The Senator's Secret Read online

  Sam gave a rich, confident laugh. “Certainly not. Gary and I have been together for a year. We met in Raleigh, where Gary resides. And the engagement took place over Christmas.” He glanced at Gary fondly. “Let’s just say Gary got a surprise when he reached the bottom of his Christmas stocking.”

  Laughter greeted his words. Sam’s demeanor was amazing. He came across as confident and self-assured, and if Gary hadn’t known the truth, he would have been completely taken in by the performance.

  “And how about you, Mr. Mason?” Chris asked. “How do you feel about this whole situation?”

  “I was shocked, of course, to see our photo on the Internet, but once I got over that, I was kind of relieved too.” He flashed Sam a quick smile. “It hasn’t been easy keeping our relationship quiet, so having it all out in the open is a relief.”

  “Why did you keep it a secret?” another journalist asked.

  “Because if we’d announced it, there might have been some factions in the state who’d say we were doing it for the publicity,” Sam said in a firm voice. “We didn’t want that. We didn’t want anything to deflect attention away from the reelection campaign. That is more important than what is going on in our private lives. And that brings us to another point: our privacy. Our relationship is nobody’s business but ours. I know that as a public figure, I live in the spotlight, but this had nothing to do with my public life.” With another glance to Gary, Sam smiled. “All anyone needs to know now is that we’re a committed couple who plan to marry when the elections are over.”

  Gary met his gaze. He knew it was an act, albeit an amazing one, but the light in Sam’s eyes at that moment, the way his face glowed, was truly beautiful.

  “What pained us both about last night’s post on Facebook was that it… demeaned our relationship,” Sam said. He spoke quietly, but his voice carried throughout the hushed room. “We weren’t doing anything wrong. We’re simply a couple planning our wedding, and that post made us look… sordid, I suppose is as good a word as any. When we saw that, we both decided it was time to step out of the closet, as it were. Neither of us wants to hide anymore.”

  A barrage of questions broke out, but they washed over Gary’s head. His attention was focused on Sam.

  When at last the questions petered out, Josh took control once more. “If that’s all, ladies and gentlemen?”

  Someone at the back piped up. “One last question?” The speaker rose to his feet. “You know what would be really great right now?” He grinned. “If the senator and Mr. Mason shared a kiss for the cameras.”

  Loud chatter and bursts of applause followed his words.

  The reporter gazed around at his fellow members of the press, nodding and grinning at them. “Right? We wanna see the happy couple in a lip-lock. What do you say, Senator?”

  Gary’s heart pounded. No way was he ready to go that far.

  Sam cleared his throat. “I’m sure you do,” he remarked dryly, which caused a few chuckles. “However, it’s not really appropriate for a press conference, and I’m sure many of us here will agree with that. This is not a daytime soap opera.”

  Murmurs of approval echoed his statement, and the reporter’s face fell.

  Josh coughed. “Thank you for attending, ladies and gentlemen. Copies of the senator’s statement are available as you leave the offices. All that remains is to thank Senator Dalton and Mr. Mason for talking so candidly with us about what is a private matter.”

  There were nods as Sam and Gary stood to leave, along with calls of “Congratulations, Senator!” They exited the room, Curtis leading the way, and headed up the staircase to Sam’s office.

  Once inside, Gary sank into a chair, fighting to breathe evenly. “God, I was so nervous just then.”

  Sam patted him on the shoulder. “You did great.”

  Curtis murmured in agreement.

  “I know, that last one threw me too. I hadn’t expected it.”

  Josh came into the office and closed the door behind him. “Fucking Barry Donovan,” he said, clearly seething. When Gary frowned, Josh gestured with his thumb toward the door. “That dickwad who asked you two to kiss. He’s one of Hartsell’s supporters, and you can bet he asked that to try to embarrass you.” He smiled at Sam. “And you reacted like a true statesman.” Josh gave Gary a kindly smile too. “You were great, Gary. A natural.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” Gary said with a chuckle. “I’m just glad you’d covered the table fully with that white cloth so they didn’t get to see my knees shaking.”

