“That’s so kind of you. I’m really overwhelmed,” she said, the tears spilling over—and they weren’t just for the Taylors’ kind gesture.
She was crying at the thought of saying goodbye.
But she didn’t have a choice.
Did she?
Chapter 74
Election Day marched on.
“I’ve just realized that I’ve been wrong about something my entire life,” Dot said.
“What’s that?” Rose asked while she continued to double-check their targeted voter list.
“The summer solstice isn’t the longest day of the year. Election Day is.” The hours dragged.
They were getting little bits of information from the field, but they were cautioned against listening to any of the exit polls.
So far, all the Democratic precincts were hitting their turnout targets. But so were the Republican ones. It was going to be very close.
IN THE MEANTIME,Harper and Pippi went to the Sin Bin to help set up for the watch party that Tommy was hosting that night. Jake stopped by to make sure the security that they’d arranged was up to snuff.
“Just be careful. You know how people can get,” Jake said.
“I do,” Tommy agreed. “But I think we’ll have a good crowd, and I’m going to cut anyone off who gets out of control.”
“Does that include Harper?” Jake joked.
“I hope so!” Tommy said. He was putting together a care package for her to take back to New York. All sorts of Cedar Falls mementos. She’d be taking Pippi with her, and he dreaded how sharply he’d miss them both.
AT TEN O’CLOCKthat night, the election still wasn’t over. A few states were yet to be called, and Wisconsin was one of them.
Dot, Rose, and Fletcher huddled together in the war room. Several TVs were on with the different channels trying to fill time with analysis though they still didn’t have a result.
“It’s all going to come down to turnout,” one talking head said.
“We know!” they yelled in unison.
Dot said she was going to take a break. She went to her desk and noticed her calendar. She’d put a red line through every day that she’d been there since January. The November calendar picture was of Central Park in autumn, The Plaza Hotel in the background. It was almost time for her to cross out Election Day. And then what? Her stomach rolled at the thought. Or maybe that was the two slices of pizza she’d devoured after the Wisconsin polls closed at eight that night.
At 11:45 p.m., everyone was delirious. There were still five states to call. Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Lopez won her home state of Georgia, plus the state of North Carolina. And Stone was looking like he could pull off Kentucky. Between those two, the Democrats had some hope that if two of these other states went her way—and barring any upsets they didn’t imagine—that she’d win the election and become the first woman president of the United States of America.
Dot felt her phone vibrate. It was a text from Danny.
“I’ve been counting down these last few days,” he said.
“Hi. Me too.”
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m okay. Running on adrenaline and caffeine at this point.”
“Have a moment for some fresh air? I’m outside.”
“You are?” Dot mimed a gesture to Rose and Fletcher that she had to take a call outside. She texted, “I’m coming,” and then pretended to put the phone to her ear.
She grabbed her coat from her chair on the way out. Danny’s truck was across the street from the Democratic offices. A light snow had started to fall. He was standing outside, leaning against the driver’s door. And he was gorgeous.