“Who?”
“Mary Horton—never mind, she’s not your type. All I can say is that if you’re going to fall for someone now, just make sure it’s a woman who can help you politically.”
“She can’t.”
Ralph tossed his hands in the air. “Somehow, I knew you were going to say that. Listen. Keep your head screwed on tight and your pants zipped up. The last thing we need now is a scandal, understand?”
“Of course. Summer’s not like—”
“Her name is Summer?” Ralph rolled his eyes expressively. “James, listen to me. You’ve asked me to run your campaign, and I’m glad to do it, but I’m telling you right now, getting involved with a woman named Summer is asking for trouble.”
“Don’t you think you’re being unfair?”
“No. Where’d you meet her?”
“Vegas.”
Ralph’s mouth thinned. “Don’t tell me she’s a showgirl,” he muttered.
“No—but she’s an actress.”
A muscle leapt in his friend’s jaw. “Don’t say anything more. Not a single word. I’ve got high blood pressure and don’t want to know any more than you’ve already told me.”
“Summer has nothing to do with you,” James said, finding it difficult to quell his irritation. Ralph made Summer sound like...like a mistake.
“Don’t you remember a certain congressman who got involved with a stripper a few years back?”
“Summer isn’t a stripper!”
“It ruined him, James. Ruined him. I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”
“It won’t. Furthermore, I won’t have you speaking about her in those terms.” In light of Ralph’s reaction, James didn’t think now was the time to announce they were already married. “If you must know, I intend to marry her.”
“Great. Do it after the election.”
“We’ve decided on April.”
“April!” Ralph barked. “That’s much too soon. Listen, you’re paying me big money to run this campaign. You want my advice, you’ve got it. What difference would a few months make?” He paused, waiting for James’s response. “Will you do that one thing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you afraid you’ll lose her?”
“No.”
“Then put off the wedding until after the election. Is that so much to ask?”
* * *
“I’m not sure which is worse,” Julie said, applying bright red polish to her toenails, “this year or last.”
“What do you mean?” Summer asked.
“You.” She swirled the brush in the red paint and started with the little toe on her left foot. “Last year, after you broke up with Brett, you moped around the apartment for months.”
Summer laughed. “This year isn’t much better, is it?”
“Not that I can see. Listen, I understand how much you miss James. The guy’s hot. No wonder you fell for him. If the situation was reversed, you can bet I’d be just as miserable. The thing is, you won’t be apart for long. April’s right around the corner.”
Summer folded her arms and leaned against the back of the sofa. “I didn’t know it was possible to love someone as much as I love James.”
“If the number of times he calls you is any indication, I’d say he feels the same about you.”
“He works so hard.” Summer knew that many of James’s late-night calls came from his office. She also knew he was putting in extra-long hours in order to free up time he could spend with her.
“Summer, he’ll be here in a few days.”
“I know.”
“You haven’t told him about Brett?” Julie asked.
Summer’s nails bit into her palms. “What good would it do? James is fifteen hundred miles away. Brett hasn’t got a chance with me. Unfortunately he doesn’t seem ready to accept that. But he’s going to get the same message whenever he calls.”
“By the way, when James visits, I’m out of here.”
“Julie, you don’t need to leave. We can get a hotel room—really, we don’t mind.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This is your home. You’d be more relaxed, and both of you have been through enough stress lately.”
Summer was so grateful it was all she could do not to weep. It was the stress, she decided, this tendency to be over emotional. “Have I told you how glad I am that you’re my friend?”
“Think nothing of it,” Julie said airily.
“I mean it, Julie. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you these last weeks. I feel like my whole world’s been turned upside down.”
“It has been. Who else goes away for a week and comes home married? Did you think James had lost his mind when he suggested it?”
“Yes,” she admitted, remembering the most fabulous dinner of her life. “I don’t think he’s done anything that impulsive his whole life.”
Julie grinned. “Until he met you.”
“Funny, James made the same comment.”
The phone rang just then, and Summer leapt up to answer it on the off chance it was James.
“Hello,” she said breathlessly.
“Summer, don’t hang up, please, I’m begging you.”
“Brett.” Her heart sank. “Please,” she told him, “just leave me alone.”
“Talk to me. That’s all I’m asking.”
“About what? We have absolutely nothing to say to each other.”
“I made a mistake.”
Summer closed her eyes, fighting the frustration. “It’s too late. What do I have to say to convince you of that? You’re married, I’m married.”
“I don’t believe it.” His voice grew hoarse. “If you’re married, then where’s your husband?”
“I don’t owe you any explanations. Don’t phone me again. It’s over and has been for more than a year.”
“Summer, please...please.”
She didn’t wait to hear any more. His persistence astonished her. When she’d found him with another woman, he’d seemed almost glad, as though he was relieved to be free of the relationship. In retrospect, Summer realized that Brett had fallen out of love with her long before, but had lacked the courage to say anything. Later, when he’d married, and she learned it wasn’t the same woman he’d been with in Vegas, she wondered about this man she thought she knew so well, and discovered she didn’t know him at all.