  Becky, Curtis, and Josh laughed.

  Sam didn’t, however. “You gave a performance to be proud of,” he said softly.

  The warmth of his praise made Gary’s insides all fluttery.

  “It didn’t surprise me that there were a couple of negative questions,” Josh said.

  “But what can you expect when you invite journalists who write for a Republican-owned newspaper?” Curtis retorted.

  Josh sighed. “Like I could refuse them entry. Freedom of the press and all that, right?”

  Gary stared at them. “There were negative questions?”

  Curtis laughed. “I don’t suppose you followed everything that closely—you were probably too busy trying to stop your knees from knocking.”

  A phone rang in Becky’s office, and she scooted in to answer it. A moment later she stuck her head around the door. “Sam, line one, now.”

  “Is it someone I can call back later?” he asked, pulling a face.

  Becky shook her head. “I wouldn’t if I were you. It’s your mom.”

  Gary watched all the color drain from Sam’s face.

  He sat down heavily. “Damn it, I knew I’d forgotten something.” He placed his hand on the phone and paused. “Guys? A little privacy, please?”

  Everyone nodded and got up to leave. Once outside the office, Curtis shook his head. “Moira is going to be pissed. I wouldn’t like to be in Sam’s shoes right now.” When Gary gave him a quizzical look, Curtis grinned. “Wait till you meet her. That is one scary woman.” He patted Gary on the arm. “You have all that to come.”

  Gary stared after him as he and Josh disappeared into Josh’s office. Oh my.

  Chapter Five

  Telling Mom

  SAM picked up the phone with no small amount of trepidation. “Hi, Mom.”

  There was a moment of silence. “Do you want to explain why I had to watch a televised press conference to learn about my son’s sexual orientation and his engagement?” He caught the quiet huff of displeasure. “Of course, I’m just your mother.”

  Damn it. There’d been so many things to think about that morning—getting engaged to a stranger was enough to make any man forget to call his mom—that it had completely slipped his mind. “Yeah, about that….”

  Mom chuckled. “It wasn’t as big a shock as you might imagine. Well, the part about you being gay certainly wasn’t.”

  What the fuck? “Excuse me?”

  “Oh, sweetheart. Seriously? You’re thirty-three and not once have you brought a girl home to meet your parents.”

  “Did you ever stop to think that might be because I have very scary parents?”

  There was an infinitesimal pause before she continued. “I considered it, yes, but then I dismissed it. Who would be scared of your father and me?”

  Sam coughed. “Anyone who’s ever met you?”

  “Don’t change the subject,” she said abruptly. “Just tell me how you’ve been dating this… Gary for a year and we’re only hearing about him now. What’s wrong with him?”

  “Nothing’s wrong with him!”

  “Well, there has to be some reason why you haven’t brought him to meet us,” she commented dryly. “He’s not an ax murderer, is he?”

  He didn’t even dignify that with a reply.

  “Well, if he’s not a murderer, I can’t see what could be so horrible about him that you wouldn’t want to—” There was a heavy pause. “Oh my God—he’s a Re
publican.”

  “No, Mom, he’s not. He works in my campaign office, remember?” Sam explained patiently.

  “He looks perfectly normal. At least from what I could see. Cute too.”

  “Mom!” he groaned.

  “What? Can’t I say he looks cute? But he does!” She snickered. “You’re just worried that I’ll ditch your father and turn into a—what’s that word again? Oh yes—cougar.”

  She did not just say that. “Since when do you know about cougars?”

  Mom cackled. “Sam, I’m fifty-eight. I’m not dead.” A pause.

  Oh Lord, what next?

  “Another thing. You stayed with us over the holidays. As far as I can remember—and granted, my memory isn’t what it used to be—I don’t recall seeing you unwrap a fiancé that you managed to find under the Christmas tree.”

  Aw, crap. “Look, it’s a long story.”

  “Then I look forward to hearing it. Over lunch. This Sunday. Both of you.” Another pause. “Right, Sam?”

  “Yes, Mom.” Like there was any point in arguing with her. She always won.

