They stayed like that for a few minutes, lost in each other’s embrace, forgetting that an entire gala went on behind them. There was only Liz and Brady, the taste of his kiss, the feel of his lips, the ecstasy of being completely wrapped up in him.

After another minute passed, they broke apart simultaneously. “We should get back,” she whispered.

“Are we okay?”

Liz nibbled on her bottom lip and then nodded. “Yeah.”

She might be hurting emotionally, but who was she kidding? She was never walking away from Brady Maxwell again.

Chapter 26

THE PRIMARY

Two years ago today, Liz had walked out on Brady. She had given him the campaign and his career free of worry about a relationship that he couldn’t commit to. She had chosen his happiness over her own and inevitably had just made them both pretty miserable. Now they were back in the same spot and yet . . . not in the same place at all.

Standing backstage at the election results party where Brady would give his acceptance speech, Liz paced the small conference room. Brady kept shooting her a look that said calm down, but there were no reporters, so she was able to feel the jitters that she would have to hold back in a minute when they exited.

Heather grabbed her arm. “You’re making me anxious. Go out in the hallway if you’re going to pace.”

“Sorry,” she said, running her hands down the white-eyelet dress.

“If you’re like this now, how are you going to handle the general?” she probed.

“I’ll be fine.” Liz’s eyes drifted to Brady and a smile crept on her face. “I’m just excited to be here for him.”

“You’ll do more good if you appear composed and resolute,” Heather said, dropping her voice as she issued the advice. “He needs someone strong. Be strong for him.”

Liz opened her mouth to say that she was strong and composed, but knowing Heather she would have snapped at her that actions spoke louder than words. So she just closed her mouth, stilled her feet, and found an empty seat.

They had spent the last week working nonstop on the primary campaign. Brady met with constituents, spoke at even the smallest of events, and Liz watched as more and more Maxwell for Congress signs went up around the Triangle. Most nights she fell into bed exhausted from a long day working, then got up early the next morning to start it all over again.

She knew that if the information about her and Brady hadn’t come out earlier that year, this would have been an easy primary election for them. Brady’s opponent could hardly be considered competition, yet he was garnering support from people who were influenced by the negative reports they had gotten about Brady’s character.

It made Liz want to work twice as hard to help Brady before she started graduate school in a couple weeks. She was everywhere at once, and Brady continually told her how appreciative he was to have her there at his side. Part of that was the aftereffect of the Chelsea text messages.

Brady had spoken with EMi the next day requesting a new representative, and within a day he had a meeting with a lanky man in a cheap suit named Gary who looked and acted nothing like an ex-girlfriend.

“So, what happened to Chelsea then?” Liz had asked after they met Gary.

Brady had shrugged. “I never asked. I’d assume if she still has a job that she was transferred out of the state.”

That put Liz at ease. It did make her feel bad that she had potentially gotten the woman fired, but then she had to remind herself that Chelsea was the one who had acted unprofessional. It had been the wrong circumstances. In the end, Liz could only think about herself and Brady, and it was better for them not to have her around.

It made Liz see their relationship with new eyes. Their relationship wasn’t damaged or hurt from what she had discovered. In fact, they were stronger than ever. If anything it was Liz’s hurt feelings that had clouded her mind when she had first found out about it. She hadn’t wanted to believe that he would do this, but her insecurities bloomed and she couldn’t see past it to the man who loved her. She had no such problem right now.

Brady’s eyes flickered to her once again as his campaign manager walked away to talk to some other people in the room. “You want to take a walk?”

She nodded. “That sounds nice.”

They exited the conference room and walked to the waiting area that led to the stage where Brady would be giving his speech. His family was standing there in a small circle, along with Andrea, Easton, and Chris. Liz peeked a look at the audience from their vantage point and gasped.

“What?” Brady asked, concerned.

“There are so many people.”

He smiled, bright and brilliant. “More than there were two years ago.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “I mean, there were a lot of people for you then, but now . . . it’s packed.”

Two years ago they had nearly filled up a convention ballroom in Raleigh. This time Brady had chosen one twice as big as that on the UNC campus and it was filled to the brim with supporters and press. She could see the press line along the center of the room set up to film and photograph the events that were taking place. But the most beautiful thing of all was the sheer number of everyday citizens here to celebrate their own Congressman. Brady inspired people to take action, and it showed today.

“All here to hear your speech,” he said with a wink.

“No one is even going to know that I wrote it,” she insisted.

“Maybe.”

“They’re here for you, Congressman Maxwell. Not for your scandalous girlfriend.”

“I’m sure someone out there is here for the scandal,” he joked.

Liz rolled her eyes. “Yes, those people seem to be everywhere.”

Liz had managed to avoid the news as much as she could, but Heather was sending sporadic updates when Liz showed up in the papers. The rumors were vicious, and even though Brady insisted that the people were just jealous and looking for a story, she still didn’t like it.

Luckily she was swamped and didn’t have a ton of time to dwell on it. The only thing that she had managed to do in the small moments of spare time she had was to write another article for her Dear Congress column about the environmental fracking legislation that was going around right now. Funny to think that Chelsea had given her the idea.

The editor had turned her column into a biweekly thing, and she didn’t want to miss a post amid her hectic schedule. She had even put the blog with Justin on hold for the time being. She told him she would start up again once the primary was over. It was getting harder and harder to do everything that she had on her plate, but she was trying to keep up.