The Hopefuls(57)

—

Jimmy officially declared that he was running in November, and that same day he asked Matt to help him put together a fund-raiser in DC. “Can he do that?” I asked. “Get money from people outside of Texas?”

“Oh sure,” Matt said. “That’s part of why they wanted him to run. He has all these DC connections.”

They wanted to get the fund-raiser together quickly, to get people excited about the campaign. “We’re going to aim for two weeks from today,” Matt said. “We think it’ll be good for momentum.”

Right after that, there’d be another fund-raiser in Houston, hosted by Jimmy’s parents. “We’ll raise a lot more money at that one, but the DC one will be great to spread the word.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” I said. I almost didn’t notice that Matt referred to Jimmy’s campaign as “we.”

—

I called Ash that night to have her fill me in on everything. “This is bonkers,” she said. “It’s all happening so fast. Jimmy is running around like a chicken with his head cut off. He doesn’t know which end is up.” But I could hear the pride in her voice. I told her they should stay with us when they came to town for the fund-raiser, and she accepted right away. “That would be so great,” she said. “I’ve been thinking it would be hard to be stuck in the hotel room with Viv.”

I’d made the offer before telling Matt, and I was worried he’d be annoyed, but he just said, “Oh good.” It was hard not to notice that he’d been in a better mood since working on the fund-raiser, and when I mentioned that to him, he just said, “Yeah, this is exciting,” and I kissed him on his temple, which made him smile and say, “Thank you.”

—

For the next couple of weeks, Ash and I texted all the time and called each other at least once a day. A lot of it was just going over the logistics of the trip—they were only coming for one night, but it felt like there was so much to sort out. We’d been in touch since they moved, of course, but it wasn’t with the same frequency as when they lived here. It was nice to have a reason to be in contact so often, and as I texted her one night to tell her that the owner of United States of Spinning was getting a divorce, I realized just how much I’d missed her.

Ash rented a portable crib and high chair from some company that specialized in traveling with infants, and it was all delivered early on the morning they’d arrive. I set up the high chair in the dining room and hauled the crib upstairs to the guest room, then spent the rest of the day cleaning the apartment.

They got there in the afternoon, and when I opened the door, they were standing on the front stoop, each of them holding a bag with two suitcases behind them. There was so much stuff that I almost made a joke about them moving in, but stopped when I saw their strained smiles.

Instead, I leaned down to Viv and unsnapped her from her stroller. As I picked her up, I noticed the little gold balls on her tiny earlobes. “Look at you, Viv,” I said. “With your ears pierced already. Such a lady.”

“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “Ash surprised me with that a couple weeks ago. You should’ve seen my mom’s reaction. She said, and I quote, ‘Your baby looks like a gypsy.’?”

Ash rolled her eyes. “I don’t think we’re going to start taking fashion advice from your mother, Jimmy.” Then to me, she said, “Doesn’t she look sweet?” I just smiled and nodded, afraid that if I spoke, my voice would reveal how much I hated earrings on babies. Viv still didn’t have much hair, but she was nevertheless an incredibly cute (if almost bald) baby. She smiled at me, like she knew what I was thinking.

“To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with them either,” Jimmy said. “Which is probably why Ash didn’t tell me until after there were two holes in our baby’s head.”

“We just wanted to surprise Daddy, didn’t we?” Ash said, leaning down to adjust the bow on Viv’s head. “And we also wanted people to stop thinking you were a boy.”

“How on earth could anyone think this child was a boy?” Jimmy asked. “She wears pink every day and always has a bow on her head.”

We were all still standing in the doorway, but it was like the two of them were so busy bickering they didn’t notice. I figured they were nervous about the fund-raiser and tired from traveling with Viv, so I said, “We’re so happy you guys are here. Come in, it’s getting cold out there.”

Matt had run out to pick up posters for the fund-raiser and to swing by the bar to check on the space one last time. I told Jimmy that Matt had been obsessing about the event all week. “He hasn’t talked about anything else,” I said.

“That makes two of us,” Jimmy said.

Viv was quiet in my arms, looking around the apartment with a serious face, like she was trying to figure out where she was. “Do you remember it here?” I asked her. “Do you miss DC?”

“Nah, she’s a Texas girl. Isn’t that right?” Jimmy leaned in and made a face at the baby, shook his hair back and forth like a wet dog. Viv laughed and smacked her hands on top of his head.

“Jimmy, don’t get her all riled up,” Ash said.

“Do you guys want lunch or do you just want to rest? What time is Linda coming?” I asked. Linda was the Dillons’ old sitter who was coming to watch Viv that night.