Rose winked at her. “Oh hey, listen. The local GOP knows I fight to win. And they don’t underestimate me.”
“Well, maybe everyone in politics is smarter than I thought!” Dot said.
Rose laughed. “Don’t count on it.”
Dot’s phone vibrated in her back pocket and she pulled it out and saw a message from Kitty.
“Oh no, guys. We’ve got trouble,” she said.
“What’s wrong?” Fletcher craned his neck to read Dot’s phone.
“They’re canceling Lopez’s visit tomorrow and sending her to Texas to be a part of that education protest.”
“But that’s crazy!” Fletcher was exasperated. “We’re not going to win Texas! It’s redder than Mars. We’ve actually got a shot here.”
Rose folded her arms across her chest. “Typical. This is what the D.C. whiz kids did to us last time, too. They chase all the wrong rabbits. Then they wonder why we lose.”
Dot went quiet. This was a huge problem. They’d built up this visit so much that breaking the news that Lopez wasn’t coming was going to cost them the momentum they’d gained over the weekend.
“I’m heading back to the office,” Dot said. “I need to figure out how we’re going to fix this mess.”
Her first call was going to be to the one person who needed to weigh in more heavily—Kitty Bell.
Chapter 52
Dot spotted Harper and Mary before they saw her. Mary was wearing a short, hot pink and white gingham dress with skinny shoulder straps, white wedge sneakers, and a light pink crossbody bag.
“You look like brunette Barbie,” Harper had said when Mary came downstairs. “In a good way.”
Mary tossed back her hair, put her hand under her chin, and flashed a smile. “Thanks!”
Harper wore jean cutoffs, a white button-down with its sleeves rolled up, and the red cowgirl boots her parents had sent for her birthday in May.
“Those are hot!” Mary had said when Harper opened the gift.
“Yeah, these don’t seem like me.” She wondered if her parents had been drunk when they bought them. But she’d put the boots on and checked herself out in the full-length entryway mirror.
“Which is exactly why I’m going to make you wear them one day. Gotta get you out of your comfort zone, Harp!” The fair was just the place.
“Hey, girls!” Dot called to them, feeling drab in her royal-blue FTW T-shirt, white shorts, and dusty sneakers. She wished she’d brought a change of clothes. “You look great. I should have upped my game.”
“Come here. Let me fix it,” Mary said. She pulled Dot’s T-shirt out of her waistband and knotted it, exposing some of Dot’s stomach.
“That’s a little much, don’t you think?” Dot asked, feeling a little self-conscious.
“Sheneverthinks it’s too much,” Harper said.
“Look, this might be the only fair we ever go to, and I aim to make it a memorable night.” Mary fussed with Dot’s hair and then added some lip gloss. “There, that’s better. It’s giving more Sexy Dem than political volunteer.”
There was no mirror for Dot to check herself out in. “I guess I’ll have to trust you.”
“When hasthatever steered you wrong?” Harper asked.
“I have no idea what you mean.” Mary looked at them innocently. “Come on. I want to find the guys and see if any of them can win us a prize.”
“WHAC-A-MOLE IS MYspecialty,” Dot said, challenging them all to a round.
“I like the confidence,” Danny said. “But I’ve been playing since I was a kid. I don’t lose.”