“Exactly. Frankly it doesn’t matter,” Elliott told him. “You could have said yes and you could have said no, but you said it didn’t matter. Which to me meant it was the only thing that mattered.”

“She is,” Brady agreed. It had just taken him a while to realize that. Without her, all of his dreams and aspirations seemed flat.

“Let’s try to convince Heather of that. My advice, for what it’s worth, you might want to just let her get a few good punches in,” Elliott said with a laugh. “She’ll feel bad about it and forgive you quicker.”

“I like where your head’s at.” This was the reason he kept Elliott around.

They walked together to the living room, where Heather was hovering over the phone. She looked like a wreck. Her blond hair was still perfectly straight, but it was up into a high ponytail that he had rarely seen her do before. She was short on makeup, and her suit looked like it needed a trip to the dry cleaner’s. Brady had clearly really stressed her out.

“Heather,” Brady said softly.

Heather turned around so fast that she looked as if she gave herself whiplash. “Brady! Oh my God, you’re back!”

“Of course I’m back,” he said with an easy shrug. He wasn’t giving up his career for one scandal.

“Great. Let’s sit down. We have to figure out our remarks. I need to know what angle we should take. I think personally denying would just be best, but if you think of something different I could work with that. Then I think we should decide about a press conference. Do we want to call for one or should I just release a statement for you? Would that seem like you’re hiding behind the screen?”

“Whoa!” Brady said, holding his hands up. “Just like that? You want to talk strategy? You don’t want to chew my head off for leaving?”

Heather stared at him stonily. “What I want and what I think are important for your career are two different things.”

“Good to be back, Heather,” he said, taking a seat on a chair and grinning at her.

“Don’t get the two things confused again. I want to smack some sense into you for leaving me knee-deep in this shit, but I know that we need to address this as quickly as possible. I’ll hold back my desire to strangle you until we have some semblance of order again,” she grumbled.

“I think order is going to be scarce for a while.”

“I know, but still I think we should . . .” Heather trailed off. “Wait, why? You sound like there’s a reason beyond just the media.”

“It’s Liz, Heather,” Brady said softly.

“I know that Sandy Carmichael is Liz, Brady. I’ve already surmised that.”

“No. Heather,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m back with Liz.”

“What?” she shrieked. “Brady, are you out of your mind? Her boyfriend wrote the article. It’s libelous. What the fuck are we supposed to tell reporters? Where do I go from here?”

“We’ll figure it out. We just need a little time for us to decide what to do and then we’ll go public.”

“Brady, I kind of have to insist as your press secretary that you shouldn’t,” Heather said. She was pacing the room at this point. “Think about how this will look!”

Brady was going to respond when Heather’s phone started ringing noisily. She snatched it off the table it was resting on and frowned at the number. “Give me a second. It’s probably another reporter.

“Congressman Maxwell’s office,” she said evenly.

Brady sighed and rested back in the armchair. Heather was going to be difficult about all of this. He just knew it.

“No, the Congressman is out.”

It didn’t matter, though, because the wheels were already in motion. He wasn’t going back on what he had said to Liz.

“Congressman Maxwell has no comment on the matter of Sandy Carmichael.”

He wondered how many calls like this Heather had dealt with while he had been gone. Sure, it was her job, but he wished that it all hadn’t happened quite like this. Of course, if it had happened any other way he might not have gotten back with Liz.

As he watched Heather, her face turned red with frustration. “Yes, Miss Hollingsworth, I know that you want a comment from Congressman Maxwell about your article, but we have no comment. He’s currently unavailable. We’ll reach out to you if we have anything further to say.”

Fuck! That name. Hadn’t Liz just said that Calleigh Hollingsworth had come to see her in Chapel Hill?

“Heather,” Brady snapped. “Did you say Hollingsworth? Are you sure?”

Heather spoke into the phone. “Hold please.” Then looked up at Brady. “Yes, Calleigh Hollingsworth of the Charlotte Times, why?”

“I’ll take it,” Brady said, standing and reaching for the phone.

“What? No you will not. I’m your press secretary.”

“Give me the phone, Heather. I’ll decide for myself if I should comment.”

“Elliott, talk some sense into him!”

“It’s going to happen one way or another, Heather. Just give him the phone,” Elliott said.

She slowly held the phone out with a sigh, clearly looking as if she wanted to jerk it back at any second, but she didn’t. Brady took it from her without any idea what he was about to hear on the other line.

“Congressman Maxwell speaking,” he said into the phone.

“Congressman Maxwell, this is Calleigh Hollingsworth with the Charlotte Times.”

“Yes, Miss Hollingsworth. How can I help you?”

“I’ve recently discovered the identity of Sandy Carmichael and I wanted your comment on the story. Do you have a comment?”

“If you’re trying to bait me into discussing whether or not Sandy Carmichael exists, Miss Hollingsworth, you’ll have to do better than that,” Brady said dryly.

“I’m not baiting anyone. Sandy Carmichael exists. It wasn’t until today that I found out the exact identity of the woman you had an affair with. I personally wanted your comment on the story before I went public with the information.”

“Miss Hollingsworth, I don’t appreciate your games. You just admitted to writing a negative article about me without having any of the facts, and are now claiming to have the facts, though you have shared none with me, and wish for me to comment on that?” Brady asked. He was tiptoeing around the subject as much as she was. He wouldn’t believe she had information until she put it forth.

“No. Congressman Maxwell, I want you to make a comment on Sandy Carmichael actually being the fake identity of Liz Dougherty,” Calleigh said snootily.

Brady was sure that he stopped breathing.

“No comment?” Calleigh practically taunted.

“What source do you have for that?” Brady asked. He had to know.

“Primary source, Congressman. Do you have a comment now?”

Liz had told her. When was she going to tell him? Just as he had the thought, his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw Liz’s name light up the screen. Fuck!

What was he going to do? Had Liz been ready to do this? She had wanted more time. He had been willing to give her more time. God, was he ready for this? He was used to the public, but the scrutiny it would bring going out like this . . . he didn’t know how he was going to deal with it. All he knew at that moment was that he would deal with it.

That meant he had Liz. That meant they were working on this together. That meant they were together . . . finally. It would all be worth it for that.

“Yes, Miss Hollingsworth, I’ll make a comment. Liz Dougherty is Sandy Carmichael. We were in a private relationship two summers ago, and we’re in a public one now.”

Don’t miss the final book in the Record series by K.A. Linde