“So, how are things looking?” Mary was following the campaign closely. “Get any new numbers?” She got out a bottle of Sancerre and poured them each a glass and handed one to Dot.
“Oh gosh, it’s so close. Too close to call. And we just found out the Republican ticket is coming back to Wisconsin twice more this week. So now we need to get Lopez and Stone back here, too, but they also have to hit stops in Arizona and Nevada. The travel for them is brutal. But Wisconsin is ground zero. We’re just waiting for confirmation that one of the stops she makes is Cedar Falls. If she wins here, she likely wins the entire thing.”
“And makes history,” Mary said.
“That’s the goal. I feel like everything will be a blur from now until then.”
“Have you heard from Danny?” Mary asked.
“Not since a couple of days ago.”
“Did you ever respond?”
“I didn’t.”
“Dot!”
“I know! I don’t know what to say,” Dot said.
“Jake said that there’s no way he was with another woman. At least you could get back to him and just ask him what happened that night?” Mary was relieved when Dot had quickly gotten over her anger when she’d revealed that she’d told Jake what was up during their weekend getaway. Mary knew all of this was killing DotandDanny.
“It’s excruciating,” Dot confessed. “I think about him all the time, but now I worry that not only has so much time passed that he probably doesn’t even think about me anymore, but what’s the point if we’re leaving right after the election?”
“That’s not true. He’sobviouslythinking of you. If he didn’t care about you, he wouldn’t have asked Jake to help him figure out why you’d ghosted him. You’re just telling yourself that because you’re afraid of the truth,” Mary said.
“What truth?” Harper resurfaced from the loft and entered the chat. She wore her matching pajama set in a plaid print and had her hair in a scrunchy on top of her head. Her eyes were red from crying. She carried her laptop under her arm.
Dot and Mary did a double take at their friend’s appearance.
“What happened to you?” Dot asked.
“Gee, thanks,” Harper said, taking a glass of wine from Mary and getting some frozen cookie-dough bites out of the fridge.
Mary caught Dot’s eye and mouthed, “Yikes.”
“Come on, Harp. You’ve been upset since you came in earlier. What happened?” Mary asked.
Harper munched, and Mary and Dot both reached for some cookie dough. Mood eating went better with others.
“So, it was Tommy,” Dot said, making an educated guess.
“Sweet Tommy? What could he have done to make you cry? I’ll kill him!” Mary tried to lighten the moment.
Harper was finally ready to spill the beans. “I was over there helping him get ready for the apple festival. He’s in charge of all the food vendors, and I put together a spreadsheet for him to help get it organized.”
“So far, so good,” Dot said, patiently waiting for Harper to get to the point.
“Well, I went to make us sandwiches while he plugged in data, and when I came back, he was reading my novel.”
“He was? The novel that evenwehave never seen?” Mary couldn’t believe it.
“Yes. And he was... he was red in the face, and I got so mad. I don’t want anyone to read it until it’s done. I’m afraid it’s terrible. And I’m superstitious that if anyone reads it before I write ‘The End’ that it will never be a real book.”
“First of all, that’s crazy. Second, why was his face red?” Dot asked.
“Oh gosh, I can’t tell you!” Harper’s face was now turning pink.
“And did he go looking for it on purpose—to read the novel while you were out of the room?” Mary was dubious.