Chapter 3 #5
"Does it?"
"Yeah. It's an old play from an even older playbook," Alex said.
"Still think I should set it aside?"
"Yes. You're probably right. But who and why? You'll have a better sense of what to do if you step away—just to catch your breath."
"I might be better getting an inhaler."
Alex laughed.
Candace smiled, then sighed. "You really believe stepping back will help?"
"It might keep you from stepping into exactly what someone wants."
Candace nodded.
Alex leaned forward. "If someone wants you to feel emboldened, it's to make you react. Publicly. Quickly. Maybe angrily."
"I don't get angry in public."
"No," Alex agreed. "You do controlled. And someone wants to take your control away."
Candace looked toward the windows again. She closed her eyes for a moment. Trust was supposed to be a simple thing. It never was. Not in this office. Not in the world she occupied, and not when every word spoken near her might become a weapon in someone else's hand.
When she opened her eyes, Alex was watching her.
"What?" Candace asked.
"You're still thinking about making a call."
Candace smiled. "I am the president."
"Unfortunately for everyone trying to give you advice, yes."
Candace chuckled.
"Make one call if you need to," Alex said. "To JD. Not to Jen. Not to Luke or Gary. And not to anyone at Langley. Step away from it, Candace. Trust me. It will improve your focus."
Alex stood.
"Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"When you take over the CIA, don't lose this."
"What?"
"The ability to tell me when I need to stop."
Alex smiled. "I'll put it on my list."
Candace glanced at the folders on her desk. Then, deliberately, she closed the one Jen had left behind and slid it beneath another file.
It was not surrender, and it wasn't denial.
It was restraint.
Alex was right.
Candace chuckled softly. "I still might look into that inhaler."
It surprised Jameson to see Candace calling.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"Everything okay?" Jameson asked.
"I miss you."
Jameson closed her eyes. "I haven't been gone long."
"Doesn't matter."
"I miss you, too."
"Thank you," Candace said.
"For missing you?"
Candace chuckled. "For knowing what I need even when I'm blind to it."
"Candace?"
"I'm okay, honey. I need to step away."
"I know."
"How are things at Marianne's?"
"Did you hide baked goods when the kids were little like you hide your fortune cookies?"
"What?"
"Did you?"
Candace laughed. "I don't recall hiding baked goods."
"Huh. Really?"
"Jameson, where on earth did that come from?"
"Marianne has a hiding place for extra cookies... in her pickle cabinet."
Candace roared.
"Candace? You did, didn't you? You hid baked goods!"
Candace tried to catch her breath. "I may have placed some things in strategic locations."
"Oh, my God."
"It wasn't hiding them."
"What would you call it?"
"Preservation."
Jameson laughed. "Of brownies?"
"I had three children, Jameson. And Jonathan. And two brothers whose kids called my kitchen home. Do you have any idea what happened to a tray of brownies in that house?"
"I'm starting to."
"I did what I had to do."
Jameson sat back. "You hid more than brownies."
"I did hide an apple cake once."
"You hid an entire cake?"
"It was a small cake."
"You hid cake from your children?"
"No. I protected my sanity."
Jameson laughed again, and for a moment, the distance between them felt smaller.
Candace sighed softly. "Thank you for being there."
"With Marianne?"
"With all of them."
"They're my family, Candace."
"I know."
Candace was quiet for a moment.
"Hey," Jameson said.
"I'm here."
"I do miss you."
Candace closed her eyes. "I miss you. That's why I called."
"I know."
"I love you," Candace said.
"I love you, too."
"And Jameson?"
"Yeah?"
"The apple cake was in the cabinet with the pickled beets."
Jameson burst out laughing.
Candace smiled. For the first time all day, the noise in her head quieted.
It didn't disappear. It just softened.
"Thanks," she said.
"Mm-hm."
"Give the kids a hug for me."
"I will. Candace?"
"Hm?"
"There's no pickle cabinet at the White House, is there?"
Candace laughed softly.
"Candace?"
"Have a good night."
"Candace?"
"I'll call you tomorrow," Candace promised.
Jameson looked at the phone in her hand. "She hung up."
"Jay?"
Jameson looked up and smiled at Spencer. "Hey, Spence."
"Was that Nana?"
"Yep."
"How come she didn't say hi? Is she still at work?"
Jameson grinned. "I think so," she said. She tipped her head.
"What?" Spencer asked.
"Oh, I'm just beginning to understand where you get the hiding gene."
"Are you okay, Jay?"
Jameson laughed. Hide and Seek had always been Spencer's favorite game when he was little.
"Never mind," Jameson said.
"Mom says it's time for dinner," he said.
"Tell her I'll be right there."
Spencer nodded and walked out of the room.
Jameson picked up her phone and texted Candace:
Now I know why we could never find Spence. You passed on the hiding gene.
Candace picked up her phone when it buzzed.
She shook her head, chuckling. She pushed out of her chair and took a deep breath.
"Oh, Jameson," she said. "What would I do without you?"