AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mia didn’t say it, but she didn’t care at all what this woman thought of Alex Harrington’s politics; she wanted to know why their engagement had been called off. She’d bet her prized Indian Head nickel Juliet was the one who’d called a halt. The question was why. Mia didn’t take her tablet out; she simply leaned forward and looked directly at Juliet. “I accept that voters wouldn’t be much interested in your opinions of Mr. Harrington’s political stands. I’d guess you probably don’t care what he thinks about much of anything these days. I would find it odd if you did.”
A forced smile from Juliet. “Yes, you’re quite right about that. Actually, I rarely give him a thought.”
She wasn’t a good liar, and this lie perched on the end of her perfect nose. Mia said, “I met Mr. Harrington at a fundraiser and interviewed him for a series of articles I’ve been assigned to write for the Guardian. I spoke to him yesterday. He was charming, which I suppose he’ll have to be to get many votes. He’s good-looking, tall, well built, seems to relate well to both men and women. In short, he’s got everything it takes to be a successful politician. So far as I know he’s been an athlete and an avid gamer, that he runs the New York branch of his family’s business. He seems like a man who’d appeal to would-be voters, at least to those voters not too far on the left or the right. What I’d like to know, Ms. Calley, is what you think of him as a person. Is he as admirable as he seems to be? Trustworthy? Knowing him as you do, would you vote for him?”
Hardly a pause, then Juliet said, her voice flat, “I imagine many people would say yes to that list and yes to voting for him.”
But you wouldn’t.Mia gave her a crooked grin. “Forgive me, I fear I’ve made him sound like a perfect pet dog.”
“I really can’t add to what you said, Ms. Briscoe.” Then the words burst out of her mouth. “Except if Alex were a dog, he’d be a vicious hunter.”
The words hung naked between them. Juliet opened her mouth, closed it. That’s right, Mia thought, saying any more would only make it worse. Mia said, “Could you tell me what you mean, exactly?”
Juliet shook her head, tried for a disarming smile, but she couldn’t pull it off. She said finally, “What I meant was, when Alex is set on a course of action, absolutely nothing will stop him. He’ll be a dogged opponent, forgive the pun, do anything he sees necessary to get what he wants, as the other candidates for mayor of New York City will soon discover.”
It was a nice save, as far as it went. “I imagine those qualities might make for a strong candidate for mayor, but not so attractive in a husband?”
“Yes, those qualities did have something to do with our breaking up, yes.”
Mia waited, but Juliet said nothing more. All right, she’d move along for the moment. “What do you think of Mr. Harrington’s current fiancée, Pamela Raines Barrett?”
Juliet said without hesitation, “For as long as I can remember, Pammie’s family has been front and center on the political stage, ever since her uncle, Wilson Carlson Barrett, was governor. Even her mother, Marilyn, was an elected judge. I would say without reservation Pamela and Alex are perfect for each other.”
Mia wasn’t deaf to what she’d left unspoken. She throttled back. “I understand you and Ms. Barrett were once very good friends and you were sent to England together for school. Tell me about it.” She pulled out her tablet, sat poised.
Juliet eased, Mia saw it. “Yes, when we were sixteen Pammie and I were sent to England, near Bath, to a posh girls’ school. We are very different people, but as teenagers together in a foreign country, we did well together, we had each other’s backs. I don’t know why Pammie’s parents agreed to England—it was always cold and rained incessantly—but my parents wanted me to study with a famous piano teacher.
“I remember the day I began to understand Pammie—no, she’s Pamela now—and why I think she’s perfect for Alex. We were visiting Westminster Abbey on a day trip. She didn’t want to move away from Queen Victoria’s tomb. She told me even though she couldn’t be a queen and reign over a country until she died, and the chances of her becoming president were slim to none, she’d decided to make do with being First Lady. I believed her. I still do.”
She paused a moment. “She and I never viewed the world in the same way. As I said, we did well together away from home, only the two of us, but when we came home things changed; we became adults and more or less went our separate ways. I threw myself into becoming a concert pianist and Pamela tried many things, but it was always the local political scene that drew her, and, of course, interior design. Her first husband, Andrew Schlosser, was a very nice man who ran for governor and lost in the primary. She divorced him shortly after that.”
“Because he couldn’t give her what she wanted?”
“I don’t know. I did ask her once what issues she believed in politically. She didn’t give me an answer, only said most of it was nonsense, male and female posturing, and the only important thing for most politicians was power, not the issues they talked about, that saying what voters wanted to hear was the only way to get elected and gain power. She dated a number of politicians, but she cut them all loose. It got to be a joke in our group, like, who’s Pamela auditioning now?”
Mia said, “I wonder if it burned her when her best teenage girlfriend hooked the big prize—Alex Harrington?”
Juliet said quickly, too quickly, “I never thought about it that way, and I don’t want to know. Honestly? I wish her the best of luck.”
Mia said, “And now she might become first lady of New York City.”
“She might. And for Pamela, New York is a lovely stepping-stone. She wants to be First Lady of the United States.” Juliet actually smiled.
“There’s many a long mile from Mr. Harrington being mayor of New York City to being the president of the United States.”
“That’s certainly true, but I don’t doubt for a minute Pammie will relish every step to Washington.”
Mia set down her tablet. “Off the record. May I ask how you and Mr. Harrington got together?”
“When I attended Juilliard, I lived with another musician, a violinist, but that didn’t work out, and I moved back to Boston. The same old group was still here, hanging out together, at parties, movies, dinners. It was a comfortable routine, always there for me after I practiced or performed, always a welcome break.”
“And then Alex?”
“Yes, and then Alex. It started at a clambake in Nantucket.”
“He was with several women over the years, but never married.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Just like Kent Harper never did?”
Juliet flinched—Mia saw it—then she slowly nodded. “Yes, very much like Kent.”
“And the two of you didn’t realize you weren’t suited until only three weeks before the wedding?”
Mia saw Juliet was used to this question. She eased, gave an elegant shrug, trotted out her canned response. “Like many women, I suppose I was all wrapped up in the excitement. It was a whirlwind time, so much to be done even with a wedding planner, who, I might add, would have made an excellent Nazi general. My parents were ecstatic, his parents were ecstatic, all our friends approved. We finally realized we’d simply dived into the deep end, both of us ignoring our real feelings, not thinking objectively.” She looked down at her tightly folded hands, and the words spurted out of her mouth. “And there was Kent.”
