The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(70)
"And the other candidate?" Charlotte asked.
"Gerry Galvin," Lauren replied. "He was actually a bit of a mentor to Jack, but he's never held this level of office. This is really a two way race between Jack and Greg. I like Gerry, but he's closing in on retirement age. I almost feel bad that we have to steamroll him on our way to winning."
"Got it," Charlotte said. She wanted to care about all of this, but more than anything else, she just wanted to know what the hell was going through Jack's mind. Aside from all of his huffing and puffing and brooding outside in snowdrifts, he was sending her all kinds of mixed signals. None of it made any sense, and she just wanted to get an answer out of him. At least he had gotten over his latest pout-bout to thank all of his team members and shake a few hands before the debate began.
"To tell you the truth," Lauren said, "I don't think Big Greg would be in this race at all if Jack wasn't running. He was a constant thorn in the side of Jack's dad when he was still alive, and I think his only motivation is to make sure he sinks John Coburn's son."
On stage, Big Greg smiled a goofy grin and mugged at the camera. "I'd like to welcome my opponent back from his private island. Hopefully he brought some of that tropical weather with him."
So that was how he wanted it. Charlotte felt herself tensing up as she waited for Jack to respond.
Instead, Gerry jumped to Jack's defense. "I'm sure we have a few places we could take you out to..."
Jack was good. He was better than good. He stood taller than he had in weeks. He looked healthy and young next to his opponents. His teeth were whiter, his shoulders broader. He laughed with the audience when Big Greg tried to take pot shots at him. Jack smiled into the camera; he hit his points on every answer. The audience loved him.
Grandparents, single mothers, small business owners, citizens from across the demographic board stepped up to the microphone and asked their questions. Some seemed genuinely excited to talk, others were nervous, hands shaking as they held on to the microphone, but every last one of them nodded his or her head in agreement with every last word Jack said to them.
At one point, Alice Jablonski, an unemployed single mother from Attleboro stepped up to the mic and explained how she had convinced her neighbor to drive her up to this debate for a chance to ask the candidates what they would do to help make sure her son had a safe and productive school environment.
Charlotte had watched Jack practice his response to almost this exact question almost a hundred times, and yet, Big Greg jumped on it first.
"How old is your son?" he asked.
"Eight years old," Alice replied. "I just don't know what I can do for him."
"Eight years. That's a good age. I remember my daughters at that age. For those of you who don't know, my wife and I have been married for twenty five years, and in that time, we've had three daughters: Melanie, Christine, and Shannon. It feels like they're still just that age themselves instead of getting ready for college like they are now. My wife and my daughters mean the world to me."
Big Greg looked down the stage.
"My opponents and I all know what it's like to have kids at that age." Big Greg paused and looked at Jack. "Forgive me, I should say that I'm sure my opponent will someday know." He smiled a folksy grin, walked in a circle and sat back down on his stool, resting one hand on his knee. "Education would be one of my biggest concerns as senator. Children are the most important thing. What I'm trying to say, and maybe Jack can back me up on this one, is that family comes first, our commitments to family, the vows we take. Isn't that right?"
Charlotte froze. She felt like someone had dropped a ball of ice into her stomach. He's talking about me. He knows. Somehow, he knows. Is he going to expose us on live television? He can't. He won't, right? She realized her heart was racing and she had dug her fingers into Lauren's arm.
"Are you ok?" Lauren whispered. "You're white as a sheet. Don't worry, Jack's doing fine."
Unless Big Greg is about to expose our marriage as a sham. Charlotte's heart thumped in her chest. She felt nauseous, dizzy.
When she had first met Big Greg, Charlotte had interrupted him telling Jack that he knew about Jack's secret. How could he have found out that their marriage was for show? Even her own family didn't know the truth.
Charlotte started to realize that there was a chance her marriage would be exposed as a sham just when it had started to become something real. She didn't know which thought upset her more, the shame and embarrassment at admitting to what she and Jack had done or the possibility that it would end any chance they had at a real marriage.
"The commitments you must have to that eight-year-old boy, the responsibilities, I'm sure they weigh on you every day. Family is important. I might not have the many, many years of experience that Gerry has, and I might not have the fancy name of Mr. Coburn, but if you elect me, you can count on me to protect and fight for every family in this state, whatever form those families come in. What matters most to that boy is that you're there for him, that you're standing up and doing the right thing for him every day." Big Greg's eyes hadn't left Jack the entire time he was talking. "Ma'am," he finished.
The crowd applauded Big Greg's answer. As the noise died down, the moderator read a question submitted online about bringing manufacturing back into the state. It was a softball, a question Jack answered a hundred times a day. Charlotte knew Jack's talking points by heart: We can't recapture the jobs of an old economy. We have to innovate. Our state is home to the greatest research universities and hospitals in the world. We're a center of biomedical, pharmaceutical and technological innovation, and we're going to grow our economy and create new jobs by doing the same thing we've been doing for years, out-working and out-innovating everyone else.