shaped as a writer, and his childhood experiences ingrained on him in a way that would need to be spilled upon the page.
She knew it was silly. It had been seventeen years, and he’d moved on. And so had she. Ben was a good man—everything she could have hoped for. She couldn’t have asked for anything more. Too, she was surprised at how quickly she’d fallen into whatever it was she’d fallen into. How, after attending church faithfully, after working through the tricky dynamics between obedience and grace, could she give herself over to whatever it was that had come into her house with CJ’s return?
“Mom, the chicken’s burning,” Sophie said.
Julie snapped to the present, rushing to the stove and removing the skillet from the burner.
Chapter 14
The curious thing to CJ was that he and Graham had roughly the same experience with this sort of thing—Graham through virtue of being a politician, and CJ through the countless readings and press appearances through which he’d suffered. In this case, at least, he wasn’t the guest of honor, which meant that he didn’t have to be as uptight as normal, nor did he have to worry about being put into a position where he might be tempted to toss a book at someone.
It was far too sunny for his liking. The steps of the capitol building took the full brunt of the noonday sun, so he had to squint to see past the podium and the people who gathered to hear his brother speak. He’d heard there was a hall inside, where his bother could have given his speech and delivered his impassioned plea for support, but he’d heard Daniel Wolfowitz say that natural light would do his brother good. It was symbolic of a new day in New York politics.
There were a lot of people present, although CJ had no idea how many were here for their own reasons, and how many had been encouraged to attend through Daniel’s influence.
CJ sat next to his father, who was dressed in a new suit, courtesy of Daniel. CJ had been offered one as well, but had opted for khakis and a buttoned-down shirt because, while he was willing to support Graham as a price for securing Dennis’s freedom, he refused to be uncomfortable in the process.
The remainder of the group onstage consisted of a few other members of the immediate family: Ben, because he was a successful businessman, along with Julie; Edward, who represented veterans; Maryann, who was expected solely because she was the candidate’s sister; and a gathering of political insiders, all of whom added capital to Graham’s candidacy.
CJ had to admit there was a buzz through the crowd, regardless of the fact that Graham’s campaign manager had likely handpicked most of them. There were also a lot of cameras, and the constant flashing was beginning to annoy him. Early on he’d tried to enforce a no-camera rule at his events, but both his editor and his agent had convinced him that doing so would alienate too many fans, and since fans bought books, he’d understood how that would be bad.
One interesting part of the day’s activities was when CJ learned that his brother had a press agent. Her name was Daphne Carlson. She was wearing a smart business suit, looked to be in her midtwenties, and it seemed to be her job to coordinate everything, although CJ knew that Daniel was the event’s real mastermind. Even so, Daphne handled with calm efficiency the media, the crowd, and the technicians who set up the podium and the sound system. CJ noticed the relatively large security presence evident throughout, but guessed that was to be expected in hosting an event on the steps of the capitol, and in the days of Homeland Security.
By the time Daphne introduced the next United States senator from the state of New York, CJ already felt as if he’d lost at least half of his soul. He joined in the applause in halfhearted fashion, and stood along with everyone else, and did his best to appear, if not supportive, at least not too put out with the whole thing—all while guiltily wishing that Dennis had some idea what he was being forced to endure on his behalf.
As Graham began to speak, CJ’s mind was nowhere near the podium, but then as the state senator went on, he found himself paying greater attention. He’d never heard Graham address a crowd and was surprised at the ease with which he