  “Excellent. I’ll expect you both on Sunday. Lunch will be at one as usual, so don’t be late, please. And Sam?”

  “Yes, Mom?”

  “It was a good press conference. And I hope that post bites Hartsell in the ass.” With that last stunning remark, she disconnected.

  Sam stared at the phone. His mom never failed to amaze him.

  Gary peered around the door at him. “Am I okay to come in?”

  “Sure.”

  He entered and sat in the chair facing Sam. “Is everything okay?”

  Sam laughed. “Sort of. You and I get to have lunch with my parents this Sunday.”

  Gary’s brow wrinkled and he bit his lip.

  “What’s up?” Sam asked.

  “Curtis was talking about your mom, and….”

  That explained a lot. “Did he say something to make you nervous?”

  “Maybe?”

  “Well, right now whether she likes or doesn’t like you is immaterial. We have a bigger problem. She watched the press conference on TV and wants to know when I found time to get engaged, seeing as I spent the holidays with them.”

  “Oopsie.”

  Sam stared. “Did you just say what I think you said?”

  Gary flushed. “It was something my mom used to say. I guess I picked it up from her.”

  “Used to?” It struck Sam that he knew so little about Gary.

  “Yeah. I lost both my parents when I was thirteen.” His smile was so sad. “Do you mind if we don’t talk about this right now?”

  Silence fell, one that didn’t feel entirely comfortable.

  “Sure. Absolutely.” The last thing Sam wanted was to upset his…. Damn. I have a fiancé.

  That was going to take some getting used to.

  Gary cleared his throat. “Anyway, back to your mom. Are you going to tell her about… this?”

  Sam frowned. “I don’t know yet.” He tilted his head to one side. “What do they say about the odds of keeping a secret being inversely proportional to the square of the number of people who know it?”

  Gary chuckled. “Not sure if that can be proven, but it sounds reasonable enough. You’re thinking if you tell them, the odds are greater on someone finding out you just told the press a whopper?”

  Sam nodded. “I think I need to come up with something else to tell my parents. I don’t think they should know about our… agreement.” Though what he was going to say, he had no idea.

  “Josh says when you’re ready, he’d like to go through a few things he’s setting up for this week.”

  Sam got up and walked around to Gary’s side of the desk. “About that. I think it might be a good idea if you go home, collect what you need, and come back here. We can travel to my house this evening in my car. Unless you want to follow me in yours?”

  “Mine’s in the shop right now. I get a ride from one of the guys who works the phones.”

  “No problem,” Sam said with a smile. “I’ll take you home to pick up what you need and then we’ll go to my house.”

  He stared at Sam. “This evening?”

  Sam chuckled. “You heard Josh. We’re both taking some time off. And what you said earlier was true. We need to spend at least a few days getting to know each other. Especially if we’re going to face my parents in five days’ time. My mom misses nothing.”

  Gary sighed. “Great. More pressure. Just what I need.”

  Sam gazed at him for a moment before patting his arm. “This is what you signed up for, after all. Now let’s go see what my whirling dervish of a PR man has cooked up for us this week.” He waited until Gary was standing before fixing him with a firm stare. “You are still sure you want to do this? That remark about pressure doesn’t sound too positive.”

  Gary gave him a half smile. “I think I’m still on edge after that press conference, that’s all. When that last reporter asked us to kiss, I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go.”

  Sam huffed. “Don’t you worry about him. Right now we have much more important things to do—like talk to Josh, for one thing.” He opened the door. “Shall we?”

  Gary gave a single nod and led the way out of the office, and Sam followed him.

  It felt like they were about to step onto a rollercoaster, one whose peaks and valleys lay hidden from view.

  Sam hated not being able to see where things were heading.

  “YOU rent a place in Raleigh during the campaign, don’t you?” Gary gazed at the sights of downtown Raleigh as they sped through in Sam’s Explorer.

  Sam nodded. “Although I warn you now, it’s not what you might be expecting.”

