personal phone. The call she’d been hoping to get.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Caroline.” It was Jen’s fiancé.
“Hi, Eric. How’s my girl?”
“Just finishing up with an interview. But you were the first person she wanted to call.”
Caroline was touched, but amused. “Then why are you calling?”
“You know how efficient she is. It’s going to be a busy night.”
“And now she goes into full wedding mode.” The ceremony was a little over a month away, just before Christmas. “Are you ready?”
He hesitated. “I guess so.”
“Don’t let your enthusiasm overwhelm you, Eric. Try to contain yourself.”
“It’s been a long night,” he said. “Oh, here she is.”
No doubt Eric was eager to hand off the phone as quickly as possible. A breathless voice came on the phone. “Caroline?”
“Hi, Jenny. How’s it feel?”
Jen sounded manic, but in a good way. “It’s incredible. Like I’m floating on a cloud. Did you feel this way when you first won?”
Caroline laughed. “I did. Don’t you remember?”
“I don’t remember a lot from that night. I think Katie spiked my drink.”
“I was high as a flipping kite.” Caroline had been quite happy when she won the general election but most of the elation came during the primary, when her victory had been a huge upset. “Congratulations, kid. You deserve it.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without your help.”
Caroline might have pulled a few strings, called some donors on Jen’s behalf, made a few campaign appearances with her. But that wasn’t the deciding factor. Endorsements and behind the scenes work only took a candidate so far. “It was all you, Jenny. You’re very good at what you do. Hell, you managed to convince people I was marginally competent for six years. You wrangled me and kept me in check. That’s a huge accomplishment.”
Jen laughed. “Making you look competent was the easiest part of my job. I left the wrangling to Katie.”
Caroline smiled at Kathleen, who still had her arm around her. She looked incredibly eager to talk to Jen herself. “Speak of the devil,” she said. Kathleen mimed yanking the phone out of her hand. “I think Katie wants to catch up with you.”
Jen spoke in a heartfelt tone. “Caroline, thank you for hiring me six years ago. I had no experience. You really took a chance.”
Jen and Kathleen were the only two people who’d shown any confidence in Caroline’s ability to make a serious run for Congress. Representative-elect Whitcomb wasn’t the one who needed to be grateful. “No, I didn’t. I was a long shot candidate with no money and you were cheap.”
Jen laughed again. “I know. But you kept me around after you were elected and I really appreciate it. You helped me live my dream.”
Caroline closed her eyes, fighting back tears. She and Jen were very much alike. They’d always wanted careers in public service and had been terribly idealistic during Caroline’s first campaign. She was quite pleased that Jen had followed in her footsteps.
“You’re going to do a fantastic job.” Caroline choked up a little. “I want you to know how incredibly proud I am of you.”
“Thank you.” Jen couldn’t hide the emotion in her voice, either. “I’m really going to miss you.”
Caroline didn’t want to think about that. In a couple of months she’d be in Harrisburg, living a very different life from the one she had now. Exciting but daunting. “Let’s not talk about that now,” she said. “We’ve got your wedding next month and in case I forgot to mention it, you promised me you’d help me pack up all the shit I still have in my office in Rayburn. You can skip orientation if you really want to help.”
Jen laughed. “I’ll help you pack up, but I’m not missing the lottery. It’s my only chance to get a tiny sixth floor office assignment somewhere.”
Her luck was good enough that she’d probably get one of the nicer suites on the first try. “Katie really wants to talk to you,” Caroline said. “I love you, Jenny.”
“I love you too,” Jen said. “Give Jack and the girls hugs for me. You’re gonna make a hell of a first lady.”
“They won’t know what hit them.” Caroline laughed. Kathleen was practically wrestling the phone out of her hand. It made it hard to speak coherently. “I’m going to hand you off to Katie before she beats the shit out of me.”
Kathleen and Jen chatted for a few minutes before hanging up. Caroline only eavesdropped a little, a significant improvement for her.