Chapter 71
The night before Lucy Lopez was finally due to visit Cedar Falls at the apple festival, Kitty Bell came to town and brought a couple of For the Win’s donors with her.
She’d organized a dinner off Main Street and invited Dot, Fletcher, and Rose to attend.
They knew they weren’t just invited for a meal.
They were to sing for their supper by showcasing how FTW’s work was going to flip Wisconsin from red to blue.
Kitty needed those contribution checks to keep coming.
Even though Dot and Fletcher pled their case with the D.C.
-based campaign for a rally in Cedar Falls, the politicos at Lopez-Stone headquarters kept making excuses for why it couldn’t happen.
This was despite the candidate herself saying she needed to go—she’d been pushing her team for it ever since she got the request directly from Dot.
Her campaign kept blaming the schedule, though Dot and Fletcher knew it was because they didn’t think it was worth it.
“They think we’re stupid,” Fletcher had said. “If they’d get out of Washington and touch some grass, they’d see we’re right about this.”
“And this is one instance when I don’t want to say ‘I told you so’—we have to get them to change their minds and get this on the schedule. Soon. We are this close.” Dot held her index finger and thumb a millimeter apart.
Kitty had been helpful in aggressively pushing for the Lopez visit, and the candidate herself had put her foot down. She was going to the apple festival. Her campaign relented.
“It’s on,” Kitty had texted the thread.
“LFG!” Fletcher wrote back.
Dot sent a thumbs-up and immediately felt stressed. Now that they’d gotten their way, the pressure was real.
So that night, on the way to dinner at the Golden Grate, Dot, Fletcher, and Rose brainstormed their best points to prove that the FTW money was being spent wisely.
By the time they arrived, each knew their part—Dot was on messaging and media, Fletcher on turnout and social, and Rose on volunteers. It was go time.
When they walked in, Kitty was already there. Of course she was. She air-kissed each of them and then turned to introduce them to her guests, a young tech-rich couple named Michael and Iris Vale.
Dot did a double take. The wealthy donor was someone she knew. And someone she’d hoped never to see again. It was her horrible client, Stanford Michael, who’d berated her when she was at the firm because she’d not been able to book him for a cable news hit. He of “who’s the boss of you” fame.
“Dot Clark?” he asked, incredulous. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Wait. You two know each other?” Kitty was confused.
Dot felt herself shrink. Why did this man sap her confidence?
“Hi, Michael,” she managed, while weakly shaking hands with him and his wife. Then to Kitty she said, “We used to work together. When I was in New York. He was a client at the PR firm.”
“So, you didn’t go on to some great job, I see,” he said. “You left New York for this?” He gestured around dismissively at Cedar Falls. “I can’t believe you’re working on the most important campaign in our lifetime. I thought For the Win was a serious outfit, Kitty.”
Kitty flinched. Fletcher stepped in. “Whoa, buddy. We haven’t met. I’m Fletcher Abbott. It’s good to meet you. Listen, I’m not sure where you got that impression of Dot. I’ve never known anyone with instincts as good as hers—and she can execute a plan like no one else.”
Dot was grateful for the defense. She stood a little taller.
“I doubt that,” Stanford Michael scoffed.
His wife placed a hand on his forearm. “Honey, maybe this is a waste of time.”
“We’re already here, Iris. Might as well eat, even if this place is a little too Midwest for my taste.” He had an annoying habit of emphasizing words to drive home insults.
“Well, Kitty, I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said. “I’m not in the habit of wasting money.”
Dot smirked. All the guy did was waste money on ego-driven publicity stunts. And now he was trying to get involved in politics, too. The party had too many of these rich people mucking things up.
Kitty suggested they move to their table, her face frozen in an icy smile. Rose picked up the conversation and asked the Vales about their trip from California and told them about the local weather forecast. Safe topics.
Fletcher held back and tapped Dot on the shoulder. “Are you okay? That guy’s a jerk.”
“I’ll tell you the whole story tomorrow. Looking back, it’s silly. But basically, he’s the reason I decided to leave the PR firm.”
“I know his type. They’re crawling all over the Bay Area. They think they’re so tough, but they’re just insecure asses.”
She laughed. “Well, thanks for sticking up for me. You didn’t have to do that.”