  “Oh, now you’ve intrigued me.” He imagined Sam staying in a modern house, maybe three bedrooms, a front yard with trees….

  “If you knew where I lived in Asheville, my choice of rental property wouldn’t seem all that strange.” He turned the car left at the Crabtree Valley Mall, and the scenery greened up a whole lot, but when Sam turned right onto Ebenezer Church Road, Gary had no clue where they were headed. When Sam eventually pulled the car off the road onto a wooded lot right at the edge of Umstead Park, Gary’s jaw dropped.

  “It’s a log cabin.” A redwood log cabin, nestled in the middle of woodland, with a wraparound deck. “Does it have hot and cold running water?”

  Sam snickered. “Rustic-looking, isn’t it? And yes, ye of little faith, it has all the necessary modern amenities.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, the floor in the main living space is very rustic because it’s reclaimed barn wood, but the fireplace works and there’s plenty of space.”

  “How many bedrooms?” Because judging from what Gary could see, the cabin didn’t look big enough to have more than one. He had visions of sharing Sam’s bed for however long they were going to be staying there. Not that he disliked that particular idea. Not at all.

  “Two bedrooms, one bath, and a total of 1,200 square feet,” Sam said. He stopped the car in the little parking lot next to the cabin and switched off the engine. “I like the fact that it’s close to civilization while giving the impression of being on the outer edge of it. There’s a local store for groceries, which is great. And it’s fairly quiet around here at night. Not as quiet as in Asheville, but it will do.”

  They got out of the car and went around to the trunk to collect Gary’s bag. He couldn’t take his eyes off the property. “I bet you haven’t got cable,” he said at last.

  Sam laughed. “You’d lose that bet.” He unlocked the front door and led Gary inside.

  Gary gazed up at the sloping wooden ceiling. It had obviously been one large open space at one time, but partition walls had been constructed across one end of the building. “How many rooms in total?”

  “Four. This is the main family room.”

  To the left was the fireplace with its stone surround, while to the right was the kitchen area, with a huge stove, plus a microwave, enormous re
frigerator, washer and….

  “It has a dishwasher!” Gary exclaimed.

  Sam laughed. “Didn’t I say all modern amenities?” He walked past Gary toward the walled-off rooms, beckoning him to follow. “This is the bathroom, and beyond here are the bedrooms. Yours is the one after mine.” He gestured to the door. “Drop your bag and coat there, and then we’ll get dinner started.”

  Gary did as instructed, then followed Sam back into the main room.

  “Is there anything you don’t eat?” Sam asked him, peering into the refrigerator and pulling out a package.

  “Nothing that I can think of. I’m not that keen on cabbage, but I can eat it if I have to.”

  Sam’s eyes sparkled. “I’m not about to force feed it to you, not when I have steak in here.” He tilted his head. “Does steak do it for you?”

  “Every time,” Gary replied with a smile. “Love my meat.”

  Sam broke out into a fit of coughing. “Okay… I’ll get dinner started….” He paused. “I’ve got a bottle of red wine, if you’d like a glass.”

  Gary nodded. “Yes, please.”

  Sam uncorked the bottle and poured out two glasses.

  Gary peered at the wine label. “I like merlot.” He clinked his glass against Sam’s. “Here’s to unconventional beginnings.” He grinned.

  Sam laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Unconventional beginnings.” He snorted. “About as unconventional as they come.” He put down his glass. “Baked potatoes and green beans good with these?”

  “Sure, sounds good.”

  Sam pointed to a stool near the black granite-topped counter. “Sit there. It won’t take long to get dinner ready, but while I’m doing that, can you pull up your e-mails? See if Josh has sent us the details for this week yet.” He switched on the oven and then handed Gary a small card that had been tucked into the corner of a cork noticeboard on the wall next to the refrigerator. “The code for the Wi-Fi.”

  Gary nodded and fished out his phone from his pocket. Once he’d changed the settings, he scrolled through until he found Josh’s e-mail. “Damn. We’re going to be busy. Steven, our photographer, will be at the office tomorrow morning at ten. He’s going to be our shadow for the rest of this week.”