“Focus, ladies.” Jake was biting his lip watching the Lions drive down the field.
“Well, if the defense would stop blitzing then maybe they could stop the run,” Mary said, matter-of-factly.
Jake, Tommy, and Danny stared at her.
“Just who in the world are you?” Jake asked.
Mary shrugged and started heckling the Lions’ bench.
ALL THROUGH THEgame, Dot felt guilty about not working. Rose and Fletcher were running the door-knocking volunteers that day. They’d encouraged her to go to the game, and she said she’d handle all the late nights that week, but still—she felt that mix of flaking out and FOMO.
To get a moment to check in with the office, she thought she’d run to the ladies’ room to respond to any messages before halftime instead of working on her phone in the stands.
“Excuse me, I’ll be right back,” she said.
“You want me to come with you?” Danny asked.
“No. You stay. I’ll just be a couple of minutes.” She squeezed past the other fans, apologizing along the way.
Near the concession area, Dot pulled out her phone from her crossbody bag. There were several messages from Fletcher and Rose to her and Kitty. A quick scan told her everything was going well in Milwaukee.
“We locked down a couple hundred people today. I’ll update the spreadsheet and send it around tonight,” Fletcher’s text said.
Dot sent back a thumbs-up. Then she heard a huge eruption from the crowd. She looked up to the screens above the concession stand. The Pack had scored again. The fans around her were pumping their fists and yelling.
She was swept up in their enthusiasm and wanted to rush back to Danny, but she checked her phone one more time and noticed an email from someone she didn’t know—Bailey Bickle. Who was that? She opened the message.
“Hi, Dot—we haven’t met, but I’d love to change that. My name is Bailey, and I work for the American Progress Center—we’re a Super PAC like FTW. I’m friends with Kitty. You come highly recommended by her and Sen Lopez’s campaign. We want to talk to you about coming to work for us after the election. The position is director of comms. Based in D.C. Let me know ASAP if you’re interested.”
Dot was shocked. She read the email again. D.C.? As inWashington, D.C.?
Her stomach roiled with a mix of emotions. She’d never considered going to Washington after Cedar Falls. She was a New Yorker, through and through. She was flattered that they’d recommended her. She alsoreallyneeded a job after the election. And she’d loved working on politics instead of corporate PR. This could be a dream come true.
So, why did it feel like a letdown? Instead of being energized by the opportunity, she felt... flat. First, the job wasn’t in New York, but Washington. She didn’t want to live in Washington, even though she’d realized that’s where national politics happens. Like finance was to New York and country music was to Nashville. You had tobethere to make it there.
And more than the communications job not being in New York—it also wasn’t where she was standing right now. In Wisconsin.
Bailey Bickle’s email had come at a terrible time. Dot was having a great day and had even successfully pushed the future out of her mind for a couple of hours. But the email had yanked her back to her running tab of worries. She needed to confront the issue of what she and Danny were going to do, if anything, about their relationship. Where was this going? And how soon could she figure it out? She was running out of time.
Dot took a breath and put her phone away and headed back to Danny. She found him alone at their seats. He stood for her, always the gentleman, while she sat down.
“Jake took Mary on a tour, and Tommy and Harper went to get some snacks,” he said. “Everything okay?”
“Totally. Everything’s fine.”
“Fine? So, not good?” Danny had learned the universal lesson all men eventually understood.
“Sorry. I’m good. Great.” She decided to put on a brave face. Why ruin the day? She took Danny’s hand, and he lifted both of their hands up and kissed the back of hers. Then they turned their attention back to the game.
RIGHT BEFORE HALFTIME,Jake said to Mary, “I have a surprise for you.” He led her down toward the field. There, they met up with a stadium worker.
“Hey, Jake. Good to see you, man!”
“You too, Ridge. How’s it going? Hey, this is Mary Russo.”
Jack Ridgely took his cap off and shook Mary’s hand.
“Well Jake certainly has reeled in a beauty! It’s nice to meet you.”