Page 85 of All The Ways to Miss You

I enter the room as Cait’s voice rises and her arms slap her sides with frustration. The two face each other in a showdown.

“You’ve been ruining your life since you ditched Georgetown and snuck off in the middle of the night like a thirteen-year-old runaway.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t use the story to manipulate your voters, make them sad for the senator with a missing daughter. But, oh wait, that might reflect badly on you as a parent. So good thing you waited,” Cait hisses.

“My thoughts exactly.” Her mom agrees in a calm and quiet tone, the worst kind to receive. That kind of control signals a threat. That’s when you know the shit has hit the fan.

I move to Cait’s side for support, thinking that if I don’t do something to mediate, they may kill each other. “Let’s take a deep breath here.” I hold out my palms like I’m balancing between the two.

They pause for a moment and seem to be breathing, but it’s short lived, and they return to the fighting ring.

“I came here to take you home,” her mom says, already slipping into her coat and tugging on her gloves. “You can leave your stuff here. I’ll send someone to collect everything. Grab your coat; let’s go.”

My heart clenches at the terse instruction. I wrap my arm around Cait, pulling her close as if to say over my dead body.

Cait laughs and then says with an incredulous tone, “I’m not going anywhere. I love it here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Georgetown has agreed to readmit you to pre-law, and I’ve already put a deposit on an apartment a few blocks from campus.”

“You’re not hearing me. I’m. Not. Leaving.” Cait gestures to her ears and stands her ground. “And if you don’t leave right now, an anonymous caller will tip off the Washington Post, the New York Times, and whatever other political outlet will pick up the story. I’m sure they would love a scandalous article about your out-of-control daughter who contradicts every platform you run on. And if you think what you’ve seen here is bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Disbelief laces her mom’s laugh. “You’ve been threatening me with that for years. Thank God you don’t have it in you.”

“Underage drinking,” Cait says.

“Lots of kinky, unwed sex.” I cut her off with a serious expression.

“And drugs! A ton of illegal drugs. Shall I show you my fake ID? And wait until you see the sex tapes!” Cait places a hand on her hip. She’s lying about most of it, but I nod my head in agreement, regardless.

“This isn’t the end of our discussion,” her mom says.

“It is. Now, get out.” Cait points at the door and I rush to open it, relieved to usher her mom out. Two men in long wool coats stand in the hallway, waiting. Her security? Or backup?

Before leaving, her mom pauses in front of me. “You’d better watch her closely. She’s your problem now, Evan Wade.”

“The difference between you and me, Senator London, is Cait’s a problem I’m happy to have.” I slam the door just as her bitchy ass crosses the threshold.

I take a deep breath before turning to Cait. My brain’s still computing what happened, but the standout question is, “You didn’t tell your parents where you live?”

“Please, they’ve known. They had more important things to do than bother with me. The election was over a few months ago. You don’t think it’s strange she showed up after the holidays?”

“Has she always sucked this much?”

“Would I be here if she didn’t?” Cait laughs, maybe to relieve some tension, and then plops on the couch with a pillow clutched to her chest. “I want to make my own way, without someone forcing me into a mold. I’m not a bad person because I don’t want to be an attorney, because I want to live in Chicago, or because I’m not a perfect robot-child. I’m good! I work hard, and I want to finish business school, have a kick-ass job I love, and get married. But I want all those things on my terms. Not because that’s what someone else wants for me, or because it looks good for an election.”

I sit beside her and rub a hand down her thigh. “I want you to have all the things you want too. I’m glad you confronted her. And also, it would suck if you left.”

“Is that so?” She moves closer and fits her head into the crook of my neck. Her breath warms my bare chest, and I place an arm around her, drawing her near.

“I couldn’t let you leave only hours after I told you I love you.”

For this comment, she kisses my jaw, my ear, and moves until she’s straddling my hips, facing me. Her arms circle my neck as she peers down at me with her hair spilling over her shoulders in a silky curtain.

“How long have you loved me?” She tilts her head.

“From the moment I opened the door and saw you the first time.”

She scrunches her nose like she doesn’t believe me. “Are you sure it wasn’t when you saw me with Steph at Mr. Moon’s the month before?”