla and Reagan at one of the picnic tables on the periphery. Already, she seemed ingrained in his life, in his family, and he wanted her there. He had no idea how to make this right, how to reconcile the million different directions he felt pulled.
More alarmingly, he had no idea how to stop this avalanche of a problem now barreling down on him.
Ally, look at me…
She shifted in her seat, and Tag was struck with the feeling she could “hear” him but refused to look.
“We’ve been working hard to put the best team in place to lead us to victory next fall. So, you can imagine how honored we are to have this talented lady spearheading this campaign. She’s put her life, her career on hold to lead this charge for Tag. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce to you the Tag James for Senator campaign manager, Kendall Meade.”
* * *
AS SENATOR MARSH listed Kendall Meade’s education, accomplishments and qualifications, Ally watched the woman move toward the podium and marveled at how she managed to appear stunningly beautiful, powerful and demure all at the same time in her snug black pencil skirt and tailored pink button-down blouse. And not ridiculous in designer heels. White-blond hair shimmering around her shoulders, she positioned herself behind the podium and claimed ownership of the stage. Her commanding voice soothed the crowd into confident silence as she thanked the senator and Tag’s supporters, and revealed what an honor it was to be chosen to work for the most “honest, honorable and downright sweet” man she’d ever known.
Ally felt like a wolverine had been turned loose inside her gut and was gnawing its way out. She’d told Tag that she understood the campaign had to come first. She’d thought she could handle being number two, at least for a while. But the deal had not included these nonstop Kendall surprises.
And that’s when the realization hit her; he had to have known about this last night. Surely, he had the final say as to who his campaign manager would be. Was all that anger about Shay just a ruse to break up with her gently? Was Kendall the real reason and he hadn’t wanted to tell her? But that didn’t seem to add up. Tag didn’t have it in him to be that cruel, did he? Then again, where this campaign stuff was concerned, all bets seemed to be off. Then there were his angry words about Shay. This was all too…much.
And regardless of Tag’s intentions, she knew one thing: she couldn’t do this. Ally tuned back in to Kendall’s speech.
“Now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the next state senator, and the first from your fabulous little town of Rankins, Tag James.”
Like a game show assistant, Kendall swept her arms toward Tag and stepped to one side. And even though every eye was probably glued to the stunning couple on stage, Ally felt like the entire town of Rankins was staring at her. Or, if not staring, then sneaking glances. Again. Still. Much like they had for the previous weeks. She imagined sympathy, curiosity, pity and a fair amount of glee were in the mix as the town’s “witch doctor” was once again humiliated by Rankins’s golden boy. Afraid that she’d hear it somewhere else, Gareth had reluctantly confided the nickname to Ally when he’d gotten wind of it floating around town.
And just when Ally had begun to think the gossip had died down to a dull roar, that maybe people were even getting used to the idea of the two of them together, Kendall had once again flounced onto the scene. As if to underscore the thought, a camera flashed in her periphery.
Tag gave his speech. When he finished, Kendall went to him, arms out wide. They embraced, she kissed him on the cheek. It was all Ally could do not to crawl under the table. Her lungs burned. She couldn’t swallow because her tongue was a wad of wool in her dry mouth. Even her eyes felt scratchy. Her fingers ached from gripping the bench beneath her.
Beside her, Flynn said, “That’s it. I’m going to kill him. I know he’s your brother, Iris, but—”
Iris interrupted, “You don’t need to worry about it, Flynn, because I’m going to get to him first.”
Ally said nothing, just continued staring blankly at the stage as the crowd erupted in applause.
