The others concurred and laughed, but Tessa didn’t like the ownership they were all taking over Sophia already. She felt like she was getting squeezed out of her life, and she wasn’t even gone yet. Tessa could easily see how it wouldn’t be long before Sophia would crave the excitement and fun of this crowd to the company of her overworked, boring mother.
“The first part of summer would be a great time,” Grace said. “Zach won’t start filming next season until late July, and Los Angeles has a million different opportunities for children. I run several different camps for kids—cheerleading, tap, modern dance, theater production. And that doesn’t begin to touch on all the others around the area—science, art. I think NASA even runs an astronaut camp in Hermosa Beach.”
A little competitive streak flared, but she toned it down with a conversational “DC is like that too. There’s always something going on at the various museums—Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, even the Botanical Garden. And the Smithsonian offers amazing classes and camps all summer long—history, archeology, art…”
She trailed off when their semi-blank looks registered. Looks that made Tessa realize that archeology and history couldn’t measure up to the fun factor in the beachy art camps given in California. But this wasn’t about Tessa. This was about Sophia.
“I’m sure Sophia will have fun wherever she is,” Tessa said. “And I really appreciate how welcoming you’ve all been.”
“We’re family,” Grace said with a warm smile before reaching out and squeezing Tessa’s hand.
Her phone buzzed, and Gordon’s name came up on the screen. Tessa’s stomach coiled a little tighter. That couldn’t be good. She offered a polite “Excuse me,” picked up the phone, and wandered to a quiet corner of the deck.
“Hey,” she answered. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine, thank you for asking,” Gordon said. “How’s my little cupcake—oh. Well, she sounds like she’s having a grand time.”
Tessa glanced toward the pool, where Zach held her by the hands and spun her in circles in the water. Sophia was squealing with glee.
“She is,” Tessa said. “What’s going on there?”
“Word on the Hill is that Senator Styles won’t be backing Veterans Reform.”
“What? Why? Where did you hear that? I talked with him two weeks ago, and he was firmly on board.”
“I met a Tinder date at Bullfeathers earlier and ran into Jeremy.”
Jeremy was Styles’s chief of staff. Tessa’s frustration rose. “Jeremy was in my meeting with Styles, totally hyping the merits of the bill.”
“He’s still in favor, but he told me Rx Advantage approached Styles.”
Tessa’s breath whooshed out. Her eyes closed, and dread weighted her gut. “With what? Why? We came to an agreement with them months ago.”
“I only know they offered Styles a huge investment in his election campaign next year if he pulls support from Veterans Reform.”
Her eyes fell closed. “Shit,” she whispered against her fingers. If they hit up Styles, they’d hit up others. “Why are they going around causing trouble now?”
“That I don’t know.”
Her phone buzzed. She pulled it away and saw another call coming in. “Guess who’s on the other line?”
“Steven.”
“Rat bastard. I’ll call you back.” She disconnected from Gordon and took the incoming call from Steven, an Rx Advantage lobbyist. “Steven,” she said, forcing her tone to be congenial but determined. “I hear you’ve been skulking around the Hill.”
“Skulking?” he asked, his voice smug. “I don’t skulk.”
“What do you call pulling Styles’s vote away from Veterans Reform?”
“A deal.”
“You mean like the deal we made months ago? The deal that said you were on board with this bill?”
“A deal is no longer a deal when one side reneges. And I understand Veterans Affairs plans to lower their members’ pharmaceutical copay to a big fat zero.”
“What? No. Didn’t you get the newest version of the bill? Everyone agreed to a ten percent copay.”
“I heard this straight from House Committee Chairman Collin Rice’s chief of staff. If you haven’t heard from Daryl yet, I assume you’ll be hearing from him soon.”