“It was easy. Because it’s true. You’re the best at this, by far.” He looked at her tenderly.
And all of a sudden, she saw Fletcher again for the first time.
This gorgeous lanky boy with the cheerful nature, full of ambition and wit.
And now, as she’d witnessed, a total gentleman.
She loved a man who stuck up for others.
For a moment, Dot wondered if she’d been too quick to dismiss the idea of her and Fletcher.
She even imagined she could forget all about the bee incident.
Could chivalry erase an ick? It felt possible in the moment.
Maybe Fletcher was someone she should consider giving a second chance.
But before she could think about that more, Fletcher was pulling out her seat for her and she sat down. Stanford Michael and his wife were at the other end of the table. She locked eyes with Rose, silently thanking her for the quick thinking on the seating arrangement.
“So, what is everyone in the mood for?” Kitty said, hiding her face behind the menu. Dot could only imagine what she was thinking—but it was probably that her Georgetown parties were much better than this.
ON THE MORNING of Senator Lopez’s visit to Cedar Falls, Mary heard Dot leave the house before dawn. She reached for her phone and texted her friend, “Good luck!”
“Thanks—it’s make or break,” Dot replied.
Mary felt the same way about the Taylor farm’s fight against the government.
She was due at Duncan’s Doughnuts that morning to meet Mr. Taylor, so she rose early and re-read everything she thought she’d discovered after Patricia had sent the email from New York.
Remembering her first call with Patricia, she kept repeating to herself, “Follow the money.”
She triple-checked her work and decided the lead was solid. In fact, the law firm in D.C. hadn’t registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. That was more than a technicality. That was fraud.
She suited up in a long flowered dress patterned in orange poppies, a dark blue denim jacket, and ankle boots she’d recently bought at Vintage Vibes off Main Street. Joe Taylor was walking into the diner when she arrived, and he held the door for her.
“You’re as pretty as a picture this morning, Mary,” he said. She wore the compliment well and flashed him a smile.
They took a booth and ordered coffee, water, and doughnuts. Mary jumped right in.
She pulled a manila folder out of her suede tote and laid out several pages for Mr. Taylor. She’d highlighted the names of the law firms and noted the discrepancies.
“As far as I can see, based on the documents you’ve shown me, this D.C.
-based firm pops up only in this filing.
But if you look over here”—she pointed to another page—“they represent several Chinese companies. And one of those companies has listed Cedar Falls as one of its main targets for land acquisition.”
“And you think the dots are connected?” he asked.
“I think it would be a heck of a coincidence if they weren’t. And if they are, you have a good shot of backing them off of your property.” She sat back, satisfied that she’d made a good case.
“By gosh, Mary, this might be it. I don’t know what we’d have done without you.”
“Well, let’s not count any chickens before they hatch.”
“Wow, Jake’s been teaching you some farming lingo,” Joe teased.
“Our cultures have collided. Why don’t you take this back to your lawyers, and we’ll see how it goes?”
“I’ve got a hopeful feeling about this, Mary. More than I’ve had in a long time.”
“Me too,” she said.
They stuck around for one more cup of coffee before they headed back to the apple festival. It was going to be a big day.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT the festival, politics entered the chat.
The town was practically buzzing in anticipation of the Democratic campaign rally.
By midafternoon, the air was thick with the scent of bright red candy apples, fresh and squeaky cheese curds, and the earthy richness of roasted corn.
Folks washed it all down with mulled cider, local craft beers, and apple-infused water for those determined to stay hydrated.
Everyone seemed to be in a good mood—the sugar highs from the apple treats were hitting at just the right time.
Dot bounced lightly on her toes, unable to stand still.
Lucy Lopez was due to arrive any minute, and Dot assessed the crowd at the fairgrounds arena with Rose and Fletcher.
For the Win had done all they could to help the Lopez advance team set up the visit.
The stage was decorated with hay bales, giant pumpkins, and huge baskets overflowing with apples.
It had a midwestern, homey vibe, which was the perfect setting for their candidate.
They’d expected her vice-presidential pick to join her—but at the last minute, the Lopez-Stone campaign decided to split the ticket up and had sent Stone to Nevada to rally with the gaming union.
“At least it’s not for another event in Texas. Nevada is at least another purple state,” Dot said upon learning the news. “I’d say it’s worth a gamble.”