to tell her surgeon about tearing off her sling and going to town, muscle damage be damned.
Caroline blushed just thinking about it. “It’s okay.”
“Just okay?” Christine raised her eyebrows.
“It’s awesome,” she gushed, trying to contain her glee and failing miserably. “I can’t wait to see how fast it goes. I never thought I’d be able to afford a car like that.”
“Good for you, then.”
Caroline studied her closely. “How are you dealing with all of this? You worry me, you know.”
“What do you mean?” Christine asked. “You bleeding all over me at the Capitol, you getting engaged, Jack running for governor, Susannah eloping, Jess leaving for college…a lot of things have happened in the past few months. You’re not the only person I think about.” She uncrossed her arms and put her hands on her desk. “Although you have been consuming a lot of my time lately. You’re nothing but trouble.”
“I know,” Caroline said. “I don’t know why you put up with me. But are you really okay with the whole idea of our marriage?”
Christine stared down at her hands. Caroline gave it a minute before she said anything else. She really didn’t like that Christine was so unhappy about the wedding. “I love him, Chrissy.” She reached under her glasses and wiped her eyes, which had suddenly gotten very damp. “I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Christine toyed with a random tchotchke on her desk. “I know,” she said quietly. “I just need a little more time to get used to the idea. I think you’re moving a little quickly but I understand why you’re doing it.” She looked Caroline in the eyes. “I trust your judgment. I’m not sure I trust his.”
Still a pretty big slam on both of them, but Caroline knew what Christine meant. According to Caroline’s chief of staff, Christine had exploded at Jack in the hospital waiting room while Caroline was in surgery. This was even after he arranged to fly Tom to get her children to the hospital as quickly as possible. Jack wouldn’t talk about it. Caroline knew Christine wouldn’t want to discuss it either. And Jen, who had been rattled by the entire incident, refused to give her specifics. Even Kathleen wouldn’t tell her what had happened. Caroline found them all incredibly frustrating.
“Let’s work on your relationship with Jack,” she said. “He really wants to get along with you, Chrissy. It’s important to him. He understands how much you and your family mean to me, and he’s very grateful for what you did at the Capitol.”
Christine looked down at her desk again. Caroline knew better than to mention what had happened at the Visitor’s Center. Chrissy barely wanted to talk about it after Caroline got home from the hospital. To the best of Caroline’s knowledge, she still hadn’t spoken about it with Tom.
“I can’t promise anything, Caroline,” Christine said. “I’m trying very hard to keep an open mind, because I can see how much he loves you.”
“You two will be able to spend loads of quality time together during campaign season,” Caroline said. “Maybe that will help.”
Christine groaned. “I hate campaigning. Being around Jack is going to make it ten times worse. I’m kidding, of course.”
Caroline wasn’t sure whether to believe her or not. She decided to let it go. “I’d like to talk to you about something. I’ve mentioned it to Jeanine and she thinks it’s a great idea.”
“What is it?” Christine asked warily.
“Hold on.” Caroline leaned forward on the couch. “Jeanine!” she hollered. “Come in here!”
“I appreciate you using your indoor voice, Caroline. My office is not a barn.”
Jeanine rushed in and closed the door behind her. “This needs to be private.”
Christine sat back in her desk chair, eyeing them with unease. “What have you two been plotting?”
“We’re going to set up a press conference soon,” Caroline said. “So I can make my endorsement official.”
“Excuse me?”
“My endorsement. See, it’s this thing politicians do for other politicians. It’s a tiresome dance but-”
“You want to endorse me?”
“Of course I want to endorse you. Do you think I’m going to endorse your opponent?”
Christine was visibly bewildered. “Are you joking?”
“No.” Caroline paused. “I thought it was a good idea.” She glanced at Jeanine, who suddenly appeared to be exceedingly uncomfortable. “Maybe it isn’t.”
Christine examined her closely. “Are you certain you want to do that? I’m much more conservative than you. It might not play as well as your vote back in January.”
“It’s important to me. I’m not running for re-election.